DESTIN — Joe Clear headed out to the beach just after 7 a.m. Tuesday with a plan in mind.
The 17-year-old from Cincinnati, Ohio, stopped behind the Dunes at Crystal Beach condominium, and two hours later had finished what he calls his grand gesture: “PROM?” written out in the sand.
“I dug my foot in the sand and got a bucket and went to work,” the high school junior said. “I had my friends go out before to figure out how big it should be.”
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During his two hours of digging and sculpting, Clear attracted the attention of Myra Hohenstein and her family, who were among those watching from their balconies.
“At first we were thinking, ‘What is he doing,’ ” Hohenstein said. “Then we started to see it come together. It was really nice. A lot of people say spring breakers cause trouble, but people don’t catch them doing good. I think this is one of those good things.”
Hohenstein and her family watched as Clear’s girlfriend, 18-year-old senior Maddie Haubner took in the message. They exchanged words and hugged. Hohenstein’s family cheered.
“I originally wanted to fill in the letters with Skittles because that’s her favorite candy, but that would have been a lot of Skittles,” Clear said.
Instead, he made a dot for his question mark with a bag of the candy.
Haubner said the gesture was unexpected, but figured Clear would think of something because their prom is just two weeks away.
“Most people do something big at our school,” she said after accepting Clear’s invitation, “but this was the best one.”