Everybody A Winner at Sand Sculpting Contest

The 8-foot long mermaid sunned herself on the beachfront, looking beautiful in her clamshell bikini top and seaweed hair. But she had reason to fear. Only feet away, a 10-foot sea monster lurked in the sand, waiting for a chance to pounce.

It sounds like a fairy tale, but no, all of this drama played out in the sand off the 25th Street beach in Barnegat Light yesterday.

Families from around the tristate descended upon the beach to compete in Barnegat Light's Sand Sculpting Contest. Hosted by Barnegat Light's own head of beachtags, Dennis Pantzer, the event brings families back every year, and this year did not disappoint. About 15 families competed in the event, and crafted everything from pirate ships to mermaids to, of course, castles.

Six-year-old Anthony Curra ran along the water's edge, with this cousin, 4-year-old Seamus Kelly, urging him to pick up any shell he could find. "Get as many as you can, Sea," he said. "We have to win this thing!"  The Curras and Kellys opted to create a pirate ship, to honor their beloved Disney film, The Pirates of the Caribbean. The two families were visiting Barnegat Light this week from Northeast Pennsylvania. "At first we were going to make a spaceship but we thought we'd make something piratey because it's the ocean," Curra told a Patch reporter.

A short distance away, Lena Shafer and her family, who were also visiting Barnegat Light this week, were putting finishing touches on their sea serpent. "We talked about a theme through breakfast, and settled on this," she said, pointing proudly at her family's creation, which featured scales and a pointy tail. The entire family had to work as a team, forming bucket brigades to help bring water from the ocean and then working together to mold the form.

In the end, no one was disappointed with the results, because Pantzer awards everyone medals for participation. "I used to give awards for first, second, and third place, but what's the point? This is all about getting the families out together. Everyone wins."

And in case you missed it, Barnegat Light will host another amateur-only sand sculpting event on Aug. 16. Stay tuned to the Barnegat-Manahawkin Patch that week for further details.