How did Scarecrow Festival get started?
The first Scarecrow, Hula Dancer, created by Loey Knapp.
The Scarecrow Festival has been around since 2005. It was the brain child of Gary Knapp, the late husband of Loey Knapp, who was a leader in the Stevensville Art and Sculpture Society (SASS). SASS sponsored the event for several years until Gary's passing, when the Stevensville Main Street Association adopted and sponsored it until 2019.
After a hiatus in 2020 due to COVID-19, the 2021 Scarecrow Festival resumed under the leadership of Gretchen Spiess and Loey Knapp of River's Mist Gallery and Gifts Artists' Co-op and Coding for Kids, which was the fiscal sponsor.
The 2022 and 20223 Festival is led by a volunteer committee, with fiscal sponsorship by Project 59870 – the charitable arm of the Stevensville Civic Club.
Scarecrow by Gary Knapp
Excerpt from the Bitterroot Star:
The Scarecrow Festival was the creation of the Stevensville Art & Sculpture Society (SASS). Gary Knapp, president of SASS in 2012, was interviewed by the Star at that time and he said the event was started back in 2005 as a way to develop an interest in, and appreciation for, sculpture in the community.
Knapp’s personal vision was that the bike path coming into town would be lined with scarecrows welcoming people into the town that he loved. His idea was that scarecrows are not just burlap-filled figures with plaid shirts but could take many different forms. He said participants are free to use their imaginations without bound and the results have been impressive over the years. Knapp said he was impressed by the breadth of the community involvement.
During Knapp’s tenure, the scarecrow festival continued to grow and become known around the state as something worth traveling to Stevensville to see. This year, as of noon on Monday, October 3rd, there were 60 scarecrows registered (the previous record was 54 in 2019), including 35 businesses, 18 individuals or organizations, and 7 kids’ entries.
Knapp passed away unexpectedly at the end of 2012, but the scarecrow festival has carried on. It was taken over by the Stevensville Main Street Association and in 2015 a memorial to Knapp was dedicated at the beginning of that year’s festival. Knapp was passionate about enhancing the arts in Stevensville and was pivotal in shaping the scarecrow festival into the successful event it is today. He also worked with SASS to fund and install the second public art piece in Stevensville, “To Know Joy,” a bronze by Mari Bolen at Lange Park (next to Ahava Coffee). The first public art piece was “Two Left Feet Dancing Free” by Jay Laber, on the corner of Third and Main.
A memorial to Knapp, which was created by local artist Loree West, is installed at the native plant park near the beginning of the Stevensville bike path. The sculpture merges the scarecrow theme with elements of the craftsman-style woodwork that Knapp created.
The festival has continued to grow over the years, adding a carved pumpkin contest, a straw maze and more. When the Main Street Association dissolved, Knapp’s wife Loey stepped up, along with River’s Mist Gallery owner Gretchen Spiess, to organize the festival and keep it going, along with a group of dedicated volunteers.
Memorial to Gary Knapp, who was instrumental in creating the Stevensville Scarecrow Festival.