Johnson County Scarecrow Madness scares up fun, stokes creativity

It’s not every day that decorated scarecrows greet customers at downtown businesses and peer out from residential yards. But in October, it is the norm as a fun fundraising event takes the community by storm.

Scarecrow Madness has come to Johnson County, as creative scarecrows depicting To Kill a Mockingbird, Arthur, Twister and more start coming to storefronts and homes across the county. Through buying a decoration kit, the event is a way for community members to contribute money to local nonprofits and organizations with a touch of creative flair.

The event started in 2019 when Jeanie Cole was inspired by a similar event in New Hampshire.

“While driving through the quaint town of Chester, I kept encountering scarecrows everywhere!” Cole said. “The imagination behind it captivated me and I contacted the founder, Jackie Brown of the Chester Historical Society, who in turn instructed me how to do the fundraiser.”

Cole said she is “so excited” the event has remained in the area and spread from Edinburgh to Beech Grove, with more opportunities to expand next year. As the fundraiser grew, Cole handed the idea over to other organizations last year and now several communities around the county and beyond participate in the event, selling kits to interested participants that include a burlap bag for the scarecrow’s head and a stake to mount it on.

Two local leaders in the event are ASSIST Indiana, a nonprofit that helps victims of violence, and the John R. Drybread Community Center’s Senior Moments group, a program for individuals aged 55 and up. ASSIST runs the event in Franklin and the community center runs the event in Edinburgh.

Outside of Johnson County, the Beech Grove Lions Club also puts on the event.

Michelle Hendrix-Swords, ASSIST Indiana victim advocate, said she feels more comfortable running the event this year and it feels more fun than overwhelming. So far, ASSIST has sold 52 of their $30 kits and the nonprofit typically raises approximately $1,000 to $1,500 in the fundraiser.

Notably this year, Hendrix-Swords said one woman bought multiple kits for students in the foreign exchange program.

“They’re going to have that memory to take home with them … they’ll be like, ‘Oh yeah, and we made the scarecrow while I was in high school in Franklin, Indiana,’” she said. “And I thought that was a really cool idea that she was using some of that money they have for the program to do this as a fun thing for them.”

For Franklin, ASSIST staff and board members judge which scarecrows are their favorites and there will most likely be an online poll for community members to give input and decide a People’s Choice, Hendrix-Swords said. There are no set prizes for the winners unless someone donates prizes but she said ASSIST may put together a goody basket.

This year, the design categories for Franklin are Kids Choice, the Eclipse, Music/Band, Book/Movie, Animal Lover and Creator’s Choice.

Some of Hendrix-Swords’s favorite creative designs this year are scarecrows that depict the cast of “To Kill a Mockingbird” and “Twister.” From previous years, she remembers when ASSIST designed their scarecrow to look like the movie “ET” which was the first movie Hendrix-Swords saw at a drive-in growing up.

Hendrix-Swords said she loves seeing what creative scarecrow scenes the libraries do because it brings back memories for her of what books she read in school.

Members of the community have also had great reactions to Scarecrow Madness, including someone who felt fond memories of their childhood after seeing ASSIST’s clown scarecrow theme one year.

“They said, ‘Well, I just wanted to let you know that I absolutely love these clowns. When I was growing up, my parents were clowns, like professional clowns,’” Hendrix-Swords said. “She’s like, ‘and I would drive around town. My parents would be in their clown get up, and we’d be driving around town, and I just saw those clowns, and it just brought back so many good memories of my childhood.’”

The art group at ASSIST also decorates for Scarecrow Madness, which Hendrix-Swords said is a different way the nonprofit helps victims of violence and trauma.

“Sometimes when you’ve experienced trauma, you just get kind of stuck in it. So this is a way for them to kind of do something to distract themselves from maybe what that trauma was, or to just kind of create new memories with their family, or whoever their family is now that they might be with,” she said. “Besides that, it’s just fun to kind of drive around Franklin and see all of these different creative beings people have thought to make.”

Hendrix-Swords said it’s nice to have fundraisers that are focused on having fun and not so much about the trauma the nonprofit works with.

In Edinburgh, approximately 15 new scarecrows have been sold, contributing to an estimated 45 scarecrows in total counting the new scarecrows, ones used from previous years and ones used by the school corporation.

Like last year, Sarabeth Drybread, Edinburgh’s economic development director and community center director, said the event has been really exciting for the town.

“The first year, there’s always just a ton of momentum and I was just amazed at the variety and the creativity of the scarecrows,” she said. “And so far this year, it has been exactly the same. There have been some really creative scarecrows.”

Last year, a couple won with a Jimmy Buffet scarecrow set up, which the couple turned into an airplane-themed scene this year, Drybread said. Other examples of interesting designs include the Cub Scouts’ Scarecrow Joe who focused on being prepared and featured a poncho when it started raining last year and a bus driver who depicted a scene of her driving the bus with students.

“It’s been really exciting to just drive around and see all the different scarecrows that are out,” Drybread said.

The town features two winners, one residential scarecrow and one business scarecrow. This year, the winners will win a local goody basket and a free scarecrow kit for next year. There are no themes residents or businesses have to follow.

Drybread said she loved seeing the scarecrows last year at the East Side Elementary School’s Boosters club. She said the students could see her walking through and taking photos and the kids would run to the door and tell her about their scarecrow.

To her, Scarecrow Madness is “just something fun and positive,” and she likes seeing the community’s creativity.

“It’s like Christmas, everyone loves to drive around and see the Christmas lights,” she said. “So for this, everyone loves to, when we post the map out next week, everyone will be able to drive around and see all the different scarecrows. So I just love the creativity and how it brings the community together.”

For those who want to participate, there is still time. In Franklin, kits can be bought at ASSIST Indiana at 198 E. Jefferson St., Franklin or interested participants can reach out at [email protected] or text 402-957-2769. In Edinburgh, kits can be bought at the community center at 100 E. Main Cross St., Edinburgh.

HOW TO VOTE

Edinburgh

To vote for Edinburgh’s Scarecrow Madness, visit the John R. Drybread Community Center at 100 E. Main Cross St., Edinburgh. Voting is through Oct. 30 with the winner to be announced Oct. 31.

Franklin

Vote online for Franklin’s Scarecrow Madness, visit the Scarecrow Madness Franklin Facebook group. Voting is through Oct. 27 with the winner to be announced that day.