PORT ORCHARD — Mix up a batch of pumpkins, fright wigs, countless unicorn costumes and endless bags of candy, and you have yourself the makings of Port Orchard’s Boo Bash, a fun fall concoction staged Oct. 27 that was organized to celebrate Halloween.

One of the more visible elements of that “horror-ifying” event along Bay Street was the scarecrow contest. Folks in the community had the opportunity to build their own scary character (or at least one dressed in orangy-brown colors), which is typically stuffed with straw and adorned by a cornucopia of sewing box odds and ends.

Up to 500 entries from downtown visitors who selected their favorites were counted in crowning the People’s Choice, youth and business top scarecrow winners, said Vanessa Karwacki, owner-operator of The n9ne co., a downtown Port Orchard women’s clothing and apparel store. She also was the chair of the scarecrow event, sponsored by Port Orchard Bay Street Association (POBSA).

Winning the People’s Choice award was Sue’s Fresh Juice Bar & Sandwich Shop with its creation of a creepy cat lady, Karwacki said. There was a tie for the top entry in the youth category, shared by Julia and Anthony Black, who reportedly are a competitive brother and sister duo, and children of Angela Black.

Black was the designer in charge of creating “Maleficent” for the Kitsap Bank entry, which won in the best business category. The evil character from Disney’s “Sleeping Beauty” was molded out of papier mache, Karwacki said.

Karwacki, who was recently elected to the POBSA board, said she was appreciative of the help received to organize the scarecrow contest and the work done by volunteers to make the Boo Bash event happen.

“Thanks to all the kids that came out,” she said. “There were probably 1,000 kids who came by. Next year, we’re probably going to do trick-or-treating at a later time. Hopefully, the weather will cooperate.”