Scaring up some holiday fun in Windsor

Windsor’s Halloween celebration began Oct. 11, when nine scarecrows took up residence in the sycamore grove at the Town Green to kick off the tenth annual Scarecrow Days.

The Windsor Unified School District and the Old Downtown Windsor Merchants Association participated in this year’s Dr. Seuss-themed competition. Seven of the scarecrows were created by the school district and its elementary and middle school classes.

There were 30 available spaces in the grove, and last year there were about 14 entries, said Donna Gomes, secretary to District Superintendent Steven Jorgensen.

Town Manager Linda Kelly and school district Supervisor Steve Jorgensen selected the prize winners. The district’s Board of Trustees and Best of Show awards went to Angela Velarde and students of Cali Calmecac Elementary School for the colorful and creative tin can depiction of “Dr. Seuss.”

The Town Green went to the dogs on Saturday, when the Dog Park Association of Windsor held its third annual Howl-O-Ween Pawty. It was a fundraising event for a dog park at Keiser Park that will complement the Chuck Williams Memorial Dog Park on Sugar Maple Lane, at the east side of town.

The association’s director, Jennifer Capuano, said ?80 percent of the Howl-O-Ween Pawty’s proceeds will go toward the proposed Keiser Park facility. The noon to 3 p.m. “Pawty” included a costume contest with prizes for Best Dog and Best group, a silent auction, kids games and face painting.

Halloween festivities end Saturday, with La Fiesta para los Muertos celebration between sunset and 10 p.m. on the Town Green. The Day of the Dead festival has been celebrated for 3,000 years in Mexico, South America and Central America and is increasingly popular in the United States. The focus is on remembering and celebrating dead family members ?rather than sadness and mourning.

An art show of Memory Portraits of deceased relatives was held yesterday at the Windsor Middle School.

The Saturday fiesta includes a candlelight procession around the Town Green when darkness falls, led by dancers, drummers and giant Carnaval-sized stick puppets.

Latin American foods and refreshments, artists painting traditional “calavera” - laughing skeletons and skulls that mock the specter of death - mariachi music, Aztec dancers and the Windsor Bloco drum and dance group will add to the festivities.

Contact Windsor correspondent James Lanaras at WindsorTownNews@gmail.com.