Tarrytown Families Scare Up Some Straw People

TARRYTOWN, N.Y. – Hay was flying Saturday morning in Patriot's Park as families worked to stuff large handfuls of it into the old clothes that they had brought.

Some had trouble getting the hay to stay inside the clothes. Others had problems trying to figure out how to get the hay-filled clothes to stay on a wooden frames that had been provided to them.

In the end, they all managed to make their own scarecrows.

“Some people have been here many times—they've got the knack down,” Ralph Nicoletti said. Nicoletti is the senior recreation leader and the event's emcee. “Others are just trying for the first time, but it's a lot of fun. People are as creative as they can be. We've had some wonderful scarecrows in the past.”

Most of the scarecrows early on were decorated with old, unused clothes. A few scarecrows had Halloween shirts to mark the holiday. One had overalls and hat, destined to become a traditional farmer scarecrow.

The Tarrytown Recreation Department supplied all the hay, wood frames and string needed to make a scarecrow. They also supplied donated pillowcases for the scarecrows' heads.

Scarecrow makers had the option to take their creations home or let the village keep them. Soon, Tarrytown will put the scarecrows left behind along Main St. to get ready for the annual Halloween Parade.

Joshua Gottschall, 11, and his family were busy making a scarecrow they named Bob. Gottsehall said Bob would be one of the scarecrows displayed on Main St.

“We're still making it,” Gottschall said while his dad and younger sister carried on.

Gottschall's scarecrow wears a pair of corduroy pants and a casual jacket. Nicoletti said in the past they've seen scarecrows dressed as pirates and football players.

“Some really go all out,” he said, later adding that it “runs the whole gambit.”

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