'What's in a Scarecrow?' Find out at St. Charles festival

Autumn is here and with it one of the Fox Valley's most popular events: Scarecrow Fest in St. Charles.

Depending on the weather, between 100,000 and 120,000 people are expected to attend the festival, according to Jason Pawlowski, marketing manager and festival liaison for the St. Charles Convention and Visitors Bureau.

This year will see a new themed area in the municipal lot on the village's east side.

"We're trying to capture and bottle the county fair mentality with all the unique family friendly activities in one zone," Pawlowski said.

The festival runs Friday through Sunday, Oct. 10-12, and each day features a different theme. On "Farmin' Friday," from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., farmers from Windy Acres Farm in Geneva will set up a fruit and vegetable stand and The Gardeneers will present information about growing and eating fresh produce.

"Spooky Saturday" will feature a costume sale and on "Sunday Funday," Ralph's World, a rock and roll band catering to young children, will perform.

"Miss Illinois will sing and do a meet and greet," Pawlowski said. "There will be a doughnut eating contest on Saturday, and ice cream contest on Sunday, a petting zoo, wax hands, balloon animals and a magician."

Aside from the municipal zone, Lincoln Park, Veterans Park, Third Street and the The Filling Station parking lot, where attendees can create their own scarecrows, will be buzzing with entertainment throughout the weekend. From musicians to dancers to stilt walkers, there is bound to be something for everyone. Still, creating scarecrows is the focus for many who attend the festival.

"We provide clothes that have been donated," Pawlowski said. "But we encourage people to bring their own clothes. It's their opportunity to customize."

Another big draw of the festival is the scarecrow competition, in which scarecrows are created and put on display by individuals and families as well as organizations and businesses, and visitors can vote for their favorites. Approximately 150 scarecrows will be vying for titles in the categories of Family, Children's Clubs and Organizations, St. Charles Business, Whimsical, Traditional and Mechanical.

Ted Eynik of St. Charles will be attending with his mechanical scarecrow entry as he has since the first year of the festival.

According to Eynik, he was first inspired to create a moving scarecrow by seeing other straw characters which lit up.

"Being a tinkerer in the garage and a maintenance mechanic at work, I had the knowledge to hook up wires and motors, so I said, I could probably do that," he said.

Because the festival rules don't allow the same scarecrow to be entered into judging more than once, Eynik begins the creation of a new scarecrow every year.

"They come apart year to year and I throw them in the trash," he said. "I change them every year so I came up with a new idea every year. Family members give me ideas."

The competition, however, is not the primary reason Eynik has participated over the last 29 years.

"I just like taking them over there," he said. "I get a rush out of the attention. I have fun. All my family members throughout the weekend show up and we laugh and eat and have lots of fun."

Of course, all good things come to end, but this year, the end of the 29th festival marks the beginning of the 30th Year of the Scarecrow, according to Pawlowski. Ryan Caldwell, formerly of Batavia and a St. Charles native, chose to mark the occasion with a song.

The song is called, "What's in a Scarecrow?" and it recalls Caldwell's visits to the festival as a child.

"I also looked up the Chuck and Char's (mascots for the festival) blog for inspiration," he said. "I knew the Year of the Scarecrow was coming, the anniversary, so I decided that it might be nice to write a song about Scarecrow Fest, since there's not one that exists."

Caldwell sent a demo to the city for consideration. "I decided just to do it and I recorded the demo at the Fine Line Creative Arts Center," Caldwell said.

Caldwell will debut the song at the closing ceremony and "What's in a Scarecrow?" will be the official song as St. Charles gears up for the festival's 30th celebration. Chuck and Char will be on hand to dance.

For now, it's the 29th Scarecrow Festival with fun for everyone including scarecrow themed activities, live entertainment, the Autumn on the Fox Arts and Crafts show, a carnival, a petting zoo, and food trucks and booths.

"We try to make it so there's something for everyone; from (age) 4 to 94," Pawlowski said.

Admission is free. For more information, visit scarecrowfest.com. To see Chuck and Char's blog, visit http://ascarecrowslife.wordpress.com/.

If you go

What: 29th annual St. Charles Scarecrow Fest

Where: Downtown St. Charles along Main Street (Route 64) and Fourth Street and in the Municipal lot

When: 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Oct. 10-11; 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 12

Admission: Free

Details: For a schedule of events and map of the activities and parking areas, visit <a href="http://www.scarecrowfest.com">www.scarecrowfest.com</a>