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Five years ago, Cynthia Claridge, owner of Paulina Springs Books, searched for ideas to increase business by bringing Redmond residents downtown. She decided on a fun and creative fall activity, with a nonprofit fundraiser element — a scarecrow contest.

Patterned after “Pigs on Parade,” in Seattle’s Pike Place Market, Redmond’s popular contest is now in its fourth year, with upwards of 30 participating businesses.

“It really puts the downtown businesses in the fall spirit with Halloween right around the corner,” said Claridge.

As summer ends, Redmond businesses and their nonprofit partners design and create scarecrows to be displayed in their store fronts. Interested individuals then purchase a voting ticket for fifty cents and place the ticket into their favorite scarewrow’s bucket. Tickets can be bought at any participating business and can then be used to vote for any scarecrow. Voters can cast as many votes as they want, and all proceeds from the purchase of voting tickets go directly to the charities each scarecrow represents.

In addition to the money raised through voting, each business pays $30 to participate in the competition. The top two most popular scarecrows share the purse supplied by the merchants, which is at least $550.

The event has become so popular, Claridge barely has any downtown businesses turn it down. Even businesses outside of downtown want in. However, because this is mainly a walking event, the host hasn’t figured out a way to include them, yet.

Each year, Claridge visits her fellow shop owners with a list of local nonprofits. In the past, the list has included the Harvest Food Bank, Al-Anon, the Boys and Girls Club, Habitat for Humanity, the Humane Society and Girl Scouts of America.

“It’s a great way for the community of Redmond to support our local nonprofits and the services they provide,” explained Claridge.

Every year the competition produces an amazing collection of creative scarecrows. Some are designed with straw in the traditional farm attire and floppy hats. Others forego the norm and turn the scarecrows upside down. There are even some scarecrows with full electronics, including radios, incorporated in the design.

Last year, the Children’s Theater Company dressed their scarecrow, located at The Dress, as a character from a play. The CTC wanted to use the money they raised to perform the play on an 11-day trip to Poland earlier this year.

Meanwhile, at Paulina Springs Books, the Ridgeview High School Ravens Lacrosse Team wanted to raise money for their team to compete in league play and tournaments. They dressed their scarecrow as a giant raven in a lacrosse costume. Using school colors as a guide, it wore a purple jersey and white pants. A helmet topped the scarecrow while two lacrosse stick provided the legs.

For their efforts, the Children’s Theater Company took first place, raising $912, and the Ridgeview High School Lacrosse Team placed second with $584. The two charities also split the $550 provided by the businesses.

Scarecrows will be on display from October 1 through November 4, in downtown Redmond on 6th Street from Black Butte Avenue to Glacier Avenue. Interested businesses can contact Cynthia Claridge at Paulina Springs Books for more information.