Time and tides wait for no sandman

Rodney Johnson, known affectionately as “Mr. Sandman,” started off his day on Sunday, July 14 working alone, carving up the sand of Onset Beach with long-handled shovels and a tamper. 

Most years, Rodney would be swarmed with helpers, he said, as he went about his work. He comes out every year for a family beach day with the Onset Bay Association, each year making a bloody-mouthed shark, and typically draws a large crowd. 

However, this year, the event had to be moved back a day because of rain, leaving Mr. Sandman with a lot of work to do and not a lot of hands with which to do it. 

This year is different for other reasons as well. After 18 years of sand-castle carving, Rodney plans to take a step back from his craft. 

Rodney said he has come down to the beach “whenever the weather is good.” With his 80th birthday behind him, this isn’t a pace he plans to keep up. 

However, he does plan to continue his sand-carving in some way, shape or form — something that will surely delight Onset beachgoers. 

“Everybody knows him,” said Rodney’s wife, Carol Johnson. She said she’s seen a pack of fifteen to twenty children all walk by and call him “Mr. Sandman” as he’s on the beach. 

Usually Rodney would draw 20 to 25 people to the water’s edge on family beach day, but many of them couldn’t change their plans once the day changed from Saturday to Sunday, Carol added. 

However, as the day wore on, some people did join him on the scorching sand. 

Two of those kids were David, 9, and Nicholas, 6, Monroy, who made sandmen for the day’s Christmas themed sand-sculpture contest. 

They had a “great time,” said mother Mary-Elizabeth Morgan. “We always enjoy the sandcastle contest, and will miss Rodney when he retires.”