When members of the group Tampa Bay for Bernie (Sanders) sought out a Labor Day event to participate in — perhaps a pro-labor rally or something — they didn't have any luck.
But with a little brainstorming, they came up with an unusual, pun-laden idea for showing their support for the progressive U.S. Senator who is running for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination: create a sand sculpture in his honor on Treasure Island Beach, a place known for sand sculptures.
"We wanted to plug in for Labor Day and Bernie's birthday, do something special and announce our presence as Tampa Bay for Bernie," said Amos Miers, an activist with the movement.
So they enlisted professional sand sculptor Dean Arscott, who braved Monday's rainy weather and spent the day sculpting Sanders' likeness in the sand as groups of supporters came and went, talking politics and, as the day came to a close, playing hand drums.
Tampa Bay for Bernie is a four-month-old effort that spun off of the Progressive Democrats of America's We Want Bernie movement. Miers said he thinks the group is gaining momentum because of how appealing Sanders' platform is at a time when the country is suffering from drastic income disparity and a host of other issues.
"A lot of people are realizing how desperate the situation is out there and so many issues that he's been addressing since before I was born, that we can count on," Miers said. "He's been addressing these issues and fighting for them and everybody's realizing it, whether they're working at a minimum wage job or they don't have health care; all of these different issues that affects each one of us directly, wealth inequality for one."
The group reached out to Sanders' campaign, which said it wouldn't be focused on Florida, at least not in the near future. Sanders has been campaigning in early primary states like Iowa and New Hampshire in recent weeks.
"They're not coming down in official capacity," Miers said. "They want the grassroots effort to rise and come from within."
This article appears in Sep 3-9, 2015.