Cambria's 15th annual scarecrow festival supports the community 

Pumpkins may be a fall emblem, but for 15 years running, Cambria has ensured that scarecrows have their day in the sun too—quite literally.

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• Image Courtesy Of Cambria Scarecrow Festival
• ROOM TO CROW Themed scarecrows grace the commercial streets of Cambria as part of the annual scarecrow festival every October. The inset shows detail of the face of the Dia de los Muertos themed scarecrow from 2022.

Throughout October, themed scarecrows will dot the seaside town thanks to the annual Cambria Scarecrow Festival. It started in 2009 with 30 scarecrows and has now grown to approximately 300 made by local scarecrow artists.

"We will have one big display that will represent the 15 years," festival President Paulla Ufferheide said. "It will have pictures of scarecrows from the 15 years."

Ufferheide told New Times that a trip to Saskatchewan, Canada, inspired the woman who started the festival. She accompanied her husband on a business trip and asked the hotel concierge for sightseeing recommendations. One of them was a scarecrow festival in a nearby town.

"She thought, Cambria, with all the artistic people we have, would be an ideal place to have a festival,'" Ufferheide said. "October has been historically a slow month for the businesses in Cambria."

This year, scarecrow festival visitors can enjoy themed creations like woodland animals, a scarecrow display of extra-terrestrials called "Cambraliens" that's a riff on the cantina scene in Star Wars, and characters from the Netflix series Wednesday.

Cambria businesses can participate, too. Through the festival website, they can register by Sept. 15 to build their own scarecrows and place them at storefronts. If the companies don't want to make their own, the Friends of the Scarecrows program allows businesses to make a donation and rent locally made scarecrows. Currently, volunteers have 83 scarecrows ready for rent.

"Our Friends program is one of our big funding areas," Ufferheide said. "We have a big party called the Salute to the Scarecrows on Oct. 28 at the Cambria Pines Lodge from 6 to 8 p.m."

The tourism boards of Cambria and San Simeon help fund the scarecrow festival as well. The proceeds go to building the scarecrows, and that process includes access to storage and wardrobe units, and utilities for the creative center.

Volunteers interested in making the scarecrows start fashioning them every April. An organizer monitors their work and doles out advice at the creative center every weekday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Don't want to build a scarecrow from scratch? The festival officials are fans of recycling and draw from past scarecrows preserved in storage.

"They can come to a program called Dr. Crow," Ufferheide said. "It's when you go and get a scarecrow that's maybe been out a couple of years. We strip it down and change it into a new character."

She added that the scarecrow festival is more than just a curious attraction in Cambria. The festival also provides scholarships to students poised to graduate from Cambria High School who plan to pursue careers in the arts.

"It really kind of blows you away that this little community of 5,000 or 6,000 people can pull something like this off and do it with such a high level of artistic ability," Ufferheide said.

Fast facts

• Support senior nutrition through Meals that Connect's inaugural pickleball tournament and pickle contest on Sept. 9 and 10 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Templeton Tennis Ranch. Kennedy Club Fitness, the event sponsor, will offer pickleball clinics at its SLO County locations until Sept. 9. Local leaders like Assemblymember Dawn Addis, Atascadero Mayor Pro Tem Susan Funk, and county Supervisor Dawn Ortiz-Legg will participate in some pickleball games. Visit mealsthatconnect.org to volunteer, enter the pickle tasting competition, play pickleball, or simply make a donation.

• Give for Good, Diversity SLO County's fundraiser, will take place on Sept. 21 at Flying Caballos Ranch in Edna Valley. The evening of philanthropy that's a blend of networking, guest speakers, and live music aims to raise funds to support the group's initiatives like the school speaker program and board leadership training for professionals in Black, indigenous, and minority communities. Visit diversityslo.org or contact Rita Casaverde at [email protected] for more information.

• The county now has its first community reports and data center thanks to the Community Foundation of SLO County. It's a comprehensive online database that tracks needs and trends about emerging issues in the region pertaining to topics like housing and homelessness, equity, child care and education, health and human services, land and nature, economic conditions, and arts and culture. Visit cfsloco.org/research to explore. Email [email protected] to connect directly with the foundation about specific initiatives addressing community needs. Δ

Reach Staff Writer Bulbul Rajagopal at [email protected].