EDMOND, Okla. (KFOR) – Somewhat spooky season is in full effect in downtown Edmond.

Business owners are showing off their creativity in hopes of bringing in more customers – and of course – having some fun along the way.

Of course, the goal of scarecrows is typically to scare away flocks of birds – but the hope is that these will have people flocking to downtown Edmond.

On a beautiful October morning, one Edmond family was roller skating the streets of downtown with friendly scarecrows welcoming them along the way.

 “They’re cute,” one child named Yuhneeque told News 4.

“I taked a picture with them,” her 4-year-old brother, Ayce, said. “I’m not scared of nothing.”

This is the sixth year the Downtown Edmond Business Association has given scarecrows to its members for them to decorate and place in front of their shops and restaurants to be judged by the public on social media for their creativity.

“Every year, it gets a little more creative, more fun,” said the association’s executive Director, Stephanie Carel. 

Carel says some businesses start planning for this as early as July!

“It’s kind of cool to see how they work in their mind figuring out how to beat everybody else,” she told News 4. 

The winner of the contest will get a gift card to a local business.

But Carel says the biggest win of all is these scarecrows bring big crowds to shop small.

“They realize wait, I haven’t been in this store or I haven’t eaten at this restaurant,” Carel said. “So it’s a great way for us to get new people down here as well as people who have been here for a really long time. When you need a donation for a school fundraiser or you need a donation for some type of event, those are the people that are going to give back to you. So we need to be supporting those people.”

You can vote for your favorite scarecrow by “liking” its picture on the Downtown Edmond Facebook and Instagram pages from October 5 through the 31.
The winner will receive a gift card to a local business.