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Strand of Creativity

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Like grains of sand on the Pacific shore, sand-castle builders from throughout the United States and Canada drifted into Imperial Beach Sunday to compete in the U.S. Open Sandcastle Competition--creating figures depicting everything from animals and people to figments of their wildest dreams.

Under the gaze of a crowd estimated at 150,000 to 200,000, contestants competed in five amateur and one professional category for a total prize purse of $19,000, tournament officials said.

In addition to the Masters Class, in which professionals vied for a $5,000 top prize, amateur sculpting categories challenged contestants to create a “Castle of Your Mind,” “Best Replica,” “Best Sculpture,” “Creatures of the Sea” and, for business-sponsored teams, “Executive Sandbox,” each carrying a $1,000 first prize.

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Contestants were given four hours to sculpt their creations using only sand, decorative materials made of biodegradable substances such as shells or seaweed; flour, sugar, water colors, wheelbarrow, ladder and, of course, water.

The day’s events also included more than a dozen pickets from the National Organization for Women who protested a beauty pageant for young girls called “The Little Coppertone 10 Pageant.”

“Apparently, the women thought that the ad for the suntan lotion, showing a dog pulling down the bathing suit of a suntanned little girl, so that her white behind was showing, was a negative sexual image for children,” said Sheriff’s Sgt. Roy Stamper. He said NOW officials called authorities in advance to tell them of their protest. No arrests were made.

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Winners in the Masters Class of the sand-castle contest were Totally in Sand from Everett, Wash., for its sculpture “Raiders of the Lost Ark”; California Dreams from Oceanside for “Under the Sea” and Arch I Sand from El Toro for “Super Fish All Sand.”

In the amateur categories, the first-place winners were Arizona Castle of Scottsdale for “Never Been There”; Rich Varano of Orlando, Fla., for “School of Dolphins”; The Original Sandblasters of Lakeside for “That’s All Folks!” and the team of Mexitlan from Tijuana.

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