Building castles on the beach

Marisa O’Neil

On Saturday, Corona del Mar celebrated its first 100 years in the place where it all began -- the beach.

The Big Corona Beach Party featured sandcastles, boats, music and

plenty of food to amuse locals and visitors. The setting was

appropriate because the city’s history began along its coastline,

said Peggy Fort, executive director of the Centennial Foundation.

“The beach is one of our greatest natural resources,” Fort said.

“It’s one of the most beautiful parts of Corona del Mar and it’s a

great place to celebrate.”

The day started off with a sandcastle-building contest on the

shores of Big Corona. By 2 p.m., dozens of sand structures, including

mermaids, whales and two octopi playing checkers, dotted the beach

for more than 100 yards.

Bob Lank’s amateur sandcastle-building group called the Sandcrabs,

made up of his family and friends, entered three Halloween-themed

pieces. One of them, an elaborate, 6-foot-high spooky castle called

the “Transylvania Beach Club” won the grand prize.

They also built a Woody-style hearse with surfboards on top and a

sculpture of Count Dracula, Frankenstein, the Creature from the Black

Lagoon and a mummy sunbathing on the sand.

“We like doing this because it’s a great way to be with your

family,” Lank said.

Ava McKenzie, 4, and her 3-year-old sister, Alyssa, preferred the

giant mermaid sculpture to the creepy stuff. They came down to the

beach to see the castles and dig in the sand themselves with their

parents and their baby sister, Sasha.

“It’s fun to come down here when something like this is going on,”

their mother, Heather McKenzie said.

As the sun started setting and a slight coastal chill set in, they

weren’t sure if they’d stay on the beach for the fireworks show. But,

Heather McKenzie said they planned to watch it from their home atop

the hill.

The show was scheduled to be 20 minutes long and planned to

include more shells than even the Newport Dunes’ July 4 fireworks

show, which lasts an hour, Fort said. The fireworks would be set off

at the end of the jetty over the ocean, and the entrance to Newport

Harbor would be closed for the first time ever while the rockets went

off, she said.

But despite the fanfare and pyrotechnics, some beachgoers still

prefer the simple things. Laguna Hills resident Greg O’Donnell

brought his three young sons to the beach for the celebration, but

their favorite thing involved the beach’s natural beauty.

“They just really like climbing on the rocks,” O’Donnell said.