Everyone else has a sticky good time at silly Wacky Wednesday competition
OCEAN CITY — Artists displayed their creativity in a friendly competition by shaping and sculpting saltwater taffy designs on paper plates.
The taffy sculpting June 28 at the Music Pier kicked off a series of weekly Wacky Wednesday activities and contests. Participants used saltwater taffy, provided by Shriver’s Salt Water Taffy & Fudge, to make small but colorful tableaus designs.
Natalie Angelo, 41, of Washington, D.C., read about the event in a newspaper. She attended the contest with her mother-in-law, sister-in-law, daughter, aunt and uncle.
Her daughter, Frankie McCarron, 8, sculpted a tree decorated with flowers and a bird with a blonde girl standing nearby.
Angelo said she enjoyed her first sculpting contest and thinks her family will return every year.
Shawn Bateman, 46, and his wife Christine, 42, brought their children, Bella, 8, and Conner,11, to participate in taffy sculpting for the first time. He has been visiting the city since he was his daughter’s age, and the family previously attended a past Wacky Wednesday French fry sculpting contest.
Bella crafted a colorful octopus out of her taffy. Conner sat eating his taffy, though he said he disliked the treat.
Bateman said the event was “fun for the kids and allowed them to be creative.” He laughed that his wife would use her own creative flair to create a candy masterpiece in the next taffy sculpting competition. (That is scheduled for Aug. 23.)
Sitting with his family, Tim Moyer, 55, from Moorestown, said he has been visiting the island for more than 20 years. His family are seasoned sculptors and participate in many of the Wacky Wednesday endeavors.
The joy of taffy sculpting comes from “creativity, time with family, fun and free taffy,” Moyer said.
His wife, Karen, 49, sculpted a mini-golf hole; he created a pot of flowers and their son Luke, 16, connected taffy-made American and Ukrainian flags with a pink heart. When asked if they were going to eat their creations, Karen Moyer held up a piece of taffy she was eating and laughed.
The family reunites with an annual trip to the city — the same week every year in the same house.
Jillian Frazier, 39, from Washington, D.C., came to the Wacky Wednesday contest with her children Freya, 8, and Atlas, 7, parents, aunt and grandfather. She said taffy sculpting was a fun activity that all ages can enjoy.
“I love the small towny feel of it. There’s a lot of people, but you see the same people and there’s room to enjoy things,” Frazier said about the island. She came along with her parents who visit yearly.
Elizabeth Trostle of Sunnyside, Utah, attended her first taffy sculpting contest with her family in her first visit to the island in five years. She was invited by her sister, Andrea Yost, who spends the summer on the island and attends all of the Wacky Wednesday events.
Her son, Josiah, won an award for his candy crab creation. Inspiration sprouted from the family’s recent crabbing adventure.
Trostle sculpted a plane banner and said the process was much more difficult and stickier than she had anticipated.
She appreciated the nice weather while sculpting and was blessed with a good day at the beach. “Sometimes when you’re away from (the ocean), then you appreciate it more.”
Lily Pedlow of Ambler, Pa., was the adult winner with her taffy cat. Pedlow said she has a black cat at home, but she didn’t have enough black taffy, so she fashioned a tan and brown version. It may not have impressed her pet, but it impressed the judges.
Pedlow said she has been competing in the Wacky Wednesday taffy sculpting contests since she was 6 or 7 years old, and this was her first-ever first-place finish.
Asked if finally winning is a life-changing event, Pedlow smiled. “This is,” she said with a laugh. “I have been trying so hard and this is such a great competition. I am so honored to have this.”
She will be going home to her black cat, but the taffy version won’t be accompanying her. “It was already melting while I was sculpting it,” she said.
Next up at Wacky Wednesday is a pie-eating contest July 5, French fry sculpting July 12, “Mystery Bag” July 19, Christmas in July July 26, Donut on a String eating contest Aug. 2, a Hawaiian Luau Aug 9, Prince and Princess Party Aug. 16, and then back to taffy sculpting Aug. 23. The events begin at 10:30 a.m.
By JOELLE CARR/For the Sentinel
