Fall Harvest Festival Helps Bring Color To Downtown Montezuma

Scarecrow contest around the square in Montezuma has added some fun and color to their downtown

Montezuma, Iowa – With Iowa being in the middle of Fall, Montezuma opened up Memorial Hall for residents to come and share arts and crafts and different foods with their neighbors.

Jo Ahrens, of 3 Sisters Fabric in Montezuma, helped to organize the annual event as a public service for the community. “It’s a fun event for families to bring their kids and have fun, or for showing off some of our local crafters and artisans.”

Even though the amount of vendors was down this year from past years Ahrens said, “it was a nice showing and they filled the room that we had” Ahrens also said, “It’s a tough time of year, there’s so many events going on.”

“We’re a small group, but we try to do something entertaining several times a year,” Ahrens said of the group’s work to continue bringing events to Montezuma.

The group also tied in a scarecrow contest being held on the square in Montezuma, and is spearheaded by the Boosters. “It’s been very successful,” Ahrens said of the contest and the work of bringing attention to downtown.”Some are really clever,” Ahrens said of some of the entries for the contest.

The winners of the scarecrow contest win “Monte Bucks,” where 1st place will win $100.00, 2nd gets $50.00, and 3rd rakes in $25.00. The money is paid out in Monte Bucks so the money stays local.