The ATAS Monsters of Metal Canstruction team recently received the Best Meal award in the recent Canstruction Lehigh Valley competition.

One of five teams building Cansculptures this year, team members consisted of ATAS employees and Janet Grazul, an architect at the Architectural Studio. This year’s theme was aCANemy Awards, and teams were challenged to build structures based on a movie nominated for an Academy Award. The Monsters of Metal created a Cansculpture featuring the Wizard of Oz. The Cansculpture incorporated several varieties of beans, sweet peas, tomato sauce, and tomato paste, to create a colorful, as well as nourishing, display of food. A total of 5,483 cans were used to build the structure, which was on display at the Lehigh Valley Mall for two weeks in October.

The jury for the competition consisted of community leaders, including Whitehall Mayor Michael P. Harakal, Jr., Second Harvest Food Bank Director Jessica Dokachev, and Architect Steve Glickman, AIA. The displays were judged on their first impression, attention to detail, inclusion of healthy ingredients, and design and structural ingenuity.

This is fourth year that ATAS has participated in this event; they have been involved since its inception in 2015. New Tripoli Bank and Fabrication Concepts, Inc. were sponsors of the Monsters of Metal team again this year.

A grand total of 29,825 cans (consisting of 30,419 pounds of food) were used by the five teams competing, and $1,390.73 was raised in cash donations. All food and cash were donated to Second Harvest Food Bank, which serves approximately 60,000 people per month through their network of over 200 agencies throughout the Greater Lehigh Valley.

In the team photo (left to right): Dylan Repsher, Andrew Webber, Kevin Klersy (team co-captain), Patrick Reinhart (team co-captain), Shirlann Wilkinson, Janet Grazul of The Architectural Studio, Jason Eberts, Anne Hicks, Chris Grover, and Brian Silvius. Team members missing from photo: Glenn Hechler, Cindy Galiszanski, and Julie Wheeland.