By James Hanlon
Leader Staff Writer
The Scarecrow Festival returned to downtown Oxford Sunday, packed with autumn and Halloween-themed activities and events organized by the Downtown Development Authority. Ghosts, super heroes, astronauts and princesses joined Paws the Wildcat trick-or-treating downtown businesses.
The chili cook-off judge’s choice was a tie between Sweet Amy’s Eating House in Lake Orion and C.J. Carnacchio representing Oxford Township and the free meals program at Immanuel Congregational United Church of Christ.
There were 100 votes for the people’s choice and it came down to one vote. Evergreen’s Coffee and Bakeshop won the $100 prize.
Oxford Middle School sixth-grader Ryan Ballard, 11, won the children’s pie-eating contest. Willow Lloyd won the 12+ group.
Employees at Oxford Bank, the sponsor for the event, looked around downtown at all the scarecrows and decided the best storefront was Sick Pizza Co.