Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/211425
Sarasota News Leader November 15, 2013 signature parrothead for the event's big sponsor this year — Margaritaville Apparel — as well as other sponsor logos. Around them, giant-size sand piles awaited the other sculptors who would be competing and "Amazin' Walter," as Walter McDonald is known. The South Padre Island, TX, resident is the man who puts on the demonstrations and offers lessons during each Crystal Classic. Brian Wigelsworth, Siesta's own master sand sculptor — and the creator of the Crystal Classic — soon joined them on top of their pyramid. He had just returned from the airport after picking up another sculptor. Page 93 His only worry: the weather, especially on Saturday, Nov. 16. Still, the event continues through Nov. 18, so the public has plenty of time to take in all the fine details of the sand craftsmanship. And that engaged public is a major reason Long says he enjoys the Crystal Classic so much. "People really appreciate [the sculptures] as an art form," he points out. Sarasotans and the visitors to the Crystal Classic "are very artistically informed," Long notes. "That's really what we [sculptors] love the most [about the Crystal Classic]." Other than a few technical problems, Kondrats and Long do not hesitate to point Wigelsworth says, things were going well. out other factors that make Siesta Key one of Willie Turner, a Sarasota County Parks and Recreation Department employee, waits in the front-end loader for the signal to add more sand to the 'parrothead pyramid.' At right are the stacks of wood that will support the artists' 8-foot by 10-foot sculptures. Photo by Rachel Hackney