CUB SCOUT PACK TAKES PRIZE FOR HEADLESS HORSEMAN TALE.

Byline: Karen Thacker Community Columnist

Studying folk tales a task required to earn the Bear rank in Cub Scouts - paid off for Pack 308.

After studying ``The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,'' Washington Irving's 1819 tale of the headless horseman who rides through the night, the Scouts adopted the scary theme for the Antelope Valley Mall's Scarecrow Decorating Contest. The group of nine Lancaster boys took first place and won $300 - more than the pack normally earns for the whole year.

``The headless horseman and Ichabod Crane - they all thought it was a great idea,'' said den leader Marla McEwan. ``It was a really fun thing for the boys to put it together.''

Pack 308 created a scarecrow carrying a pumpkin head under his arm, poised on a sawhorse decorated to depict a horse. The entry also features a group of pumpkin-headed Scouts gathered around a campfire listening to the legend told by their pumpkin-headed leader.

The Cub Scout pack members are Joseph Bailey, Rufus Clark, Richard Macon, Eric McEwan, Tony Mojica and Adam Sepulveda, with Webelos members LeRoy Judd, Casey Kennedy and Matthew McCammon and leader Linda Judd.

The pack still is deciding whether to spend its windfall on flag stands, an American-Indian headdress, or a field trip.

Kathy Sommer, the mall events coordinator, said the high quality and creativity of the displays prompted contest organizers to boost the prize money: first place got $300, second place $200, third place $100 and fourth place $50. The six other entrants each got a $25 honorable mention prize.

``They were all very creative. It was wonderful,'' Sommer said. ``This is one of those contests where nobody loses.''

The displays will remain up through Halloween.

Second place was won by Boy Scout Troop 586. Its display had a ``Titanic'' theme, showing the ocean liner broken in half and a half-scarecrow, half-skeleton face calling to Rose, one of the lead characters in the recent blockbuster film.

Cub Scout Pack 310 in Palmdale had a more traditional theme, showing pumpkin-headed Scouts, and Pack 243 from Littlerock took fourth place with a scarecrow Scout, decked out in backpack and camping gear.