Get the scarecrows ready by Oct. 18.

The Live Oak Partnership is serving as host organization for this year’s Scarecrow Festival. Scheduled with activities to begin on Monday, Oct. 24 and continuing through Saturday, Oct. 29 with activities for the entire family, this festival will include many local businesses and organizations.

The festival began as a small community event sponsored by the Live Oak Garden Club. Businesses and residents built scarecrows to display downtown Live Oak in Millennium Park. Festivities also included, as they still do, a pancake breakfast, plant sale and other activities at the Garden Club House.  Through the years, this event has grown into a downtown tradition for Live Oak. This festival now includes the participation of several local groups and businesses with The Live Oak Partnership serving as its host.

 

As happens with most great events, the Scarecrow Festival grew, and now includes a week of activities that include everything from a History-Mystery Dinner to a local talent search hosted by WLVO Radio. The Scarecrow Festival is intentionally scheduled for the week of Suwannee High School Homecoming so that our alumni from out of town attending the football game could attend this event the following day.

 

The main event of the week is the festivities of Saturday, Oct. 29. Beginning at 8 a.m, the Live Oak Garden Club will begin the festivities with their annual Pancake Breakfast continuing until 11:30. In addition to breakfast, there will be children’s games and crafts, pumpkin patch photos, face painting, and more for the kids, with fun for the grownups too!  They will also host their annual plant sale and pumpkin baking contest. Festivities will continue downtown Live Oak at Millennium and Veterans Park until 4 p.m. Plans include the Women’s Club Chili Cook-off, artists and crafters, food vendors, contests, entertainment, children’s activities and much more for the family to enjoy.

The Scarecrow Contest has become the “heart” of the event. The contest is free to enter and open to everyone! Categories were set up to handle the incredible creativity of the community and beyond so that all could make a scarecrow limited only by their imaginations! Families join together to create a scarecrow as a fun project. Businesses encourage staff to create a scarecrow that reflects their business. Clubs & organizations gather together and enter a creation as a group project.  Scarecrows will be displayed in downtown Live Oak and should be placed no later than 11 a.m. on the morning of Oct. 18, and remain on display through Thursday, November 10. Scarecrows may be attached to a street lamp post or displayed at Millennium Park. Scarecrows may also be placed in front of your place of business or in front of your home.

 

“A foundation of the Scarecrow Festival has always been the involvement of the community” Randy Torrance, Live Oak Partnership chairman and event chairman said. “This year’s events include several organizations and businesses, Not only the Garden Club, The Library and the Women’s Club, but we have also included the Suwannee County Historical Commission, WLVO Radio, Suwannee Democrat, LifeSouth Blood Bank, the 4-H extension office, and many other organizations and businesses.” Torrance also stated.

 

For additional information and registration forms for Scarecrow contests, including Live Scarecrow, Dog Costume Contest, WLVO Talent Search, Downtown Scarecrow Contest, Artist and Crafter Vendors, Food and Business Vendors, visit www.historicliveoak.com.

 

The Live Oak Partnership, Inc. is a volunteer driven organization dedicated to the preservation and revitalization of Live Oak’s downtown district and surrounding business community. Their website is www.historicliveoak.co