Sunfest brings the world to Mill Creek Park

By Jeanne Starmack

starmack@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

A moai is a human figure with a big head that is:

A, carved from rock and found on Easter Island, Chile; B, sculpted from sand and found in Mill Creek Park, Youngstown; or C, both.

If you said C, both, you are correct. Maybe you were at Sunfest in the park’s Wick Recreation Area on Sunday afternoon and saw Nomiki Tsarnas’ life-sized moai she created for the sand- sculpture competition. If not, you’re out of luck. Unlike the Easter Island statues, Tsarnas’ work isn’t permanent. But if you’ve always wanted to see the Taj Mahal, you can come to next year’s contest. Tsarnas’ daughter, Maria, 7, is trying to persuade her mother to do a rendering of it next.

Why a moai?

“I’m just into this,” said Tsarnas.

The Campbell woman was there with family members that included her other daughter, Sylvia, 5; husband, Michael; sister, Evangela Hazimihalis, also of Campbell; Evangela’s son, Yianni, 3; and a cousin, Bessie Lygnos, a Campbell native who was visiting from Florida.

“I just started reading about Easter Island,” Tsarnas continued. “I’m a little bit of a nerd.”

Lygnos helped quite a bit, Tsarnas said, though Lygnos was too modest to say so herself.

Hazimihalis also ducked out of taking credit.

“She’s the mastermind,” Hazimihalis said, being a loyal sister.

Tsarnas was one of many other sculptors who’d come out, with their kids, for the event. She found out about it, she said, by reading The Vindicator, but she almost forgot about it. Luckily, her friend Andrea Gross of Columbiana reminded her — Gross was two sculptures down working on a giant Mickey Mouse head with her son, Carson, 3. Helping them out were Tia Sizer of Canfield and her daughters, Mandy, 9, and Kali, 12.

“We’re friends of the park on Facebook,” Gross said.

In between the moai and Mickey, Youngstown residents Camille McQueen and her daughter, Cl’Che Cochran, 8; and Jackie Pugliese and her daughter, Gianna McQueen, 4, had built a large goldfish with a cheerful smile.

They’d been working since about 1:30 p.m., they said. The contest began at 1 p.m., and it was about to wind down, with judging beginning at 4 p.m.

The competition was friendly, but there were some serious prizes at stake.

Out of approximately 20 entries, three would take top honors in the kids’ division for $15, $10 and $5 Handel’s coupons.

In the adult division, the first-place winner was walking away with $100, the second-place winner with $75 and the third-place winner with $50. Two honorable-mention slots were worth $25.

Eyes followed the judges as they walked the line of sculptures.

There was an anxious hush as Tom Bresko, the park’s interim executive director, began to read the winners.

In the kids’ division, which included children under 12, Cassie Murko of Warren took first place for “Jelly Fishing,” an under-the-sea motif that featured SpongeBob.

The first-place adult winner was Serena Jade Kennedy, 14, of Austintown, and her entry called “Lady of the Lake.”

“It’s a wonderful program,” said Bresko, adding that the park’s been having Sunfest since the early 1990s. Besides the sand-sculpture contest, it featured a hike, a zumba dance class, a “closest to the pin” golf challenge and two evening concerts.

Parents agreed it was a great way to keep the kids occupied.

“I like doing things with them outdoors,” said Tsarnas.