Re-building a Tradition

IB Posse's winning sand sculpture "Back on Track." Photo credit: Sha-Ron Cobb

Leonard Gonzales has spent years knee-deep in the sand – sculpting, priming, perfecting. And recently, the Imperial Beach native dug up tradition for his hometown to keep a sense of community alive.

The Sun & Sea Festival, an annual celebration in IB, has been in place since 1960. It notably was the site for the U.S. Open Sandcastle Competition for 32 years, until it ended in 2011. Gonzales, a Sheriff’s Department project manager, remembers the event as a child, where he got his first taste of sculpting.

“In ‘84, my parents took me and my sister and cousins to the beach to see the sandcastles and my dad ran into a friend, Mike, who was competing alone. At the time, it was a free event and anyone could jump in. So my dad just started helping him,” Gonzales said. “The next year, when I was 10 or 11, they decided to put a team together and I helped as much as I could. Every year I got more responsibility and helped a little bit more.”

Gonzales took over the team once he graduated high school and has been digging in every summer with friends and family, including his dad and Mike.IB Posse digs in at the Sun & Sea Festival sandcastle competition. Photo credit: Sha-Ron Cobb

Once the U.S. Open Sandcastle Competition ended in IB, Gonzales joined the Sun & Sea Festival planning committee to help bring back the beloved building tradition.

“We were called together by community members and city folks to try to resurrect something, and we had a small sun and sea festival that turned out to be more of a children’s event,” he said. “It really wasn’t a sandcastle competition that drew crowds; it was more of an activity event.”

So Gonzales, who worked nine years for the Environmental Health Department, and the committee decided to bring back a competition more like the U.S. Open, borrowing from its rules and regulations to create a fun, competitive event that coincided with street vendors and live music – to promote family, community and local businesses.

“I looked at what I liked from previous years and put it together with new tweaks,” Gonzales said. “For the most part, it was based off what I’ve seen over the past years.”

IB Posse's winning sand sculpture "Back on Track." Photo credit: Sha-Ron CobbWhile he took a role as an organizer, he’s still a competitor. Gonzales and his team – IB Posse - won first place in the “Masters-A” class for their creation “Back on Track,” a train coming up out of a tunnel with steam. Gonzales said it represents bringing the community of IB back on track with the rebirth of the sandcastle competition.

“All the comments that we’re getting from the community are that ‘it’s back!’ and everyone’s happy for that,” Gonzales said.” I’m so proud of the whole community and the Sun and Sea Festival community for persevering through all the different obstacles in the past couple of years. I’m so proud of the way things turned out – it did feel like a very successful event.”