WATERVILLE — The sun at Head of Falls was high in the sky, a warm breeze wafted in from the river, and everywhere, children were carving pumpkins, creating scarecrows, nibbling cotton candy and playing games.
Abigail Webb, 5, dragged the scarecrow she made over to a table and hoisted it onto the surface. Its head was crafted from a white trash bag filled with newspaper; its pink torso and polka-dot trousers were stuffed with straw.
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“They told me to keep it forever,” Webb crooned. “I’ll put it in my front yard.”
The blond-haired child flitted back and forth from the scarecrow-making area to the table where her mother, Sonya Webb and stepfather, John Hill, of Waterville, were carving a pumpkin.
“We come to this every year,” Sonya Webb said. “Abby loves it.”
The 12th annual Harvest Fest, hosted by Waterville Main Street, featured hayrides, pumpkin bowling, music and demonstrations by the Colby College Woodsmen Team and Colby a cappella singing groups.
Winthrop author Barbara Walsh signed her new book, “Rhoda’s Rescue,” which the Waterville Rotary Club asked her to write for the group’s Rhoda Reads Early Literacy Program. The book, illustrated by Maine artist Abby Grieg, is about an owl who uses her special powers to help her forest friends.
People of all ages traipsed into a white tent set up near the Two-Cent Bridge where cupcakes and other treats were on sale. City Councilor Dana Bushee, wearing a long-haired, curly red wig and costume, was helping at the Hardy Girls, Healthy Women booth, which offered free lapel button-making.
City Councilor Rosemary Winslow said it was nice to see so many people on the waterfront, strolling across the bridge and enjoying the day.
“I’m so glad the sun came out,” she said.
Jennifer Olsen, executive director of Waterville Main Street, picked up a microphone and thanked everyone for coming. She said at 1 p.m. that about 200 people had visited the fest, which was held 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Sam Helm, a 2012 Colby alumni and current assistant director of campus life, was a huge help in organizing the event — which was sponsered by Colby, the city and Winslow Federal Credit Union — and helping to host games and other activities, according to Olsen.
“He’s awesome,” she said.
Helm, 24, said Olsen works hard to help foster relations with college students and the city.
Meanwhile, Hunter Bragg, 8, of Waterville, and his aunt, Melissa Caswell, of Smithfield, were busy carving a pumpkin — something Hunter said he had never done before.
He pored through a booklet of designs and settled on a ghost with wings.
“This one!” he declared.
The George J. Mitchell School student said he planned to participate in other activities after carving the pumpkin.
“I’ll go on a hay ride and then make a scarecrow,” he said.
Amy Calder — 861-9247
Twitter: @AmyCalder17
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