The event will include sand-castle building, judging, beach fun, entertainment and a picnic lunch and awards ceremony, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 4, at Dunes Beach, at Highway 1 and Young Avenue in Half Moon Bay.
“It’s a lively event, a wonderful family event,” said club publicity coordinator Regan Daniels.
 All ages have fun at the Sandy Feet festival, as shown by this lively hula-hoop contest from last year's event. |
Judging begins at 11 a.m. with a panel of community residents including Kitty Rea, owner of Harmony Road music school, pediatrician Humphrey Lu, Half Moon Bay Library Youth Services Librarian Karen Choy, and a representative from Coastside Hope.
There are judging categories for both children and adults. The children’s categories include: Best Creation, Judges’ Favorite and Best Creature of the Deep (shark, starfish, turtle, octopus, mermaid, etc.) Adult categories include: Best Creature of the Deep, Best Design Incorporating a Pumpkin, and Judges’ Favorite.
During the judging, a hula hoop contest, face painting and carnival games, like a surf-a-duck race put on by local surfing legend Jeff Clark, are planned.
From noon to 1 p.m. the judges will announce the contest winners while attendees sit down to lunch. Guests can bring their own lunches or pre-order lunches, by Oct. 1, from Chez Shea.
There will also be entertainment with a disc jockey playing beach- and surf-inspired music.
Registration for the sand-castle-building contest is $12 per family, and the box lunches prepared by Chez Shea are an additional $8 for adults and $3 for children. Registration forms can be found at www.coastsidemothersclub.org. Registration can also be done online and at the event, but will not include the Chez Shea box lunch.
All net proceeds will go to Coastside Hope, which will determine how to allot the funds, said Daniels. Last year’s event, which drew nearly 300 people, raised more than $2,000 for Coastside Hope, which provides a safety net to the community, in the form of support for working poor, needy, low-income families with children or single mothers, for a total of some 3,000 Coastside men, women and children.
Contest sponsors at the platinum-, gold- and silver-shovel levels, include more than 25 Coastside businesses and individuals.
The Coastside Mothers’ Club, founded in 1992 by a community of local families with young children, now comprises about 300 members between Montara and Pescadero. The club offers support, education and chances for socialization to parents and families with children ranging from infants to high-school age.
The club also maintains a lending library of roughly 75 books, tapes and DVDs on varied aspects of parenting including preparation for labor, breastfeeding, baby care, potty-training, and more topics. The books, many donated by club members and the general public, are available at La Di Da Café at 500 Purissima St. in Half Moon Bay, for checkout on the honor system, making them available to the borrower for as long as needed.
For more information on the Sandy Feet Festival, contact club fundraising coordinator Sandra Melo at 728-5386.
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