While driving through Forest Park over the past two months or so, you may have spotted one of the award-winning scarecrows for this year’s Invasion of the Scarecrows – the annual fundraising initiative by the Historical Society of Forest Park and Arts Alliance of Forest Park.
At a party celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Historical Society on Nov. 16, five Forest Park residents were recognized for their creative, detailed scarecrows — the award-winning ones out of the 105 scarecrow kits purchased for this year’s village-wide decorating contest.
Scarecrows were set up throughout October. Also last month, locals voted on their favorite scarecrows. Winners got baskets full of gift certificates from Forest Park businesses, wine, candy, Forest Park-opoly, Historical Society of Forest Park booklets, and tickets to the Arts Alliance of Forest Park’s Tellers’ Night.
People’s Choice award: “Wizard of Oz” by Ricky Ponsaa and Mark Ferraro
After seeing video of “The Wizard of Oz” playing at the Sphere in Las Vegas, Ricky Ponsaa and Mark Ferraro decided to create their own version for this year’s Invasion of the Scarecrows. They decorated the roof of their Marengo Avenue home with four scarecrows of Dorothy, the Cowardly Lion, the Scarecrow and the Tin Man. An ode to the yellow brick road runs down the house’s front steps.
Ferraro said his favorite part was creating the Tin Man. Though Ferraro and Ponsaa started by spray painting a pair of pants silver, the end result came after shaping tin into arms and legs. It took them about a month to put the display together.
“It’s a lot of work, but when you overhear a group of kids passing by on a school trip, saying, ‘I see Dorothy! I see the Tin Man,’ ‘Oh look, there’s a witch!’ with such excitement, and the amount of positive feedback from kids and parents while trick-or-treating, that is so, very rewarding,” Ferraro said. “With all the amazing scarecrows and the creativity of this town and the people in it, it was such an honor to be recognized.”
Best of Madison award: MacDaddy Salon at 7506 Madison St.
The best scarecrow on Madison Street was called Moira Crows. It’s fashioned after Catherine O’Hara’s character Moira Rose on the TV show “Schitt’s Creek.” In the series, Rose stars in the film “The Crows Have Eyes 3: The Crowening” as Dr. Clara Mandrake, an ornithologist who turns into a human-crow hybrid — the character depicted in MacDaddy’s store window.
“Our idea was to find something that was crow-related to stay on brand with the scarecrow theme,” said Kate Henneberry, MacDaddy’s front desk coordinator who developed the scarecrow with the salon’s assistant, Anna LaFaire, in a week during their downtime at the salon.
Both Henneberry and LaFaire said their favorite part creating the scarecrow was getting to be creative with a coworker. LaFaire added that she enjoyed painting the scarecrow’s face and thrifting the clothes.
“We worked really hard to make Moira look real. Anna did a great job bringing her facial expressions to life, creating something that is both hilarious and creepy,” Henneberry said. “We are just happy that the community recognized the work we put in and liked it as much as we did.”
“The most difficult part was putting her away until next year,” LaFaire said.
Most Historic award: “Bessie Coleman” by Colette Anderson
Bessie Coleman was the first African-American woman and Native American to hold a pilot license. She grew up in the south and moved to Chicago in 1915 before getting her pilot’s license in France.
Forest Park Pride award: “Sonny and Cher” by Duncan Justice
Though Sonny and Cher don’t have any Forest Park connections, Duncan Justice won the Forest Park Pride award for his elaborate display featuring the former husband-wife pop duo who were popular in the 1970s.
Most Artistic award: “Moth Crow” by Meghan Hunt
According to the sign in front of the scarecrow, the Moth Crow is a “mysterious creature of the night, a spirit guide to the light, bringing hope to the dark.” The message, Hunt said, was one of the hardest parts about developing the scarecrow.
“There were a lot of really difficult things happening in our community at the time, so I chose the message of hope in a short poem,” Hunt said.
Hunt told the Review that the scarecrow was largely inspired by her 9-year-old, who’s currently fascinated by moths. She said she tries to tie in a nature theme with her scarecrows every year.
“I love how the moth wings flow in the wind,” Hunt said of her favorite part of this year’s scarecrow. “It really just blended in with the front garden, as a moth should.”
When Hunt found out she won the Most Artistic award, she said she was shocked and honored.
“There are just so many talented people in this community. I don’t feel like my scarecrow was better than anyone else’s, but that is also the lovely thing about art. It’s subjective,” Hunt said, adding that the award also motivated her to decorate again for Invasion of the Scarecrows next year. “I just love participating and roping neighbors in to join me.”