Sand in City like day at beach

OLYMPIA - Saturday was like a day at the coast - minus the 70-mile drive - for thousands of people who converged on downtown Olympia for the 10th annual Sand in the City to build sand castles, admire others' work and watch their children play.

The event is highlighted by enormous sand sculptures, as well as small and large sandboxes for children to play in; it also includes rock-wall climbing, face painting and other activities for children and adults.

Saturday is the busiest day of Sand in the City, a three-day event that typically attracts 43,000 to 44,000 people to the Port of Olympia’s public plaza, said Patty Belmonte, executive director of downtown’s Hands On Children’s Museum. Sand in the City benefits the museum so it can offer free and reduced admission, as well as offer free programs and continue its outreach with schools, she said.

Sand in the City typically raises about $100,000 from donation boxes on site, sponsors, vendors and team fees for those entering the sand sculpture competition, she said. This year’s gold shovel winner was Centennial Contractors Enterprises; the people’s choice award will be announced today, Belmonte said.

Saturday’s activities stretched from about the Olympia Farmers Market area to the plaza, down to the waterline. That’s where Teresa Ramirez of Aberdeen and her grandson Parker Griffin, 9, had joined other families to enjoy the good weather and skip rocks in the water. Parker caught two fish in a bottle, he said.

Ramirez has attended Sand in the City for four straight years and said it was important to support the event and the museum. Ramirez also donated money, she said.

Penny Weber of Olympia said she hasn’t missed a year of Sand in the City. She loves the sand sculptures and children’s activities and plans to return today, she said. She also can’t get enough of the area. Weber said that during the week she walks from the public plaza to the Bayview Thriftway store and back several times.

Hanne Ockert-Axelsson, who has worked at Sand in the City for three years, was busy keeping track of visitors to the event. Next to Hanne was a state map, a United States map and a world map on which she was asking people to mark where they were from. Among the visitors Saturday were a family from Ukraine, an exchange student from Germany, and people from Ghana, South Africa and the East Coast. The data later are collected and used in the museum’s marketing, she said.

“It’s a nice way to end the summer,” Ockert-Axelsson said about her time at Sand in the City.

Rolf Boone: 360-754-5403 rboone@theolympian.com www.theolympian.com/bizblog