Canadian 'Pucker Pro' Wins Key West's Conch Shell Blowing Contest

KEY WEST (CBSMiami/FKNB) – Several dozen fans of the fluted, pink-lined conch shell displayed their pucker power Saturday during Key West's 58th annual Conch Shell Blowing Contest in the Florida Keys.

When the "conch honk" concluded, Canadian Alliszon Zaichkowski of Victoria, British Columbia, was named the women's division winner.

Canadian Alliszon Zaichkowski toots her conch shell during the annual Key West Conch Shell Blowing Contest Saturday, March 7, 2020, in Key West, Fla. A French horn player for the Royal Canadian Navy, Zaichkowski won top honors by impressing the judges with excerpts from several melodies including composer Igor Stravinsky's "The Firebird" and Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody." (Rob O'Neal/Florida Keys News Bureau)

A French horn player for the Royal Canadian Navy, Zaichkowski impressed the judges by playing excerpts from several melodies including composer Igor Stravinsky's "The Firebird" and Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody."

Zaichkowski, who said she traveled to Key West specifically to compete in the contest, is such a fan of the conch shell that she has one tattooed on her arm.

"I like to think of the conch shell as my travel horn, because I can't bring my French horn everywhere -- and you also don't want to be playing a French horn at the beach," she said. "So I always just take my conch shell with me and that's what I play at the beach.

"It's more my vacation instrument," she added.

The tradition of blowing a conch shell in the Florida Keys began centuries ago. In the 1800s, when the local economy was largely based on salvaging shipwreck cargoes, sailors attracted attention by blowing piercing blasts on the shell.

Today the conch shell remains an enduring symbol of the Florida Keys, and the island chain is often called the Conch Republic.

Contest entrants included men, women, kids and groups, with winners chosen for the quality, duration, loudness and novelty of the sounds they produced.

The men's division winner was Vinnie Marturano of Big Pine Key, Florida, who blew an excerpt from composer Aram Khachaturian's "Sabre Dance" embellished with offbeat high-pitched squeals.

Participants in the group division of the annual Key West Conch Shell Blowing Contest toot their conch shells Saturday, March 7, 2020, in Key West, Fla. Contestants were judged on the quality of tone, duration, loudness and novelty of sounds produced. Conch shells were used by early Florida Keys residents to signal salvagers that a sinking ship was spotted offshore the subtropical island chain. (Rob O'Neal/Florida Keys News Bureau)

The contest was presented by the Old Island Restoration Foundation, founded in 1960 to advocate preservation of Key West's culture and historic buildings.

(©2020 CBS Local Media. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Florida Keys News Bureau contributed to this report.)

Read more
f

We and our partners use cookies to understand how you use our site, improve your experience and serve you personalized content and advertising. Read about how we use cookies in our cookie policy and how you can control them by clicking Manage Settings. By continuing to use this site, you accept these cookies.