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In downtown La Plata, it’s a festival to crow about
Friday, Oct. 27, 2006
 Click here to enlarge this photo Staff Photos by Nancy Bromley McConaty
La Plata resident Mame Gregory stops to pose with the Vice President Dick Cheney. More than 50 local businesses dressed up the straw figures for La Plata’s Scarecrow Festival, which runs through Nov. 5.
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It isn’t unusual to see ladies decked out in wedding finery, a nurse holding a baby, a black-and-white spotted cow holding a sign encouraging people to eat more chicken and businessmen dressed up in suits and ties clutching briefcases.
But they don’t appear to have anything better to do than just hang onto lampposts, smiling garishly at those who approach them, stop abruptly and stare.
In fact, the 55 straw figures are symbols of the rousing success of La Plata’s first Scarecrow Festival, which runs through Nov. 5. The event, sponsored by the town, Charles County Chamber of Commerce, La Plata Business Association and the Civista Health Foundation was designed to draw visitors and raise funds for the hospital.
The idea took off like wildfire, said Del. Sally Y. Jameson (D-Charles), the chamber’s executive director.
‘‘We’re delighted with the degree of thought and design that went into each of the scarecrows,” she said Wednesday. ‘‘And, each and every person and business who has participated is helping Civista Medical Center in its expansion project.”
The festival raised about $5,000 that will be donated to the Civista foundation to be used toward the expansion, Jameson said.
The idea to hold the scarecrow festival was born after Jameson stumbled across a similar event in a small town in New Jersey.
‘‘The streets were all backed up with traffic, and we couldn’t figure out at first what was going on,” she recalled. ‘‘As we turned onto the main street we saw scarecrows on every lamppost ... I was totally amazed as we drove through town at the number of people who came to town just to see those scarecrows. They made it a family affair.”
About six months later, Jameson found herself in the same town and she decided to talk to the local chamber of commerce about the event.
‘‘It turns out that communities all over the nation are doing this, especially in the Midwest,” she said. ‘‘It’s just a great way to show community spirit.”
Since the scarecrows began popping up on lampposts throughout La Plata on Tuesday afternoon, the chamber has been inundated with calls from people who want to display the straw figures in town, Jameson said. The judging of the figures was Wednesday, but that didn’t dampen the enthusiasm of those who wanted to participate in the festival a little late.
Participants were asked to donate $100 for a scarecrow frame, then their creativity was allowed to go wild.
Among the more notable characters hanging on lampposts throughout town are brides, grooms, a French maid, a proprietor of a bed and breakfast, complete with a tiny bed with a breakfast tray on it, and a lady in a bathrobe and pink curlers in her ‘‘hair” holding a steaming cup of coffee.
Bolton & Associates LLC kept up the spirit of the political season by dressing up a scarecrow sporting Vice President Dick Cheney’s face. The figure is wearing a hard hat.
‘‘We have really creative people who work for us, and why they chose Dick Cheney I have no idea,” said R. Gore Bolton, president of the civil engineering firm. ‘‘I don’t think there’s a political message behind it.
‘‘I think it came down to Dick Cheney’s head fit the hard hat,” he added, laughing. ‘‘It was a simple decision.”
In addition, dressing the scarecrow as Cheney is sort of an ‘‘inside joke” in the engineering and surveying industry, Bolton admitted.
‘‘Well, there’s that whole gunshot episode [when earlier this year Cheney accidentally shot a fellow hunter in the face, neck and chest with bird shot],” he said. ‘‘We as surveyors are always shot at. It’s an inside joke. You’re not really anything in the business until you’ve been shot at.”
BrewHouse Coffees on Charles Street displays a lady scarecrow dressed in a bathrobe and slippers and pink curlers in her ‘‘hair.” She’s gripping a cup of steaming coffee in her hand while standing next to a sign that reads, ‘‘Betty BrewHouse BC (Before Coffee).”
‘‘My wife and kids had a good time putting her together,” said Jim Turner, BrewHouse owner. ‘‘The festival is great for community spirit. People are definitely talking about it.”
The scarecrows began appearing on town streets Tuesday afternoon, Turner said.
‘‘They were popping up everywhere. It was kind of fun to see when another one was added,” he said.
Deborah Taylor, owner of Charles Street Bakery, did not participate in the festival this year, but she said she is definitely going to decorate a scarecrow for next year’s event.
‘‘I wish I had done it because so many people participated in the festival,” she said. ‘‘People seem to enjoy it. It’s great.”
The employees of Edward L. Sanders Insurance Agency Inc. on Washington Avenue decked out their scarecrow as a waterfowl hunter.
‘‘He’s got decoys all around him and he’s holding a shotgun and a goose call,” said owner Larry Sanders. ‘‘He’s ready to go. He’s a good Southern Maryland scarecrow.”
The festival was easy to participate in because much of the proceeds go to a very good cause, Sanders said.
‘‘I’m very fond of the Civista foundation, and the festival is just good fun. It shows the good spirit of the town of La Plata,” he said.
La Plata resident Mame Gregory decided to grab a camera and stroll down the town’s streets to take photographs of the scarecrows.
‘‘I love them,” she said as she gazed at the straw figure of Dick Cheney. ‘‘They’re so clever. The scarecrow festival is so small town. Everybody has come together to make us laugh and just feel good.”
La Plata Mayor Gene Ambrogio said he hopes that a lot of people take the time this weekend to stroll through town and check out the scarecrows.
‘‘This is a fun way for a nonprofit organization in the area to receive donations,” he said. ‘‘It’s also a great way to get people to come into town and enjoy the sight of the ingenuity of the people who made the scarecrows. I hope this will become a tradition.”
The festival will definitely become an annual affair, Jameson said.
‘‘We’ve got a really big hit on our hands,” she said. ‘‘It’s going to grow like crazy. My cell phone has been ringing nonstop since yesterday afternoon when the scarecrows were put up. This is just a great idea to promote the community by bringing people in town to see them.”
E-mail Nancy Bromley McConaty at nmcconaty@ somdnews.com.
