By Ruth Ann Ruiz
The Post Newspaper Features Editor
“They are all having a great time, the kids are enjoying themselves,” said a member of the Ortiz Pinner family reunion. The family reunion is a yearly event. They come down from Fort Worth with four campers and stay at an RV park in Jamaica Beach.
“We find great things to do as a family every year, we’ll go to the Strand, we go fishing, we just hang out at the beach together,” added a member of the family.
“We love our time here” added another member of the family.
This year, they opted for a novel experience and reached out to sand sculpture expert Emerson Schreiner for one of his sandcastle building lessons. “We are creating a creative memory and the kids are having a great time,” said a family member.
Schreiner is from Holland, Mich., which is bordered by Lake Michigan. With an abundance of sand and beaches along Lake Michigan, it would seem a great place for a future sand sculpture to develop skills and a love of sand sculptures.
While Schreiner may have first put his toes in the sand of Lake Michigan, he really got his hands and knees in the sands of Texas. “I would come visit my aunt at South Padre Island every year. My first memory of me with a sandcastle, I was just 3 years old.” said Schreiner.
Though he had fun at the beach and built some sandcastles as a child, he really didn’t dig it that much.
By the time he was 19, he was ready to dig in and get serious about building sculptures in the sand. “My aunt offered me a job with her company one summer and the seed was planted. I loved it,” said Schreiner.
The City of Galveston called on him to provide free lessons to the public on Stewart Beach a couple summers back, and he would make the drive to Galveston from Southwest Texas every Friday to be ready to dig in the sand with eager students on Saturdays.
This year, Schreiner made the move and now calls Galveston home. He is available for anyone to call on his services for a sandcastle building experience.
Though it seems like a lot of fun, and it is a lot of fun, it’s hard work as well. “Usually, we use shovels to dig down to the water table, but the sand in Galveston is too hard for digging that deep, so we use buckets to bring the water to the location,” said Schreiner.
“It’s great to get a family together working on something, I love what I do!” exclaimed Schreiner.
This summer he has been busy with an average of 2-3 lessons a day. He doesn’t just tell his students what to do, he is in the mix with them, digging sand, hauling water and helping to form their work of art.
After the heavy-duty work of getting the proper amount of sand and water together the fun of churning and mixing up the mixture is experienced by both little hands and big hands. Then begins the forming of what will become a glorious work of art to be admired by its artists and all who pass by.
Sand Sculpting is a way of life for Schreiner. He is active in events and competitions held around the nation. Every year, he participates with his aunt in an event in Port Aransas building a huge sand sculpture. “There are usually 10 other sculptures, it takes about a week and ends up being the size of a small house,” said Schreiner.
Schreiner is confident in his future as a sand sculpture in Galveston, “The community has been very receptive, and the sand here is very strong it carves very well and holds the moisture,” he explained.
