Solar, sand and enjoyable | OceanaCountyPress.com

Sand Sculpture Contest attracts many inventive rivals

PENTWATER — Creative concepts, enthusiastic rivals and one other giant crowd made the 53rd annual Pentwater Sand Sculpture Contest a spotlight of Pentwater’s 2026 Homecoming weekend.

Sponsored by the Pentwater Service Club, the longtime group custom introduced kids, households and groups to the sugar-sand seaside of Charles Mears State Park, the place rivals reworked little greater than sand and water into all the pieces from castles and mermaids to aquariums, miniature golf programs and imaginative tributes to Pentwater.

“It’s been more than a half-century since the Pentwater Service Club began sponsoring this popular Homecoming weekend event,” mentioned Glenn Beavis, who managed the competitors for the membership. “What makes it especially rewarding is seeing new generations of families participating in a tradition that has become such an important part of Pentwater’s Homecoming.”

The contest dates again to 1973, that means among the kids competing right this moment have grandparents who have been their age when the primary sculptures have been created on the Charles Mears State Park seaside.

Four age divisions and three household/group classes made up this yr’s competitors. 

First-place winners have been: Liske, 1–7 yr olds, for Water of Pentwater; The Mlinarich, 8–9 yr olds, for The Memory Maker; Madison Rediske, 10–12 yr olds, for Pentwater Put Put Course; Slotsemal Kids, 13 and older, for A Reel Good Time; Strand Family, Group/Family A, for Pig Dinner; Cozy Corner, Group/Family B, for Pentwater Rocks; and Grains of Grit, Group/Family C, for King of Pentwater.

Competitors arrived with all the pieces from buckets and shovels to concrete trowels, spray bottles, carts and wheelbarrows. But creativeness remained the most essential instrument of the day.

“The Sand Sculpture Contest represents exactly the kind of community tradition the Pentwater Service Club is proud to support,” mentioned PSC President Rob Cunningham. “For more than 50 years, it has brought generations of families together for a day of creativity and fun. Seeing the children, parents and grandparents working together—and seeing so many residents and visitors enjoying what they create—is what makes this event so special.”

Every participant was acknowledged with both a trophy or participation ribbon, persevering with the service membership’s custom of creating the competition as a lot about participation and enjoyable as competitors.

The Pentwater Sand Sculpture Contest is one in every of quite a few occasions held through the group’s annual Homecoming celebration and has turn out to be one of many weekend’s longest-running traditions.

Article and images offered by Pentwater Service Club

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