The Creature on Creviston: Elevating Lawn Art

The main reason I’ve kept this going is that people tell me that when they drive by (Ol’ Squatch) puts big smiles on their faces.”

While driving down Creviston Drive, an encounter with a towering long-limbed mythical monster with glowing red eyes is not such a big feat. But it sure is a Bigfoot.

Don’t expect the Key Peninsula’s rendition of the legendary forest figure to be elusive. No, this notoriously blurry creature was created to be very visible.

To the public, he goes by many names: Sasquatch, Wildman, and, of course, Bigfoot. To artist Scott Bows and his family, he’s just plain Ol’ Squatch.

The 8-foot-tall, 4-foot-wide piece of plywood has been a cherished member of the Minter Creek community since the summer of 2022. What began as a weekend whim for yard décor transformed into an evolving piece of lawn art, featuring elaborate designs for holidays and special occasions. 

“It started out as just a thing for my family,” Bows said. “But the more people liked it the more it inspired me to keep doing different things for it.”

He won’t go as far as claiming belief in Bigfoot’s existence, but Scott always pictured him with an ape-like body, adorned with a bearded, bald-headed, human-like face. Each design is meticulously hand-painted with acrylic crafting paint and incorporates foam board and other 3D elements. 

Though the idea is Bows’ brainchild, the whole family dedicates time to making the idea better each month. The living room floor serves as the arts and crafts zone, while the kitchen table becomes his painting station. Scott and his wife Tara bounce ideas off each other, while their daughters, Harper, a sixth-grader at Key Peninsula Middle School, and Scarlett, a fourth-grader at Minter Creek Elementary, help outside with the display. It takes the Bows at least two Sundays every month to come up with new designs.

Why Sundays? 

“So the school kids have something to look forward to on Monday when they’re heading to school,” said Tara, a secretary at Minter Creek Elementary.

Creviston is the main route to the school, less than a mile away from where Ol’ Squatch roams. Almost all of the school buses and parents dropping off their kids go by this spot every weekday.

“It’s so cool to see how excited the kids are when they come into the building," she said. 

Scarlett said her classmates love her dad’s work but admits “some kindergartners thought (Ol’ Squatch) was scary on Halloween.” That’s when the Bows family goes into super mode to dress up Scott’s creation each week in October with a different costume, including Pennywise, Jason Voorhees and Freddie Krueger. Scarlett’s favorite so far was 2022’s Grinch Christmas theme, and Ol’ Squatch spent most of last month dressed up in Santa Claus garb.

“That’s pretty cool because people came and took their family holiday photos in front of it,” Scott said, adding that he loves having people stop by and enjoy his art. Since its inception, Ol’ Squatch has been seen as a hula dancer and a peace-loving beach bum during the summer months, sporting bunny ears during the spring and a pilgrim-clad turkey hunter in the fall. Scott’s personal favorite is the intricate Star Wars-themed display he does in May.

“Scott is such a great artist,” Tara said. “He just keeps going and going, and it gets better and better."

Though the Bows won’t use Ol’ Squatch for political endorsements, they have used him to encourage Creviston drivers to slow down and to consider passing a recent school levy.

The family started the “Watch for Squatch” Facebook page so the community can follow along and suggest ideas, though Scott and Tara are pretty tight-lipped on upcoming displays to preserve the element of surprise. Scott is in the planning stages of designing some merchandise to sell to help offset the recurring expenses it takes to maintain a monster of this size.

Although Ol’ Squatch, is not even two years old, he’s due for a facelift sooner than later. The Pacific Northwest weather does a number on plywood, and Scott is looking to upgrade the material before next summer.“The main reason I’ve kept this going is that people tell me that when they drive by (Ol’ Squatch) puts big smiles on their faces,” Scott said. “That makes me feel good knowing that I’m making people smile."