CRANFORD, NJ — Once again, more than 100 scarecrows lined the streets of Cranford.
Scarecrows were created by families, businesses and organizations. The creepy, spooky, scary, fun and cute scarecrows were on display throughout October.
People were able to vote on their favorites. The categories were 12 and Under; Adults/Families; Schools/Organizations; Businesses; and Best Overall.
Caren Demyen, director of Downtown Cranford, said, “I’m really excited and grateful for the hard work from scarecrow creators. It’s been a great Halloween season.”
Stefanie Lalor, gallery manager of The Artistic Framer, had an “Under the Sea” theme in front of her store. A high school student and college student who work there came up with the concept.
Lalor said, “We used a vintage mermaid poster.” There’s a hole cut out for visitors to place their faces for photos – but many held up their dog so the dog could be the mermaid!
Maria DaRocha is a barber at Cory Mathews who designed their scarecrow. She said, “I was going for a ‘Sweeny Todd’ crazy barber. He’s drinking snake venom.”
Yarn Stormers had a “Wizard of Oz” theme titled “The Yellow Knit Road.”
Bianca Dee, manager of Papa Ganache, said their scarecrow is a representation of a baker during the Halloween holiday season. “It’s very cute,” she said, in regard to the Scarecrow Stroll. “It’s my first year here.”
Glow Beauty Bar, owned by Maria Barzallo, had a massive display in honor of the movie “Wicked.” Miranda Curanovic, hairstylist, said, “Everyone’s a big fan and we thought we’d incorporate that.”
Other notable scarecrows included Cute Klowns from Outer Space, Assistant Cubmaster Frankenstein, Smashing Pumpkins, Bewitched by Troop 40362, Th-Th-That’s All Scarecrows!, If I Only Had a Brain Freeze, Jack Straw, Maize Max, Not So Scary Halloween Kitty, Sharknado, Sugar Goblin, 5 Little Pumpkins, Bee Kind, Creepy Carrots, Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown, Happy Gilmore 3: Putt-ing on a Scare, If the Addams Family Became Art Supplies, Hocus Pocus, La Boo Boos, Music Box Ballerina, Betty Bebop, Betty Boop, Captain Crumb Cake, Cone Carnivore, Creatures of the Purple Lagoon, Crepey Creature, Happy Hallow-Bees, Hungry Sand-Witch, Itsy the Spider, The Hardhat of Horror, Poppy Pumpkinpatch, Scooby Doo, Slappy, Sir Bon Bon and Madame Miau.
Voting was open for the 18th Annual Scarecrow Stroll through Thursday, Oct. 30. To see your favorites, visit: https://downtowncranford.org/vote-now-in-the-18th-annual-scarecrow-stroll/.
Photos by Maryanne Christiano-Mistretta
