Man wins Conch Shell Blowing Contest In Key West - WMDT 47 News - Delmarva's Choice

KEY WEST, Fla. (AP) - A 76-year-old sailing enthusiast from Maryland is the winner in the men's division of the annual Conch Shell Blowing Contest in Key West.
    
Bill Ochse of Ocean City, Md., impressed the judges Saturday by playing a "drum roll" and march excerpt on his fluted, pink-lined shell.  He said he had performed once in a conch orchestra.
    
Judges evaluated entrants from children to seniors on the quality, novelty, duration and loudness of the sounds they produced.
    
Other winners included 13-year-old Taylor Nasser of Key West, who blew a lengthy blast while hula-hooping.
    
Conch shells have been used as signaling devices in the Florida Keys for at least 200 years. Native-born islanders are called Conchs, and the Keys are nicknamed the Conch Republic.