9/15/2021
GLOCESTER – The Glocester Scarecrow Festival is back bigger than ever this year, featuring new live entertainment and expanded dining options to accompany the original handcrafted scarecrows that draw visitors year after year.
Mark Rechter of the Glocester Grange #38 said it is the fifth year the Grange and Glocester Public Libraries team up to create two weeks of spooky scarecrow fun along the streets of downtown Chepachet.
When asked if the event was back on after being canceled last year, Rechter said, “Definitely. Big, big, big time.”
As of Sept. 13, Rechter said, about 70 businesses and nonprofits and 25 families and individuals are signed up to host a scarecrow. When the festival was canceled last year, he said, around 45 families had already signed up.
“I’m sure our numbers will improve,” he added.
The festival begins on Oct. 16, and scarecrows will remain on display around Glocester until Oct. 31. For two weeks, people are invited to view more than 100 scarecrows designed by businesses, nonprofits and Glocester residents on lampposts and set up outside storefronts.
“It’s really important to understand that there are two sights to see here. In the daytime, you can see the detail and the work. And at night, the scarecrows are lit up and have a spookier feeling,” Rechter said.
Some scarecrows have additional decorations that light up at night, he added.
“You won’t know which unless you come at night, too,” he said.
Scarecrow setup will take place at the Glocester Pavilion, 1109 Putnam Pike, on Oct. 16 from 9 to 11:30 a.m. Rechter said a full day of entertainment will follow. As usual, family and individually crafted scarecrows are judged at 11:30 a.m., with $500 in prizes, donated by the Grange, handed out during the day.
Immediately following setup, the Big Nazo group will begin walking among the crowd beginning at the Glocester Manton Library, 1137 Putnam Pike. Other entertainment at the library includes face painting and pumpkin painting.
The Chepachet Baptist Church, 1213 Putnam Pike, will host pony rides from EnShanting Allie Stables and a petting zoo with animals from the Dandy Acre Farm from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
At the other end of the village, the Creative Room at 6 Money Hill Road will offer crafts for children of all ages featuring pumpkins, scarecrows and other fall themes.
In addition to the Big Nazo, Rechter said live music will fill the air from noon until 5 p.m. at the Chepachet Union Church, 1138 Putnam Pike. Trade Secrets, a barbershop quartet including members of the Narragansett Bay Chorus, will kick off the music, followed by Partington and Sweeney, who play traditional songs from the Blackstone Valley at 1:45 p.m. and the Old Time Fiddlers, a traditional fiddler group, at 3:30 p.m.
Local nonprofits will offer food including dynamites at the Pavillion by the Grange, clam cakes and chowder at the Chepachet Fire Department and wieners by the Glocester Lions at 1184 Putnam Pike.
The Union Church will also sell bagged lunches and cookies, Rechter said.
Rechter said local restaurants will be open for business, as well as two food trucks including Barbara’s Quick Lunch at the Pavilion and Dinolicious Food Truck at 1184 Putnam Pike.
Rechter added there will be a Glocester Scarecrow Marketplace, sponsored by the Glocester Recreation Department, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Pavillion, 1109 Putnam Pike.
Rechter said the committee is moving away from holding the event at the Glocester Pavilion and is grateful to the church for the use of its backyard.
