Sculpture success shows family's firm hand on sand

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August 26, 2007

Cate Lecuyer The Salem News Sun Aug 26, 2007, 11:42 PM EDT

IPSWICH | The Kubaska family walked along Crane Beach on Saturday morning, staking out a spot to build their sand sculpture.

They tried two places before settling down just above the receding tide and got ready to create their masterpiece: a polar bear drifting on an ice cap, called "Got Ice?" It won second place in the family category and second place overall in Crane Beach's annual Sand Blast competition.

The theme this year was "Save the Wave" and the Kubaskas walked away with $200 | the same amount they won last year.

"We're going to be able to pay for your college if we keep winning," Trish Kubaska said to her two kids, Lucas, 5, and Olivia, 9, as they accepted the prize money and certificates after a hot day in the sun. The weather seemed to correspond with their sculpture.

"We're going with the global warming theme," she said. Trish and Brian Kubaska, their two kids, Brian's sister Justine Cole and Brian's parents, Steve and JoAnn Kubaska, made up the team.

When they scooped out the first shovelful of sand at 10 a.m., other teams' sculptures were already starting to take shape, but they weren't worried. They had a plan and knew they had all day.

"Last year we were here at like, 8 a.m. and done by 12, and had to mist it for four hours," Cole said. The 2006 theme was "The Big Dig." They used trash cans to create the back end of a gopher going into a hole and the front end of one coming out, and won first place in the family category, and second place for the People's Choice Award, selected by beachgoers.

This year, before deciding to build a polar bear on an ice cap, they tossed around the idea of a gopher on a surf board.

"We thought maybe we'd just do a gopher every year," Trish said. "But we didn't know if we'd have the same judges."

Last year was the first time any of them had participated in a sand sculpture competition, because it sounded fun, and they spend a lot of time on the beach. This year, they came more prepared.

Brian, a civil engineer, lugged four pieces of plywood, some boards and some straps from the car. After flattening out a mound of sand, they arranged the four pieces of plywood into a rectangle on top, tied them together with the straps and began filling the inside with more sand.

It makes the base hard, like cement, and easier to carve into, Trish said. They got the idea from watching "the masters," who often bring plastic molds to construct elaborate designs. As the structure began to fill up, Olivia and Lucas jumped inside and expertly packed it down by stomping on it.

"Everyone says it looks like we're crushing grapes," Trish said.

As they were working, a group of four people wearing purple shirts stopped by.

"Are you guys the judges?" Brian asked. They nodded.

"Can I get you some water?" They declined, with a laugh.

David Allen and Jean McCarvill, who both work as broadcast animators and graphic designers for a company in Brookline, have been judging the family competition for the past seven years.

"I don't think I could build anything besides a pail of sand," McCarvill said. But given their profession, they're able to appreciate many of the design elements, as well as the creativity. They look at the sculpture, but also strongly consider the concept, how it relates to the theme and who's participating.

"You have to take into account how many kids are in the family," Allen said. A father working with his two teenage sons would most likely accomplish more than a father working with his two little kids, but they could score more points with a unique sculpture.

"It's how cool the idea is, rather than the execution," McCarvill said.

All along the beach were giant sea turtles, aquatic creatures, penguins on an ice cap | in the teen category | giant waves, castles, and everything in between. As the Kubaskas were putting the finishing touches on their polar bear, Lucas suggested they create the head of a seal peering up at the bear from the water, which got a good response from the crowd.

When the judging was over, Olivia and Lucas hopped on the back of the polar bear, riding it, for a picture.

"We've got our Christmas card for this year," Trish said.

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