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petethesandman AKA Pete Faverio born and raised in New Castle Delaware, married his high school sweetheart Sharon on June 11th, 1983, the parents of Maria and Peter & wife Katie Faverio along with 4 fantastic grandchildren which are all boys Jordan and Aiden (Maria’s) and Talen and Brody (Peter & Katies). Growing up at the beach as a kid and vacationing as a family in Ocean City Maryland for more than 25 years the sand and water have always been a part of my life. Around 2016 OC vacation I saw a guy building a castle with his little boy and said to myself, self I think I can do that. So, the obsession begins. For the next few years castle building was my thing to do anytime we were near sand & water. Whether it be OC vacation, a trip to the Islands, or anywhere there was sand & water. In 2019 I was in the Cayman Islands playing in the sand and had the pleasure of meeting a professional sand sculpture Matt Long and his wife Nina, Matt introduced me to a whole new world and the true obsession began. Matt told me about some crazy people that play in the sand in Delaware in February for the Special Olympics, Delaware polar bear plunge The sculptures AKA Sand bears, Andy West, Derrell O’Conner (aka Dewey Castle), Marc Shaffer, Lynn Williams, Heather Williams , Lenny Williams along with Adam Basalyga, all show up in February to create a massive sculpture in the sand as a tribute to all the other crazy people who well be Plunging on the first Sunday of February.  They all with open arms invited me in and on my first PBP we had 2” of snow that Friday night with sub-zero temperatures Saturday of the build. They never wavered and we all work as hard as we could to give the crowed of plungers a spectacular sand creation.

That same year 2019 I was invited by Matt Long to the Wildwood Crest Sand Festival that he and his wife host in July. This was my very first competition so not knowing what to expect and showing up to a massive pile of sand to create something was a bit scary. I said to Matt what do I do with all that sand? He gave me my first lesson, Make things big!!! So, I did just that, and ended up with my first sandcastle win! 

The next few years because of covid and travel restriction playing in the sand was not as plentiful. In December 2021 me and Sharon bought a condo 1 mile from the beach at Anna Maria Island Florida where I can pursue my castle building obsession. 2022 was a good year as restriction where lifted, the 2022 Polar Bear Plunge was back on in February with the biggest turnout ever and July Wildwood Sand Festive was on and I ending up with my second win with my castle.  On September 3rd, 2022, I had the pleasure of meeting professional sand sculpture Hannah Emmerson who hosted the Bermuda Sandcastle competition on one of the most beautiful beaches in the world, Horseshoe Bay, that Labor Day weekend and to my surprise I received honor of Best on The Beach for my Happy Place Castle. (see Happy Place castle ) September continued to be a great month, on the 17th I received a email from Matt long inviting me to experience building on the streets of New York City, along with Marc , Derrell and John to transform 20 tons of sand on the streets of Manhattan NY city for the Tunnel For Tower Run, a 5K run that supports our fallen heroes, so proud to have the opportunity to participate alongside Matt and the 35000 runners that passed by in support.
2022 Siesta Key Cristal Classic sandcastle competition was held on November 12th just after a Hurricane Nicole. This was my first competition on the beautiful beach of Siesta Key. I meet a bunch of great people who enjoy building as much as me. What a fantastic event, seeing the pros was a priceless lesson and inspiration to get better. Again, not knowing what to expect other than a bunch of talent people who love doing what I love to do. To my surprise I received first place in the armature division!!!