With school in progress and leaves changing colors, islanders are starting to prepare for a plethora of upcoming autumn events.

The first event in Coupeville is Scarecrow Corridor 2009, which will line the streets with scarecrow displays for several weeks in October.

The Central Whidbey Chamber of Commerce is accepting applications from people, businesses, school groups and community organizations who wish to participate in by creating a scarecrow for the corridor.

Applications are available online at www.centralwhidbeychamber.com. They can also be picked up at Kapaw’s Iskreme, the Honey Bear, Local Grown, Miriam’s Espresso, Tyee, Heidi’s Espresso and Whidbey Island Bank. Applications are due in the chamber office by the end of the month.

The scarecrows will line the sides of Main, Front, Coveland and Alexander streets. They will be staked out on Coupeville streets between Oct. 3 and 6.

Linda Eccles, executive director of the chamber, said awards will be given for people’s choice, best scarecrow produced by a business and best scarecrow produced by a nonbusiness.

She said organizers decided to skip a theme this year and would rather see good, old fashioned scarecrows.

The scarecrow corridor is just one of the autumn festivals coming up. On Oct. 10, Coupeville’s Harvest Fest and the Greenbank Farm’s Octoberfest take place. Around Halloween, Oak Harbor’s Frightville, the haunted house at the Roller Barn, opens.