The Ward Museum of Wildfowl Art, Salisbury University, held the 44th Annual World Championship Wildfowl Carving Competition and Art Festival this weekend at the Roland E. Powell Convention Center in Ocean City, MD.
Over 1300 carvings were entered by carvers of all levels, from Youth to World Class, in 39 different divisions which include life-size and miniature decorative bird carvings, interpretive carvings and several categories of working decoys. At the award ceremony on Saturdaynight the winners of the World Champion Divisions were announced. They are as follows:
Division A – Decorative Life-size Wildfowl
1. Carolina Wren by Larry Barth, Stahlstown, Pennsylvania
2. Long-eared Owl by Pat Godin, Paris, Ontario, Canada
3. Spot-billed Toucanet by Thomas Horn, Emmaus, Pennsylvania
Division B – Floating Decorative Life-size Waterfowl Pair –
Grebe Pair
1. Pied Billed Grebes by Jamie Welsh, Simpsonville, South Carolina
2. Horned Grebes by Lionel Dwyer, Port Perry, Ontario, Canada
3. Pied Billed Grebes by Jim Sanders, Hattiesburg, Mississippi
Division C – Decorative Miniature Wildfowl
1. Malachite Sunbird by Todd Wohlt, Appleton, Wisconsin
2. Great Blue Heron by Gary Eigenberger, Green Bay, Wisconsin
3. Ruff “On the Lek” by Gerald Painter, Great Falls, Montana
Division D – Interpretive Wood Sculpture
1. “Anatomy of Flight” by Jeff Krete, Cambridge, Ontario, Canada
2. “Swan Dive” by William Casto, Williamsburg, Virginia
3. “My Secret Garden” by Lynn Branson, Courtenay, British Columbia, Canada
Division SR – Shootin’ Rig
1. King Eiders by Tom Christie, Waverly, Iowa
2. Common Eiders by Walter Gaskill, Beaufort, North Carolina
3. Mergansers and Gull by Keith Mueller, Killingworth, Connecticut
For more information call 410-742-4988, ext.106 or visit the Ward Museum web site at www.wardmuseum.org.
