By Steve Hubrecht
Shoulder season, what shoulder season? Sure, the trembling aspen and larch have gone orangey-gold and are dropping their leaves and needles. Sure, Thanksgiving has come and gone, Halloween is on the way, pumpkin-flavoured beer is on liquor store shelves, frost is on the ground and the snow in the high alpine looks like it’s sticking around until spring.
In other words fall is clearly here. But given the number of community events still going on, you’d be forgiven for not realizing ‘high season’ is technically over.
Last weekend was the second annual Peter Pumpkin Eater Classic, with teams of local residents rolling pumpkins on wheels down a sloping section of 13th Street in downtown Invermere. And earlier last week, on October 15th, the winners of Invermere’s fifth annual Great Scarecrow Competition were announced.
The scarecrow competition has grown since first being introduced in 2020 during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. This year there were 24 entries (a 40 per cent increase over last year) and participants went to exceptional lengths to make their scarecrows stand out from the crowd, with some truly creative designs.
The Fuller family won the residential category with their ‘Bloody Wind’ scarecrow; Columbia Valley Search and Rescue (CVSAR) won the community group category with its mountaineering scarecrows; and the Invermere Inn and Suites won the business category with its ‘I Want to Stay Here’ scarecrow.
The ‘Bloody Wind’ scarecrow is a hoot, to put it mildly. The scarecrow is a playful take on the severe windstorm that battered the Columbia Valley in August, uprooting countless tress and causing all sorts of damage. The Fuller’s scarecrow appears caught in those blustering gusts, stretching out sideways while clinging to a tree, mouth gaping open in surprise.
The Fullers have been entering the scarecrow competition for the past four years, creating a completely different design each time. Last year they also won the residential category, and the year before that they finished second.
“It’s been really good this year, there are more people making scarecrows and there are some really good ones,” Mackenzie Fuller told the Pioneer.
The whole family, including daughter Liv and son Nash, help make the scarecrow each year.
“It’s turned into a family tradition for us. The kids remind us, a month or two beforehand, and we start brainstorming ideas. We spend a few days gathering material and then we make it. It’s a lot of fun,” said Mackenzie. “Nash does walk/run with his school (Eileen Madson Primary School), and he really likes that all his classmates go past and see it. The kids are really proud of it, and that makes us proud.”
Community group winner is Columbia Valley Search and Rescue with its mountaineering scarecrows.
PHOTO JENNY HUBRECHT
The CVSAR mountaineering scarecrows were put up by members Katherine Friedley and Mike Cope.
“A mountaineering scene seemed like a good theme for Search and Rescue,” Friedley told the Pioneer. “We were lucky, we had a great spot and Mike did a really good job making the mountain backdrop. It (the scarecrow contest) is a great community initiative, and hopefully it helps get word out about who we (CVSAR) are and what we do as an entirely volunteer-run organization.”
Invermere Inn and Suites room and guest experience manager Colleen Booth told the Pioneer this is the first year the Invermere Inn has made a scarecrow, but based on feedback from guests and staff, “I’m certain we’ll be doing it again.”
The business had initially planned to make a single, simple scarecrow outside its front door on main street, but that plan quickly morphed into a whole scene, called ‘I Want to Stay Here’. It features the scarecrow lounging in an al fresco hotel room, complete with a couch, telephone, television remote control, tourist maps, bath towels, luggage and more.
The effort involved several departments of the Invermere Inn, outlined Booth, including housekeeping staff, maintenance, front desk, night audit, and even the kids of front desk staff. Each day, someone else at the business added another touch: lights, or bath towels folded to resemble swans, and so on.
“It was a great team-building event,” said Booth.
Business winner Invermere Inn and Suites.
PHOTO JENNY HUBRECHT
OMG, it’s Michael Myers! No, it’s Oscar Myers.
PHOTO JENNY HUBRECHT
