This is PCA’s 13th time participating in CANstruction, and our tallest build to date, just reaching the 10 foot height limit. This year, PCA’s Can Opening Hero took home the “Directors Choice Award.” Congrats team!

Our team this year was led once again by Dan Molenkamp, with Mareesa Graf, Shaun Hallissey, Karl Damitz and Ruth Parr. Also helping out on Build Day this year were Michelle Granick, Erika DeRoche, Max Diperstein, Steve Banning, Nicole Lee and David LaCount.

We managed to work at a good pace but were surprised at how quickly we approached the 12 hour build limit, finishing with five minutes to spare! Pre-building parts of the upper portion of the can opener and then setting it atop its spindly legs took more time than expected. Tightening the nuts and washers at each level of the 27 threaded rods was also fairly time consuming. Once that was in place, progress sped up quite a bit. Fun fact: our sculpture utilized 60 cobalt magnets to attach some of the cans.

Responding to CANstruction’s theme this year of “Heros versus Villains” our Can Opener embodies both our Hero – able to access delicious food in our can to defeat food shortage, and our Villain – with its destructive can opening mechanisms able to toss the lid helplessly to one side. Our sculpture, made of beef ravioli, peas, sardines, chili, beans, and a multitude of veggies, will provide over 3,000 meals this year to the Merrimack Valley Food Bank. All in a good cause!

This year, PCA’s Can Opening Hero took home the “Directors Choice Award.” Congrats team!