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By Amelia Tarallo
Hometown Weekly Staff
One of the most beloved, time-honored summer traditions is a good-old friendly sand castle building competition. On Saturday, July 21, Sherborn’s Farm Pond hosted its 35th competition, and there were plenty of participants on the scorching day.
Each section of the competition was roped off with coral pink tape, and each building site was marked with a neon green flag. Competitors sorted into three categories: 10 and under, 11 to 15, and 16 and up/family. All competitors were working to earn the grand prize for most amazing build: The Golden Shovel.
The lifeguard team, which included Paige Gallagher, Charlotte Moore, Caity O’Connell, Will Brown, Ben Williams, and Caroline Gallagher spent the allotted time creating Kevin, the guard turtle. “We were struggling to come up with an idea and the guards usually do a turtle, so we went with it,” said Paige Gallagher. This year, the lifeguard team added a guard hat and whistle to promote Kevin to lifeguard status.
Brother and sister Graham and Elinor created a plethora of sculptures. Along with an ornate castle, the siblings created an octopus, a starfish, a turtle, and an anchor. “They’ve been productive,” said an observer.
Another team created life-sized versions of beloved cartoon sea creatures Spongebob and Patrick, sticking with the theme of sea creatures.
A father-son team decided to make a cake. Using an industrial bucket with the bottom cut off, the two filled the bucket with a mixture of wet and dry sand. When it was time to pack the mixture down, the son got on top of the bucket and stood on it. Then his father removed the bucket, leaving a perfect sand castle behind. For a finishing touch, the team added a decorative shovel on top, and a “cherry” water ball in the middle of it.
One group of siblings even created a miniature Farm Pond with seven accompanying sand castles.
The Meaney family won Most Amazing Build for their medieval castle.
One sand castle stuck out to everyone watching the competition, though. The Meaney family utilized the plastic industrial bucket trick for perfect castle building technique. Using old containers, spray bottles, and sculpting tools, the family of five made what could be called the epitome of a sand castle. With a two-leveled castle, accenting blueberry branches, a moat, and a working drawbridge, the Meaney sand castle was pretty much perfect. The addition of two dragon figurines sitting on top of the castle, a king and trusted knight on the drawbridge, and a wizard protecting the castle pushed the team ahead of its competition.
After an hour and a half of work, the builders were out of time. Judges Susie Jackson and David Reavill, along with a guest judge, met to discuss their choices for each category. After their reviews, the judges called everyone together to reveal the winners.
Everyone was holding their breath during the announcement of the “best overall” category. In third place was a sand version of the Moon landing - perfect for the recent 50th anniversary. In second place was Turtle Guard Kevin. Finally, to no one’s surprise, the Meaney family won the Golden Shovel for their medieval castle.
“Working as a team. Solving problems. We’re under pressure, so everyone had to contribute. It’s great family building,” said Joe Meaney when asked what his favorite part of the competition was.
Regardless of who won the competition, all participants came out happy to have spent some quality time with their families, friends, and community - and to have made some summer memories that they will never forget.
