All of the votes for the People\u2019s Choice Award have been counted from the attendees of the American Sand Sculpture Championship this past week on Fort Myers Beach. And the winner is: \u201cPurrrrfect Love\u201d by Remy Hoggard, the Fort Myers Beach Chamber of Commerce announced today.<\/p>\n
The four-day event drew a record-breaking crowd to the DiamondHead Beach Resort, Fort Myers Beach Chamber of Commerce President Jacki Liszak said.<\/p>\n
Sculptors from six countries partook in the competition, which drew thousands of onlookers.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe American Sand Sculpting Championship continues to honor the creativity, resilience, and community spirit of Fort Myers Beach,\u201d said Jacki Liszak, President of the Fort Myers Beach Chamber of Commerce. \u201cThis year\u2019s attendance, combined with the incredible quality of the sculptures, shows how meaningful this event is for both locals and visitors. We are deeply grateful to all who helped make this year\u2019s championship such a tremendous success.\u201d<\/p>\n
Liszak said more than 600 volunteers took part.<\/p>\n
\u201cTheir enthusiasm and hard work fueled the festival from beginning to end. Their consistent effort throughout the five-day celebration ensured smooth operations and a memorable experience for all guests,\u201d Liszak said.<\/p>\n
The winners of the event as chosen by a panel which included members of the community, as well as a sculptor\u2019s choice award, had been previously announced.<\/p>\n
The full list of winners are:<\/p>\n
Masters Division winners:<\/p>\n
1st Place: \u201cIntro Spect\u201d by Todd Pangborn<\/p>\n
2nd Place: \u201cMonkeying Around\u201d by John Gowdy<\/p>\n
3rd Place: \u201cThe Fence\u201d by Matt Diebert<\/p>\n
Additional Masters honors:<\/p>\n
People\u2019s Choice: \u201cPurrrrfect Love\u201d by Remy Hoggard<\/p>\n
Sculptor\u2019s Choice: \u201cSwimming\u201d by Ferenc Monostori<\/p>\n
Advanced Amateur \/ Semi-Pro Division winners:<\/p>\n
1st Place: \u201cStill Standing\u201d by Pete Faverio<\/p>\n
2nd Place: \u201cConstitutional Crisis\u201d by Scott Triplett<\/p>\n
3rd Place: \u201cGritty Kitty\u201d by John Martinez<\/p>\n
Faverio\u2019s \u201cStill Standing\u201d swept the division, earning First Place, People\u2019s Choice, and Sculptor\u2019s <\/p>\n
The 35th American Sand Sculpting Championship was presented by the <\/p>\n
Fort Myers Beach Chamber of Commerce in partnership with The Sand Lovers, LLC, and DiamondHead Beach Resort.<\/p>\n
Liszak thanked the Town of Fort Myers Beach, the Fort Myers Beach Fire Control District, the Lee County Sheriff\u2019s Office, and partners at Lee County for their support before and during the event. \u201cTheir guidance and coordination were critical in maintaining a safe and seamless festival experience for all attendees,\u201d Liszak said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe sincerely thank our community nonprofit partners who managed the parking areas around the festival grounds. Their dedication and teamwork were essential in making this year\u2019s event a success,\u201d Liszak said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"All of the votes for the People\u2019s Choice Award have been counted from the attendees of the American…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":62153,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[209,211,210],"class_list":["post-62152","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cape-coral","tag-cape-coral","tag-cape-coral-headlines","tag-cape-coral-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62152","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=62152"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62152\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/62153"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=62152"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=62152"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=62152"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}