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Community Corner

Castles in the Sand

The annual sand sculpture contest sponsored by Edmonds Parks & Recreation was held yesterday at Marina Beach.

Yesterday, hoards of sand sculptors gathered along the sunny stretch of Marina Beach for the annual Sand Sculpture Contest, which featured everything from the traditional castle to a representation of the Space Needle.

According to Tammy Rankins, an employee of , participants didn't need to sign up beforehand. The contest included two categories: Kids only and Family, which includes kids and adults.

Upon arrival, each participant received a colored flag depending on what category they were in. Prizes were awarded for the Best Overall, chosen by three judges. Judges included a member of the Parks & Rec board, an employee from the contest’s sponsor , and Mayor Mike Cooper. It was Mayor Cooper’s first year as a judge.

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“I think I will probably judge on creativity,” he said before the contest began. “There is no real criteria, so I am going to look and see what strikes me the most.”

Rankins has been in charge of the contest for the past six years, and although it was sunny yesterday, she said the turnout is always big regardless of the weather.

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“It happens rain or shine, and the turnout is the same,” she commented. “One of the best things about this contest is just getting outside and enjoying the beach and the weather. It is good quality family time. The youngest person participating today is probably two years old, and the veterans are the grandparents who came out to help.”

One ambitious group of teenagers was sculpting a gigantic sea monster, and garnering a lot of attention. Local Edmonds resident Mike O’Day had participated in the sand sculpting in previous years, and when he saw an ad in one of the local papers, he suggested that his son get together a group of friends and start digging.

“We didn’t have any big plans before we got here, we just knew we were going to make some kind of sea monster,” O’Day said, then laughed a bit. “I kind of tricked them into doing art today—teenage boys don’t do much art, but they got into it, sculpting, refining, adding shells and details.”

Winners of the contest received “Golden Buckets,” which weren’t actually golden, but were filled with delicious saltwater taffy from Nama’s Candy. 

Two awards were given in the Family Sand Sculpture Category due to it having the most entries.

Winners included:

Family Sandcastle Category - Team Natalie & Taylor created Beauty & the Beast Castle (Taylor age 7 Woodinville, Natalie age 4.5 Lynnwood,
Victoria age 2 Lynnwood, Agatha age 2 Lynnwood, and family)

Family Sand Sculpture Category - Team Millard Family & Grandpa created Fruit Bowl (Millard Family from Marysville and Grandpa Steve from Lynnwood)

Family Sand Sculpture Category - Team O'Day created Giant Lizard (Connor age 16 Brier, Rory age 15 Brier, Derek age 15 Lynnwood, Chris ages 15 Lynnwood, Sam age 15 Brier, Mike age 48 Brier and Steve age 45 Brier)

Kids 14+ Sand Sculpture Category - Team 22 Ditches created Sunbathing Woman with Mosaic Bikini (Helen age 14 Seattle and Leah age 14 Seattle)

Kids 13 & Under Sand Sculpture Category - Team Terrace Park Terrors
created Giant Starfish (Roni age 9 Edmonds, Jacob age 11 Lynnwood and Joe age 11 Edmonds)

Kids 13 & Under Sandcastle Category - Team Beckett created The Fortress (Beckett age 12 Edmonds)

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