<p>A team of sand sculptors work away at last year's sandcastle day event.</p>

June 15, 2013. Cannon Beach, sometime after daybreak: Backhoes roar to life, their giant claws dig deep through beach sand in search of basins of ocean water. Hundreds of thirsty buckets carried back and forth by scurrying sandcastle contenders will soon lower in and fill up again and then again. The 49th annual Cannon Beach Sandcastle contest is underway.

Around 7 a.m., the elite Masters teams, vying for a share in the $4,000 purse, pull up in their rigs. Each group of up to 10 people begin unloading tools, buckets and coffee thermoses, preparing for a five-hour shift in their 30-foot by 30-foot sandy kingdom. Work starts promptly at 8 a.m. To be eligible for the Masters division, you must have won awards in the Large division at this or other sandcastle events.

There are participants in five other divisions, almost literally from the ground up: the 6-year-old-and-younger Sand Fleas; Sand Juniors is for kids age 7 to 11; Small Group is for any age and up to four people per team; Large Group, any age and up to eight people; and a Business division for commercially represented groups of up to eight people is open to all ages and all businesses. Each team is given a plot of sand with a designated viewing area; sand may not be added to or removed. All of these groups will be right behind the Masters, ready to find their designated 21-foot by 21-foot plots for a four-hour window. Vying for winning trophies, ribbons and bragging rights, they are ready to dig in at 9 a.m.

All competitors, from young to well, lets just say those with knees that arent what they once were arrive with a yen to dig sand, pile sand and shape sand, aided by water and natural materials found on the beach. Just like an organized ant colony, designated bucket-hauling team go-fers scurry to and from those backhoe water basins to dip, fill and slosh back to supply the real royalty of the teams, the sand carving artistes and their sandy assistants then get ready to go fill up again and then again. Each team has a common end goal: a show-stopping sand formation that will have onlookers clapping with delight and judges noting their approval. Cannon Beach photographer George Vetter has been taking professional pictures of sandcastle creations for 30 years. Its exciting and exhilarating, he says. These things come out of nowhere. 364 days a year the sand is flatter than all get out, and then one day the beach turns into all of these artistic creations.

From the first Sandcastle Contest in 1964 to the annual Sandastle Day celelbration, the event has now grown to a three-day Sandcastle Festival. This year, Friday night, June 14 kicks off festivities with a Shovels and Buckets dinner. On Saturday, June 15 theres a pancake breakfast, the sandcastle contest, a concert at the Coaster Theater and a beach bonfire. Sunday, June 16 hosts a 5K fun run. Through its history, good family fun for both participants and viewers was and remains the primary purpose of the event.

Master class participants Margaret Fasano, her brother John Palmer, and Johns wife Nancy Palmer, have spent years assisting their cousin Tim Tolan, a 33-year Sandcastle veteran. After 2000, Tolan and the group took a hiatus but were lured back by the call of the ongoing contest.

The theme is always a big secret. Tim chooses what we will do and announces it the night before, Fasano says. We all have dinner together, and he passes out a very simple drawing. Arch Capes John and Shirley Powell, (also 33-year vets of team Tolan) are always there. John is our master face carver. My brother John and I act like were very busy because we dont want to do anything artistic. We never tell onlookers what were doing; they have to keep coming back, and once the letters are being formed, it is fun to hear the comments. We all are having so much fun.

Tolans mother, Astorias Bettylou Burger, was a participant and the groups motivator for their 1976 initial entry into the contest. She also provided inspiration for the teams sculptures.

My mother loved participating in anything her children did, Tolan says. In 1984 our theme was Picture This. If you attend the contest you will see most people have cameras and are taking pictures. That year Tolans team sculpted an octopus taking a picture of the crowd. One arm was building a sandcastle, and aother was wrapped around a camera. The make of the camera, which is clearly seen in the sculpture, is a Cannon. The real camera maker is Canon of course ours was referring to Cannon Beach, Tolan says. My mother was unable to participate (that year) due to her health, but the theme was inspired by The Lonesome Octopus, a childrens book she wrote. A professional photographer set up his camera next to our plot and stayed there for several hours waiting for our finished product. A couple of months later, the picture of our sculpture was made into a postcard and sold in Cannon Beach for several years. I was told by a friend of my mothers that her dentist had the same picture made into a giant poster, which covered an entire wall of his waiting room.

According to information provided by the Cannon Beach Chamber of Commerce, contest rules are simple and no themes are mandated. This often results in a creative and sometimes colorful commentary on current events.

For anyone who daydreams of a home as a castle, the three-day Cannon Beach Sandcastle Festival could make that dream come true at least until high tide.

Whether participant or onlooker, as Margaret Fasano says, The Cannon Beach Sandcastle Festival is a lot of good fun. Enjoy this year, then get ready for the 50th! Its already on the Chambers calendar for June 21, 2014.