At the Clamshell Foundation’s annual Sandcastle Contest at Atlantic Avenue Beach in Amagansett on Saturday, there were surprisingly few castles. Instead, builders of all ages worked together to create all sorts of other unique designs.
One such example of this creativity was Nick Ficaro’s sand model of Bernie from the film “Weekend at Bernie’s.” At first, Nick, 12, was attempting to create a sculpture of his dad; however, after realizing it looked more like Bernie, he decided to pivot and added the character’s signature cigar, drink, and clothing.
While it’s fair to say the competition was fun for the builders involved, some enter the competition with the main goal of winning a prize for either best overall sand castle or the top three sand castles in each age division.
The teenage team behind the Atlantic Ninja Warrior sand castle, who had won first place over all in a previous contest, were inspired by the television show “American Ninja Warrior,” in which athletes compete to finish difficult obstacle courses. For the competition, they built obstacles out of sand and driftwood, and people could race to finish them. This approach, they said, is more fun, plus “interactive stuff gets more prizes.” At the end of the contest, their creation took second place in its division.
The overall winner of the competition was a castle of the dragon from the new “How to Train Your Dragon” movie, constructed by a family of builders with help from relatives who were visiting from France. At first, they were going to create a standard dragon, but they then decided to make Toothless — one of their favorite Disney characters. Although the team said they were here to win, the builders’ favorite part of the day was “coming together and building it as a family.”
The annual competition is put on by the nonprofit Clamshell Foundation, largely with volunteer help. The chief operating officer of the foundation, Kelsey Kalbacher, explained that the mission of the foundation is “to enrich the lives of others in our community” by supporting “people, programs, and the projects on the East End.” Some examples of the group’s work include funding food banks and giving out scholarships.
When interviewed, the judges were not allowed to fully reveal how the winners were decided, but they did explain the criteria used to determine them. Creative use of natural resources was considered, along with the originality and quality of the build. One judge, Philip Capello, said that they “want to make sure [the builders] had fun, that’s the most important thing.”
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Benjamin Shapiro is a participant in the 2025 East Hampton Star Summer Academy.
