The man behind the messages in the sand at Lake Milton beach

Have you ever seen the circular messages on the beach at Lake Milton State Park?

There is almost always one or two there, in the corner near the beach store.

They usually carry a message of brotherhood. They have an artsy quality, but are more like a meme, done with the precision, proportion and symmetry of a sign painter. More craft than art, but very eye catching. So much so that even when there are more than a thousand people at the beach, nobody disturbs them.

The circles – which cause many to stop and take it in – are the work of Bob Conrad, a lifelong Craig Beach resident.

Conrad was born in 1956, grew up at Lake Milton, did a stint in the Army, married and traveled the country, and then returned to the lake.

He has been making the circles, in season and out, for three years. He’s at the beach most days and loves to chat. He’ll gladly pause when someone asks him about his work.

Lake Milton State Park beach is not an exclusive place. It draws people from all walks of life: white, black, Hispanic, Arab, Indian and others. It’s like a cross section of Youngstown, but with a peaceful vibe and in a pleasant area.

Peace is a word that is at the center of all of the sand messages created by Conrad, who adheres to some noble hippie-era principles. When he meets someone speaking another language, he always asks them how to say “peace” in their language.

“I can say ‘peace’ in 12 languages,” he told me on Memorial Day, and then started to rattle them off.

He wants to spread the peace. “My message is ‘mutually peaceful beneficial cooperation,’ or just coming together,” he said.

But even an idealist works on a foundation of realism.

“I can see that the world is falling apart,” he said. “There has got to be a homogeneity in the diversity. I know ... I sound like Martin Luther King Jr.”

Carrying a staff with different size heads on each end (the smaller is for lettering), a rake and a watering pail, Conrad was touching up his salute to the armed forces circle on Memorial Day, which he had initially made a few days earlier. The circle had a diameter of about 10 feet.

He also created a smaller “moral compass” – bearing the four directions and some mystical inscriptions – next to it.

“Memorial Day is for those who gave their lives, but we also have to honor the ones who are still here,” said the Army vet. “Whenever I see one, I always thank them for their service.”

Conrad has no formal training in art – “after a while, you get good at it,” he said of his circles – or philosophy.

But he can talk your ear off about his beliefs – in a friendly way, of course.

And he seems to have become a fixture at the beach. Most people pay heed to his work space, although not always. Sometimes beachgoers just aren’t paying attention and trudge right through a circle. If a particular message is too strong, it tends to get intentionally erased after Conrad leaves. And kids can get destructive.

But it’s usually the hot sun or the wind that cause his art to deteriorate.

In any event, Conrad just restores them, or creates a new one.

At this point, you might be wondering why there is no photo of Conrad, or his sand circles. He declined to be photographed because he holds fast to his self-avowed “Messianic Christian” principles – a cross of the Jewish and Christian faiths – that forbid “graven images.” He won’t even draw an animal in his circles.

If you want to see one of his circles, it’s best to go in the morning or close to dusk. In the heat of the day, they lose their definition and are hard to capture in a photo.

With a white beard, an Army ball cap, well-worn shorts and a plaid shirt, Conrad had the look of a beach type, and he is.

In fact, he was a lifeguard at local swimming places before he joined the Army.

After his discharge, Conrad returned to the Lake Milton area where he managed a truck stop. Then he married, and he and his wife traveled the country in an RV for five years.

“We had a five-year honeymoon,” he said. “I let my hair grow long then. I always thought like a hippie, but that was the first time I had the chance to let my hair grow.”

As I departed Lake Milton State Park, the beach philosopher left me with a thought that encapsulates his life experience and his message for all.

“The cosmic constant is karma,” he said, “and I have been trying to appeal to everyone that we CAN all get along.”