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U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Tulsa District News

Body sculptures on Big Hill Lake generate social media buzz

Published July 13, 2015
This sand family was discovered during a beach patrol by summer ranger, Ethan Speicher, at Big Hill Lake in Cherryvale, Kansas, July 11. The works were created by Jereme Glenn, with the help of his family earlier that day.

This sand family was discovered during a beach patrol by summer ranger, Ethan Speicher, at Big Hill Lake in Cherryvale, Kansas, July 11. The works were created by Jereme Glenn, with the help of his family earlier that day.

TULSA — While patrolling the beach at Mound Valley Park on Big Hill Lake in Cherryvale, Kansas, July 11, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers summer ranger Ethan Speicher, wasn’t surprised to see a family of three lying in the sand.

Speicher was surprised to see that the family of three was the sand.

“Before we close the park for quiet hours, we clear the beach,” said Speicher, a technologies shop school teacher at Independence Middle School in Independence, Kansas who moonlights as a ranger during the summer months.

As the horizon eclipsed the sun, Speicher saw what looked like a man lying face down in the sand, a woman lying on her back, and a child resting his head on the woman’s stomach.

“I thought I was going to have to ask them to leave so we could close the beach down for the night,” said Speicher.

As he closed the distance between himself and the moon bathers, Speicher realized speaking to them would be an act of futility.

“I’ve seen a lot of strange things but that’s the strangest, so I took a photo,” Speicher said.

He sent the picture to the Tulsa District Public Affairs Office, which shared the photo on Facebook. Within 48 hours the image generated more than 2,200 likes and 1,280 shares.

“Talent at its best,” a person commented.

“Very cool,” posted another.

A few hours and a hundred comments after the photo’s posting, the sandicraft was identified as the work of Jereme P. Glenn, a pool maintenance technician for the City of Joplin, Missouri.

Glenn and his family visited Big Hill Lake earlier in the day and created the sculptures.

"I was really surprised they survived more than a couple of hours," said Glenn.

A native of Pittsburg, Kansas, Glenn said his family has been visiting Big Hill Lake since he was a child but he only discovered his talent for sand sculpting about 12 years ago in Indiana.

During a buddy’s wedding party at an lake outside of Fort Wayne, Glenn said, a lightning storm interrupted the proceedings. The wedding party decided to make the most of their downtime, and began making a mermaid.

“After awhile most of them lost interest and I discovered I could do it pretty well,” Glenn said. “After that, every time I went to a beach I tried to create something.”

According to Glenn, the fine sand at Big Hill Lake is perfect for sand sculpting.

“Coarse sand is difficult to form into anything or create any detail, which is why Big Hill is my favorite place to create sculptures,” Glenn said.

A few posts noted the similarities between the sculpture and the volcanic ash remains of Pompeii, which Glenn noted is accidental. What is intentional is the lack of human faces in his creations. His depictions of humans often show the creation’s hands covering their faces, like a sunbather who forgot to bring sunglasses.

“I’ve found people get offended when you start doing faces,” he said. “They start asking, ‘Is that me?’”

Glenn has sculpted mermaids, sharks, cars, octopuses and even the “minions” from the “Despicable Me” movies.

“I never have been an artist. This is the one thing I can do,” said Glenn. “I’ve tried to work with clay but I can’t do it. Sand is the only material I can work with but I’m proud that so many people like the sculptures. If it makes everyone happy and draws people to Big Hill, that’s fine.”

The sculpture post can be viewed at www.facebook.com/usacetulsa.