'Creepy' scarecrow wins contest

Over the last week, early voters at the New Harvest Park polling station also got to cast a vote in a decidedly scarier election.

The Knox County Parks and Recreation Department hosted its second annual "Scarecrows in the Park" competition and announced the winners Thursday at the weekly farmers' market held at the park.

First-, second- and third-place winners in the youth and adult categories were chosen by a public vote and a panel of three guest judges. This year's competition featured 16 scarecrows, 10 in the adult category and six in the youth, that lined the park's quarter-mile greenway.

This year's youth winners were Matthew and Jordan Graham. They competed against each other last year - Matthew winning third place and Jordan winning first.

"It was not fair," said Matthew. "She is too good."

The adult category also featured a repeat winner. Vic Zanoni, who has made many Halloween props, won first place for the second time with an impressive papier-mache scarecrow named Ivan.

"A lot of the stuff that I have done is kind of creepy and scary," he said, "and I wanted to have that creepiness, but I wanted it to be good for the kids."

© 2010, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.