March 23, 2015 at 5:39 p.m.
Winners announced as CANtastic 2015 draws to a close
Winners announced as CANtastic 2015 draws to a close
By Kayla Thomason-
Nine teams competed this year, the most in CANtastic's history. A total of 4,308 cans or boxes of non-perishable food items were used to build the historic buildings. An anonymous person will be donating a dollar for each food item used in the voting - 711.
"This is probably the best (CANtastic) that we've had, we had nine teams," said Guy Hansen, Rhinelander Area Food Pantry's executive director. "There's a lot of enthusiasm, we had some really good structures."
The Ministry Medical Group team won Judge's Choice with their rendition of Saint Basil's Cathedral in Moscow, Russia, which used 713 cans.
"We were looking through historic buildings and this one had lots of color and the structure was quite different than just a box," said Lindsey Kennedy, project leader.
The trial build took them approximately 10 hours, Kennedy said. But, with the kinks worked out, her team completed the build at the actual event in under an hour.
"It was a lot of trial and error," Kennedy said. "We had a lot of cans on the ground, dented a few."
Every member of Ministry's group was a CANtastic rookie.
"Just want to see more teams try it out and see what they can do," said Jeana Carlson, a member of the group. "It's a good cause."
Carlson said it meant a lot to her and the group that they were able to participate in the event.
"Working at Ministry we are a Catholic organization so we have been donating and working for the poor for years so this is huge that we can donate this much to the food pantry," she said.
Kennedy said she wanted to give a big thank you to everyone who donated cans so they could build their structure.
Calvary CANnoneers (Calvary Baptist Church) won the most cans award, building a replica of the Lincoln Memorial with 803 cans.
"The interesting thing about the Lincoln Memorial is that this year is 150 years since Lincoln died and on the day that we built this it was 150 years since his second inaugural address where he said 'with malice toward none and charity to all,'" said Carl Silbernagel, group leader.
It took the group about two hours to build the Lincoln Memorial.
Silbernagel said the memorial looked easier to build than some of the other historic structures they considered.
"I had actually looked at something with domes and I thought 'how can I do domes?' Well now I see how to do domes so if I have to do domes next time (I'll know)," he said as he gestured toward Ministry's structure.
The Rhinelander High School Building Trades team won People's Choice and they used 768 cans.
"We were supposed to have a historic building and they became historic for the wrong reasons but we were trying to tug at people's hearts and just do a memorial for it," said Jed Everson.
This is the class's third time winning people's choice. Everson said he enjoys participating and helping others.
"Everything gets donated to a good cause so we love the votes," he said.
Hansen also likes the venue and is appreciative of being able to use the space.
"(The Rouman Cinema) is a great place to have this," he said. "We really thank George Rouman and the company for letting us come here. It's a nice venue, they're very accommodating, very helpful."
Hanson said he heard from Rouman that a lot of people came to the theatre to see and vote on the structures.
All the cans and boxes of non-perishable food items will be donated to the Rhinelander Area Food Pantry.
The theme for CANtastic 2016 will be Drive Out Hunger. Hansen said he is excited about the possible cars, trains and airplanes that may be created.
Kayla Breese may be reached at [email protected].
Comments:
You must login to comment.