Hazy Dayz at 47° N

Indianola Days is probably one of my all-time favorite places to be in the summertime. The development of Indianola, according to Wikipedia, “began in 1916 with the formation of the Indianola Beach Land Company by W. L. Gazzam to promote real estate sales on the land owned by the Loughreys. A dock and a store were built as amenities to attract buyers; a second store, the Beachcomber, was built the next year. From the beginning, Indianola has been a vacation community, with its population inflating considerably in the summertime.”

This community may not be the same vacation community it was in the beginning, but it is still one big family. The event, this year held Aug. 2-3 during the minus tides, draws locals and visitors with the same hometown feel that I remember while growing up in Kansas.

Where else can you find community founders and their grandchildren at the same place in such large numbers?

The community has changed considerably recently. The Indianola Clubhouse is sporting a new foundation and facade complete with brand new landscaping. The pavilion looks amazing in natural wood and I have been busy putting the old pavilion concrete to good use in my yard as landscaping.

The keynote family event for the Indianola Days weekend is the sand-sculpture contest. Dozens of creations with teams of builders swarmed the low-tide palette of sand. The low-tidal zone at the dock allows for hundreds of yards of perfectly smooth canvases.

The skill level varied from a basic creation resembling a sandworm to an elaborate medieval castle complete with crushed shell roofing and a drawbridge. My favorite was a great white shark ballooning up from the sand with spiked and jagged teeth made from broken clamshells.

All in all, the event was about the community coming together, bringing out neighbors and offering a chance for everyone to say hello. Events like this create a strong sense of community and allow for the youth to connect. The dock and beach are more than just a place to hang with friends on long summer days; they are really about creating lifelong memories of family outings and fun projects. The contest helps preserve the traditions of friends and family creating the most outrageous, most creative and perhaps the most interactive sand sculptures, then watching as the tides reclaim the work.

Indianola Days are over for this year as are many other summer community events. So now we are gearing up for school. Next month column will feature the first day of Kindergarten from 36 inches high.

For more stories, visit the blog at www.bradcampimages.blogspot.com. Brad Camp is a staff photographer for the Kingston Community News, North Kitsap Herald and Bainbridge Review, and was recently voted “Best Photographer” in The Best of North Kitsap. The shows