Ocean City to feature sand castle contest

A swath of Ocean City beach will become a construction site on June 11, but the structures rising from the sand most likely won’t survive the evening tide.

That’s because the medieval castles and other fanciful creations will be built from the beach itself, when a group of businesses and organizations present the fourth annual OceanCity.com Sand Castle Contest.

Amateur teams and solo competitors will begin digging, piling and molding sand at 10 a.m. in front of the Carousel Resort Hotel & Condominiums on 118th Street, and judging will take place at 2:30 p.m.

The contest is sponsored by OceanCity.com, the Ocean City Parrothead Club, the Carousel, Medieval Times and Clear Channel Radio. Proceeds will benefit Ocean City’s “Play it Safe” program, which promotes a safe, alcohol- and drug-free celebration for high school graduates in June.

“This is a fabulous event that brings families, locals and Ocean City businesses together for a day of fun in the sand,” said Lindy Kosydar, director of operations at the Carousel. “Carousel guests loved the sand creations last year, and many are looking forward to new ones this year.”

The Carousel is offering rooms at a special Sand Castle weekend rate of $119 a night throughout the weekend, beginning Friday, June 10.

The daylong Sand Castle Contest features entertainment and lessons by three local sand artists.

Mark Venit, who has won international awards for his work, will build a castle featuring his signature green frog hidden within its walls. Randy Hofman, sculptor of the popular Biblical scenes at Second Street and the Boardwalk, will create one of his scriptural renditions. George Zaiser, an art teacher at Worcester Preparatory School, will begin his sculpture early Saturday morning and continue building and assisting participants throughout the day.

This year’s event also will feature hand-to-hand combat on the beach by knights from Medieval Times, the restaurant and entertainment center in Anne Arundel County, and a kite display by the Kite Loft in Ocean City.

“We’re excited to bring our knights out to Ocean City,” said Janeen Varvaro, director of marketing for Medieval Times. “What better venue to show off our knights and their combat skills than at a grouping of sand castles?”

Prizes for the Sand Castle Contest include tickets to Six Flags America and Medieval Times, tickets to Discovery Passports and Port Discovery in Baltimore, the Baltimore children’s museum, passes to Jolly Roger Amusement Park and hotel packages and golf rounds.

The winning business team will receive a Maryland.com advertising package worth $1,200.

Co-sponsors of the Sand Castle Contest join numerous Ocean City businesses and organizations in helping support Play it Safe, which started in 1990.

The program is a combined effort of the Ocean City Drug & Alcohol Abuse Prevention Committee and the Town of Ocean City, with coordination provided by the Worcester County Health Department.

This year’s event will also honor Jim Martin, a volunteer who spearheaded the Parrothead Club’s participation in the event for the past three years.

“We were all shocked when Jim died unexpectedly this winter,” said Ann Hillyer, director of strategic planning and marketing for StateVentures Inc., the parent company of OceanCity.com and OCgolf.com. “We were also completely committed to carrying on with the event in Jim’s honor.”

The three master sand artists, who will explain and demonstrate their techniques beginning at 9:30 am (but not compete in the contest), have won rave reviews for their work well beyond the Ocean City area.

Venit, a management and marketing consultant and the CEO of a software company with clients throughout North America and Europe, has a lifelong passion for castles, medieval history and the Arthurian Legend.

His overseas travels blend business with visiting castles and cathedrals and making drawings, videotape recordings and photographs of them for reference to design his castles in the sand.

The interior of Venit’s Ocean Pines home reflects his tastes, with art and souvenirs from more than 300 castles he has explored.

Hofman, an artist by day and sculptor by passion, has awed millions of Ocean City vacationers who marvel at the Biblical scenes — the Last Supper, Noah and the Ark, the Crucifixion, David and Goliath — that he creates from sand just off the Boardwalk.

Zaiser likes massive projects like the “Eight Wonders of the World” that he and others carved at a sand sculpture festival in China.

“With Randy, Mark and George all exhibiting this year, we will definitely give Ocean City something spectacular to view,” said the Carousel’s Kosydar. “We’re thrilled that the knights from Medieval Times will also return this year and that the Kite Loft will be displaying their wares.

“The combination of sandcastles, clashing swords, tumbling bodies, and colorful kites fluttering in the wind gives a truly festive atmosphere to this June weekend in Ocean City that is not duplicated throughout the year.”

Judges for the contest will include David Bahlman, deputy director of the Office of Tourism Development for the State, Ocean City Mayor Jim Mathias, Deborah Travers, executive director of the Ocean City Chamber of Commerce, and sculptors Zaiser, Venit and Hofman.

Along with the professional judging of castles, the contest will feature a “People’s Choice” award. Spectators can cast a vote for $1, with proceeds going to Play It Safe.

“We had some pretty excited grandparents and some very persuasive kids last year,” said volunteer Gail Blazer of the Ocean City Parrothead Club. “The Parrothead Club wants the fundraising aspect of the event to substantially help Ocean City’s Play It Safe program, and this buy-a-vote campaign is very helpful and certainly lots of fun.”

The contest entry fee is $10 per adult and $5 per student. Children under 12 can participate for free. A team minimum of $25 has been set this year. Ocean City businesses can sponsor a team for $200.

When a business sponsors a team, graduating seniors in the Play It Safe program can compete for prizes free. Play It Safe participants will be assigned to sponsored teams on a first-come, first-served basis.