Ever seen a hula girl scarecrow? How about a pirate scarecrow? Well, we made some scarecrows, and we couldn’t just make any old traditional kind of scarecrow—of course they had to have some kind of Sandbar flair to them.

Cottin’s Hardware has sponsored a scarecrow contest and auction for the past several years to raise funds for various community garden projects. Every year, we say “We’re going to make a scarecrow this year!” and every year….we don’t.

Until this year!

Using leftover costume remnants and tropical “stuff,” we managed to make not one, but TWO scarecrows this year: a hula dancer and a pirate. You can imagine how much tropical “stuff” we have on hand: coconut bras, leis, grass skirts, all kinds of stuff.

This beauty could be yours tomorrow night:

Tropical scarecrow | www.thesandbar.com

The base of this one is even made from the base of one of our old tables, so you’ll legitimately have a piece of the Sandbar.

The scarecrow contest and auction takes place Friday, Oct. 24, from 5-9 p.m. at the George Paley Building, located at 721 East 9th. This year’s beneficiaries are the Central Garden at Liberty Memorial Central Middle School; the New York Elementary School garden; the Boys & Girls Club Teen Center garden; and the Lawrence Community Shelter garden.

But this isn’t just a contest and auction—it’s a party! Free State will be there with beer and wine, and the Purple Carrot and Torched Goodness food trucks will be selling food. And we all know Lawrence loves beer and food trucks…

After the scarecrow prizes are awarded at 5:45 p.m., the live music begins. Listen to Hyde & Seek, Ellie Williams & Michael Paull, Chris & Dan Tomkins and Truckstop Kids

This is a great family-friendly event, so whether you’ve got kids or not, come on out to see some of Lawrence’s unique creativity!

And buy our scarecrows, please. Otherwise we’ll have to put them at the bar…and you certainly don’t want them taking your seat, do you?