City Encourages Schools, Families, Organizations and Local Businesses to Participate
Each fall downtown Alpharetta is alive with creative scarecrows designed and decorated by the community. This sight signals to residents and visitors that fall is officially here and warms the heart of all who pass by or take a downtown walking tour during the month of October.
In the past, Alpharetta’s scarecrows have typically been created by local schools, with the help of teachers and parent volunteers. Due to last year’s situation, schools offered limited access to volunteers, resulting in many being unable to participate at the level they have in the past. In light of this, the City of Alpharetta challenged the community in 2020, encouraging families, neighborhoods, non-profit and faith-based organizations, athletic clubs and local businesses to join in the fun with their scarecrows and the response was outstanding.
“Alpharetta, once again, rose to the challenge last year and kept this tradition growing,” exclaimed Morgan Rodgers, City of Alpharetta Recreation, Parks & Cultural Services Director. “With schools being back in-person this fall, the hope is that we will continue to see an increase in applications and that even more scarecrows will be on display throughout downtown Alpharetta.”
The scarecrow application process is simple and free, open to everyone, and only requires creativity! Any family-friendly design is welcome and scarecrow placement will be determined by the City of Alpharetta. Scarecrows will be on display from October 5 - Nov 1.
Self-guided tours of the scarecrow “patches” are encouraged and detailed maps will be available online once the scarecrow patches are open! All scarecrows are also eligible for this year’s online “People’s Choice Award” which will be hosted on Alpharetta Recreation, Parks & Cultural Services’ Facebook page from Oct 6 – 13.
Those interested in creating a scarecrow are invited to complete an application online at https://bit.ly/AlpharettaScarecrowApp. The application deadline is September 9. For complete details on the 2021 Scarecrow Harvest, please visit https://bit.ly/alpharettascarecrows2021 .