Think you have what it takes to build the perfect scarecrow? The kick off to the 13th annual Make Your Own Scarecrow event organized by Branford's Community Dining Room (CDR) begins on Saturday, Oct. 6 at Bishop's Orchard in Guilford. All proceeds go toward the non-profit CDR.

"The biggest thing you see is tons of families and the kids really get into it. It's really a destination and a great place to come in the fall for a perfect family event," said Cheryl Kaiden, publicity director and CDR Board of Directors member. "We typically get a lot of families who come in to make the scarecrows together."

The CDR, at 30 Harrison Avenue in Branford, offers food to those in need all over the shoreline, serving about 4,000 meals per month. Shoreline residents can take hot lunch meals Sunday through Friday and the second and fourth Saturday of the month, Tuesday family dinner and story time, Wednesday night takeout dinner, and a Saturday breakfast.

The popular CDR scarecrow fundraiser will take place every Saturday and Sunday throughout October, as well as Columbus Day on Monday, Oct. 8 and will run from 10 a.m. through 5 p.m. each day. Last year's event had an estimated 3,000 people take part, with about 1,200 scarecrows made.

Residents don't have to worry about lugging their own accessories and scarecrow-making materials-volunteers from the CDR provide all that is needed, including hay, outfits, and accessories, to create the perfect scarecrow.

"Kids love getting into it. They come up, they pick out all the clothing, they can pick out different pants, tops, hats, and different accessories-and the kids, with the parents, get to make the scarecrows," Kaiden explained.

Children can take a break from making their scarecrows and get glitter tattoos and face painting as well. The price to make one scarecrow will be $12 or $22 for two. Face painting is $8 and glitter tattoos are $5.

Kaiden said one of the best things about the scarecrow event is the fact that it's located at Bishop's, with tons of other activities occurring there every weekend for shoreline residents to take part in.

"The other nice thing about it is Bishops has been such an awesome supporter of our organization over the years in many ways and one of the great ways that they support us is allowing us to be apart of it," she said. "The nice thing is that for their customers who are coming to buy pumpkins and apples and do all of that, they can also take part in all of our activities and vice versa-the people that are coming to make scarecrows, there's also Bishop's maze and you can get you pumpkins and you can do apple picking, so it's a really good destination for the fall and for families."

To learn more about the 13th annual Make Your Own Scarecrow, call the CDR at 203-488-9750. To learn more about the CDR, visit www.communitydiningroom.org.