OLD ORCHARD BEACH – Limited only by their imaginations, their skill at wielding plastic pails and shovels, and finding whatever sea creatures had washed up on the beach, 31 teams competed Sunday in the 25th annual Ocean Park Family Sand Sculpture Competition.

The top prize went to a team that sculpted a dragon from wet sand, using starfish for the dragon’s eyes and dozens of sand dollars to form a castle wall behind the creature.

Additional Photos

Emma McPartlen, 7, of Worcester, Mass., waves to spectators as her grandfather Bob Bourque of Northborough, Mass., sculpts the form of a mermaid around her at Ocean Park. Photos by Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Staff Photographer

Kosta Kouloufakos of Ottawa, Canada, and his son Nikolas, 12, work on their team's sculpture of a Danish castle during the competition in Ocean Park on Sunday.

Riley Stevens, 11, of Albany, N.Y., left, and Danielle Bickford, 14, of Kennebunk, sculpt together.

Left to right, Connor Stevens, 13, of Albany N.Y., Laura Bickford and Danielle Bickford, 14, both of Kennebunk, work on their team's sculpture during the competition in Ocean Park on Sunday.

The theme of this year’s contest was “Castles by the Sea.” Judges scored each entry based on artistic ability, originality, design detail, use of space and special effects. Paints were allowed, but had to be water-soluble.

People from all over North America participated. One team drove from Ottawa, Canada, to take part in the contest, which required that each team have at least one child help build its sculpture.

“Everyone had a hand in building this,” said Scott Strachan, who drove nine hours from Ottawa with his wife, Voula, and her brother and sister-in-law, Kosta and Kendra Kouloufakos, to build a sand castle on a beach in Maine.

The families named their entry Kronborg Castle, after a castle of that name that they visited last year in northern Denmark. (It’s also the setting for Shakespeare’s “Hamlet.”) Their sculpture featured a deep hole lined with tinfoil and filled with water that Strachan said represented the ocean. They even added Denmark’s national flag to the castle wall.

The Canadians didn’t win a trophy — only the top three teams did.

Nor did a family from Massachusetts that used a person in its sculpture. Seven-year-old Emma McPartlen of Worcester, Mass., suggested that her family place her at the top of a mound of sand.

Her team then covered her with sand from the mid torso down and carved indentations into the mound that looked like the scales on a mermaid’s tail.

McPartlen also let her team drape seaweed over her head. As an added touch, McPartlen smiled and waved to passers-by.

The girl’s grandmother, Kathy Bourque of Northborough, Mass., had thought it was too late to enter, but when she found out it wasn’t, she quickly registered McPartlen’s team. There was no entry fee.

“It exceeded my expectations,” said McPartlen’s uncle, Jason Penton of Haverhill, Mass. Penton said he started shaping the sand around his niece into a volcano, until Emma came up with the mermaid idea. “I didn’t expect it to go this far.”

Another unsuccessful, but valiant, effort was put in by a family that has owned property at Ocean Park since the 1950s.

Carolyn Stevens said her family comes to Ocean Park — a small seaside village just south of Old Orchard Beach’s downtown — every year to celebrate Independence Day.

Stevens, who lives in Seminole, Fla., watched as her son, daughter and grandchildren built one of the largest sand castles in the competition — it used almost all of the 20- by 20-foot space allowed.

Stevens’ granddaughter, Riley Stevens, 11, of Albany, N.Y., came up with the idea for the castle’s design by drawing it the night before on a paper plate.

“It’s amazing how well they have all kept at it,” Stevens said. “I have no idea how they did it, but I am proud of them for trying.”

Shortly after 5 p.m., as a crowd of more than 100 looked on, Olivia Taggart, the recreation director for the Ocean Park Association, announced the winners.

Sarah Sparks of Falmouth and her friend Phil Zdanowski of Syracuse, N.Y., accepted the first-place award. Their sculpture featured a dragon whose head, torso and feet jutted out from the wall of a sand castle. Several American flags flew from the castle’s towers, and a bright yellow hand shovel was placed in the dragon’s mouth to represent fire.

Zdanowski said members of his team made up the design as they went along, using starfish and sand dollars they found on the beach.

“It was our first time doing this,” Sparks added. “It was a team effort.”

Staff Writer Dennis Hoey can be contacted at 791-6365 or at:

dhoey@pressherald.com

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