They're all part of the annual Scarecrows Along Main Street display, in Old Wethersfield. Shoppers and casual strollers can check them out now through Oct. 25.
This is the 14th year for the scarecrows, explained Neill Walsh, owner of Neill Walsh Goldsmith & Gallery, at 125 Main St.
Originally some members of the Wethersfield Shopkeepers Association got together to figure out a way to bring excitement to the street, he said. "We wanted to enliven the neighborhood, with an event that had some duration, instead of being over after a day or two."
It got started long before West Hartford had its painted cows and other towns started displaying similar decorated animals, he said. Sturbridge Village had ice sculptures on their green, he recalled, "and we wanted something like that but different, so we thought of scarecrows. We hadn't heard of that before."
"We all get exposure for our businesses and keep Wethersfield's Main Street in the public eye. And it's a lot of fun," Walsh said.
He described the display as a harvest-type event rather than a Halloween one, which makes it more open to a wider range of themes.
There are more than 40 scarecrows this year, some inspired by the town's 375th years of history. Scarecrow Martha Washington is sitting in front of Mainly Tea, a scarecrow pilgrim and Indian duo are in front of the Hurlbut-Denham House, and some of the town's influential founders can be found in front of the Keeney Memorial Cultural Center - in scarecrow form, of course.
The tornado that hit town last June is a popular subject this year, too. There's a scarecrow clinging to a lamppost in mid-air by the Webb-Deane-Stevens Museum, with a sign that reads, "I Survived Tornado 09."
A few blocks away, the Wethersfield Cooperative Nursery School has a group of little scarecrow red onions, with a Burma Shave-style series of signs reading "If our town's trees/Put a smile on your face/Then tell Mr. Tornado/To get out of this place!" A scarecrow Mr. Tornado lurks nearby.
Walsh said in a few weeks "an anonymous judge," independent of the Wethersfield Shopkeepers Association, will choose the winners in a series of categories. The association will host all the scarecrow-makers and hand out awards at a party at Village Pizza.