OCEAN CITY — Sawyer Culp had a plan going into the Wacky Wednesday Taffy Sculpting Contest on July 9, and she was determined to, ahem, stick with it.
Shriver’s Salt Water Taffy was in abundance under the loggia at the Ocean City Music Pier as a couple of hundred would-be artists went head to head for a chance at achieving sweet success — or at least a colorful ribbon.
The 10-year-old from Clover, S.C., was visiting America’s Greatest Family Resort with mother Jillian Culp and brother Jameson, 6.
“She has been sketching what she wants to make,” Culp said of her daughter. “She’s been picking colors and what flavors she’s going to make. She is very into this.”
Sawyer said she had been thinking about her design for about three days and decided to go with an axolotl salamander holding a piece of taffy.
Mary Grant brought her three daughters — Lyla, 4, Addie Joe, 2, and Sloane, 5 months — from Baltimore to stay with mother Betsy Sanford in the Southend.
Sanford said she has been coming to Ocean City for 68 years.
What does she like about it?
“Everything. We love riding the bikes on the boardwalk, we love how nice the beaches are, we love the different foods,” she said. “We start at one end of the boardwalk and eat our way up to the other end of the boardwalk.”
Cindy Fitzgerald of Richboro, Pa., was visiting with Hailey, 9, and Olivia, 6. Fitzgerald has spent summers in Upper Township since she was a child.
The girls took part in the Pretzel Sculpting Contest last summer but were newbies to taffy sculpting, although not eating it.
“I can’t wait to see how sticky they get,” she said.
David Barrett was visiting Ocean City for the first time with sons Finn, 12, and Tucker, 10, from Glen Ridge near Montclair, N.J.
Barrett said he grew up visiting Long Beach Island, where he would write fluff pieces for the now defunct Sandpaper, earning a nickel per word.
He said he found the island “Lovely.”
“LBI does not have this boardwalk at all. It’s a lot of fun, the water is really warm. It reminds us of Coney Island, with the boardwalk and the food and everything,” he said.
Traveling a bit farther was JP Newkirk from Upstate New York, who brought son Jonah, 15, and daughter Juji, 11, for “fun, family and food.”
He said it was only his second time in the city.
“I like it, that’s why I came back,” he said, words the Chamber of Commerce will be happy to read.
Tim and Amber Kennett of Crystal Lake, Ill., were competing in the adult category, which was strictly rated G — this is a Christian resort, after all. Reaching back to childhood for motivation, Lex Williams of Golden, Colo., made Oscar the Grouch.
– STORY and PHOTOS by CRAIG D. SCHENCK/Sentinel staff
