Annual scarecrow harvest offers down-home community feel

Q: My son’s class is involved in making a scarecrow for Alpharetta’s annual scarecrow festival. Would you tell me more about this?

A: You are inquiring about Alpharetta’s annual Scarecrow Harvest that has been held since 2006 and will run through Nov. 2 (weather permitting). It began with 60 scarecrows and about 150 will be on display this year with roughly 70 classrooms participating.

Alpharetta has hosted many events over the years. Looking into other activities to add, views of wholesome resourcefulness from a handful of Canadian and European cities helped influence the vision.

“Our team all had preschool or elementary-age children, and that was the inspiration. We knew the community would engage really well with an artistic and creative event,” Special Events Coordinator Becca Raymond said. “What is not to like about a life-size scarecrow that comes to life?”

Different from most of our other events in that it is not music or food driven, “it’s all about the scarecrows and that down-home kind of community feel that almost anyone can participate in,” she said.

The scarecrow harvest started with a focus on participation from Alpharetta’s elementary school classrooms. Faith-based and civic organizations, businesses, high school sports teams and boosters have jumped in, said Raymond.

The scarecrow patches are sprinkled throughout the city’s downtown parks that can be located through an interactive map available online. Yard signs with a QR code provide the locations, identify classrooms and other participants.