A bit of its agrarian heritage will return to Frog Alley Park in Uptown Kingston for the 3rd annual Scarecrows at Frog Alley, welcoming fall with stylish scarecrows and a pie contest.
Scarecrows at Frog Alley, sponsored by Friends of Historic Kingston and the Junior League of Kingston, will be held on Saturday, October 25 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. (rain or shine) at the ruins of the Louw-Bogardus House on Frog Alley, adjacent to the Wiltwyck Fire Station.
New this year, a pie contest will accompany the annual event featuring elaborate and stylish scarecrows crafted by area businesses and artists.
The public is encouraged to create and enter their own scarecrow and pies for judging. Prizes will be awarded for scarecrows: Best Design, Most Original Concept and Most Frightening Creation and pies: Most Attractive, Best Tasting, Most Unusual and Best Organic Pie.
From 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. select farm animals will be visiting from Forsyth Nature Center.
Bring your camera to take your photo in our “pumpkin patch!” Pumpkins on display for the event are being donated by the Local Economies Project and wooden pumpkin cutouts will also be placed for fall photo opportunities.
The event’s sponsors include Boitson’s, Dietz Stadium Diner and the Local Economies Project.
For more information and scarecrow or pie contest entry deadlines, please contact info@fohk.org or (845) 339-0720.
Following our event, walk over to the Old Dutch Church, 272 Wall Street, for hands-on pumpkin carving, refreshments and a showing of the animated movie version of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (told by Glenn Close with music by Tim Story) from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. Pumpkin lighting at 6 p.m. For more information call Old Dutch Church at: (845) 338-6759
The Louw-Bogardus House, a 17th-century stone foundation, is one of the oldest known sites of a working sawmill and gristmill in Kingston and has yielded significant archaeological remnants of early Dutch porcelain and 17th-century bricks. The Dunneman family lived at Frog Alley in the 1880’s and farmed the land, selling their corn, tomatoes and pumpkins along the streets of Kingston all the way to the Rondout on their horse and wagon. It was purchased in the late 1970s by Friends of Historic Kingston with a major contribution by the Ulster Garden Club for the landscaping of the hill garden and bluestone seating area. Today the site serves as an outdoor historical teaching venue for students in elementary school through college and for visitors worldwide.