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Bringing together more than 3,600 collectors and hobbyists from stateside and abroad, the National Sea Glass Festival hit Lewes Oct. 11-12. Sponsored by the North American Sea Glass Association, the third annual event held at the Virden Center proved that shiny, odd-shaped stones found on beaches attract much more than children and birds.
In fact, the hobby of sea glass collecting has now become a popular pastime for amateur treasure hunters and professional artisans alike, said event Chairman Richard LaMotte. The festival itself was a testament to how much interest has grown in the past few years, he added, noting this year’s event drew a final number four times that of previous audiences.
Jewelers and sea glass vendors were primed and ready for eager visitors as the festival started, showing off the rarest pieces made into earrings, necklaces and other creative jewelry settings.
Lindsay Treiber, a collector and jeweler from Washington state, noted while sea glass may be easily found, unique pieces are most in demand.
Nothing more than remnants
Sea glass is nothing more than broken remnants from bottles, jars, plates and other materials that have been tumbled in the water and naturally smoothed over decades and sometimes hundreds of years, she explained. The glass comes in all shapes and sizes and gains value depending on the age, color and uniqueness of each piece.
Beach visitors comb the sand looking for a big find, not only because it can be of monetary value, she said, but also because there is history and beauty locked into each piece. A trained eye can not only tell the approximate age of a shard, but experts can often identify what object the piece came from and who discarded it in the first place.
At one of many identification stands at the festival, Ohio resident Beryl Prusinoski learned the origin of a broken figure she found in London. Bearing the face of St. Robert, it was identified as part of a Bellarmine jug broken more than 500 years ago. Hundreds of others waited in line to have their pieces identified as well, hoping they had stumbled on the rarest of finds.
“There is so much you can learn about sea glass through what it looks like,” said Millsboro collector Jan Geiger. “My sister started collecting glass about 10 years ago and ever since, I’ve been hooked too.”
During the summer, Geiger frequents Lewes and Broadkill beaches and she said finding green, amber and clear specimens is relatively simple. It takes longer though if one hopes to find a rare blue, purple or orange piece, she says, noting that the hunt for such shards is all part of the fun. “It is an entertaining hobby where you are driven to look for something and in the end you never really know what you will find.”
With lectures given by professionals from all over the world, the national festival has combined both educational aspects and the excitement of attendees who have the opportunity to show their most unique discoveries.
Compete for ‘Shard of the Year’
In fact, attendees brought approximately 1,800 individual shards to compete in the festival’s culminating “Shard of the Year” event. After looking over each piece individually, a team of five judges noted it was difficult to choose a winner. With more than 100 people huddled closely around the official’s booth, visitors eagerly waited for their piece to be named a winner.
While nine collectors were given $100 for their category-winning pieces, the best in show winner took home $1,000 and bragging rights for the entire year. The award was finally given to New York sea glass enthusiast Linda Boehm for her small, red, marble-like entry believed to have come from a bottle stopper discarded more than 50 years ago.
“I can’t wait to go home and tell all my e-bay buddies that my piece won,” said Boehm after receiving the honor. She found the red marble, a color found once ever 5,000 or so pieces, while combing the land off of Lake Erie in Buffalo, N.Y.
While there could only be one grand prize-winner, Mary Beth Beuke, president of the NASGA, noted just enjoying the hobby is the biggest reward in itself. “It is recycling at its best,” said Beuke. “It is an outdoor activity, it brings families together across generations [and there] is simply nothing else quite like it.”
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