Scarecrows don't have brains but they still know how to draw a large crowd at the 13th Annual Scarecrow Festival in Akron, Iowa.
"I think mine this year is not going to scare the crows away, it might attract a few," Robyn Dirks said.
Robyn Dirks, competed in this year's scarecrow contest... which she says has become a kind of seasonal art form.
"It's really a lot of fun, and there's really not a right way to do it ," Robyn Dirks said.
Some of the artists who entered the contest say, it doesn't take a lot of hard work or materials, but it does take creativity.
Dirks said she's been making traditional scarecrows for years, but this year, she went high tech. She took a photo, enlarged it, then put it on a wooden cutout.
"I decided to do an Akron celebrity, our Mayor, Harold Higman," Robyn Dirks said.
This was the Scarecrow Festival's 13th year. Organizers say it's been getting bigger each year, and while it may be easy to make a scarecrow, putting the festival together takes plenty of work.
"We've got it down to a science, but we're also getting older, so it's taking us longer," Sue Higman said.
The festival has now become a local tradition, and while the straw guys are the main attraction, the festival also offered food, live music, and games.
"I like the sand in the bottle, I like the pony rides too, I like the scarecrow," said a group of kids at the Scrarecrow Festival.
Our own Matt Breen served as one of the judges for Saturday's scarecrow competition. Money raised from the festival will go toward future activities in the Akron-Westfield community.
