BY NICK DIAMANTIDES
Staff Writer
Thousands of people of all ages flocked to Granada Beach on the Long Beach shore last Friday and Saturday. They came to participate in two of the Long Beach Sea Festival’s most popular events: All City Camps Beach Day (for kids) and the Great Sand Sculpture Contest (for adults and children).
More than 1,000 elementary and middle-school children came to the beach on Friday for their special day. Charter Communications, which is the major sponsor of the Sea Festival, helped coordinate and publicize the event.
“We worked with various community organizations, the Boys and Girls Club, the YMCA, and the city’s park and recreation department to get the word out,” said Ron Petke, Charter Communications production manager.
Petke noted that some of the kids had never been to the shoreline before Beach Day and probably would not have come if not for the fact that the Long Beach Department of Parks, Recreation and Marine had provided free bus transportation for them.
“It was a great opportunity for many children to see the ocean for the first time, enjoy all the activities, have lunch and take home mementos of a day they will probably remember for the rest of their lives,” he said.
Plastic sand buckets with the Sea Festival logo were passed out to each child.
Gladys Kaiser, recreation superintendent with the city parks department said it was very gratifying to see the youngsters having so much fun.
“We had just over 1,000 kids today and they came from all of our park programs throughout the city representing our summer fun days, our day camps and our rap programs,” she noted. “The kids today participated in a variety of activities.”
The activities included a dance fest with recorded music played by a disc jockey; bounce houses, slides, bubbles, water games, relay races, several other beach games and swimming opportunities.
World-class sculptors Kali Bradford and Bill Rose were on hand also to teach the kinds how to make sand castles and other sculptures. Both are past winners of the U.S Open Sand Sculpture Contest held in San Diego. Renowned sand sculptor Brent Terry was there too. Terry won a medal for his sculpture at the 2003 World Championship, achieved a world solo height record in 2006, and won the coveted Sculptors Choice Award in the 2007 World Championships.
“This day was about bringing all of our programs together and having a fun day,” Kaiser said. “The kids loved it and we loved it too.”
John Parks, a spokesperson for the festival noted that it is steadily growing in scope and attendance every year.
“This is part of the annual Charter Communications Long Beach Sea Festival that goes on from June to September and has over 100 events,” he said. “That includes movies on the beach, concerts in the parks, AVP Volleyball, the Tiki Beach Festival, the Dragon Boat Festival and lots of other fun events and activities.”
He noted that the kids beach day was arranged to precede the sand castle contest and many of the kids that came on Friday came back on Saturday with their parents. “We wanted kids from all parts of Long Beach to come down to participate in the fun activities and learn how to make sand castles,” he explained.
Kids Beach Day and the Great Sand Sculpture contest were both operated by Alfredo’s Beach Club with help from the Long Beach Junior Chamber.
“The goal was to get as many kids to the beach Friday and as many kids and adults to the beach on Saturday,” said Michael Clement, Junior Chamber president.
He explained that the Junior Chamber participated in both events as a way of promoting the city and making it a better place to live, work and play.
“We worked hard to get the word out about these events to Long Beach businesses,” said Justin Potier, event co-chair for the San Sculpture Contest for the Long Beach Junior Chamber. “We personally approached over 200 business owners. We also had several of our members volunteering at both events, just doing whatever needed to be done.”
Kevin Wilkerson, another Sea Festival spokesman, said that several thousand people came to the Sand Sculpture Contest on Saturday, but getting an exact count was difficult since the event was free and many beachgoers from other parts of the shoreline came and went throughout the day.
“It was definitely a very successful event,” he said. “I was very impressed with the sculptures that I saw.”
The Sand Sculpture Contest has two categories of teams. The Forty-niners, Inc won first place in the corporate team competition and the Sand Crabs took first place in the family team competition.
Wilkerson said that the Sea Festival increases tourism and boosts the local economy, but it is also designed to get more local residents out on the beaches.
“We especially want to have more of the city’s kids enjoying wholesome activities in the water and on the sand,” he said.
This Friday, August 15, the Sea Festival will host its Capture the Wind Festival on Granada Beach.
“Charter Communications bought 1,000 kites, which will be distributed to all the kids brought to the beach by the parks department,” Wilkerson said. “When that wind kicks up, it’s going to be quite a sight to see.”
For more information, phone (562) 570-3150 or visit www.lbparks.org, www.longbeachseafestival.com or www.alfredosbeachclub.com.
