Mr Calamari gazed out over the rows of his comrades in straw – lined up smartly in front of the newly restored Worthington mansion in Quilcene. There were Big Bad Wolf and Crazy Cowgirl hoping to steal the show and Spider-Kraken and Reaper going for the kill. But it would fall to others in this wildly colorful and creative crowd of scarecrows to garner enough votes to win the coveted Worthington Park contest prizes.

Event Manager, Sheryl Stich, declared, “Our fourth annual scarecrow contest produced a record 21 fabulous entries – attracting over 300 votes!” She added, “It was almost eerie watching the wind bring them to life as they swayed back and forth. Like they were waving to people passing by. Scary!”

What began as a few lonely scarecrows staked out over the Linger Longer meadow in 2018, has become a tremendously popular community event at Worthington Park. Hosted by the Quilcene Historical Museum, participation has increased every year, showcasing the creativity and fun spirit of this small North Hood Canal community. Last year during the height of the pandemic it was one of the few community events that could be hosted safely.

Worthington Park’s Event Coordinator, Talia Munn, who created this very popular contest noted, “The love and care put into each entry was very apparent. Not surprising, there were some very tight races in each of the three categories.” She added, “Each scarecrow deserved to win, but the votes are in and we have three winners. New for this year and to accommodate the growth and diversity of entries, we increased the number of categories to three: general, expert, and elementary school.”