A Study in Scarecrow, a friendly intro to celebrating fall in the LBI Region

Aug. 16, 2010 - PRLog -- For the past two years  thousands of visitors came to LBI for the “official end of summer ritual” that is Chowderfest Weekend were greeted by their  were greeted by dozens of friendly straw ambassadors posted in front of stores, in shop windows or in group displays created by chamber member businesses and non profit organizations.  What caused this many scarecrows to pop up not only on Long Beach Island, but in Waretown, Barnegat, Stafford, Tuckerton and  in Little Egg as well? The Southern Ocean County Chamber of Commerce created the free contest to remind everyone that fall events, activities and shopping are still in full swing at the Long Beach Island Region of the Jersey Shore.

2010 marks the third year the Southern Ocean County Chamber is running this contests which grew considerably in 2009.  "The first year we had 25 entries with about 57 scarecrows" states Lori Pepenella Destination Marketing Director "Last year we had 61 entries with well over 100 scarecrows,creating the largest scarecrow contest on the Jersey Shore."  The Chamber notes that participating in the Decorated Scarecrow Contest is probably the most unique form of promotion that can be done for a business or group, especially this year with the online voting component that put  members in front of thousands potential customers.  

This year, scarecrow entries have already started coming into the Chamber. “We are anticipating another great turn out this year,” says Lori Pepenella, Destination Marketing Director. "Everyone loved these scarecrows last fall, the creativity is something that makes our area stand out ."  Businesses and groups are invited to create a scarecrow that best interprets their business. The Chamber will list each scarecrow location on its Scarecrow Row Flyer which is distributed during Chowderfest Weekend, as well as online and at the visitor center for the rest of the month. Anyone choosing to take part in picking this year’s winner will be asked to register their vote at www.visitLBIregion.com. Scarecrow entrants are encouraged to further promote their business and their scarecrow by reaching out their email list or adding the link to other customer communications. The scarecrows will not only be displayed beginning October 2, but a digital photo they send to the chamber will be uploaded and the Scarecrow Row Gallery will go live online. Voting will take place online at www.visitLBIregion.com from October 2 to October 17 with a popular vote winner in the business and non profit category.

Last year the public embraced the contest, calling into the chamber office if internet was not available to them. Over 840 votes were tallied; the top scarecrow display to take the Business Category is Sea Crest Village in Little Egg Harbor. With the most individual votes, came in on top with their multi scarecrow display of joy riders depicting happy residents in the nursing facility. Last year, they took first place honors with their Nurse and well chair patient scarecrows. The top Non Profit Organization is the Pine Shores Art Association in Manahawkin with their life like Norma Rockwell. The scarecrow was modeled after the famous Norman Rockwell Self Portrait complete with her own easel, mirror and sketches. All of last year’s entries can be viewed online at http://www.visitlbiregion.com/phototour.cfm. For more information about the contest, Chowderfest or the Southern Ocean County Chamber of Commerce, please contact them at 609 494 7211, 265 West Ninth St, Ship Bottom NJ.

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