Inventive children were hoping trash would bring them a nautical treasure at a local outdoor show.
The Kiiskila sisters had two of dozens of entries in the Build a Boat contest where kids six to 12 competed for a kayak and paddle. They raided their parents’ recycling bin for materials. Carly, 8, used a milk carton, a zip-lock bag, some napkins and string to build her craft.
“I thought it would be fun and I’ve never done this contest before so I thought it would be interesting to try it,” she said. “If I don’t win it will still be fun trying.”
Sarah, 6, used a milk carton buoyed by two vitamin bottles. Both sisters say the best part was putting all the parts together.
“That was a very impressing thing for me,” Sarah said.
Their friend Lexi Kaplanis, 8, also wanted to try her hand at ship-building. Luckily for her, Lexi’s dad is building them a new home so she had lots of recycled materials to work with.
“He had a pile of it so I took some and drew on it and glued stuff on it,” she said of her catamaran-type vessel. “I wanted to see if I could actually do it.”
Central Canada Outdoor Show organizer Nancy Milani said the boats would be judged by a committee on aesthetics.
“It doesn’t have to float,” she said. “We certainly encourage recycled material, there are a lot of points for that.”
The contest was just one of more than 100 exhibits at the outdoor show over the weekend. From fishing simulators to an archery range, the event at Lowery’s Sports Dome drew around 15,000 people.
“It’s just been a wonderful,” she said. “From the minute we opened the doors it’s been non-stop people.”
