The local community celebrated the annual Scarecrow Festival over the weekend in downtown Washington Court House and turnout exceeded expectations.
The Scarecrow Festival is by far one of the most anticipated events of the year for our community.
“The response to the Scarecrow Festival from our community was wonderful. I appreciate the volunteers that make the festival possible along with the exceptional work of the street department, police department, and folks like Tom Payton. The festival became stressful for many of the volunteers, but they kept moving forward when confronted with a challenge and I am happy to work alongside them,” said Washington Court House City Manager Joe Denen.
Rock band “Hinder” was scheduled to be the headlining act for Saturday night’s concert but unfortunately had to cancel at the last minute which led to the committee struggling to find an entertainer to fill their spot. On extremely short notice, the committee was able to secure an impressive new headliner: “Orianthi” — a platinum-selling recording artist and world class guitarist.
“Hinder did not leave us in a very good spot canceling with only 48 hours until showtime,” explained Stephanie Dunham, executive director of the Fayette County Travel & Tourism Bureau. “It was very difficult finding a replacement and if it wouldn’t have been for the opening act that had all of the guitars and equipment needed for Orianthi, I’m not sure we would have been able to pull it off.”
Dunham told the Record-Herald, “Our committee works diligently for months planning and prepping for the festival. We are very thankful for the great turnout that we had and the attendance exceeded our expectations!”
“My favorite part of the festival is just seeing our vision and all that our committee has worked hard on for the last nine months come together,” noted Dunham.
Denen also commented on the wonderful turnout for the festival. “Turnout was great. I was surprised by the number of people on Friday with two home football games.”
The Scarecrow Committee and city officials work tirelessly throughout the year to make the festival come to fruition and are very thankful and proud when the time comes for the community to enjoy it.
The Scarecrow Festival Facebook page also posted to thank the community. “What a wonderful festival weekend! Big thank you to City Services, City Police, and Fire Dept. Thank you to all of our wonderful sponsors, vendors, volunteers, entertainers, and of course attendees for making the festival a success. See you in 2023!”
The annual Scarecrow 5k/10k walk/run took place this past Saturday as well. This event was organized by Debbie Bryant, president of United Way of Fayette County.
There were 119 total participants, 46 male, and 73 female, which was the highest attendance for this event ever.
The participants started off in front of the courthouse and made their way through town to finish off back at the starting point.
For the male participants of the 5k, Christopher Hayes took 1st place with a time of 21:04, Logan Vanlandingham took 2nd place with a time of 23:24, and Keith Burns took 3rd place with a time of 24:33.
For the female participants of the 5k, Madison Hayes took 1st place with a time of 21:04, Makayla Summers took 2nd place with a time of 24:59, and Erin Perkins took 3rd place with a time of 25:02.
For the male participants of the 10k, Victor Churchill took 1st place with a time of 40:41, Tristan White took 2nd place with a time of 43:31, and Trent Brown took 3rd place with a time of 45:47.
For the female participants of the 10k, Stefan Roberts took 1st place with a time of 55:33, the participant who took 2nd place with the bib number 9881 could not be identified as of Monday, and Monica Holmback took 3rd place with her time being unavailable as well.
The 2022 Scarecrow Festival was nothing short of a success and will leave high expectations for next year’s.
