Otsego Canstruction

Alyssa VanPelt-Cathcart, Staff Writer

According to Lind Drake, Director of The Center for Volunteerism & Community (CVCE), the center has been hosting Canstruction since 2011. Canstruction is a competitive event where teams will work together to build the best sculpture using as many cans as possible. When the event is over, all of the cans used in Canstruction will be donated to local food pantries to give back to the community. 

Sigma Gamma Phi made a sculpture of the American flag, OnMark made a sculpture of an ambulance, the Rotary Club made a sculpture of the Rotary symbol, Team Yummin’ It Up made a sculpture of the word “yummy,” and SAAC made a sculpture of a trophy. 

Sodexo, the company that manages the food on campus at SUNY Oneonta, had a team there to build the iconic pillars from the school. According to the team, they have been participating in Canstruction for a few years and want to give back to their community. 

The CVCE has a team of their own sponsored by the Visions Federal Credit Union. Sophomore Jaden Santisteban and junior Daniel Schlagel participated for the first time. Their team built a rocket ship. 

High school students Gavin McEmroe, Olivia Comklin, Lorenzo Reisen, and Gerald Barrett worked in conjunction with social worker Dan Cheatham. Additionally, they built a panther paw for their school mascot with the school’s initials on the back. According to Cheatham, their principal had received the invitation and invited both their student council and NHS to get involved. 

Skedaddlers, a group of adolescents from the UVCS Robotics team, built two snail sculptures out of empty yogurt containers with their lids on. This was their first year participating in Canstruction. Their team was led by their teacher, Will Rexroat. After learning about Canstruction, they reached out to the Chobani company to donate empty yogurt containers with their lids. Although they weren’t using cans, Chobani will be donating yogurt based on how many they used for their sculptures. It’s been estimated their sculptures used sixteen hundred containers. 

CoolAslce may be the favorite to win this year as they have won three years in a row. In the years prior, they built an American flag, a six-foot tall Lego man, and a giant castle. 11-year-old Macall Heller and 10-year-old Griffin Gutierrez both participated in this year and have fellow student Colin Millea to guide them. At Canstruction, CoolAslce built an ice cream cone. CoolAsIce says their favorite part of Canstruction is the fun that comes along with it. It’s also good for building teamwork skills. But they do warn that people have to be careful while building. However, they highly recommend participating as it supports the whole community. 

According to the Volunteer Coordinator Carlotta Batchelder, the sculptures will remain up until the end of the month as they will be hosting their awards ceremony. There is still some time to visit the Southside Mall in Oneonta to view the structures or attend the awards ceremony on Mar. 30.