How many places do you need to go to see Watchung's 100th-anniversary October? Nearly all of it happens on one stretch of ground: Watchung Lake, the Village Green and Mobus Field off Brookdale Road. The calendar isn't a list of separate events. A scarecrow put up on the 17th gets judged on the 21st, and its winner is announced at the Harvest Festival on the 31st. The Great Pumpkin 5K adds a second walk timed to that festival. The month opens with a morning at the lake and ends with a full day there.
The borough is marking its centennial alongside the country's 250th anniversary. The official schedule lists a golf outing on October 5, a Centennial Gala on October 17, a Harvest Festival on October 31 and Winter Wonderland on December 5. The borough adds that dates can change because of weather or "with ample notice." Here is how those dates fit together.
The Opening Morning Is at the Lake, Too
The first October event at the lake is the Fishing Derby on Saturday, October 3, from 9 a.m. to noon at Watchung Lake on Stirling Road. An earlier borough schedule and a June Patch preview listed September 26. If you saw that date over the summer, the current borough calendar entry has replaced it.
That Saturday also has an evening event. The Watchung Arts Center opens its fall concert series with Deni Bonet and Chris Flynn at 8 p.m. on October 3. So the first weekend sets the pattern for the month: the lake during the day and the Arts Center at night.
The Arts Center also sponsors the month's longest-running event.
The Scarecrow Stroll Ties the Month Together
The 2026 Scarecrow Stroll is the fifth annual. Its sponsors are the Mayor and Council, the Traffic and Beautification Commission, the Recreation Commission, the Watchung Arts Center and the Watchung Library Advisory Committee. Entries are open to residents, families, scouts, schools, clubs, first responders and businesses in the borough.
The rules are specific. Each scarecrow must be handmade, family-friendly, named and no taller than 4 feet. It has to hold up to wind, rain and sun without a wooden or rigid frame, and it gets attached with zip ties to an assigned post-rail fence on the Watchung Lake Village Green.
The stroll runs on this timeline:
- Saturday, October 17, and Sunday, October 18. Installation weekend. Donuts and cider are served on the first morning from 10 a.m. to noon.
- Tuesday, October 20. Every scarecrow must be installed.
- Wednesday, October 21. Art students from Watchung Hills Regional High School judge the contest.
- Saturday, October 31. Last day on display. Winners are announced at the Harvest Festival.
- November 1 through 3. Entrants take their scarecrows down. Anything left is removed and thrown out by November 4.
So the Village Green fills up over a single weekend, gets judged midweek and holds its results until Halloween. Families who build an entry have a reason to come back to the lake twice in two weeks. Anyone walking the Green between October 18 and 31 sees the full lineup in one loop.
The Evening Events Run on the Same Weekends
Installation weekend is also gala weekend. The Centennial Gala runs from 7 to 11 p.m. on Saturday, October 17, at Watchung Valley Golf Club. The gala and the October 5 golf outing are the two October events the borough marks as fundraisers. The money goes to the Watchung Educational Foundation, the PTO, a scholarship for a Watchung Hills Regional High School junior or senior, and the Texier House Museum Carriage House. The borough's sponsorship materials describe the Carriage House as a fundraising beneficiary. They don't say it has reopened.
The next afternoon, Sunday, October 18, pianist Carolyn Enger plays the Arts Center at 3 p.m. That same Sunday is the second day of scarecrow installation. The fall series also includes Rio Clemente and Lenore Raphael at 3 p.m. on Sunday, October 11, and the Seven Steps Septet at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, October 28.
| Date | Day | Lake or field | Evening or indoor |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct. 3 | Saturday | Fishing Derby, 9 a.m. to noon | Deni Bonet and Chris Flynn, 8 p.m. |
| Oct. 5 | Monday | Centennial golf outing | |
| Oct. 11 | Sunday | Rio Clemente and Lenore Raphael, 3 p.m. | |
| Oct. 17 | Saturday | Scarecrow installation, donuts and cider 10 a.m. to noon | Centennial Gala, 7 to 11 p.m. |
| Oct. 18 | Sunday | Scarecrow installation continues | Carolyn Enger, 3 p.m. |
| Oct. 21 | Wednesday | Scarecrow judging | |
| Oct. 28 | Wednesday | Seven Steps Septet, 7 p.m. | |
| Oct. 31 | Saturday | 5K, walks and Harvest Festival |
The Arts Center has new fall gallery and office hours. It's open Monday, Tuesday, Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., and by appointment. The historic building is also getting work on its front porch this season. If you want to see the gallery before a Sunday concert, plan on a Saturday morning visit.
Halloween at Mobus Field
All of these threads come together on Saturday, October 31.
The day starts with the Jack Walsh Great Pumpkin Certified 5K and one-mile walk, organized by the Watchung Hills Regional Municipal Alliance. Both are based at Watchung Lake's Phillips/Mobus Field on Brookdale Road. Registration opens at 8 a.m., and the 5K and the morning walk start at 9 a.m. A second family walk runs from 1 to 3 p.m., during the festival. Race registration costs $25 for the 5K, $15 for an adult walker and $5 for a child. The afternoon walk lets families sign up for the race and the festival without being at the field at 8 a.m.
The Harvest Festival is the last event on the field that day. The borough calendar lists it at Mobus Field from 1 to 4 p.m., with a rain date of Sunday, November 1. The scarecrow packet gives noon to 3 p.m. for announcing the winners at the festival. Those times don't match. Check the borough calendar or the borough's My Watchung app that week. The app handles resident notifications, and Nixle still sends emergency alerts separately.
The borough hasn't posted a 2026 lineup of activities or vendors. Last year's flyer gives a sense of the format. The 2025 Harvest Festival was free, held at Mobus Field, and had food, music, games and prizes, with the band Lost in Place playing from 2 to 4 p.m. That festival was on Saturday, October 18, 2025. This year it moved to Halloween, the same date as the 5K and the last day of the Scarecrow Stroll. Putting all three on one day is why October 31 is the busiest day of the month.
After October
The centennial schedule continues after the Harvest Festival. Winter Wonderland is on Saturday, December 5. The next day, Sunday, December 6, the Arts Center hosts a holiday show with Marty Eigen and Amani. The Center is also taking vendor applications for its 2026 Holiday Art Market through October 8. It hasn't posted the market's date yet.
Two other projects tied to the centennial don't have finish dates yet. The borough's spring and summer newsletter said work was continuing on the Watchung Community Connection. The borough hoped to open it during the centennial year and planned to place a new time capsule outside it. The Watchung branch library is still operating temporarily at 20 Stirling Road while its building is renovated, and its October programs are listed there too.
For a quick bite after a long Saturday at the field, Honeygrow opened in the spring at Blue Star Shopping Center, 1701 Route 22. It's the chain's second Somerset County location.
We love seeing the town turn up for its 100th, from the derby on the 3rd to the festival on Halloween. If you're building a scarecrow or signing up for the Great Pumpkin walk and want to compare notes on the month, Meagan Beriont would be glad to hear from you. Let's Connect.
