Having a blast at the beach
CANDICE BRADFIELD
OVERCAST skies and light rain on the Day of Goodwill did not deter budding sand sculptors from flocking to Kelly’s Beach to create a variety of creatures and objects for the second annual Sand Sculpture Competition.
A total of 25 teams and individuals took part in the competition, which is co-sponsored by Talk of the Town, The Herald, Weekend Post, Harcourts, Sunshine Coast Tourism and The Announcer.
All the proceeds, which came to R980, were donated to the Port Alfred Soup Kitchen after the prize giving.
| SAND SCULPTING KINGS: The Averbuch family from Port Alfred were chosen as the overall winners of this year’s Sand Sculpting Competition held at Kelly’s Beach on the Day of Goodwill. With their winning mermaid are (back, from left) mom Helen holding Jack and dad Dominicue, with Laura (front right) and cousin Kaelyn Jonathan Picture: CANDICE BRADFIELD |
Creations varied from traditional sandcastles and sandmen to racing cars and aliens. Several participants were entering for the second time, having thoroughly enjoyed last year’s competition. Mermaids were popular, as were various animals including an elephant, rhinos and a horse.
Entrants started arriving at about 9am, equipped with all manner of buckets, spades and other implements to shape the sand into interesting forms. Participants could choose their own plot from those marked out at the water’s edge.
The competition attracted interest from other beachgoers who came to look at all the different designs and took photos of their favourite sand sculptures.
The sun came out just in time for the prize giving. Participants were judged on originality, design, detail and artistic ability.
Round Table/Talk of the Town Miss Port Alfred second princess Melissa du Randt handed out prizes to the winners which included beach balls, frisbees, t-shirts, umbrellas and flashsticks.
The Averbuch family from Port Alfred were the overall winners with their beautifully decorated mermaid. Dad Dominicue(correct) said he had been fishing since 4am that morning and had been in two minds about entering the competition.
For their efforts they won a braai and bag of charcoal together with other prizes.
In second place was team Hanstein from Port Alfred who sculpted an elephant’s head from the sand. Third overall was the Lowther family from Nelspruit and Port Alfred. They decided to build a hand with the message "Water is life” written on it.
The winning individual adult was Carol-Ann Stiekema with her "Ode to Marion” dedicated to her 80-year-old aunt who is an artist. The design of a face with flowing hair was inspired by Marion’s earlier work.
The team simply known as Ronald the Sandman won the team prize for their large "snowman” made out of sand.
Tara-Lea van Zyl from Bloemfontein won the individual U16 section for her horse and guitar. This is the second consecutive year that she won this section.
Since the judges had a hard time choosing the best design, Kayla Stiekema and Ella Gardiner tied for first place in the individual U10 category.
A special prize for perseverance and ambition was awarded to Eric Gardiner whose huge fort was washed away by the sea before he could finish it.
The judges for the competition were Adele Steck, Heather Howard and Billy Futter.
