Creativity on Display During Sandcastle Competition at Starlite Beach
An annual sandcastle contest put on by the Alpena News has been going on for the past nine years.
Most competitors began sculpting their castles at 8 a.m. Tuesday morning. As beachgoers did some grilling and others took a dip, teams were putting their creativity to the test. “We really enjoy the trains,” said Rob Martin, one of the competitors. “We think it’s fun and we knew the kids would like it.” A moat that ran up from the water through multiple castles.
It’s a delicate process that took most competitors until time was up at 3:30 p.m. “First, you start with a big pile of sand and then you start carving away everything that’s not a train,” Martin said. “With the heavy wind and the light humidity today, it just dries everything out. If you don’t keep it wet it kind of just crumbles and blows everything away.”
First place for the 1-5 builders division went to team “Potatoes” who built a long moat from Lake Huron through multiple castles. First place for the 6 or more division went to the Breakfast Club who displayed a stack of pancakes, bacon, and coffee.
The people’s choice was neither, and instead it went to Brad Gagnon for his Rockporch Castle. “I didn’t know if I was going to enter or not but the people at the Alpena News tent talked me into it.”
It wasn’t all about winning for these creative sculptors. “I’m happy with it,” said Martin. “It’s one of the better one’s that we’ve done, and the best part is I did it with my family.”
