Letters from CAMP Rehoboth, Vol. 32, No. 3

Women’s FEST 2022 Lesbian Visibility Day Spring Has Sprung!

C R E A T I N G

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M O R E

P O S I T I V E

R E H O B O T H

April 1, 2022 Volume 32, Number 3 camprehoboth.com

inside

THIS ISSUE

VOLUME 32, NUMBER 3 • APRIL 1, 2022

68 Booked Solid

4 In Brief

TERRI SCHLICHENMEYER

6 Here In Delaware

70 Historical Headliners

DAVID MARINER

8 President’s View

To See and Be Seen: Lesbian Visibility Day

WES COMBS

10 CAMP News

ANN APTAKER

12 Community News

72 Visiting View

14 Making Music

“Three Ways to Get There” by Roberta Tucci. FEST ART 2022! in the CAMP Rehoboth Gallery. See page 66.

MICHAEL GILLES

26 It’s My Life

30 CAMP Houses

16 The Sea Salt Table

MICHAEL THOMAS FORD

RICH BARNETT

Radical Harmonies

Grilled Lamb Chops

Ode to Joy

28 Out & About

ED CASTELLI

The Pirate King of the LaTeDa

The Honeymoon Is Over

18 LGBTQ+ YA

ERIC PETERSON

A Sporting Chance

32 One Woman’s History

I Learned the Truth at 15 BETH SHOCKLEY

JULIAN HARBAUGH

20 Straight Talk

The Outrageous and the Unrighteous DAVID GARRETT

22 Words Matter

Volunteering Is an Investment in Our Future CLARENCE FLUKER

36 Volunteer Spotlight KAREN LAITMAN

38 Guest House Chronicles Creating Paradise TOM KELCH

40 Dining Out Café Azafrán

24 Health & Wellness

MICHAEL GILLES

42 Aging Gracelessly

Spring Forward

KEVIN MALLINSON

What’s with That Dolphin?

FAY JACOBS

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DOUG YETTER

50 Be a Sport On the Waterways JUNEROSE FUTCHER

ROBERT DOMINIC

86 Pop The Question 90 Celebrity Interview Power and the Tiger King CHRIS AZZOPARDI

54 View Point

The Conceit that It Cannot Happen Here RICHARD ROSENDALL

56 CAMPshots 60 Deep Inside Hollywood

ON THE COVER

Sug Daniels. See page 4. Photo by Nathalie Antonov

ROMEO SAN VICENTE

62 Q-Puzzle 64 The Real Dirt Better Living through Better Design ERIC W. WAHL

66 CAMP Arts DOUG YETTER

See page 90

Letters from CAMP Rehoboth welcomes submissions. Email editor@camprehoboth.com.

Photographs must be high resolution (300 dpi).

Documents should be sent as attachments in Microsoft Word®. Deadline for submissions is two weeks prior to the issue release date.

44 The Writing Life

Reflections on a Pandemic Winter

PUBLISHER David Mariner EDITOR Marj Shannon EDITORIAL ASSOCIATE Matty Brown DESIGN AND LAYOUT Mary Beth Ramsey ADVERTISING SALES MANAGER Tricia Massella DISTRIBUTION Mark Wolf CONTRIBUTORS: Ann Aptaker, Chris Azzopardi, Rich Barnett, Matty Brown, Ed Castelli, Wes Combs, Robert Dominic, Clarence Fluker, Michael Thomas Ford, JuneRose Futcher, David Garrett, Michael Gilles, Julian Harbaugh, Fay Jacobs, Tom Kelch, Karen Laitman, Kevin Mallinson, David Mariner, Tricia Massella, Eric Peterson, Mary Beth Ramsey, Richard Rosendall, Romeo San Vicente, Terri Schlichenmeyer, Marj Shannon, Beth Shockley, Eric Wahl, Doug Yetter

Letters from CAMP Rehoboth is published 13 times per year, between February and December, as a program of CAMP Rehoboth Inc., a non-profit community service organization.

CAMP Rehoboth seeks to create a more positive environment of cooperation and understanding among all people. Revenue generated by advertisements supports CAMP Rehoboth’s purpose as outlined in our mission statement.

The inclusion or mention of any person, group, or business in Letters from CAMP Rehoboth does not, nor is it intended in any way, to imply sexual orientation or gender identity. The content of the columns are the views and opinions of the writers and may not indicate the position of CAMP Rehoboth, Inc. © 2022 by CAMP Rehoboth, Inc. All rights reserved by CAMP Rehoboth. No portion of this publication may be reproduced in any form without the prior written permission of the editor.

CAMP REHOBOTH

MISSION STATEMENT AND PURPOSE MISSION CAMP Rehoboth is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit community service organization dedicated to creating a positive environment inclusive of all sexual orientations and gender identities in Rehoboth Beach and its related communities. We seek to promote cooperation and understanding among all people, as we work to build a safer community with room for all.

VISION We create proud and safe communities where gender identity and sexual orientation are respected.

PURPOSE Promoting the health and wellness of our community through a variety of programs including HIV testing and counseling, mental health support, fitness classes, mindfulness classes, support for LGBTQ youth, and building community and support.

Promoting artistic expressions and creative thinking, and giving aid to artists and craftspeople with an emphasis on the works of LGBTQ people.

Advocating for our community to build a safe and inclusive community through voter information, education, and registration; and analysis of issues and candidates.

Education and outreach to the larger community, including sensitivity training seminars, and printed materials to promote positive images of LGBTQ people and our allies.

Networking resources and information by publishing a newsletter, and functioning as an alternative tourist bureau and information center.

PRESIDENT Wesley Combs VICE PRESIDENT Leslie Ledogar SECRETARY Mike DeFlavia TREASURER Bea Vuocola AT-LARGE DIRECTORS Chris Beagle, Jane Blue, Pat Catanzariti, David Garrett, David Mariner (non-voting), Jason Darion Mathis-White, Natalie Moss, Tara Sheldon, and Leslie Sinclair EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR David Mariner

CAMP REHOBOTH 37 Baltimore Avenue, Rehoboth Beach, DE 19971 tel 302-227-5620 | email editor@camprehoboth.com www.camprehoboth.com

The Way I See It

BY MARJ SHANNON, EDITOR

THESE DAYS, I’M SEEING IT MORE BRIGHTLY IN THE EVENINGS—YAY DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME!

I know there are many downsides to shifting the clock twice yearly, and I’d adjust if we settled on a single time. But I have to admit: these longer evenings are so welcome after winter’s gloom. As are the other signs of spring—Women’s FEST among them.

It’s great to see that annual (till a couple fateful years ago…) tradition resume. And wonderful to see the women who flock to it converge once again on our beaches, boardwalk, dancefloors, playing fields, concert halls, and meeting rooms.

Need just a few quiet moments amidst the fun and sun? Stop by the CAMP Rehoboth Gallery to see FEST ART 2022!—a fabulous exhibit featuring works selected by juror Rebecca Davidson from more than 100 artworks submitted. It’s a stunning show—you won’t want to miss it.

Want to wrap up the weekend with some final fun? Rehoboth’s Fay Jacobs returns from her Florida winter get-away just in time to entertain her audience at the close of Women’s FEST. However you choose to spend Women’s FEST—welcome back! It’s so very good to see you again.

We have another “welcome back” in this issue—the LGBTQ+ YA column resumes, written

by CAMP Rehoboth’s Youth Peer Leader, Julian Harbaugh. Julian contributed several memorable columns last year—remember their fancy rats? We’re looking forward to seeing what Julian brings us in 2022.

Speaking of Florida get-aways—others among us also head south, come winter. Rich Barnett was there long enough to tour through an abode in Key West we all might envy. See page 30 for a glimpse of grandeur. Maybe you’ll be inspired to create some garden grandeur for your own place? Eric Wahl has some ideas—ones that might also provide a buffer between you and your neighbor.

Or perhaps some sumptuous dining holds appeal? Ed Castelli has some (scrumptious) ideas; see his Sea Salt Table column on page 16. If you’d prefer to leave the cooking to someone else—see Dining Out for one local destination that wowed the writer.

Eager to get outdoors, now that the weather’s more conducive to an outing? JuneRose Futcher recommends sailing—see Be a Sport! (page 50). Though it turns out sailing is an all-weather sport for some—“Frostbiting,” anyone?

In this issue we also give a nod to the pioneering women—musicians, producers, engineers, and more—who (literally) got women’s music on the charts. See Michael Gilles’s feature on Radical Harmonies for a look back at the women’s music movement of the 1970s. And Beth Shockley shares the tale of her youthful discovery of Janis Ian’s music—and sexuality—and how important both were to her teen-age, Salisbury, Maryland self.

Tom Kelch brings us another chapter in his Guest House Chronicles; this one introduces us to the building’s incarnation as the Paradise Guest House. And Ann Aptaker, in celebration of Lesbian Visibility Day (April 26), brings us—well, visible lesbians! Specifically, pictures of women who boldly posed for photographs despite the strictures of their times and cultures.

If you’re a high school junior or senior hoping for scholarship funds, there’s a competition afoot for this year’s Fay Jacobs LGBTQ Youth Journalism Scholarship award. Submissions are due May 8, so head on over to page 4 for more info and crank up that keyboard.

The next issue of Letters kicks off our ramped-up summer publication schedule, with a new issue coming out every three weeks through August. All the more fun, sun, and summer to share with our readers.

Meanwhile, if you have anything you want to share with us—you can reach me at editor@ camprehoboth.com. It’d be great to hear from you.

CAMP Rehoboth, Inc. is tax-exempt under section 501(c)(3) of the United States Internal Revenue Code. Contributions to CAMP Rehoboth are considered charitable contributions for federal income tax purposes and may be deducted to the fullest extent of the law.

A copy of our exemption document is available for public inspection.

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3 Letters

Fay Jacobs Scholarship: Show Your Pride!

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he Fay Jacobs LGBTQ Youth Journalism Scholarship Fund is preparing to make its first award! The endowed fund, established with the Delaware Community Foundation, will provide an annual scholarship to a young LGBTQ writer residing in Delaware.

The scholarship is available to high school juniors and seniors attending Delaware schools. The winner will receive $500 towards their higher education.

To apply, students need to write an essay on the importance of LGBTQ Pride. Essays must be no more than 750 words.

No identifying information (e.g., writer’s name) should appear on the essay. A cover sheet which includes a copy of the applicant’s school ID, their name, address, and contact information, must accompany the submission.

Timelines: • Essays must be submitted to info@camprehoboth.com by May 8.

• The winner will be notified by May 25.

• The winning essay will be published in the Pride issue of Letters from CAMP Rehoboth (release date: June 17).

Contributions to the scholarship fund may be made directly to the Delaware Community Foundation by visiting camprehoboth.com/fayjacobs.

If you prefer to mail your donation, send it to: Delaware Community Foundation, 36 The Circle Georgetown, Delaware. 19947. Checks should be made payable to Delaware Community Foundation and must have “Fay Jacobs Fund” noted on the memo line. ▼

Winterfly Raises Funds for Youth Up Program HIV/STI Update at CAMP Rehoboth

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n March 14, CAMP Rehoboth hosted an STI Update workshop presented by the STD/ HIV Prevention Training Center at Johns Hopkins.

Those attending included representatives from the Delaware Division of Public Health (DPH) STD and sexual and reproductive health programs, the Christiana Care Health System, Gilead Sciences, and Sussex Technical High School.

The workshop provided the opportunity to discuss issues surrounding STI prevention and education, and to learn about major developments—e.g., condoms specifically designed for anal sex that are on their way, and injectables for PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis) are being developed. Current PrEP medication is delivered in a daily tablet; injectables could reduce frequency to weekly or even monthly.▼ Letters 4

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On February 25, superfans of Firefly Music Festival came together at the Starboard in Dewey Beach for the annual event affectionately known as “Winterfly.” Friends from all over the country who met at Firefly reunite each February to enjoy each other’s camaraderie outside of the Woodlands in Dover. Fundraising efforts are an integral part of Winterfly, and this year, over $1,500 was raised for CAMP Rehoboth’s youth program. Special thanks to event organizer Michelle Manfredi, and to all those who donated raffle items to make Winterfly a success. ▼

Women’s FEST Is Here!

F

rom April 7-10, Women’s FEST returns to Rehoboth Beach. With spring in full swing, Women’s FEST 2022 returns in full for the first time since 2019. This year will mark over 20 years of FESTs since the tradition’s start. This year’s festivities will take place at host hotel the Atlantic Sands, the RB Convention Center, various sporting venues, and CAMP Rehoboth.

“This is the biggest women’s event on the Mid-Atlantic coast,” said Lisa Soens, a 2022 Women’s FEST Co-chair. Over 32 events will make this weekend an unforgettable experience, including: headline performances by country superstar Chely Wright; Funny Girlz, starring Vickie Shaw, Lisa Koch and Roxanna Ward; and activities such as dances, golf, a corn hole tournament, and the annual Broadwalk on the Boardwalk.

CAMP Rehoboth extends special thanks to our many generous sponsors and volunteers for making this event possible. For a full lineup of events and to purchase tickets, visit camprehoboth.com/womensfest. ▼

⊳

TRAVELS WITH LETTERS ⊲

LETTERS GOES TO BARBADOS! (Left to right) Philip (Maple Glen, Pennsylvania, and Rehoboth) and John (Moravia, New York) We’d love to see a (high res) photo of you and a recent issue of Letters at your vacation destination—send to editor@camprehoboth.com for consideration.

— ON THE COVER ­— SUG DANIELS is a singer, songwriter, and producer who is using the tools around her to capture the emotions of an era. Daniels’ work is as colorful, vulnerable, and charismatic as her personality. She thoughtfully combines elements of folk, R&B, and lo-fi alternatives to create personal and tender music interlaced with messages of truth and positive change.

This year, Sug will make her debut on the FEST stage. “I’m from the area, and Rehoboth has a special place in my heart, especially as a queer woman. It was the first place I saw rainbow flags. It’s always represented this freedom, this place I can go to be myself. It’s really exciting to come back and share my gift with the community,” said Sug. Notably, Sug released a foursong, self-produced EP, Franklin Street, through the Brooklyn women-run music label Weird Sister Records in September 2021.

Inspired by her mother as a gospel singer, and the likes of Brittany Howard and Leon Bridges, the Smyrna native is ecstatic to return to live shows after the pandemic.

“It’s so exciting to be in that environment again—to be giving and receiving. Every performance is a two-way street: you’re giving to the audience and they’re giving back. It just feels so absolutely lovely. I feel like I’m on cloud nine being able to sing and play for people again,” said Sug. The pandemic also gave Sug the opportunity to explore her solo work. During the pandemic, Sug wasn’t able to play shows with the funky soul and blues of her band, Hoochi Coochi, despite their growing momentum. With a ukulele in her house and after an emo-

tional split with her partner of 10 years, the desire to express herself through music became a necessity.

“I brought things that were really important to me—friendship, my role in this country, a lot of deep subjects that I haven’t covered before, mostly because I was in a different place in my life,” said Sug about the making of her latest EP. But don’t expect Sug’s set at FEST to be a drag. Sug’s positive style and attitude, especially coupled with the uke, lends itself to a light and beachy sensibility, backed with soul and swagger.

Joining her is guitarist Rebel Natty.

“We’re going to hang out and have a good time,” said Sug, on what to expect. “We’ll do originals and covers since they’re always a sweet treat, and we’ll chit-chat and have a great party.”

On Saturday, April 9, Sug Daniels performs at Women’s FEST at 1:30 p.m. at CAMP Rehoboth Community Center, in the Elkins-Archibald Atrium. Purchase tickets at camprehoboth.com/womensfest.▼ Follow Sug Daniels online and social media to find out more on where to find her upcoming shows and releases at linktr.ee/ SugDaniels.

Photo byNathalie Antonov

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5 Letters

HERE in Delaware

BY DAVID MARINER, CAMP REHOBOTH EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Saundra Johnson

O

ver the years, Saundra Johnson has taken on some big projects for the State of Delaware. As a Director of the Delaware State Housing Authority (2000-2009), she created the state’s first Interagency Council on Homelessness. In 2017, she was tasked by the governor to build Delaware’s Department of Human Resources in just 18 months. In her current role, she is leading the effort to build another brand-new state agency, the Delaware Office of Statewide Equity Initiatives.

Building a new agency from the ground up may sound intimidating, but Sandy (as she is known) enjoys the challenge. “You know, it’s interesting, my Dad was a builder. I think there is something that is required, a sense of management and creativity and vision—and the vision certainly comes from the legislators and the administration.”

It’s the creativity that she enjoys most.

“Once you understand what the vision is, then creativity comes into play. How do you get there the fastest and most efficient way?”

That’s not to say there aren’t challenges. “You are operating without the manual of missteps, long-term outcomes, and curves in the road.”

Delaware State Housing Authority ”It’s a wonderful thing when your faith and your work and your family all are aligned. This certainly was the position where I had total alignment. Finding people a home was so uplifting.”

A recurring theme in Saundra Johnson’s work is collaboration. “When each state was challenged to create a 10year plan to end chronic homelessness, Delaware started by establishing an Interagency Council on Homelessness, so that the plan could be guided by the council. It was the coming together of all those agencies and partners who were part of helping: assisting at a community level, at a referral level, a brick-and-mortar level, and at a funding level, that helped move this effort forward.”

This resulted in a number of improvements to the system, including

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providing transitional housing for young adults aging out of the foster care system, and providing financial literacy training to these young adults beginning at age 16; advocating for vouchers for veterans at the federal level; and doubling Delaware’s investment in the State Bond Program.

Through this process a simple, arguably common sense, principle emerged: Housing First. “After all, if you can’t find someone, how are you going to take care of their needs?”

Delaware Department of Human Resources “We needed to do more for Delaware’s number one asset. The people who serve Delawareans.”

Saundra Johnson faced another challenge when creating the Delaware Department of Human Resources. The legislation that called for this consolidation of Delaware’s human resource programs required that the task be completed in just 18 months.

“I started with a staff of about 40, and the whole consolidation effort was about 280 people coming together. Plus, there were vacancies to fill along the way. We had to build and fly at the same time, and I had to communicate that to my team.”

The Delaware Department of Human Resources also established two important internal divisions: the Office of Women’s Advancement and Advocacy, and the Division of Diversity and Inclusion.

Delaware Office of Statewide Equity Initiatives “My colleague Alonna Berry, in the governor’s office, describes equity as having everybody with the same access to opportunities so they can strive. That’s what it’s all about.”

In her latest role, Saundra is focused on eliminating disparities Delawareans face due to race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, or gender identity and expression. The initial focus for the office is to look more closely at health, education, and workforce development in Delaware through an equity lens.

COVID really drove home the mes-

Photo: Delaware Department of Human Resources

sage that ‘one size fits all’ approaches simply don’t always work. “We had to learn what the points of trust and ease of access were, particularly with attention to race, ethnicity, and age. It’s not just throwing the information out to everyone. How do we make sure that approach is what is needed in a particular population?”

As part of her new role, Saundra has been meeting with many different organizations and stakeholders across the state. “I have learned that a lot of people are doing a lot of great things to assist the three initial focus points: health and wellness, education, and workforce development. I’ve also learned that some of them don’t know what the other is doing. There are many opportunities for collaboration and alignment. We can get so much more done together.”

Saundra is committed to making equity an integrated piece of the work of Delaware. “What makes an equity lens transformational to how we do our work, instead of a sidebar after the work is done? What puts the equity lens into the fabric of this discussion? That becomes a metric for whatever the program is that’s being designed.” ▼ David Mariner is Executive Director of CAMP Rehoboth.

Saundra Johnson will be a speaker at Women’s FEST. Learn more and see the full schedule for Women’s FEST at camprehoboth.com/ womensfest.

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7 Letters

President’s View

BY WESLEY COMBS

Put on a Happy Face

W

hat a difference a smile makes! Over the past two years, the pandemic has made it almost impossible to know how someone is feeling in most situations. Mask-wearing has forced us to become experts in interpreting and translating the slightest of facial expressions to know if the person we are speaking with is happy to see us, experiencing anxiety, or just plain mad.

I don’t know about you but being in public without a mask has taken some getting used to. However, the ability to feel the embrace from a beaming face when seeing someone in an elevator, behind the checkout counter, or when running into an old friend walking down the street quickly eases my mind. In fact, now more than ever, it is just what the doctor ordered.

As we emerge from our government-mandated isolation, much like a bear comes out of hibernation, I am looking forward to rekindling these dormant relationships especially as we enter the spring season and all the rebirth it brings.

Over the past year, I have heard community members say that COVID restrictions like social distancing and attending events virtually makes them feel disconnected from CAMP Rehoboth.

A few weeks ago, I popped into our Baltimore Avenue office for a meeting and was warmly greeted by Max Dick, a former board member who is one of our dedicated volunteer CAMPcierges waiting to help any visitor who comes through the door.

When I looked to Max’s left, I encoun-

tered an always bright and welcoming smile from Operations Administrator Matty Brown. For the first time in who-knowswhen, I felt a connection that was sorely missing from my daily life. There was an endorphin release much like the one I get when smelling freshly baked chocolate chip cookies.

Suddenly, this craving awakened a hunger to reunite with my CAMP Rehoboth family. For LGBTQ people, family has a broader meaning than its dictionary definition (all the descendants of a common ancestor.) The term “chosen family” comes to mind; for me, those are people who love me unconditionally, who respect and appreciate me for who I am…and not for what they want me to be.

It also connotes safety and security which harkens back to the reason CAMP Rehoboth was founded: Creating A More Positive Rehoboth.

A flood of memories rushed into my mind out of nowhere as I was writing this column. For example, there was the time when a group of us board members were put to work assisting the volunteer décor gurus—like Keith Petrack, Michael Fetchko, and Jim Mease—at last year’s Sun Festival. They taught me the smokeand-mirrors involved in transforming a bland convention center into a beautifully adorned theater where the likes of local divas Mona Lotts and Magnolia Applebottom joined Broadway star Jennifer Holliday in front of a packed audience.

I was surprised to learn that Mike DeFlavia knew how to operate a scissor lift to hang decorative fabric from the

convention center ceiling. Also, if you are looking for a go-to team to put up holiday lights that will warm up any room, look no further than our very own Tara Sheldon and Pat Catanzariti.

As the board and staff prepare for the start of our busy summer season, we are laser-focused on strengthening this sleeping muscle. My personal boot camp begins during Women’s FEST (April 7-10) where I look forward to witnessing a pickleball event for the first time and seeing great entertainers like Chely Wright and the comedy trio Funny Girlz.

On May 13, make sure to check out the return of an in-person concert by the beloved CAMP Chorus, when they perform their Great American Songbook concert. Stay tuned for an upcoming announcement of what CAMP Rehoboth has in store for summer 2022.

I want to leave you by quoting lyrics from a hit song, “Put on a Happy Face,” in the famous musical, Bye, Bye, Birdie: “Gray skies are gonna clear up Put on a happy face Brush off the clouds and cheer up Put on a happy face Take of the gloomy mask of tragedy It’s not your style You’ll look so good that you’ll be glad You decided to smile…”

I can’t wait to see your pearly whites in the coming weeks and months! ▼ Wesley Combs is CAMP Rehoboth Board President.

CAMP REHOBOTH THANKS OUR PREMIER SPONSORS

For information on how to become a CAMP Rehoboth Annual Sponsor, email development@camprehoboth.com or call 302-227-5620.

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Because you support so many we’re honored to support you.

It takes more than money to make our world stronger. It takes the efforts of groups like CAMP Rehoboth Women's FEST, who give their time and talents to help the community.

The Rehoboth Beach Branch of Morgan Stanley salutes you.

Jenn Harpel CFP®, ChFC® Associate Vice President Financial Advisor 55 Cascade Lane Rehoboth Beach, DE 19971 +1 302 644-6620 Jennifer.Harpel@morganstanley.com NMLS# 1310708/

Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards Inc. owns the certification marks CFP®, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ and federally registered CFP (with flame design) in the U.S. © 2020 Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC. Member SIPC.

SUP029 CRC 2639231 08/19 CS 9370361 09/18

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9 Letters

CAMPNews CAMPsafe in the Community

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n Saturday, March 12, the CHEER Center in Georgetown hosted Children’s Vaccination Day, an event promoting the efficacy for vaccines among youth, and administered COVID-19 vaccines. At the event, the CAMPsafe program staffed a table with at-home HIV test kits, condoms, and lubricant, and giveaways from the American Lung Association promoting non-smoking.

“It’s great to have visibility in the community. Even if we’ve reached just one person at a great event like this, it was a successful day,” said Amber Lee, CAMPsafe staff member.

To include CAMP Rehoboth and CAMPsafe at community events, please reach out to amber@camprehoboth.com. ▼

Volunteers Needed for Board Committees CAMP Rehoboth is excited to introduce a new volunteer need!

Several board subcommittees are seeking community involvement. If you have prior experience or background in finance, fundraising, or governance, and would like to contribute to and engage your community in a meaningful way, please email info@camprehoboth.com and put “Board Committee Volunteer Interest” in the subject line. ▼

CROP at the Food Bank

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n March 1, CAMP Rehoboth continued its commitment to help fight hunger in Sussex County and Delaware when eight CAMP Rehoboth Outreach Program (CROP) volunteers, led by Max Dick, once again helped out at the Food Bank of Delaware in Milford. CROP is now visiting the Food Bank every two months.

Watch for the chance to sign-up for CROP’s next Food Bank date (May 3). New—and returning—volunteers are always welcome. Volunteer opportunities are announced in a CAMP Rehoboth email sent out each Wednesday. ▼

The Library Is Open, Darling!

W

ell, not in that tradition of the late-80s documentary Paris Is Burning, as now referenced in the “reading” challenges of RuPaul’s Drag Race, anyway.

But, CAMP Rehoboth does have a flourishing LGBTQ library on the second floor of its community center.

The library has been closed to the public for the past two years, but it is now officially reopened for business. Thanks to countless donations over the years, the library boasts loads of books spanning many genres, including LGBTQ history, arts, romance, sexual health, and more. Readers are welcome to stop by, Monday through Friday, from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., to check out the selection. This is a lending library, and books are checked out on an honor-code basis. Read them at your leisure and return them whenever you’d like. ▼ Find more CAMP News on page 86.

Know o t s Thing My Mom: y, About

e attorn d e r i t 1. Re eal Estate FT R 16712 Kings Highway, Lewes Agent 302.645.6661 e c i v r e S tomer t! s u C .

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The DonnaWhiteside Group 302.381.4871 donnawhiteside@gotogallo.com A member of the franchise system of BHH Affiliates, LLC

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WOMEN’S FEST RETURNS APRIL 7-10!

OVER 20 YEARS OF FUN | ENTERTAINMENT | SPRING | TRADITION CAMP REHOBOTH’S WOMEN’S FEST will bring the best in

national and regional entertainment and special events to Rehoboth Beach April 7-10 for what has become the largest event specifically for women in the Mid-Atlantic region.

DANCE! Meet, greet, and dance to the music of DJ Jamie Fox at Georgette Krenkel’s Kick Off Party. Free photo booth by Fortier Photography and singles lounge.

PRESENTING SPONSOR

DISCOVER! Learn from fascinating speakers, go to the singles mixer, or attend an art show.

EXPLORE! Visit the Expo to experience dozens of arts and crafts

HOST HOTEL SPONSOR

artisans, book sales, and signings by award-winning authors.

ENJOY! See country superstar Chely Wright, Christine Havrilla, Regina Sayles, Sug Daniels, and other sensational musicians.

PLATINUM LEGACY SPONSOR

PLATINUM SPONSOR

DIAMOND LEGACY SPONSOR

DIAMOND SPONSOR

GOLD LEGACY SPONSOR

GOLD SPONSOR

LAUGH! See the Funny Girlz show starring that trio of favorites

Vickie Shaw, Lisa Koch, and Roxanna Ward in an all-new show.

Popular local author and humorist Fay Jacobs will be back with her hilarious one-woman show, “Still Aging Gracelessly.”

PLAY! Have fun and get fit with golf, pickleball, biking, the corn hole tournament, or beach yoga.

WIN! Play bingo, bid in the online and live auctions, and take a chance on the Olivia cruise raffle.

CAMP REHOBOTH PREMIER SPONSORS

REMEMBER! Honor loved ones and fight cancer by participating in the Broadwalk on the Boardwalk.

STAY! Get a 20% discount at our host hotel, The Atlantic Sands.

DON’T MISS OUT! All tickets available on sale now!

VIEW THE DETAILS See the full lineup of events at

camprehoboth.com/womensfest (exact times are subject to change).

CAMP Rehoboth’s Women’s FEST is unlike any event in the region. See old friends, make new ones, and have the time of your life. Proceeds support CAMP Rehoboth, the organization that promotes the health of the local community and the fair and equitable treatment of everyone, no matter their sexual orientation or gender identity.

37 Baltimore Avenue Rehoboth Beach, DE 19971 302-227-5620 camprehoboth.com

DIAMOND COMMUNITY MEMBERS Susan Kutliroff & Barbara Snyder Hope Vella GOLD COMMUNITY MEMBERS Wes Combs & Greg Albright Nancy Kennedy & Tora Washington Diane Scobey & Jennifer Rubenstein Teri Seaton SILVER COMMUNITY MEMBERS Leslie Ledogar & Marilyn Hewitt BEST FRIENDS Sue Brooker Ellie Maher, Iron Valley Real Estate Sandy Oropel & Linda Fresse Yona Zucker & Renata Price

APRIL 1, 2022

11 Letters

CommunityNews Walk Like MADD

O

n Saturday, May 14, at 9:30 a.m., MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving®), Mid-Atlantic Region, will host its first-ever Walk Like MADD event on the Rehoboth Boardwalk. These walks take place in cities and states across the country and are a way for communities to send a clear message: Drunk Driving Ends Here.

MADD is excited to connect with Delaware victims, volunteers, advocates, and law enforcement. As one of the most successful grassroots organizations in the world, MADD has found that by encouraging individuals to channel energy from pain into purpose, people may connect with others and come to feel the loss of their loved ones was not in vain.

According to the Delaware Office of Highway Safety, alcohol driving-related fatalities accounted for 35 percent of total traffic crash fatalities in 2019.

And while this number represents a decrease from the previous 10 years, MADD knows the only acceptable number is zero. Zero deaths. Zero injuries.

Zero families impacted as a result of substance-impaired driving.

MADD Mid-Atlantic Region invites everyone to become part of the solution.

All funds raised through this event support MADD’s Campaign to Eliminate Drunk Driving® right here in the state of Delaware.

TO JOIN MADD’S EFFORTS: • Form a team, join an existing team, or walk/run on your own: Registration fees are $25; for detailed pricing visit walklikemadd.org/Delaware.

• Donate: Give to a participant or a team to help them reach their fundraising goals.

• Be a virtual walker: Can’t be there in person? There still are ways for you to get involved and raise money for this important cause.

• Volunteer: Your help is needed the day before, day of, or the days after the big event.

• Become a Sponsor: Consider becoming an official event partner. There is a variety of packages and every dollar goes towards making the community safer.

Letters 12

APRIL 1, 2022

SDARJ To Bring the Chantels to Lewes

T

he groundbreaking African-American “girl group” of Rhythm and Blues, the Chantels, is coming to Lewes to help raise funds for the Southern Delaware Alliance for Racial Justice (SDARJ). Longtime Chantels singer Lois Powell, a resident of Rehoboth, became involved with SDARJ when she participated in the organization’s Dialogue to Action program. She will appear with her famed vocal group for a benefit concert on June 18, 7:00 p.m., at the Cape Henlopen High School Center for the Performing Arts.

The Chantels became stars overnight in 1958, when their hit song “Maybe” marked a breakthrough for African-American female groups in an era dominated by male vocal groups.

The original quintet attended St. Anthony of Padua's Elementary School in the Bronx, NY, and sang in the St. Anthony's Church choir. While their sound was rooted in liturgical music, the Chantels became known for their unique rhythm and blues style. In 2004, “Maybe” was ranked 199 in Rolling

Stone Magazine’s 500 Greatest Hits of All Time.

“We’re really excited to bring the Chantels to southern Delaware for the Alliance’s first major fundraising event,” said SDARJ Chair Charlotte King. “We’ll have three of the original singers—Lois Harris Powell, Sonia Goring Wilson, and Renee Minus White—along with their newest member, Naomi White Randolph, who belts out the lead on top hits like ‘Maybe,’ ‘Look in My Eyes,’ and ‘I Love You So.’” Proceeds from the concert will support SDARJ’s current and expanding programs and activities, all of which aim at ending racism and its corrosive consequences.

SDARJ is currently seeking sponsors to cover the cost of bringing the Chantels to Lewes. Sponsorship levels range from $250 to $1,000. Each level offers donors visibility and advance tickets. Tickets for the 7:00 p.m. concert are now available for $30 and $45. To purchase tickets in advance or to arrange sponsorship, go to SDARJ.org. ▼

Not What You Think Concert An a cappella ensemble dedicated to social justice is joining the celebration of Harriet Tubman’s 200th Birthday at the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad State Park. The program will express the journey for empathy, freedom, and peace, exemplified by the life of Harriet Tubman. The concert will take place on Saturday, April 22, at 1:00 p.m. and 2:00 p.m. at 4068 Golden Hill Road, Church Creek, Maryland. ▼

Hammy’s Burgers & Shakes to Open Rehoboth Beach Location

P

opular St. Michaels burger joint Hammy’s Burgers & Shakes is set to open on Coastal Highway in Rehoboth Beach just in time for the summer season. Hammy’s will bring decadent milkshakes for kids, boozy adult shakes, tater tots, chili, and over 30 burgers to its new beachy location at 19266 Coastal Highway.

Rehoboth Beach go-ers can indulge in their favorite Hammy’s comfort foods by dining in or ordering online for carryout. A full bar complete with beer, cocktails, wine, and more will help hungry diners wash it all down.

Hammy’s is named for Hammy, the lemon beagle of the owner, Chris Agharabi.

The dog love doesn’t end at the name or decor of the restaurant: its sister restaurant, Ava’s Pizzeria & Wine Bar, donated $1,000 to the Delaware Humane Association earlier this year through its wine bottle Christmas Tree project. ▼

TM

A Benefit for the Delaware Breast Cancer Coalition

Wilmington

Dover

Lewes

JOIN US SUNDAY, APRIL 10, 2022

9 A.M. REGISTRATION | 10 A.M. WALK BEGINS Broadwalk on the Boardwalk is a free event, created by Kathy Wiz in honor of her sister’s battle with breast cancer. This fundraiser benefitting the Delaware Breast Cancer Coalition commemorates loved ones lost to cancer and celebrates the survivors.

Join us for a fun-filled kick-off party in the CAMP Rehoboth courtyard with DJ Sharon Messina, and the highly anticipated Olivia Cruise raffle at 9 a.m.

We will step off at 10 a.m. to walk the boardwalk. Be a part of our heart on the beach and then follow us to Dogfish Head Brewpub for the after party.

37 Baltimore Avenue Rehoboth Beach, DE 19971 302-227-5620 camprehoboth.com

APRIL 1, 2022

13 Letters

Making Music

BY MICHAEL GILLES

Radical Harmonies

A

few weeks ago, I was in one our bountiful Rehoboth thrift shops, looking for original cast recordings of Broadway shows. That’s when I came across a CD from Cris Williamson, a singer/songwriter and lesbian pioneer/musician/activist.

I thought, “who would toss away a Cris Williamson CD?” I grabbed it and continued my journey looking for Evitas and Phantoms. Then I found another Williamson CD. And another. And another. Suddenly, I was balancing a Cris Williamson motherlode amongst my Funny Girls and Cats. I just picked up a library of this wonderful artist for five dollars.

So how do I know Cris Williamson?

Well, my friend Boden Sandstrom, a pioneer of the women’s music scene for 40 years, introduced me to an amazing documentary featuring Williamson and many other chroniclers of that passionate time of the 60s and 70s.

The movie is titled Radical Harmonies: Woodstock Meets Women’s Liberation in a Film About a Movement that Exploded the Gender Barriers in Music. Phew…we’ll just call it Radical Harmonies.

Released in 2004 and featuring over 60 interviews and another 60+ performance clips, Radical Harmonies is a remarkable view of a movement led by lesbian singers, songwriters, producers, sound engineers, and many others.

Its aim was to embrace the feminine consciousness and speak truth through music. The documentary, directed

by Dee Mosbacher, opines that this movement is “not about songs, not about a type of music, but about who we are.”

The film provides an eye-opening look at the outrageous behavior of the music industry toward woman artists as a whole, and in particular, lesbian music makers. It features interviews with many heroes of the women’s music movement, including such luminaries as Williamson, Meg Christian, Bernice Johnson Reagon, Holly Near, Linda Tillery, Mary Watkins, and Milton’s own Casse Culver.

There are also festival producers, concert promoters, sound engineers, Letters 14

APRIL 1, 2022

sign language interpreters, dancers, comedians, choral conductors, photographers, journalists, record distributors, and record label executives who were part of the cultural movement.

Contemporary artists Amy Ray, Ani DiFranco, and others also weigh in on the influence the movement continues to have.

In the 1970s, the women’s cultural movement was built from the ground up by many of the same people involved in the civil rights and labor movements.

Maxine Feldman cut her single, “Angry Atthis,” with Olivia. It made history as the first openly performed lesbian song.

It opened doors for women musicians, producers, sound and light technicians, and for new women-owned recording companies. It was hard work.

Sexism was rampant in the music industry; barriers blocking women artists were put up by men at almost every turn. Meg Christian would get fired from gigs because she was attracting the “wrong” clientele. Women were told that they shouldn’t play the drums because “drums are powerful and could fry their eggs.” Or “we can’t afford women’s bands; we’d just have to pay for their abortions.”

Lesbian artists had nothing in the culture to land on. It was no surprise, then, that women took the reins from the white, male establishment and made their own music, comedy, and dance— all under the umbrella of the women’s music movement.

Festivals became an important way that lesbian musicians found each other.

The film calls them the “heart and soul of the movement.” There were other places to gather, too, such as Olivia Records, an early record company founded by

lesbian activists. Maxine Feldman cut her single, “Angry Atthis,” with Olivia. It made history as the first openly performed lesbian song.

While it was fulfilling and empowering to be a part of the women’s music movement, it could also be harrowing.

Women were afraid to go to women’s concerts for fear of being outed and losing their jobs. And there were worse fears.

One terrifying example is that of two women’s efforts to launch Camp Sister Spirit (a feminist education center) and the Gulf Coast Women’s Festival in Mississippi. Brenda and Wanda Henson were met with intimidation tactics from homophobic locals, culminating in the day they found their mailbox shot through with bullets. And a dead dog was draped across the box.

So why go through all of this—the sexism, the homophobia, the closed doors, the fight?

Ronnie Gilbert, of the Weavers fame, said that she’d discovered a world she didn’t know existed. Many in the film speak of being role models, of knowing that “we made a difference.” But perhaps Casse Culver said it best: “If I don’t get this out, I’ll die.”

Radical Harmonies is available for free viewing at womanvision.org. Famed folk singer Tom Paxton wrote, “Without the contributions of these splendid, radical artists our culture would be the poorer…I am much the richer for having seen this splendid video.”

It’s a fascinating and important chronicle. Watch Cris Williamson, Meg Christian, Holly Near, Linda Tillery, Mary Watkins, Margie Adam, and so many others tell their stories.

We owe it to these brave, visionary women to listen. ▼ Michael Gilles is a playwright, actor, and director from Milton, and a regular contributor to Letters from CAMP Rehoboth.

For over 20 years, Proud Supporter of CAMP Rehoboth Women’s FEST

HAVE FUN!

You’ve Always Belonged Here . . .

Lana Warfield 16712 Kings Highway, Lewes, DE Office: 302-645-6661 Cell: 302-236-2430 E-mail: lcwarfield@hotmail.com

A member of the franchise system of BHH Affiliates, LLC

APRIL 1, 2022

15 Letters

The Sea Salt Table

BY ED CASTELLI

Grilled Lamb Chops

G

rowing up, we enjoyed the same meal every Easter. Staples like bone-in ham with horseradish sauce, iceberg salad with hot bacon dressing, pickled red beet eggs, baked butter beans, and homemade bread. My mouth is watering as I type. It was predictable. It was fabulous.

And I wouldn’t change a thing.

Making traditional recipes on holidays leads to warm memories that last a lifetime. Occasionally, Mom would swap in corn fritters, or peas simmered in hot milk and butter. Or maybe her mac-n-cheese baked with stewed tomatoes. But the base of the meal was always ham. It was a given, as certain as her fancy rose-patterned plates and glasses making their semi-annual appearance.

Don’t get me wrong. I love a hot ham meal. I mix it up with our own favorite gowiths like pineapple bread pudding, baked corn, and blue cheese deviled eggs. But the gist is the same, and Moms everywhere are the inspiration.

For Easter, however, I sometimes like to break the ham mold. Memorable departures include the year I did a leg of lamb stuffed with spinach. The first, and only, time I made a crown pork roast. The tenderloins I grilled in the rain. And the wonderful Cuban pork roast that cooked for hours on the rotisserie. For that last one, I had to swat at our guests hovering around the cutting board picking at the deliciously charred edges.

This month I offer you another favorite for Easter: Grilled Lamb Chops with Lemon and Oregano. They’re crazy easy. Taste amazing. And make an impressive platter.

Let’s get started, shall we?

 Whisk the following in a large, lidded food container: ⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil ½ tbsp. lemon zest juice from 2 lemons ½ cup fresh oregano, chopped 6 garlic cloves, chopped ¼ cup Worcestershire sauce ¼ cup apple cider vinegar 2 tbsp. brown sugar 1 ½ tsp. onion powder ½ tbsp. kosher salt fresh ground pepper to taste

 Add 3 pounds lamb loin chops, cut 1-inch thick (the

ones that look like little T-bone steaks)  Cover and chill to marinate at least 6 hours, or up to 24. Shake and turn the container every so often. Then bring it back to room temperature the last hour.  Preheat your grill to medium-high. Drain the chops and toss the marinade.  Grill to your liking, flipping once. Medium rare will be 135° on a meat thermometer; medium will be 150°. This takes about 3 to 5 minutes per side.  Rest the chops on a platter tented with foil for 10 minutes. Garnish with any extra oregano and serve.

Fresh oregano is key. Look for it in the produce section. For that matter, fresh lemon juice is important too. So don't reach for anything with a safety seal.

• I once read that US lamb has a less gamey, less pronounced flavor. I don't know how true that is but supporting local is always preferred when you can.

• Pick side dishes that finish themselves while you grill.

Drinking a glass of wine while you savor the smokey aroma is a lot more enjoyable than last-minute fussing over go-withs. I make an au gratin potato that comes out of the oven to rest as I'm heading to the patio.

• I like to pull these off the grill starting around 140°, and no more than 145°. If the chops are too rare, I find they can be chewy, especially near the bone. Too well done is never good but can be solved by pouring more wine.

• Avoid marinating longer than 24 hours. The acidic ingredients will start to "cook" the meat, giving the edges a mushy texture. Not to worry if you miscalculate; nothing's ruined. Just don't tell folks it's my recipe. ▼

TIPS ⊲

Ed and his husband Jerry split their time between homes near Harrisburg Pennsylvania and Bethany Beach. Ed builds websites to pay the bills but loves to cook, garden, hike, and dote on their dog Atticus.

Letters 16

APRIL 1, 2022

IT'S THAT TIME AGAIN!

JOIN US AT WOMEN'S FEST OLIVIA IS THE PROUD PRESENTING SPONSOR OF WOMEN'S FEST 2022 April 7-10, 2022

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OLIVIA IS DONATING A CRUISE FOR 2 TO GREECE, CYPRUS & ISRAEL! Raffle Tickets on sale at CAMP Rehoboth.

Trip Dates are Oct 22-29, 2022. *NDAs not included.

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17 Letters

LGBTQ+ YA Column

BY JULIAN HARBAUGH

A Sporting Chance

I

ntersex kids often get caught in the crossfire of the gender culture war, although they are rarely named or acknowledged directly. The way we gender segregate sports is as much a problem for intersex kids as it is for transgender kids. So, let’s talk about it.

Intersex means someone was born with biophysical characteristics that don’t fit into normative definitions of male and female. This covers primary and secondary sex characteristics, chromosomes, hormones, and gonads. These differences are sometimes visible at birth, and sometimes only become apparent later in life. It’s possible to go one’s entire life without knowing they’re intersex. (Some intersex people are also transgender—as I am myself!)

The point at which this becomes a problem in sports is when definitions of male and female are used to disqualify intersex people. A high-profile case of this is that of Caster Semenya, an intersex woman and Olympian middle-distance runner. She has naturally elevated testosterone, which was seen as an “unfair advantage” against peri-sex (non-intersex) women. She was given an ultimatum: chemically lower her testosterone or don’t compete.

Here’s the problem with that reasoning: sports are all about It is frequently the same inborn advantages. Michael Phelps produced half the lactic people who would acid that an average human deny transgender kids makes—should he have been forced to chemically alter his hormones and surgery body to correct for that? who advocate that It is frequently the same peosurgeries and hormones ple who would deny transgender kids hormones and surgery who be forced on intersex advocate that surgeries and hormones be forced on intersex kids… kids, even from birth. These are two sides of the same coin: the belief that male and female categories are immutable, and that anyone who falls outside of those categories or seeks to move between or outside of them is a deviation to be corrected, rather than evidence of the frailty of the categories they have constructed.

And there are sex-linked characteristics we don’t disqualify people for that also lead to advantages in sports—cisgender men, on average, are taller than cisgender women. But we don’t disqualify women over six feet tall from playing basketball, a sport where height offers a serious advantage. There’s nothing wrong with the bodies of intersex people, any more than there’s something wrong with the bodies of tall women or short men.

Letters 18

APRIL 1, 2022

So, how does all this affect kids? Well, intersex kids often are forcibly put on hormones or made to undergo surgery without their consent.

Youth sports can also be a place of considerable discrimination against intersex kids. The locker rooms of my middle school were the first place I was targeted for being intersex. I quickly learned to dread gym class and sports, particularly sports with uniforms that were revealing or tight. As I got older and came out as transgender, I also was functionally barred from joining sex-segregated sports, as I would be forced to compete in the division of my assigned sex. It’s no surprise that I ended up choosing a sport as a child that was coed for youth: fencing.

There are a couple of policies that would have helped, some of which are already being implemented in schools. One of them is locker room choice: allowing kids to choose the locker room that matches their asserted gender. Another is allowing kids to choose to change in a gender-neutral space. (Many schools use the nurse’s office, which isn’t ideal but is nevertheless a good option for schools.)

For the sports themselves, helpful policies would be ones which allow kids to self-select for gender-segregated sports and, when possible, ones which create coed teams for kids to play on. Most of those teams will have to be non-competitive until a significant number of other schools also create coed teams, but having options is the name of the game, here.

In gym classes, encourage coed competition and avoid having “battle of the sexes” games. And please stop lining kids up boy-girl-boy-girl—it’s just unnecessary.

For those who are concerned about sports scholarships—if cisgender, peri-sex girls are at that much of a disadvantage, that points to a more structural issue that needs addressing. Maybe we should reconsider giving scholarships based on the physical ability of children and young adults.

These changes aren’t that big—may even seem trivial—but they can make a world of a difference to the kids they affect. They help change the culture of sports, too. The less importance we put on sex in sports, the better it will be for kids—all kids. ▼ Julian Harbaugh (they/them) is CAMP Rehoboth’s Youth Peer Leader, and a recent University of Delaware graduate.

When they’re not writing, they can be found teaching their four rats new tricks, walking their dog, and roaming garage sales looking for antique philosophy books.

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APRIL 1, 2022

19 Letters

Straight Talk

BY DAVID GARRETT

The Outrageous and the Unrighteous

T

his past November, CAMP Rehoboth hosted a play titled Tiny Beautiful Things. One of the characters had a penchant for saying “What the f**k!” more than a few times. Anyone in the audience with a low tolerance for foul language would have had to endure a long string of WTFs. Some Letters readers may find themselves emulating this character. Hearing what is taking place in legislatures across the country will likely have some saying en masse, “What the f**k!” Much of this legislation could be dismissed as being silly and out of touch. The problem with that response, however, is that lives are being changed—and even threatened. It might be more tolerable if this legislation was designed to put the LGBTQ community back in the closet (not really). However, the goal of these folks, and the far-right organizations that support them, is to put people in jail, or worse.

The best place to start our review is in Florida. Governor Ron DeSantis has gone to great lengths in the three years of his first term to alienate as many groups of folks as possible. He has institutionalized the art of oppression of his own constituents.

The “Don’t Say Gay” bill prohibits public school teachers K-3rd grade from having conversations with their students about sexual orientation or gender identity. The bill has passed through the legislature and the Governor is expected to sign it. The bill itself is titled the “Parental Rights in Education Bill.” At a recent press conference, DeSantis stated, “In the state of Florida, we are not going to allow them to inject transgenderism into kindergarten. First graders shouldn’t have woke gender ideology in their curriculum. And that’s what we’re standing for.”

Anti-discriminatory legislation always seems to be couched in pseudo-affirming language. After all, who could be against parental rights in our education

Letters 20

APRIL 1, 2022

system? In this case, parental rights is tantamount to “Don’t Say Gay.” Florida is also considering a new bill that would provide criminal penalties to health care practitioners who engage in medical procedures for transgender youth.

“We need to ‘say gay’ because naming people makes them visible and everyone deserves that honor.”

Heading west to Texas, we find a quagmire of anti-LGBTQ bills signed by Governor Greg Abbott. The new law that has gotten the most attention prohibits parents of transgender children from providing the medical and emotional care they need to survive. But this law goes even further and charges these parents with child abuse. State Attorney General Ken Paxton issued a legal opinion in February that gender-affirming surgical procedures and treatments for children, including puberty-blocking drugs, amount to child abuse.

Following the release of this legal opinion, Governor Abbott ordered the Department of Family and Protective Services “to conduct a prompt and thorough investigation of any reported instances of these abusive procedures in the State of Texas.” Ironically, an employee of that same agency was fired for raising her transgender child and exercising these same parental actions.

One of the more popular anti-LGBTQ laws passed by numerous conservative legislatures across the country prohibits transgender youth from participating in sports activities if their identified gender does not match the gender recorded on their birth certificates. There are efforts by these same elected persons to permit anti-LGBTQ action by allowing people to

claim a “religious exemption” to equality mandates. Conservative state legislatures are emulating each others’ bills and attempting to achieve the “Most Restrictive State” Award.

John Pavlovitz is a progressive pastor who maintains a blog and has written several books. His focus in these is to hold the religious right accountable to the moral standards set by Jesus himself.

He calls out the hypocrisy that is rampant in our politics and our churches today.

Pavlovitz condemns those who are outrageous and unrighteous.

He writes, “Republican attacks on LGBTQ people in Texas and Florida are legislated, legalized brutality that simply cannot be allowed by decent and empathetic adults who respect science, treasure diversity, and believe that every child deserves to be fully seen.” Elsewhere he states, “We need to ‘say gay’ because naming people makes them visible and everyone deserves that honor.

Children need to know that lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, non-conforming, non-binary people exist and that they are deserving of that existence.”

The momentum of the religious and political right is gathering steam. Emboldened by a decidedly conservative Supreme Court, many state legislators and governors are passing laws that are contrary to our Constitution. We all need to stay vigilant in the fight for equality and acceptance, in order to overcome the outrageous and the unrighteous.

As George Takei tweeted, “The more you try to stop gay from happening, the more beautifully gay the world will become. It’s right there, written in glitter in Section 1 of the Rainbow Rules, Liza edition. You’d know that if you followed the Gay Agenda at all.” ▼ David Garrett, a CAMP Rehoboth Board member, is a straight advocate for equality and inclusion. He is also the proud father of an adult trans daughter. Email David Garrett at davidg@camprehoboth.com.

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APRIL 1, 2022

21 Letters

Words Matter

BY CLARENCE FLUKER

Volunteering is an Investment in Our Future

T

he first time it happened I didn’t think much of it. I was invited to a local high school to be on a panel of people sharing stories about our college experiences and career paths. The teacher who hosted us was nice and the students asked great questions. At the conclusion of the event a young man made his way to the stage and right to me. He came up just to tell me that he appreciated me being there.

I thanked him for his kindness and probed him about what he’d learned from the discussion and what dreams he was coming up with for his life after graduation. He’d already decided what career he wanted to pursue and was in the process of narrowing down the list of colleges he’d apply to in the fall. I knew for sure he would have a bright future ahead of him. We wrapped up the conversation and as I turned to leave, he tapped me again and reiterated that he was glad I came to his school that day.

A few years later I was heading to work, and a young man approached me while I was waiting for the light to change and crosswalk signal to give me the okay to proceed. I couldn’t place his face, but he seemed happy to see me. I greeted him and he took no time in letting me know why he might look familiar. This young man was a graduate student in a summer program that I’d volunteered to speak with the year before.

Unlike the high school student, this grad student was more comfortable and able to articulate why he’d stopped me and wanted to share a word of thanks. He said that as a young Black gay student making his transition into the workforce, he’d not often seen himself reflected in the speakers his program or professional organizations bring through. I have no doubt that is the reason why the high school student was drawn to me that day too.

I was humbled by their appreciation and reminded of why, when I get requests to speak with students, I always say yes. I tend to do a lot of volunteer work, but of all of it, what I find most replenishing is opportunities to connect with young

As LGBTQIA+ people, we bring unique perspectives and advice to young people developing their personal and professional career identities and finding their next right step in life…

Letters 22

APRIL 1, 2022

people. They think that I’m giving back, but really, they are the ones inspiring me. Also, I’m aware now more than ever before that representation matters.

Young people need to see themselves not just on television and in movies, but in classrooms, on career panels, and at community programs and activities. There is a benefit to seeing full relatable models of what you can be and knowing that you can shape your future for yourself and there isn’t just one way of being.

LGBTQIA+ people aren’t just phenomenal entertainers, writers, and athletes. Some are incredible teachers, accountants, nurses, data scientists, business owners, public servants, and so much more. Young people need to see that up close too so that they can more broadly see themselves.

As LGBTQIA+ people, we bring unique perspectives and advice to young people developing their personal and professional career identities and finding their next right step in life based on our own lived experiences. A group of gay college students once blushed when I dared to explain to them, using language their career advisors wouldn’t, about how they should proceed with caution when it comes to certain popular ‘dating’ apps.

Time is a valuable resource and not often easy to spare, but I encourage you to invest some of it in the next generation by volunteering where and how you can. Whether it be by participating in career day at your old high school, staffing the booth of your alma mater at a local college fair, or getting your professional organization to host a lunch & learn for young people who might be interested in exploring your career field, you’d be making a difference. Being present and open to sharing your wisdom and mistakes (we all have some of those, too) with LGBTQIA+ young people— and even the ones who aren’t—will bring value to you and to them. ▼ Clarence J. Fluker is a public affairs and social impact strategist. Since 2008, he's also been a contributing writer for Swerv, a lifestyle periodical celebrating African American LGBTQ+ culture and community. Follow him on Twitter: @CJFluker or Instagram: @Mr_CJFluker

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Chris Beagle Group is a team of real estate licensees affiliated with Compass RE a licensed real estate broker and abides by Equal Housing Opportunity laws. 406 Rehoboth Ave Rehoboth Beach, DE 19971.

APRIL 1, 2022

23 Letters

health+wellness

BY KEVIN MALLINSON

Spring Forward

O

ver the last two years, how many of us have been taking stock of our situation and hoping to improve the quality of our life?

The COVID-19 pandemic seriously altered how many of us look at the world and our place in it. Maybe you asked yourself: How much do I want to work?

How can I focus on what’s important to me? How can I manage my anxiety?

There’s no better time than now to focus on your health and well-being.

At this point, I wouldn’t be surprised if you were rolling your eyes, thinking that improving your well-being is nearly impossible…like eradicating poverty, eliminating world hunger, or solving the New York Times crossword puzzle!

Don’t give up; don’t freeze. Anything is possible with small steps.

The Global Wellness Institute defines wellness “…as the active pursuit of activities, choices, and lifestyles that lead to a state of holistic health.” This spring, my goal is that you identify at least one activity that contributes to a more fulfilling life. To get started, identify the source of your stress and anxiety. COVID? Ukraine? America’s culture wars? Don’t wallow in misery; just be aware of what is undermining your happiness. Now, consider positive strategies.

Excite your senses. Research shows that having an optimistic attitude is associated with fewer cardiac events, lower mortality rates, and increased longevity. I installed a free screensaver app for my computer that displays beautiful aerial views from the most extraordinary places on earth. (If you’re using a Mac: aerialscreensaver.github. io/.) Or maybe enliven your living space with a few sprigs of fresh lavender?

Touch and be touched. Too many of us have forgotten how simply holding hands or touching a friend’s shoulder can convey caring, love, and acceptance. Research shows that a body massage increases critical immune cells that help people fight diseases such as HIV or breast cancer. Human touch lowers our blood pressure while

Letters 24 APRIL 1, 2022

increasing our self-worth and connectedness with others. Learn more with the short TED talk, “The Power of Touch,” by Jane Anderson (easily found on YouTube).

Celebrate with community. This April, Women’s FEST returns to Rehoboth Beach with music, dancing, and an increasingly diverse program of activities that celebrate women’s talents, creativity, and zest for sisterhood.

For years, Women’s FEST has provided opportunities for socializing with friends you didn’t even know you had. How about celebrating Lesbian Visibility Day (April 26) by listening to live music (where is Bev Morgan singing?) or meeting up with long-lost friends?

Human touch lowers our blood pressure while increasing our self-worth and connectedness with others.

Exercise. Please, don’t skip over this paragraph! I know, I know; you tried, and it seems impossible. Take small steps. Walking and biking around town or on one of the many local trails are great ways to strengthen your heart, lose some weight, and improve your mood. Get out and see the natural beauty of our area. Exercise is more likely to be sustained if it is regularly scheduled; it also helps to have an exercise partner who shares in the fun and holds you accountable. Even simple exercises can increase flexibility, strength, and balance while enhancing sleep.

Declutter your space. Is your home in disarray? Surprisingly, a tidy house can lift your mood. Put on some energizing music and get started. Donate

unneeded items and organize the rest.

Don’t stop there. Adopt a houseplant to bring a little bit of nature back into your living space.

Learn something new. The University of Delaware’s Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) is hosting its two-day “UD by the Sea” this May in Rehoboth Beach. You can learn more about Delaware coast life from local artists, gardeners, foreign policy experts, or historians.

Take a break from the news. Both TV and social media sites can increase your anxiety about the state of the world. Instead, search online for inspirational TED talks or travel videos that transport you to undersea coral reefs, the ruins at Ephesus, or the Appalachian Trail.

Join a book club. You can meet new friends and share rich discussions.

Manage your anger. Unbridled anger makes us defensive, self-righteous, and frankly, unattractive. Let it go. Be forgiving. You will find that people who smile and laugh more tend to attract others with their positive outlook.

Volunteer. Service to others bolsters our self-confidence, reduces isolation, and provides a renewed sense of purpose. Find dozens of local opportunities to volunteer your time and talents (volunteermatch.org).

Finally, be kind to yourself. Too many of us are quick to point out our own faults. We are less inclined to recognize our strengths. No one is perfect, yet any one of us can take steps towards a more authentic life. Look at your bucket list and commit to rewarding yourself with ticking off at least one item. Happy spring! ▼ Kevin Mallinson is a retired university professor, public speaker, and researcher who advocates for disenfranchised groups, particularly LGBTQ+ communities and persons with—or at risk for—HIV disease.

Classes & Events For more information about any of these events, please visit camprehoboth.com or call us at 302-227-5620.

Zoom links (when applicable) can be found on our website or in the weekly e-mail newsletter. Unless indicated otherwise, in-person meetings take place at CAMP Rehoboth.

Weekly Events WALK-IN HIV TESTING

Mondays 12:00-4:00 p.m.

Free rapid HIV testing at CAMP Rehoboth.

Get your results in 15 minutes. No appointment needed during this time.

MORNING MINDFULNESS Tuesdays 8:00 a.m. (Zoom)

Start your Tuesdays off with CAMP Rehoboth! Erin will lead a mindful exercise or morning meditation for 30 minutes.

CHAIR YOGA

Tuesdays 9:00 a.m. (Zoom)

Erin guides participants to synchronize conscious breath with mindful movement. The sequence of poses is designed to energize and strengthen, as well as relax and lengthen muscles.

MEN’S YOGA

Saturdays 8:45 a.m. (in-person)

All levels are welcome at this weekly yoga class, and everyone will be given the opportunity to modify or advance their practice, based upon their preferences.

TAX PREPARATION WITH AARP CAMP Rehoboth is partnering with AARP to offer tax assistance weekly on Thursdays from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. through April 7. Due to COVID, participants will schedule a time to drop off their tax documents and work will be done remotely.

Participants will pick up their completed returns the following Thursday. To schedule a time please call CAMP at 302-227-5620.

Bi-weekly & Monthly Events WOMEN IN CIRCLE

April 2/April 16, 10:00 a.m. (In-person)

Women in Circle is a gathering of LGBTQ women. The circle is a welcoming, inclusive, and positive place to meet, connect, and share with other women. Each week a different topic opens the circle for women to discuss, learn from, and support each other.

MEN’S DISCUSSION GROUP

April 8/April 27, 7:00 p.m. (in-person)

The Men’s Discussion Group is a safe and nurturing space for GBTQ men to start conversations important to our community. We celebrate who we are, promote respect and understanding, and accept each other’s differences with the intention of building a more connected community. This group typically meets on the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays each month. For more information, contact William Dye at william.z.dye@gmail.com.

YOUTHUP MONTHLY SOCIAL

April 8, 6:30 p.m., MCC Rehoboth (in-person)

Join us for the Youth Up Monthly Social taking place Friday, April 8, 6:30-7:30 p.m. at MCC Rehoboth, 19369 Plantation Road, Rehoboth Beach.

This event is designed specifically for 10-19-year-old LGBTQ+ youth.

FLAMING KNITTERS

April 11/April 25, 6:30 p.m. (in-person)

Flaming Knitters provides a thoughtful and engaging space for working, conversing, connecting, showing off, sharing resources, and supporting fiber-related crafts/projects in a queerand trans-affirming space.

COFFEE TALK

April 23, 10:00 a.m. (in-person)

Coffee Talk is a place where the LGBTQ community can come together in a positive, non-judgmental atmosphere to share our thoughts and perspectives on a topic and dare to think outside the box.

CAMP REHOBOTH BOOK CLUB April 25, 5:30 p.m. (Zoom)

The CAMP Rehoboth Book Club is a queer-facilitated discussion group dedicated to reading novels about queer topics and/or books by queer authors that tackle a variety of interests and subject matters.▼

TRICK QUESTION TRUE OR FALSE: Wearing two condoms will offer more protection.

FALSE! This increases the risk for breakage.

APRIL 1, 2022

25 Letters

It’s My Life

BY MICHAEL THOMAS FORD

Ode to Joy

I

’ve really been looking forward to spring. Winter has dragged on, and on, and on some more. The lingering effects of COVID have made it all even more tiresome. It’s felt like months of gray weather, mental fog, and a pervading dreariness that never seemed to lift.

Then, naturally, Putin decided to invade Ukraine.

At this point I don’t think any of us are surprised by more bad news. Still, I don’t think most of us had Russia threatening to drag us back to the 1980s on our list of possibilities.

Terrible things happen all over the world every day. Ukraine is not the only place where people are waging war; it is simply the most visible. And because what’s happening there is so prevalent on social media, it perhaps feels more inescapable, closer to home even though it’s happening 5,000 miles away.

Watching and worrying, I felt as though the arrival of spring was irrelevant. How could I enjoy the emerging daffodils and tulips we’d planted in the fall when people were being killed while waiting in line for food? What difference did it make if the bluebird pair checking out our bird houses decided to move into one and raise a family?

Cubby’s birthday is in March. As we met a couple of days before his birthday, it’s also our anniversary of getting together. Cubby loves parties, and having friends over, and for the past two years we haven’t been able to do that, which has been a big disappointment to him. This year, we hoped to finally have a gathering.

As much as I wanted to be excited about spring and birthdays and anniversaries, about gardening and bluebirds and parties, it felt somehow wrong to let myself do it. “I feel like I should be doing something about what’s going on in the world,” I told a friend. “But what can we do?”

“Sometimes joy is our strongest weapon,” she said.

Letters 26 APRIL 1, 2022

“But…war,” I said.

“And what can you do about that?” she asked.

“Nothing,” I told her. “That’s the problem. I don’t feel like I can do anything.”

“Right,” she said. “And is feeling helpless doing any good? Is refusing to enjoy anything going to change things?”

“But—” “You have a birthday party to plan,” she said.

And so I planned a party. Well, actually, Cubby did most of the planning.

But I did something else. I proposed.

“What would you think about making it a combination birthday and engagement party?” I asked him.

Ganesha is the remover of obstacles, the one asked for help before new beginnings.

This is not quite the impulsive decision it might seem. We’ve been talking about getting married for a while.

But this made it official. And once the decision was made, it felt like a future appeared on the horizon. Not that there hadn’t been one before, but now I felt as if I had a larger reason to think about what the world might become.

Instead of dwelling on what was being destroyed, I started to think about what could be built.

It’s a small thing, a tulip emerging from the ground after winter. It’s an everyday occurrence, a bluebird laying an egg. But also, these are little miracles, and acknowledging them helps me remember that life goes on, even in the face of the worst horrors. The planning of a garden is an investment in hope. And so I ordered seeds—sunflowers for the birds, dill for

the swallowtail butterfly caterpillars, some weird little cucumelons just because they supposedly taste like lemon and summer.

Soon, I will plant liatris and crocosmia and milkweed in the new garden where a statue of Ganesha, the elephantheaded Hindu god, sits on a rock surveying the side yard. Ganesha is the remover of obstacles, the one asked for help before new beginnings. Spring is a new beginning for the gardens.

My engagement to Cubby—something I could never have imagined as a possibility when I was growing up—is another commitment to the future.

Maybe, I hope, what’s happening in Ukraine will be another kind of beginning, another waking up. People seem to be paying attention. Will it become something more than that, some kind of revolution?

The poem “Ode to Joy” was written

by German poet Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller in 1785 and is probably most well-known as part of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9.

Beethoven’s version is the official anthem of Europe, and it was famously part of the 1989 Christmas concert conducted by Leonard Bernstein to celebrate the fall of the Berlin Wall.

It is not only an ode to joy, it is an ode to freedom, a revolutionary cry for justice. It is a reminder that recognizing the joy in the world creates a powerful force that grows and grows, surrounding all it touches and empowering us to effect change. So, as we greet the first day of spring, I will be embracing the joy around me and nurturing it like the seeds I’ll soon plant in our gardens. With a little luck, it will grow into something beautiful. ▼ Michael Thomas Ford is a much-published Lambda Literary award-winning author. Visit Michael at michaelthomasford.com

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27 Letters

Out & About

BY ERIC C. PETERSON

The Honeymoon is Over

I

n addition to writing about pop culture here at Letters, I also co-host a podcast that looks back at old movies.

Mostly, this is because, well…I love old movies. But the real reason for The Rewind Project is to talk about what it’s like watching some of these old movies today. Sometimes we’re surprised by how well a movie has held up. Other times, the world has changed a lot since a movie premiered, and it just didn’t age well.

Recently, my co-hosts and I gave another look to the 1997 comedy In & Out, a zany story about a closeted (even to himself) high school English teacher who is forced to reckon with his homosexuality both internally and externally when he’s outed by a former student who is now a famous movie star.

To find out how we all experienced the film a quarter century later, you’ll have to listen to the show, but the reason I bring this up in my column is this: when I sat down to rewatch In & Out after 25 years, my main thought was, “Wow…I can’t believe this was 25 years ago, it just doesn’t seem that long ago.” But, when I was about halfway through the movie, I was having the opposite feeling.

It was something like, “Wow…this feels about a million years old.”

After the movie was over, time was beginning to feel a little meaningless.

So, I opened a web browser to figure out just how long 25 years ago really was. I was reminded that nationwide marriage equality has only been a reality for seven years. When In & Out was released in 1997, the homophobic Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) was one year old, and Massachusetts making history as the first state to recognize same-sex marriage was still seven years away.

Further research revealed that 1997 was also the year that Ellen DeGeneres made the cover of TIME magazine when both she and her sitcom character finally came out as gay. At the time, everyone wondered if her career would soon be over, and the quick demise of her show Letters 28 APRIL 1, 2022

would soon seem to prove it would be, indeed. (Her wildly successful daytime talk show wouldn’t premiere until 2003.)

With this in mind, some of the plot points in In & Out that had seemed so antiquated began to make sense.

For instance, upon confirming his sexuality in a very public (and extremely cringeworthy) way, our protagonist is fired from his job at the local high school.

That the firing took place at all looked odd, and that everyone just blithely accepted it (initially, at least) seemed downright Neanderthal.

It suddenly became very clear to me just how comfortable equality under the law can be—so incredibly cozy, in fact, that it’s easy to take it for granted.

But when I googled that bit of information, I was shocked to discover that sexual orientation and gender identity have only been recognized as protected classes under Title VII for two years. The Supreme Court cases that formally codified these protections happened in 2020.

It suddenly became very clear to me just how comfortable equality under the law can be—so incredibly cozy, in fact, that it’s easy to take it for granted.

All things considered, it’s been a pretty good quarter century for us queer folks.

Of course, hate crimes against trans women (especially trans women of color) are sobering, and individual tragedies like the Pulse massacre in Orlando signal the ongoing need for progress. I was both amazed and a little disturbed by

just how complacent I was apparently feeling.

And if enough people feel as smugly snug as I, this might be a significant weakness in the years ahead.

Our federal rights to employment nondiscrimination and marriage equality are still intact, but the political winds have shifted considerably since the nation elected a failed reality television host with authoritarian leanings to its highest office in 2016, and we are only now feeling the full effects.

Despite voting him out in 2020, Donald Trump appointed three archconservative justices to the Supreme Court in his single term, and Mitch McConnell’s Senate placed more than 200 judges on the federal bench in the same period. Roe v. Wade is sure to be overturned in the near future, and hateful bills like “Don’t Say Gay” in Florida and a law targeting supportive parents of transgender kids in Texas are being passed at the state level.

After many hard-won successes in our fight for equality, the honeymoon period has been nice. But if it’s not officially over, let’s just say the bags are packed and the bridal suite is about to be vacated. The year 1997 might feel like a million years ago, but perhaps it was just the blink of an eye, and there’s still a lot of work left to do. ▼ Eric Peterson is a Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) educator; co-host of The Rewind Project, a new podcast about old movies; and is the author of a new novel, Loyalty, Love & Vermouth.

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29 Letters

CAMP Houses

BY RICH BARNETT

The Pirate King of the LaTeDa

T

he first time I set foot in Key West’s LaTeDa hotel and bar in the early 1990s, I couldn’t stop ogling the tasty selection of half-naked men who had gathered on a sunny Sunday afternoon to sip cocktails, dance, and cruise beneath swaying palms by the swimming pool. I thought I’d died and gone to heaven.

Fast forward 30 years. Men and women, gay and straight, still gather on Sunday afternoons at LaTeDa to sip and twirl as the day slowly relaxes into the evening. Yes, the LaTeDa tea dance is still a tradition in Key West albeit quite a bit tamer today. But that’s okay because so am I. And rather than tasty men, it’s the chicken wings, fried and coated in a sweet and spicy glaze of coconut rum and hot pepper, that have me licking my lips. It’s a personal recipe, according to current owner Christopher Rounds, whom I recently had the pleasure of hanging out with to learn the history of the LaTeDa. But first a word about Christopher and his connection to Rehoboth. Before moving to Key West, he and his partner Patrick Hegarty lived in Fenwick Island for many years while running their two restaurants in Ocean City, Maryland—Tutti Gusti on 33rd Street and the Crab Bag on 130th Street. It’s no surprise then that Rehoboth became their preferred stomping ground when they weren’t working, especially the Nomad, the Blue Moon, and the Renegade.

The fellas still know a lot of people from those days. In addition, it should be noted that the one and only Christopher Peterson, a Rehoboth favorite, presents his Eyecons show in the LaTeDa cabaret most of the year. Another LaTeDa act—Patrick and Debra—now bring their music to Rehoboth’s Top of the Pines in the summertime. Perhaps all this helps explain why I almost always recognize someone from lower slower Delaware at the LaTeDa. Anyway, back to our story…. The wooden-frame house that is now LaTeDa at 1125 Duval Street on the south side of Key West was constructed in 1892 by Letters 30 APRIL 1, 2022

Teodoro Perez, the island’s premier cigar manufacturer and a well-known supporter of the Cuban independence movement.

As soon as his house was finished, he invited his friend José Martí, the poet and head of the Cuba Revolutionary Party, to visit and to drum up money for weapons and ammunition.

The LaTeDa is such an institution in Key West that in 2020 Jimmy Buffet even wrote a song about this special place…

As the closest port to Havana, the island was a hotbed of anti-Spanish sentiment. During his stay, Martí gave speeches from the second-floor balcony overlooking Duval Street. A large banner ran across the entire balcony railing reading “CUBA” in the middle and “Martí” on both ends. Local Cubans soon began referring to Perez’s house as “La Terraza de Martí” or “the Balcony of Martí.”

The house began catering to another set of revolutionaries in the 1970s when a small flamboyant man named Larry Formica bought the property and turned it into a rooming house for gay men who had

begun coming to Key West in droves as word spread the island was an accepting, quirky, fun place.

Formica started off serving breakfast and eventually added a full restaurant and brought in a French chef. A 1982 travel piece in the New York Times refers to lunch by the LaTeDa pool where tables were dressed in pink tablecloths and pink napkins and fine crystal. Guests were served by waiters attired in bikini bathing suits.

It was during those heady days that La Terraza de Marti became shortened to “LaTeDa.” According to local lore, a drag performer named Holly Woodlawn mangled the name. Holly, it seems, was a Puerto Rican transgender actress from Miami who had appeared in several of Andy Warhol movies and claimed to be the “Holly” in Lou Reed’s song “Walk on the Wild Side.” The new name stuck.

By the time Christopher and Patrick purchased the property in 2013, the LaTeDa sadly was on its last legs. Larry Formica died in the 80s. Subsequent popular owners Mark and Claude passed away and the swank property passed to absentee family members in California who cared not a bit for it—or for Key West.

“It was a wreck,” Christopher explains, “and but for the loyal staff who loved the place, it would have been totally run into the ground.” Christopher and Patrick, with their restaurant experience and creative know how, began methodically bringing the place back to life, starting with the iconic balcony of Martí, which according to Christopher, “was so rotted it couldn’t be used.”

Over the next couple of years, the two men renovated all the hotel rooms, replacing window air conditioners and pulling out all jacuzzi tubs and mirrors. They redid all the bars and replaced all the decking, expanded and upgraded the kitchen, and even resurfaced the bottom of the swimming pool.

My favorite renovation anecdote is the one Christopher tells about two queens in the hive—and no, he’s not referring to Christopher Peterson and Randy Roberts,

the divas who do their shows in the second floor cabaret. Seems that during work on the balcony, everyone kept hearing a faint buzzing sound and assumed it was coming from an old electrical socket due to be replaced.

Well, you guessed it, the buzzing was due to thousands and thousands of honeybees. The entire inside of the front wall of the house was infested and when the bee experts began removing the bees, they discovered an enormous hive. As the experts gently extracted large sticky slabs of honeycomb, they found two queens in the hive, a rare, but not unheard of, occurrence. For the LaTeDa, however, it seemed apropos. And the honey? “We used it on our cheese plates,” Christopher says with a sly grin.

Christopher’s hard work hasn’t been limited to the property. His commitment to the greater Key West community is well known. He’s a supporter of causes for ani-

mals and kids and opens the LaTeDa each year for Toys for Tots and Pride events. In 2016, he was named a Fantasy Fest King, one of Key West’s top honors, and raised over $340,000 for local AIDS charities.

The LaTeDa is such an institution in Key West that in 2020 Jimmy Buffet even wrote a song about this special place at the end of the world where the perfect

margarita awaits you when the sun goes down and the pirate king buys all his guests another round.

This past year, Christopher and Patrick put the finishing touches on a new project—a home in Rehoboth’s North Shores neighborhood, cattycorner to President Biden’s house. Christopher says the house is a retirement place, close to both of their families, and that he doesn’t have designs on a new project in town. Like the honey on the cheese plates, I’m not quite sure whether to believe him. He is, after all, a visionary, and a tireless showman, greeting all his guests with a big smile and a light touch to the shoulder or arm. Can a pirate king really sit still? ▼ Rich Barnett is the author of The Discreet Charms of a Bourgeois Beach Town, and Fun with Dick and James. ▼

APRIL 1, 2022

31 Letters

ONE WOMAN’S HISTORY

BY BETH SHOCKLEY

I Learned the Truth at Just Fifteen

M

ost Saturdays when I was 15, I would walk to the Downtown Plaza in Salisbury, Maryland. My destination was Watson’s Smoke House at the very end of Main Street, a combo record store and head shop. Over the speakers, they would play the latest music and I would usually buy an album or two.

One fall day, my small world was changed forever in that store by a song and artist I’d never heard of. The song was playing over the speakers, acoustic guitar with a kind of salsa beat... “I learned the truth at seventeen, that love was meant for beauty queens, and high-school girls with clearskinned smiles, who married young and then retired.…”

What was this—WHO was this—killing me softly with her song? I asked the guy behind the counter, and he showed me the album. On it, a profile shot of a beautiful woman, Janis Ian, the album called Between the Lines and the song, “At Seventeen.”

My teenage world tilted on its axis—it was love at first sight and sound.

I bought the album and rushed home to play the whole thing. I was mesmerized. I didn’t know anything about Janis Ian, and it was not easy to find out in those pre-internet days. But I soon became a major fangirl and gobbled up any information I could get my hands on from music magazines, TV, radio, and the public library.

What I found out blew me away. She’d had a hit record in 1967 called “Society’s Child,” a thencontroversial song about interracial dating. She was 14 or 15 when it hit the charts. I wanted to play guitar like her, write songs like hers. She became my role model and mentor. Music became my only muse, and it was all about Janis Ian. At last, there was someone in my life who spoke authentic truth. Her music whispered to me, “I understand, I know what you’re going through. And it’s going to be OK.” There was no one in my life I could talk to about how I was feeling, particularly about other girls. Even thinking those thoughts was dangerous. The immensity of my feelings scared and confused me. Janis’s music calmed those fears and made it OK to have my feelings in secret. It was a secret we shared, although I didn’t know it then.

Some months later, there was a big story

Her music whispered to me, “I understand, I know what you’re going through. And it’s going to be OK.”

Letters 32 APRIL 1, 2022

in the Village Voice, where Janis came out as bisexual. That scared me again because all my friends knew how obsessed I was with her. It would be guilt by association. I remember my older brother commenting on the fact, and I gathered my courage and said it made no difference to the music. And it didn’t. But it made a huge difference to me because, holy shit, Janis Ian liked girls, too!

Naturally, I began subscribing to the Voice and discovered the personal ads in the back. I perused the “Women Seeking Women” ads and found out that there were many women like me in the world.

Maybe not in Salisbury, but certainly in New York. It was then I began to plan to move there.

The reality that even I recognized was that I was going to have to finish high school first. And then go to college. But I made a sacred vow to myself that I would honor my lesbianism when I got to college, when I was far away from all those smalltown eyes and my family, and I could freely have my feelings and even maybe act on them. And that’s exactly what I did.

I have thanked Janis Ian in person numerous times over the years for the many gifts she brought into my life. I have seen her perform a dozen times and I always stay after her concerts to talk to her.

Of course, fangirl that I remain, it’s not easy. Faceto-face, I still stutter and stammer. But I somehow manage to always thank her for the gift of music and for “seeing” me at such a tender age.

I will see her again in May. She has just released her final album, The Light at the End of the Line, and is touring for what she says is the last time.

She’s done with the rigors of the road and since she’s been performing professionally since she was 12, I believe her when she says it’s time to retire from that and do other things. I feel the same way about my job. Our lives have moved kind of parallel to each other over time. But she’s nine years older than me, so she gets to go first, as always, my role model and mentor. But I won’t be too far behind. ▼ Beth Shockley is a public affairs specialist and a former editor of Letters.

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33 Letters

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Letters 34 APRIL 1, 2022

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APRIL 1, 2022

35 Letters

Volunteer Spotlight

BY KAREN LAITMAN

Rob Jasinski

R

ob was born in Wilmington, Delaware, but spent the first five years of his life in Scranton, Pennsylvania. He was always the shy, awkward kid in school—the “last one picked for sports” kind of guy, but he overcame those shortcomings with humor. He found that if he could make someone laugh, he could make them a friend.

Rob began his career working for Atlantic Aviation in New Castle, Delaware, advancing his way from the mailroom to becoming the purchasing manager. Along the way, he got married (he’s now very happily divorced) and had a beautiful daughter, who is now 25-years-old.

For many years, Rob and his daughter traveled to Rehoboth for annual vacations. He was captivated by the excitement and the energy of the people who lived in and visited this area and daydreamed of what life might be like to live here. Seven years ago, he took a leap of faith and moved to Rehoboth full time.

The commute to his job in New Castle was brutal, but the thoughts of returning home each evening to Rehoboth made it tolerable.

Eventually, he found a job working in Salisbury, Maryland, as a purchasing manager. He is counting down the clock to retirement, though retirement will likely involve a part-time career. In 2019, he went back to school and became a nationally certified clinical medical assistant.

At some point, he hopes to put these new skills into service. For now, he spends his time working and volunteering throughout the community.

When did you start volunteering with CAMP Rehoboth? About six years ago.

Recently out of a relationship, I was completely devastated and inconsolable.

I remembered seeing something about a men’s discussion group in Letters and nervously attended my first meeting. I was both surprised and relieved. This felt like such a safe environment for me to unpack and unburden myself of everything I was going through. Aside from the comraderie of the group, one of the best pieces of

Letters 36 APRIL 1, 2022

during the era where you hid who you really were and had to “butch it up” just to fit in. Many a time, I recall hearing the “f’ word whispered behind my back. On one hand, I wanted to be true to who I really was, but the fear and shame I felt were so powerful I just hid it away. When I first came out, my only concern was how this would affect my daughter’s opinion of me.

When I told her, she put her arms around me, told me she loved me and that she wanted me to live the happiest life that I possibly could! That was so powerful and awakening for me.

On one hand, I wanted to be true to who I really was, but the fear and shame I felt were so powerful I just hid it away. advice I received was to get out of my own head and get involved.

What events/activities have you been involved with as a volunteer? I started small—picking up trash in the CAMP courtyard, then joining the CAMP Rehoboth Outreach Program (CROP) team.

I branched out with Women’s FEST, Veg-Fest, the annual AIDS Walk/Run, the AIDS candlelight remembrance ceremony, Sundance, serving at numerous soup kitchens, and ushering at Clear Space Theatre and for CAMP Chorus concerts.

Name a childhood mentor or someone who influenced you. My dear friend and piano teacher, MaryAnn, inspires me with her patience while I clunk about the keys, trying to piece together something that vaguely resembles music. She is the embodiment of grace and kindness.

The LGBTQ community has made significant progress in the fight for equality over recent years. Did you expect to see this in your lifetime? Thoughts? I’m an optimist, so I’m always hopeful. I grew up

Are you concerned about the possible loss of rights for the LGBTQ community? Yes. I’ve found that nothing in life is guaranteed. There are so many misguided people who spew hatred and rhetoric. There have been so many people before us who paved the way for the freedoms that we enjoy today. I hope we never take these rights for granted.

What brings you joy? Helping others.

Also, I’m taking piano lessons and admittedly, I’m horrible at it, but I’m determined. I love old cars, thrift stores, spending time with friends, and when I have time, I love to get lost in a good book.

During the COVID lockdown, what did you learn most about yourself? Be willing to share your gifts and talents. A long time ago, my aunt convinced me to get licensed as a cosmetologist. I could see that almost everyone I worked with was in dire need of some hair care during lockdown. One day, I took my equipment to work with me and set up shop. Everyone was so thankful that I was willing to cut their hair. It made everyone feel so much better—me especially, knowing that I was helping in my own small way. There were smiles everywhere that day, which was my payment in full. ▼ Karen Laitman is a member of CAMP Rehoboth’s Volunteer Development Committee.

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APRIL 1, 2022

37 Letters

Guest House Chronicles

BY TOM KELCH

Creating Paradise

W

hen Herbert Koeber bought the property on 40 Maryland Avenue, it had been operating as an inn since 1915. Although he liked the idea of his new property remaining an inn, he wanted it to be so much more.

He wanted it to be an alluring destination. But not just for anyone: he wanted this place to be just for gay men.

What did gay guys want more than anything else in 1979? They just wanted a safe place to be gay. They wanted to make friends, make connections, and meet other like-minded men. For many, this was something that happened only in their dreams.

But by the latter half of the 1970s, things were loosening up. The Vietnam War finally ended, and the hippy era was just about at its peak. Free-lovin’ people were “in,” and people in general had grown tired of fighting. New and more free-thinking types of people were becoming more numerous, and things were starting to look up for a man who knew he was gay. More people than ever before began to question their religious beliefs, allowing them to more easily question right and wrong. For all these reasons— and perhaps more—Herbert felt this was the right time to create his paradise.

The inn had 14 rooms when Herbert purchased it, but he soon doubled it to 28 to accommodate as many friends as he could. He wanted It to be fun and outfitted to provide entertainment. He also wanted people to be able to relax, to enjoy the beach, and rest. His guests’ comfort was a top priority.

Comfort didn’t come in the form of a fancy mattress or a fluffy pillow. Rather, it was provided by safety. He wished only for his guests to be themselves and to have the opportunity to experience just a small part of his utopia. He named this special place Paradise—Paradise Guest House, to be exact.

Many men who visited Paradise were having their first-ever gay experience.

That was because the norm during this time—in a place like Rehoboth—was to Letters 38 APRIL 1, 2022

keep “gay” hidden deeply away. For a gay man to meet others and make friends, he had to know someone already involved in the scene who could guide him to spots where he could mingle safely with others.

House parties were a common example. Gay men couldn’t just date and see how things went; it was way more complicated and accelerated. Most had alternate lives they could preserve only by staying hidden in the closet. Gay men who didn’t already know other gay men were left with few options—often, ones that placed them at high risk of being outed. Just being seen walking into a gay bar could ruin a man’s life.

Thus, Herbert’s Paradise Guest House was a real game-changer. Men who didn’t know anyone else like them, but who wanted to satisfy their inner queer desires, finally had a safe place to gather.

From the outside, Paradise looked just like dozens of other inns and boarding houses in the area. However, inside was completely custom designed to offer a one-ofa-kind gay experience. In a single stay, a man could meet, date, fornicate, and say goodbye forever—that latter, because the minute he left Paradise, it was back to his life as a straight man.

In the late 70s HIV/AIDs was not

a thing yet. No one had a clue of the dangers that were beginning to brew.

Herbert opened his Paradise and word spread fast. It was an instant success and became wildly popular. He put an ad in the Washington Blade only twice that I can find: one time when he opened it, and once more, when he put the property up for sale.

Yet thousands of people would come and stay in Paradise. So many, that he was always coming up with creative new places he could house a paying customer— like the attic, or in a tent pitched for $5.00 in the backyard. He was even known to kick employees out of their own beds to make room for more guests.

Next installment: a detailed tour through Herbert’s Paradise; readers will get to see for themselves what a truly incredible place it was. Following: some super cool stuff that you likely had no idea happened here! Of course, all good stories have an adversary—so soon, I am also going to introduce you to The Bertha…. ▼ Tom Kelch is the innkeeper and property manager of the Rehoboth Guest House.

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APRIL 1, 2022

39 Letters

Dining Out

BY MICHAEL GILLES

Café Azafrán: Heaven Is in Rehoboth

I

can write this review in one word: Wow. What’s that? My editor just told me I had to come up with more than one word. So here goes….

First, let’s talk about Café Azafrán itself. Now, when someone says a place is cozy, they usually mean it’s cramped and uncomfortable. Not here. It really is cozy—warm and set up so that diners don’t trip all over each other. In the same vein, the décor is simple, but eye catching. Interesting color schemes complement the artwork in view throughout the restaurant. Even the charming, ivory-laced curtains add to the homey atmosphere. The restaurant also has a spacious covered back porch and an accessible ramp.

Boasting a blend of Mediterranean and Spanish tastes, Café Azafrán is a family-run business helmed by chefs Richard Steele and son Ryan. They own the restaurant, which started in Lewes but has been an iconic Rehoboth eating place since 2010. They certainly know what they’re doing. The aforementioned atmosphere combines with a marvelous menu and excellent service to ensure a great dining experience.

On the night we dined, we were fortunate to have Lana as our server.

She was engaging and knew the insand-outs of the menu as if she were the one in the kitchen doing the cooking.

She was so attentive and friendly, and willingly answered the myriad questions that we newcomers asked. She was a welcome addition to our dining experience.

While we were perusing the menu, we were brought the customary basket of bread to use as a tasty way to tide us over to dinner. Tasty is an understatement. The bread, brought in to the restaurant from Old World Breads in Lewes, was fresh and more like an appetizer than a pre-meal filler.

And then there is the menu. Divided into small plates (tapas) and large plates, a difficult decision loomed before us.

Do wife Sally and I get two tapas as our Letters 40 APRIL 1, 2022

meal, or two large plates? Did we want a light meal and save space for dessert, or did we want a large plate and forego the after-dinner confections?

So, we naturally decided to get two small plates, two large plates, AND dessert.

Not all together, of course. We first pored over the tapas: luscious-sounding offerings like Grilled Veal Sausage, Duck Birria Tacos with Manchego cheese blend and lime consommé, and Baked Goat Cheese Gratin. After much deliberation, we managed to each select one dish and share. Sally ordered the Shrimp a la Plancha. It was five large shrimp served with a green herb sauce. The shrimp were perfect, not overcooked, and the herb sauce was delicious. I ordered the Spinach Ricotta Gnocchi with sage butter and pecorino.

Oh my. What a combination of flavors, none of which overwhelmed the others.

Lana told me it was a real customer favorite, and after one bite I knew she was telling the truth.

Sally gave me a quarter of one shrimp. I gave her nothing.

For our large plates, the menu choices were again challenging. Should Sally have the Azafrán Jumbo Lump

Crab Cake? Or should she grab the Seafood Tarragona Bouillabaisse?

Should I devour Seared Spiced Shrimp and Scallops? Or how about Pan Roast Half Rack of Lamb?

By the time we decided, we were hungry again. Sally went for the Flat Iron Steak with herb mashed potatoes, gorgonzola butter, asparagus, and demiglace. I chose the Pecan Crusted Chicken, pan fried and served with rice blend, asparagus, and maple glaze.

Our dinners came in generous portions. Her steak was marvelous, tender and full of flavor, with a spectacular sauce adding the final touch to a great piece of meat. Her potatoes, skins on and with perfect seasoning, were way better than normal mashed potatoes. Even the asparagus was special, tender crisp on the outside, just tender on the inside.

My choice of tender chicken pieces covered in maple glaze was terrific.

Often, rice is treated as an afterthought, but in my dish, the chicken lay over part of the rice, so that the maple glaze found its way throughout. Never has rice been that good.

When it finally came to dessert, we reluctantly agreed to split something.

We chose the in-house specialty—carrot cake. It was dense and moist, with large chunks of fruit. It was served chilled, and the ratio of icing to cake was perfect.

But the topper (pun intended) was the maple syrup topping, drizzled over the rich, cream cheese icing. It was the last great star in a star-filled evening.

One of the things you should ask when deciding whether you like a restaurant is “Would I make it a point to come back?”

This one is easy. We’re already planning our next visit. Really, it still comes down to one word: Wow. ▼ Michael Gilles is a playwright, actor, and director from Milton, and a regular contributor to Letters from CAMP Rehoboth.

CAMP Cheers!

BARTENDER’S FAVORITE David Engel | Café Azafrán

Bartending in Rehoboth since 1991, David has been at Café Azafrán for a few months, filling in for Holly as she recovers from surgery. Rehoboth locals might recognize David and his signature charm from bars like La La Land.

Ginger Martini 3 oz. Grey Goose vodka 3 oz. St Germain liqueur Dollop ginger-infused syrup Splash lemon juice

Mocktail “The three Gs!” 3 oz. ginger ale 1.5 oz. ginger syrup Splash grenadine

APRIL 1, 2022

41 Letters

Aging Gracelessly

BY FAY JACOBS

What’s with That Dolphin?

S

omeone posted a great photo of our Rehoboth Bandstand-area bronze dolphin recently, and it made me smile. And also realize how many folks have moved to Rehoboth in the last two decades who may not know the story behind our hallmark dolphin sculpture.

Once upon a time, over 20 years ago, when I worked for Rehoboth Beach Main Street (RBMS), we did a really fun project. Jealous of the cow sculptures in Chicago and the bulls and bears in New York, RBMS and the Rehoboth Art League teamed up for a fundraising project with dolphin sculptures. You may still see a few of them on front porches or in backyards around town.

The project provided 25 unadorned, white plaster/fiberglass sculptures, each sponsored by an individual or a business who paid for them to be sculpted and delivered to Rehoboth. Then, the Art League helped round up fabulous local artists to decorate the dolphins. Finally, the dolphins were offered at auction for local people or businesses to purchase.

This fundraiser raised so much money for the Art League and Main Street that we redid the project with 25 more dolphin sculptures two years later.

And these were no commercially available plastic dolphins, oh no.

We’d hired a sculptor whose first name was Ned; his last is sadly lost to me, but he was a fantastic sculptor and a true artist. When he brought the prototype to the Main Street office, he touched it up a bit and we had plaster debris everywhere, including all over me. After all, it’s tantalizing to stick your hands in a tub of goo and fingerpaint on a dolphin’s fins.

Twenty-five dolphins later, all standing behind the office (which was a fabulous historic RB tent house, off Lake Avenue, now sadly demolished) and we were ready for the artists to paint. Nancy Alexander, Executive Director of the Art League at the time, did a fantastic job of recruiting some of the most well-known and well-loved artists in our artistic town. Off the top of my head I can remember stunning dolphins done by Lee Wayne Mills, Wendy Carr, Patti Shreeve, Murray Archibald, Joanne DeFiore, and so many more.

Ned delivered each dolphin to a local studio, house, or office, and when the artists were done, he picked them up and brought them back to Main Street. There are great photos of dolphins tied down in truck beds traversing town.

Then they were auctioned off. And almost all of them stayed downtown so we could number them and allow tourists to do a treasure hunt.

In fact, the dolphins were so beautiful that we arranged to have identical little versions of them manufactured and sold at Main Street.

They were adorable. How many readers have 8-inch painted dolphins in their homes? I have six on my bookshelves. And it was another great fundraiser.

Two years later, it was rinse the plaster off and repeat.

That’s when we got the idea to talk to Ned and see if he was willing to cast a dolphin in bronze. We were taken aback by the $50,000 we’d need for the job, but some generous sponsors stepped up (their names are on the base of the statue) and I recall most of them with great appreciation. But aging gracelessly, I don’t want to forget a name, so you have to go look at the dolphin. And that’s a wonderful thing to do anyway.

It took another year for the city to approve placement of the bronze and for Ned to complete the project.

But when it was done, we had our bronze, our memory of the fantastic dolphin project, and a new signature landmark downtown. “Meet me at the Dolphin!” became the standard meet-up decision and we have been meeting people by the dolphin ever since.

Go visit the bronze and see if you can find any others around town. You should be able to spy one at the Chamber of Commerce (railroad engineer dolphin), the Gallo-Hathaway Realty office on Rehoboth Avenue Extended, and in my front yard, lol.

Meet me at the dolphin! ▼

After all, it’s tantalizing to stick your hands in a tub of goo and fingerpaint on a dolphin’s fins.

Letters 42 APRIL 1, 2022

Fay Jacobs is the author of five published books and is touring with her one-woman sit-down comedy show, Aging Gracelessly. Her reports on Rehoboth’s LGBTQ history can be heard on RadioRehoboth, 99.1.

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43 Letters

The Writing Life

BY DOUG YETTER

DELMARVA WRITER

Gerald F. Sweeney

O

ur community is blessed with scores of talented artists—visual artists, photographers, actors, musicians, poets.…

There aren’t many things I enjoy more than diving into the work of a member of that collective body of creativity, and through a bit of kismet the writings of author Jerry Sweeney have been brought into my life.

Gerald F. “Jerry” Sweeney is a native of the Midwest, though most of his time on earth was lived on Long Island. An army veteran and graduate of Michigan, his career was in Manhattan’s “madcap magazine world” where he worked in various capacities including, publisher.

He retired to the Eastern Shore in the early part of this century and has devoted himself to writing full-time.

Sweeney is the author of seven novels in the series The Columbiad—tracing the life of a family through the twentieth century—as well as serving as the book review editor for the Delmarva Review.

Doug Yetter: You’ve been a busy man since you retired!

Gerald Sweeney: One of the many good things about retirement is that it gives you time to indulge your creative energies. Over the past 20 years, since I left the magazine business, I’ve published eight novels. I have remained in the writing community as president of the Eastern Shore Writers Association and by joining several writing critique groups, where I offered a new short story every month. Last fall I collected my favorite stories in a book called Down Broadway—New York Stories.

DY: Where do you find inspiration?

GS: I’m a strong advocate of perspiration over inspiration. I believe authors should write every day and glue their bottoms to a chair.

DY: Do you have a favorite time of day to write?

GS: Mornings are best for writing because your creative powers are Letters 44 APRIL 1, 2022

closer to your nighttime sub-conscious.

I know one famous playwright who goes directly from his bed to his computer.

DY: How do you define success as a writer?

GS: Success as a writer means you have done your best work. Everyone has a creative streak in them; the proof is in your wild dreams. If you can dream such fantasies, you can write them out.

Creating the music to accompany and enhance the prose and poetry of our greatest writers has given us a treasury of musical masterpieces…

DY: What’s your favorite part of being a writer? Your least favorite?

GS: The best part of writing is to resolve your own inner conflicts; the worst part is the same. I wrote my first novel back in my early 20s. It took me two years to write, two years to find a publisher, and two years to learn they weren’t going to publish it!

DY: You have yet another new book I’d like to hear about! The press release for U.S. Composers and Poets was my introduction to you and your work.

GS: Music must surely be the favorite art of our better angels. I’ve always been interested in classical music. From listening to the Met opera broadcasts, hearing Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra play at Ann Arbor’s May Festival, watching Lennie Bernstein conduct in Carnegie Hall—all have been wonderful experiences.

Collecting records and CDs and attending concerts has always been a treat.

As someone even more tuned into literature than music, I have enjoyed

relating American writers to native composers. The more I listened, the more connections I found, so the impetus for the listings in U.S. Composers and Poets—The Intersection of American Classical Music and American Literature is basically to help tie the two together. I think I first noticed the many musical references to the poetry of Walt Whitman.

The relationship between American composers and American writers has always been close. Creating the music to accompany and enhance the prose and poetry of our greatest writers has given us a treasury of musical masterpieces, including Ives’s Concord Sonata after Emerson, Thoreau, Hawthorne, and the Alcotts, as well as Copland’s Poems of Emily Dickinson, Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess with DuBose Heyward, and Lukas Foss’s The Jumping Frog of Calaveras County after Mark Twain.

DY: I downloaded your rather remarkable compendium and learned things I never knew—after a lifetime in music. Over 350 pages, and it’s only the first half?!?

GS: This is a partial collection of composers (Abels-Ives) and writers containing the musical offerings of 300 American composers who have embellished the literary creations of over 150 American writers, including 35 musical versions of poems written

by Walt Whitman and 25 by Emily Dickinson. It makes clear the devotion shown to our favorite poets by American troubadours.

DY: I wish Jerry all the best as he works on K through Z! ▼ Jerry’s books are available at www. booklocker.com, Amazon, and other online book providers. His website is sweeneygf.com.

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45 Letters

Letters 46 APRIL 1, 2022

APRIL 1, 2022

47 Letters

CAMP REHOBOTH BEACH GUIDE BEACH AREA LODGING Atlantic Sands Hotel, Boardwalk & Baltimore Ave.........................302-227-2511 Atlantis Inn, 154 Rehoboth Ave.....................................................302-227-9446 Breakers Hotel, 105 2nd St & Baltimore Ave.................................302-227-6688 Canalside Inn, 34 6th St.................................................................866-412-2625 Rehoboth Guest House, 40 Maryland Ave.....................................302-227-4117 Sea ‘n Stars Guest Suites, 44 Delaware Ave.................................302-226-2742 Summer Place Hotel, 1st St & Olive Ave........................................302-226-0766 The Shore Inn, 37239 Rehoboth Ave Ext.......................................302-227-8487

LEWES FOOD & DRINK Go Brit, 18388 Coastal Hwy...........................................................302-644-2250 Harbour Waterfront Dining, 134 West Market St...........................302-200-9522 Matt’s Fish Camp, 34401 Tenley Ct...............................................302-644-2267

Visit the Beach Guide Directory on the CAMP Rehoboth website to find links to these area businesses in BOLD. The Guide includes: Food and Wine, Shopping, Lodging, and Services—all at camprehoboth.com.

OTHER AREA FOOD & DRINK Bluecoast Seafood, 1111 Hwy One, Bethany................................302-539-7111 Catch 54, 54 Madison Ave, Fenwick..............................................302-436-8600 Matt’s Fish Camp, 28635 Coastal Hwy, Bethany...........................302-539-2267

SERVICES AT THE BEACH REHOBOTH RETAIL SHOPS New Wave Spas, 20660 Coastal Hwy............................................302-227-8484 Unfinished Business, Rt. 1 behind Panera Bread..........................302-645-8700

REHOBOTH ART | GALLERIES | MUSEUMS Caroline Huff, Fine Artist ...................................................www.carolinehuff.com Gallery 50, 50 Wilmington Ave......................................................302-227-2050 Philip Morton Gallery, 47 Baltimore Ave........................................302-727-0905 Rehoboth Art League, 12 Dodds Ln...............................................302-227-8408 Rehoboth Beach Museum, 511 Rehoboth Ave..............................302-227-7310

REHOBOTH FOOD & DRINK 1776 Steakhouse, Midway Shopping Center................................302-645-9355 Aqua, 57 Baltimore Ave................................................................ 302-226-9001 Back Porch Café, 59 Rehoboth Ave...............................................302-227-3674 Blue Moon, 35 Baltimore Ave........................................................302-227-6515 Café Azafran, 18 Baltimore Ave.....................................................302-227-8100 Café Papillon, Penny Lane Mall......................................................302-227-7568 Coho’s Market & Grill, 305 Rehoboth Ave......................................302-227-2646 Diego’s Bar Nightclub, 37298 Rehoboth Ave................................302-227-1023 Dos Locos, 208 Rehoboth Ave.......................................................302-227-3353 Freddies Beach Bar & Restaurant, 3 South First St........................302-527-1400 Go Fish, 24 Rehoboth Ave..............................................................302-226-1044 Goolee’s Grille, 11 South 1st St.....................................................302-227-7653 Indigo, 44 Rehoboth Ave.............................................................. 302-212-5220 Just In Thyme, 38163 Robinsons Dr..............................................302-227-3100 Lori’s Café, 39 Baltimore Ave.........................................................302-226-3066 Loves Liquors, LLC, 305c Rehoboth Ave........................................302-227-6966 Lupo Italian Kitchen, 247 Rehoboth Ave.......................................302-226-2240 Purple Parrot Grill, 134 Rehoboth Ave...........................................302-226-1139 Rigby’s, 404 Rehoboth Ave............................................................302-227-6080 Shorebreak Lodge, 10 Wilmington Ave.........................................302-227-1007 The Pines, 56 Baltimore Avenue....................................................302-567-2726

Letters 48 APRIL 1, 2022

BUILDING/CLEANING/REMODELING/LANDSCAPING

A.G. Renovations ...........................................................................302-947-4096 BSD, 18412 The Narrow Rd, Lewes..................................... 302-684-8588 Randall-Douglas.............................................................................302-245-1439

CHURCHES/SYNAGOGUES

All Saints’ Episcopal, 18 Olive Ave.................................................302-227-7202 Epworth UMC, 19285 Holland Glade Rd.......................................302-227-7743 Grace of God Lutheran, ELCA, 20689 Shoppes at Long Neck.......302-947-1044 M.C.C. of Rehoboth, 19369 Plantation Rd.....................................302-645-4945 Seaside Jewish Community, 18970 Holland Glade Rd..................302-226-8977 St. Peter’s Episcopal, 2nd & Market Sts, Lewes.............................302-645-8479 Unitarian Universalist, 30486 Lewes-G’Town Hwy........................302-313-5838 Unity of Rehoboth, 98 Rudder Rd, Millsboro.................................717-579-2612 Westminster Presbyterian, 301 King Charles Ave.........................302-227-2109

COMMUNITY RESOURCES

AARP of Delaware (age 50+)..........................................................866-227-7441 ACLU of DE—Lesbian & Gay Civil Rights Project............................302-654-3966 CAMP Rehoboth Chorus—Program of CAMP Rehoboth................302-227-5620 CAMP Rehoboth—LGBTQ Community Service Org........................302-227-5620 CAMP Rehoboth Families—LGBTQ parents connect......................302-227-5620 CAMP Rehoboth Parents of Transgender & Gender Non-conforming Children............................................302-227-5620 Cape Henlopen Senior Center—Rehoboth (age 50+)....................302-227-2055 CHEER Centers of Sussex County (age 50+)..................................302-515-3040 Delaware Aging & Disability Resource Center...............................800-223-9074 Delaware Human Relations Commission Housing & public accommodation............................................877-544-8626 Delaware Information Line............................................................................2-1-1 Delaware Pride—Community events, annual Pride Festival..........302-265-3020 Delaware Transgender Resources—transdelaware.net, delawarelgbtq@gmail.com Delaware Transgender Support.....................................................302-402-3033

Gay/Lesbian Alcoholics Anonymous—add’l schedules..................302-856-6452 Saturdays 6 pm: Epworth UMC, 19285 Holland Glade Rd (step meeting) Saturdays 7:30 pm: All Saints’ Church, 18 Olive Ave (step meeting) Tuesdays noon: St. Peter’s Church, 211 Mulberry St, Lewes (step meeting) Thursdays noon: CAMP Rehoboth, 37 Baltimore Ave (open discussion) Sundays 9 am: CAMP Rehoboth, 37 Baltimore Ave (open discussion) Tuesdays 8 pm: CAMP Rehoboth, 37 Baltimore Ave (Young Persons) Gay Men’s Discussion Group—Program of CAMP Rehoboth.........302-227-5620 Lesbian Support Group—Program of CAMP Rehoboth..................302-227-5620 Lewes Senior Activity Center (age 50+).........................................302-645-9293 LGBTQ Student Union—University of DE, Newark.........................302-831-8066 Meals on Wheels Lewes-Rehoboth................................................302-645-7449 PFLAG-Rehoboth—3rd Tuesdays, Public Library, 111 Adams Ave, Lewes SLAA and SAA—Thursdays, 7:30 pm, All Saints’ Church 18 Olive Ave ............................................................................302-745-7929 Social Security Administration—Lewes office................................800-772-1213 TransLiance of DE—Rehoboth—4th Tuesdays at 7 pm, MCC of Rehoboth; contact: TransLiance@gmail.com

COUNSELING/THERAPY/LIFE COACH

Jewish Family Services........................................................ 302-478-9411 Karen Abato, ATR-BC, LPAT, Licensed Art Psychotherapist... 302-232-5330 Kevin J. Bliss, Personal/Professional Coaching.............................302-754-1954 Time to Heal Counseling & Consulting, Lewes ............................302-574-6954

ELECTRICIANS

Silver Electric..................................................................................302-227-1107

EVENT PLANNING/CATERING

Flair................................................................................................302-930-0709 Plate Catering.................................................................................302-644-1200

FINANCIAL SERVICES

County Bank, 19927 Shuttle Rd.......................................... 302-226-9800 Jenn Harpel, Morgan Stanley.........................................................302-644-6620

FLORISTS

Bayberry Florist..............................................................................302-227-5725 Windsor’s Florist, 20326 Coastal Hwy...........................................302-227-9481

FUNERAL SERVICES

Parsell Funeral Homes & Crematorium................................ 302-645-9520

HAIR SALONS/TATTOO & PIERCING

Beach Cuts, 214 Rehoboth Ave...........................................302-226-ROBB Gregory Meyers Hair Studio, 20245 Bay Vista Rd & Rt 1..............302-727-5331 Stephan & Co Salon & Spa, 19266 Coastal Hwy................... 302-260-9478

HEALTH-RELATED

AIDS Delaware – Kent & Sussex Counties.....................................302-226-3519 AIDS Delaware – New Castle County............................................302-652-6776 AIDS Hotline – Delaware statewide...............................................800-422-0429 Brandywine Urology Consultants...................................................302-824-7039 Beebe Healthcare, 26744 J.J. Williams Hwy.................................302-645-3300 CAMPsafe AIDS education & prevention program of CAMP Rehoboth ..................................................................................................302-227-5620 Christiana Care HIV Wellness Clinic ..............................................302-933-3420 Christiana Care LGBTQ Health Initiatives.......................................302-733-1227 Delaware HIV Consortium - Statewide..........................................302-654-5471 Delaware Hospice..........................................................................800-838-9800 Delaware Total Foot & Ankle Center.................................... 302-297-8431 National Alliance on Mental Illness of DE (NAMI)...........................302-427-0787 Rehoboth Beach Dental, 19643 Blue Bird Ln....................... 302-226-0300 Steven B. Wright, D.M.D., 18912 J.J. Williams Hwy............. 302-645-6671 The Aesthetic Center......................................................................302-827-2125

INSURANCE

Eric Blondin, State Farm...................................................... 302-644-3276 George Bunting, State Farm................................................ 302-227-3891 Jeanine O’Donnell, State Farm............................................ 302-645-7283

LEGAL/ACCOUNTING/TRUST SERVICES

Lawson Firm, 402 Rehoboth Ave...................................................302-226-3700 PWW Law LLC, 1519 Savannah Rd, Lewes................................... 302-703-6993 Steven Falcone CPA, Taxes & Planning..........................................302-644-8634

LOCKSMITHS

Rock Lock/Robin Rohr/Your Community Locksmith.......................302-386-9166

MASSAGE THERAPY/FITNESS

Midway Fitness & Racquetball, Midway Center.............................302-645-0407 One Spirit Massage, 169 Rehoboth Ave........................................302-226-3552 Rehoboth Massage/Alignment.......................................................302-727-8428

PET RETAIL

Critter Beach, 156 Rehoboth Ave..................................................302-226-2690 Pet Portraits by Monique................................................................717-650-4626

PET SERVICES

Brandywine Valley SPCA, 22918 Dupont Blvd, G’twn.......... 302-856-6361 Delaware Humane Association, 18675 Coastal Hwy........... 302-200-7159 Parsell Pet Crematorium, 16961 Kings Hwy, Lewes............ 302-645-7445

REAL ESTATE

Allen Jarmon, NextHome Tomorrow Realty...................................302-745-5122 Bill Peiffer, Patterson Schwartz, 18958 Coastal Hwy....................302-703-6987 Chris Beagle, Berkshire Hathaway, 37230 Rehoboth Ave............302-227-6101 Debbie Reed Team, 319 Rehoboth Ave.........................................800-263-5648 Donna Whiteside, Berkshire Hathaway, 16712 Kings Hwy...........302-381-4871 Hugh Fuller, Realtor........................................................................302-745-1866 John Black, Patterson Schwartz, 18958 Coastal Hwy...................302-703-6987 Lana Warfield, Berkshire Hathaway, 37230 Rehoboth Ave...........302-227-6101 Lee Ann Wilkinson Group, 16698 Kings Hwy....................... 302-645-6664 Lingo Realty, 246 Rehoboth Ave....................................................302-227-3883 McGuiness Group, 246 Rehoboth Ave...........................................302-227-3883 McWilliams Ballard, Kevin McDuffie.................................. kmcduffie@mcwb.com McWilliams Ballard, Justin Orr.....................................................jorr@mcwb.com Randy Mason/Shirley Kalvinsky, Lingo Realty................................302-227-3883 Sea Bova Associates, 20250 Coastal Hwy........................... 302-227-1222 Troy Roberts, Mann & Sons, 414 Rehoboth Ave............................302-228-7422

RETIREMENT LIVING/SENIOR CARE FACILITIES

Springpoint Choice, 17028 Cadbury Cir, Lewes............................302-313-6658 The Lodge at Truitt Homestead, 36233 Farm Ln.................. 302-232-6372

TRAVEL & TRANSPORTATION

Accent On Travel, 37156 Rehoboth Ave.............................. 302-278-6100 CHEER Transportation (age 50+)....................................................302-856-4909 ITN Southern Delaware (age 60+ or disabled)...............................302-448-8486 Jolly Trolley Shuttle from Rehoboth Ave & Boardwalk...................302-644-0400 Olivia Travel...........................................................800-631-6277 ext. 696

POPULAR LGBTQ BEACHES

Poodle Beach, south end of the Rehoboth Boardwalk Cape Henlopen State Park, Ocean Dr north to Cape Henlopen State Park. Daily parking rate in effect March-November.

APRIL 1, 2022

49 Letters

BE A SPORT!

BY JUNEROSE “JR” FUTCHER

On the Waterways

S

ailing has been a long and active tradition for decades at local clubs on the Delaware and Rehoboth Bays. Though the recreational and competitive sailing season lasts only a few months on coastal Delaware, on a perfectly warm summer day—complete with an easy breeze and plenty of blue skies—sailing can be a very rewarding and fulfilling sport.

I was introduced to sailing as a young girl at a yacht club and in a family of small boat sailors on the Delaware Bay. I was captivated by my first impressions of sailboats—not only their color and form, but also their energy and movement.

I was blessed with access and supportive parents; summers meant hours on the waterways in sailing lessons, sailboat races, and lessons on water safety and weather. Those early sailing lessons and hours of sailing with family, friends, and neighbors—always under the watchful eyes of my parents and other adults—opened my life to a worldwide network of friends and plenty of camaraderie.

I made my first spinnaker set and trim (at the age of 12) at races with the Lewes Yacht Club on a dinghy called the Mobjack. (The spinnaker is a large sail—many are made in brilliant colors— designed for maximum wind pressure; it’s similar to a parachute in material and form.) I hold those times dear; those pristine sailing days—some, stretching back 50 years—made me the sailor that I am today.

Sailing involves basic principles of engineering, aerodynamics, and hydrodynamics. Factors such as the strength of the wind and the flow of currents are not only lessons imparted, but also ones experienced with keen sensitivity—especially in a small craft known as the dinghy.

To be able to sail on the Delaware Bay is to be able to sail most any body of water. With the proximity to the Atlantic Ocean and coastal plain topography framed by Cape Henlopen and Cape May, the tidal currents are significant while the Letters 50 APRIL 1, 2022

summer breeze is a delightful force of energy harnessed by sail and sheet line.

In my years of youthful sailboat races and open sailing, I developed a set of skills that I apply in competition sailing, known as regattas. At regattas, I may sail on anything from a small freshwater lake, tacking on frequent wind shifts that spin and drop, to a busy inland bay in a thermal sea breeze. Widely ranging conditions test any sailor’s endurance, control, and response.

We call this program “Frostbiting,” where many intrepid sailors dare to sail in sub-freezing weather.

Rehoboth Bay serves up some of the finest summer sailing on the Delaware coast and several regattas fill the bay every summer. The Rehoboth Bay Sailing Association, a sailing club nestled next to Seashore State Park, is home to the Sunfish and Flying Scot dinghy classes.

The power of control and exhilaration I learned years ago on the Sunfish dinghy, I still apply to any sailboat race. I can find complete satisfaction in the experience, despite sometimes crossing the finish line far behind the fleet!

A highlight for many women sailors is an annual competition in the Sunfish.

The event, known as the Sunfish Women’s North American Championship Regatta, is hosted at a different host club each year, in states as far north as Connecticut and south as Alabama.

A signature regatta, some of the very best women sailors make this regatta an annual competition. The races are many and the competition is plentiful.

To be ready and competitive for this world class regatta, I often take my trusty sailboat for open sails on the Delaware. During these open sails at the convergence of the Atlantic and Delaware, I spend hours in a complete physical and visual experience, navigating the current and harnessing the wind.

Over the course of many years, I came to race in a performance Olympic class known as the Laser/International Laser Class Association dinghy. Year-round winter sailing in this class is supported at Severn Sailing Association, where I am an active sailor. We call this program “Frostbiting,” where many intrepid sailors dare to sail in sub-freezing weather. Snug in our dry suits, we are not deterred even by snowfall. An essential component of our races is the operation of safety boats, enabling year-round sailing on the Severn River and Chesapeake Bay. While I sail year-round, I especially cherish those moments when the bay empties after a summer of regattas, and I may be the only small sailboat on the bay.

Sailing in the ocean swells as they press between the breakwaters or awash in the colors of the sunset bring me fullfillment and achievement at every tack and pull on the sheet line. ▼

JuneRose (aka JR) Futcher is a native of Delaware, a lifelong sailor and certified private sailing instructor, an award-winning photographer, and a community and arts activist Photo: JR Futcher

THERE IS NOTHING LIKE

seeing the face of a homeless cat or dog light up because you’ve taken the time to give them a little time and love. Or seeing the magic happen when you connect people with those pets who may not otherwise have met them.

THERE ARE MANY WAYS

you can make a difference as a BVSPCA volunteer, including: Walk and train dogs Socialize and groom cats Help with adoptions Give a homeless pet a much needed outing Represent our animals and organization at events Foster a dog or cat to give them a much needed bridge to adoption

Provide administrative support Assist in the veterinary clinic Participate in humane education Assist with the pet food pantry

GETTING STARTED IS EASY! Just sign up for an orientation at: bvspca.org/volunteer

Georgetown: 302-307-9736 • 22918 Dupont Boulevard, Georgetown, DE 19947 APRIL 1, 2022

51 Letters

TBJazz 1st Wednesdays at The Pines Budesa Brothers featuring Michal Beckham Keith Hollis

Rich Budesa

Rob Budesa

Michal Beckham

tr u ebl ueja 56 Baltimore Ave / Rehoboth Beach DE zz.org April 6 / 7p-830p / Doors & Lounge Open 5p Tickets: $25/person For Seating Info & Tickets…visit TrueBlueJazz.org THE Independent Straight Ahead Jazz Festival

A 501(c)3 Non-Profit

Don’t Miss the True Blue Jazz 6th Annual

International Jazz Day Celebration A P R I L 30th

International Jazz Day Concert featuring…

Elijah Jamal Balbed Quartet

7 Anglers Rd | Lewes, DE Doors Open: 5:30p for Dinner & Bar Show Time: 7:30p-10p Tickets: $25/person

Tickets On Sale at www.truebluejazz.org Letters 52 APRIL 1, 2022

with Tony Ventura & Friends

SAVE THE DATE Where the

JAZZ

Rehoboth Beach, Delaware

Oct. 12-16, 2022

legacy lives

EMMETT

RIO COHEN T

THE BOARDWALK PLAZA HOTEL 2 Olive Ave & The Boardwalk Oct. 13th - 730pm & 930pm

Connect with Us @

www.TrueBlueJazz.org

ESCO

ERS THE COOK

RANC JOEY DEF

THE BOARDWALK PLAZA HOTEL 2 Olive Ave & The Boardwalk Oct. 14th - 730pm & 930pm

THE Independent Straight Ahead Jazz Festival

THE BOARDWALK PLAZA HOTEL 2 Olive Ave & The Boardwalk Oct. 15th - 730pm & 930pm

A 501(c)3 Non-Profit APRIL 1, 2022

53 Letters

View Point

BY RICHARD J. ROSENDALL

The Conceit that It Cannot Happen Here America Is Not Exempt from Consequences

A

fter 9/11 and January 6, it is odd that Americans so often think of our country as inviolate.

Granted, there are significant differences in scale between those incidents and the Russian invasion of Ukraine. As shocking and grievous as the death and destruction were on 9/11, and as much as we mourned the nearly 3,000 dead, the targeted terrorist attacks of that day pale beside Russia’s weeks of indiscriminate shelling, the relentless effort to level entire cities.

Ukraine faces an existential threat we did not.

Our psychological wounds might have been deeper had the Empire State Building and Statue of Liberty been hit on 9/11, and had the plane downed in Pennsylvania continued to Washington.

When I arrived at the Department of Labor after the attacks, I walked down to Constitution Avenue and looked eastward. I was relieved to see the Capitol dome gleaming in the sunlight.

I thought of that last week when lunching with an old friend in Washington outside a sandwich shop a few miles north of my home in Dupont Circle. Next door was Comet Ping Pong, the restaurant targeted in Pizzagate, where a man fired a weapon in December 2016 in response to a conspiracy theory that claimed Hillary Clinton and John Podesta ran a child sex ring in its nonexistent basement. What lunacy must occur before we stop telling ourselves that it cannot happen here?

Some Americans habitually favor the most aggressive military option without regard for consequences or exit strategies. They talk as if we have done nothing for Ukraine against the war criminal Putin unless we declare a no-fly zone, which would entail shooting down Russian planes. The Western alliance led by President Biden, while stopping short of setting off World War Three, has given Ukraine extensive aid, including anti-aircraft and anti-tank weapons, and Letters 54 APRIL 1, 2022

imposed devastating sanctions against Russia.

The alliance has found new courage.

On March 15, the prime ministers of the Czech Republic, Poland, and Slovenia traveled by train to Kyiv to meet with President Volodymyr Zelensky. They announced it in advance.

Amid smoking ruins, would Americans hew to the Enlightenment vision that we have struggled for 246 years to make real?

Many Americans on the far right are fans of Putin because they share his homophobia, transphobia, misogyny, and authoritarianism. Their Rambo Jesus bears no resemblance to the Christ of the Gospels. It is as if their model is Martin Sheen’s deranged president in The Dead Zone, who starts a nuclear war and announces, “The missiles are flying. Hallelujah, Hallelujah!”

Putin’s disinformation combines the Big Lie with chaos and confusion. Media critic Eric Boehlert calls this “the fog of unknowability,” and says it now defines Trump’s GOP. As Masha Gessen of the New Yorker says of Putin, “[H] ow) can you separate what he actually believes from what he invented and then eventually came to believe because it’s in his feedback loop?”

With the fog pumped out by Fox News, 40 percent of Americans do not believe Biden won the 2020 election. Trump used the lie to incite an insurrection at the Capitol intended to overthrow the government.

It can’t happen here? To quote an old commercial, you’re soaking in it.

If America were pounded as Ukraine has been in recent weeks, would we rally like the Ukrainians? What if the destruction were by Americans?

Historically we have preferred comforting myths, like the line in “America the Beautiful” where aspiration trumps observation, “Thine alabaster cities gleam undimmed by human tears.”

Last week, along with the images of devastation, I watched a group outside the opera house in Odessa performing the “Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves” from Verdi’s opera Nabucco. “O, mia patria, sì bella e perduta!” they sang, while the blue and yellow Ukrainian flag waved in the breeze. “Oh, my homeland, so lovely and so lost!”

Amid smoking ruins, would Americans hew to the Enlightenment vision that we have struggled for 246 years to make real? Or would we succumb to the tribalists and knownothings? We may not have long to choose.

The New York Times reports that many investment, law, and lobbying firms in America and Europe have helped Russian oligarchs launder billions, including using offshore shell companies. Some of them have cut ties with these clients in response to sanctions; some have not. That many among us have divided loyalties should not shock us given how many on the right echo Putin’s talking points. But the prospect of an autocracy-infatuated party retaking Congress should chill us to the bone. Failing to defeat them could sink our republic.▼ Richard J. Rosendall is a writer and activist at rrosendall@me.com.

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Unit uncludes a large living room with built-ins, dining area, kitchen with washer/ dryer, an extra-large master bedroom with private bath & dressing area featuring four different closets and a private balcony, and a 2nd bedroom with ample closet space and private balcony. The building provides secure access, private beach entrance with outdoor showers, rooftop pool with sun deck overlooking the ocean, secured underground parking and elevators.

Conveniently located to Gordons Pond State Park, the Breakwater Junction hiking and bike trails, phenomenal restaurants, cafes, shopping...... all that this quaint beach town has to offer. Condo fee includes Wi-Fi, cable tv service, water and sewer, trash removal, rooftop pool and sun deck, indoor garage parking, and 24 hour security. Addtional bonus: unit has great rental potential.

Schedule Your Tour - Call Today!

BILL HALL Cell: 302.559.2115 whall@psre.com

HERMETTA HARPER Cell: 302.521.3856 hharper@psre.com

on the web: harperteam.psre.com

l

Office: 302.239.3000 APRIL 1, 2022

55 Letters

CAMPshots

SCENES FROM REHOBOTH BEACH

Luck of the Irish! St. Paddy’s Day Shenanigans!

THIS PAGE (left to right) 1) at Purple Parrot, St. Patrick’s

Day: Maddie Cunningham, Rebecca McMahon, Jerry Clark, Michael MaLoon, Eric Engelhart, Max Dick; 2) at The Pines, St. Patrick’s Day: Ed Gmoch, Richard Baylor, Bill Gluth, Channing Daniels; 3) at Freddie’s Beach Bar & Grille, St. Patrick’s Day: Joe Steele, Alonza Parker, Tim Langan, Damien Gray, Christopher Leady; 4) at Diego’s Bar & Nightclub, St. Patrick’s Day: Nick Leffler, Katie Hart; 5) at George Shevlin and Jack Suwanlert’s St. Patrick’s Day Party: Jack Suwanlert, George Shevlin, Grant Oines, Victor Madrigal, Sandra Skidmore.

OPPOSITE PAGE 6) at Café Azafrán: John Flynn; 7)

at Jam Restaurant: Natalie O’Neill, Rita O’Neill; 8) at Freddie’s Beach Bar & Grille: Tara Gush, Ronnie Elliott, Fluffy Orta, Steve Cannon, Ron Butt, Jamie Fuqua, John Wallden, Jeff Tessmer, Jim Mikula, Shelley Williams, Charles Williams, Leon Vignes, Jonathan Lockerby; 9) at Clear Space: John Pitchford, Lenny Stumpf; 10) at The Pond: Joe Roy, Pete Borsari, Deb Bievenour, David Garrett, Kaye Sullivan, Lisa Balestrini Faber; 11) at Big Chill Surf Cantina: Teresa Flury, Abbie Mead.

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57 Letters

2

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THIS PAGE (left to right) 1) at at Coastal Concerts: Ian Rosenbaum,

Nicholas Canellakis, Orion Weiss, Michael Borwn; 2) at Sydney’s in Milton: Donna Moore, Lisa Baylor, Erin Reid, Susan Garson, Cindy Bernini, Lynne Foss, Kim Staton, Sandy Meage; 3) at Eden Restaurant: David Scuccimarra, Dorothy Fedorka, Dan Kindle, Matt McKinnis, Sherry Vance, Jeff McCracken, Drexel Davison, Jeanette Shimkus; 4) at Purple Parrot: George Yanchenko, Jamie Romano, 5) at Coastal Concerts: David Cristy, Denise Emery, Lou Braithwaite, Gavin Braithwaite.

OPPOSITE PAGE 6) at The Pines: George Aldredge, John Bator, Kevin

4 Letters 58 APRIL 1, 2022

5

Naff, Chris Smith, Justin Russell, Matt Noel, Eian Tang, Lowell Scott, John Taylor, John Montgomery, Cole Chance, Doug Peretti, Chad Shahan, Bruce Clayton, Kevin Hancock, Cynthia Carey, Dale Carey, Matt Ellenburg, Terry Ellenburg, Jim Burke, Lou Fiori; 7) at Clear Space, Opening of Victor/ Victoria: John Hackett, Tom Newton, Tony Burns, Robb Mapou, Mike Zufall, Shaun Wright, Rick Tedrick, Scott Button, David Streit. ▼

More Shenanigans!

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7 APRIL 1, 2022

59 Letters

Deep Inside Hollywood

BY ROMEO SAN VICENTE

Bowen Yang, Megan Thee Stallion, and Nathan Lane Meet F*cking Identical Twins

Zendaya Hits the Court in Challengers

L

uca Guadagnino (Call Me By Your Name) has his next project lined up.

Challengers, from a script by newcomer Justin Kuritzkes, and starring Zendaya (Euphoria), Mike Faist (West Side Story) and Josh O’Connor (The Crown), drops its three leads into a tennis court love triangle. When a coach transforms her husband into a Grand Slam champion and then he hits a losing streak, she makes him play a “Challenger” match (a fairly low-level situation) against his best friend, who also happens to be her former boyfriend. The awkwardness and tension is probably the point here, and after the sexual heat of Call Me and freaked-out tone of Guadagnino’s Suspiria remake, we know that the straights are not going to have an easy time of it before the closing credits.

We promise to learn more about how tennis works before we buy our ticket. ▼

W

here Megan Thee Stallion goes, we follow. Whether it’s her music or her on-point judging style on HBO Max’s Legendary, she’s got our queer allegiance. Now she’s going to act in a new A24 film from Aaron Jackson and Josh Sharp, called F*cking Identical Twins. If you’re not up to speed on Jackson and Sharp, they were part of The Opposition with Jordan Klepper on Comedy Central, where they conducted Daily Show-style interviews while pretending to be alt-right journalists.

The new project will star the duo as twins separated at birth who decide— yes, in the manner of many Parent Trap iterations that have come before—to reunite their divorced parents. Ms. Thee Stallion will co-star alongside Bowen Yang, Nathan Lane, and Will & Grace legend Megan Mullally. And did we mention that it’s also a musical?

It’s a musical, the first from A24. Next question: Is it ready yet? ▼

Somebody Somewhere Sets a Second Season

H

BO’s latest underrated gem, Somebody Somewhere, just announced a second season, and that’s very good news. Briefly, it’s a deeply affecting comedy-drama starring cabaret-comic Bridget Everett as a middle-aged woman experiencing a mid-life crisis in her hometown of Manhattan, Kansas. With a roster of perfectly cast character actors like Upright Citizens Brigade vet Jeff Hiller as a local gay man who runs a clandestine queer open mic night, and legendary NYC drag king Murray Hill as a soil conservation specialist (there’s a farming subplot), this is the queer show you didn’t know you needed. No word yet on when the second season drops into the HBO lineup, but if this is the first you’ve heard of it then 1) what are you waiting for and 2) there’s time to catch up. ▼

Romeo San Vicente is hitting the sample sale.

Letters 60 APRIL 1, 2022

The New Look Gets Another Look with Juliette Binoche and Ben Mendelsohn

A

pple TV+ has set a series order for the heavy hitters of 20th century fashion with The New Look, about design legends Christian Dior and Coco Chanel, from Damages cocreator Todd A. Kessler. Starring Ben Mendelsohn (Cyrano) as Dior and Juliette Binoche (The English Patient) as Chanel, the project is a World War II-set drama set in Paris, covering the rise of Dior and his titular New Look, as it surpasses the influence of Chanel. The series will also weave in the stories of Dior contemporaries Balenciaga, Givenchy, Pierre Cardin, and Yves Saint Laurent. We’re excited by anything related to vintage fashion, and it’s pure catnip for production designers and archival costume indulgence, so expect plenty of sartorial eye candy, luxurious details, and post-War gay shade. No date set for this one yet, but our label-conscious senses are already tingling. ▼

APRIL 1, 2022

61 Letters

Q Puzzle Shortbus

Solution on Page 92 ACROSS 1 They may burn lovers on the floor 5 Fragments of The Glass Menagerie 9 “Beat it!”

13 Tibet setting 14 Fox comedy with Jane Lynch 15 Poet Teasdale 16 Statement by Sofia in Shortbus 19 Curry of Rocky Horror fame 20 One who’s “out” 21 Comics cry 22 Trick alternative 24 Nervous sort 26 Start of Jamie’s response to Sofia 31 Cheesy side trip from Amsterdam 34 Mine, to Rimbaud 35 Station wagon, e.g.

39 Tara portrayer Collette 40 Actor Rip 41 Chew like a mouse 42 Direction from Susan Feniger 43 “___ you not” 44 Beat, but barely 45 More of the response 48 She had her hand up Lamb Chop 50 Elton John’s source for Aida

53 54 59 60 63 64 65 66 67 68

How some like it Seaport of Italia Son of Abe End of the response X-rated material Steed stopper Da Vinci’s Lisa Big name in pumps Nuts “The ___ the limit!”

DOWN 1 Singer Bonnie 2 Name on jetliners, once 3 Easy putt for SpencerDevlin 4 Type of sucker 5 Like a chickenhawk 6 Lump of earth 7 Six years for a senator Baldwin 8 Video game name 9 Sound of an inflated doll leak 10 Lawrence of Arabia ride 11 Princess with fins 12 Tasteless 17 Magazine section 18 Jodie Foster’s role with the King 23 Valentine sender 25 Place for trinkets 27 Try a Rick Rodgers cookbook, e.g.

28 Like gay bars that allow cigars

29 Hope-Crosby flick, Road ___ 30 Gandhi, e.g.

31 Cause of Venus envy?

32 Decimal point 33 Some Disney employees 36 Saw to 37 Touching children’s game 38 Be in debt to 46 “It ___ Necessarily So” 47 Word on a map of Israel 48 Triangle, e.g.

49 Migratory guys 51 Kaye of Hans Christian Anderson 52 Think tank products 55 It can give a drag queen smooth legs 56 Hart Crane work 57 Birth state of Langston Hughes 58 Like young Abe Lincoln 61 Game with “Reverse” cards 62 Scrabble 3-pointers

rehoboth museum ad 28-02_Layout 1 3/30/2018 2:11 PM Page 1

Letters 62 APRIL 1, 2022

jacklingo.com

Discover Your Wonder with Jack Lingo, REALTOR®

Coastal Delaware Sales & Rentals

REHOBOTH BEACH

246 Rehoboth Avenue Rehoboth Beach, DE 19971 office: 302-227-3883

LEWES

1240 Kings Highway Lewes, DE 19958 office: 302-645-2207

MILLSBORO

28442 Dupont Boulevard Millsboro, DE 19966 office: 302-934-3970

APRIL 1, 2022

63 Letters

The REAL DIRT

BY ERIC W. WAHL

Better Living through Better Design

T

wo years ago I was going to present a symposium on buffers as part of the Delaware Native Plant Society’s outreach mission. The pandemic had other plans. However, in a couple short weeks I will be presenting another version of it to my peers and students of landscape architecture. And since buffers have been a hot topic of conversation in our county, I’d thought I would spend a little more time talking about them here.

First, I guess we should define a buffer. Buffers are, in essence, transition zones between two distinct spaces.

People most often associate them with either a protective area that surrounds a wetland or other body of water, or a visual screen between neighbors. These buffers offer a lot more than privacy if designed well. I think we tend to dwell too much on the width of the buffers rather than how they are planted. In fact, you could have a buffer more than 100 feet wide, but if it is only planted as lawn it will have little impact as a buffer, both visually and environmentally speaking.

Let’s talk about forested buffers as they are the most likely to be utilized by the average homeowner. Forested buffers between properties are quite common, and mainly used to visually

Letters 64 APRIL 1, 2022

screen an undesirable view. But we really need to design a better buffer in terms of plantings.

Layering the plantings from the ground plane up to the canopy not only creates a denser visual screen, it also provides a food source such as berries and nuts for numerous wildlife. It becomes a destination for pollinators and insects, which in turn attract birds feeding their new families. In addition, the fruiting shrubs, such as arrowwood viburnum (Viburnum dentatum), help migratory species fuel-up for their long journey.

Place lower things in the front, medium things behind them, and taller things after that. The canopy trees such as oaks, maples, sycamores, and tulip poplars would be around the center of the overall buffer. Evergreen trees such as white pine, loblolly pine, cedars, and hollies are the midground plantings and offer the most visual screening. Pop in some smaller flowering trees like dogwood, redbud, or serviceberry.

Then utilize small to medium shrubs in front of them like winterberry, witch hazel, inkberry, and viburnums. Finally, depending on how much sun your yard gets, choose herbaceous plants to fill in around the shrubs and the ground plane.

Ferns, black-eyed Susans, butterfly weed, sneezeweed, or native grasses and sedges would do well here.

We didn’t even get to the other benefits, such as erosion control, rainwater infiltration, ground cooling through shading, soil formation, carbon sequestering, habitat—the list goes on.

Even though I didn’t want to dwell on buffer width, I do want to note another way you can get involved and increase the buffer you may have in your rear yard. Consider planting a portion of the yard as a forested buffer in the layers that are described above. Then try and get your neighbor behind you to do the same. If you have a common area in between as well, you may have just doubled the buffer between you and them.

I hope I made you think about building a better buffer. If everyone starts a piece in their own backyards, imagine what we can accomplish when the puzzle is finished. ▼ Eric W. Wahl is Landscape Architect at Pennoni Associates, and President of the Delaware Native Plant Society.

APRIL 1, 2022

65 Letters

arts+entertainment

BY DOUG YETTER

SPOTLIGHT ON THE

arts

CAMP Rehoboth Puts Art at the Heart of Our Community IN THE CAMP REHOBOTH GALLERY

FEST ART 2022!

The arts are a key part of our vibrant community, and this month CAMP Rehoboth is thrilled to host FEST ART 2022! This exhibit is presented in conjunction with CAMP Rehoboth’s Women’s FEST and celebrates women in the arts and their supporters.

FEST ART 2022! is an outlet for creative expression via all art forms—painting, drawing, ceramics, photography, fused glass, and more.

Juror Rebecca Davidson (see Artist Spotlight) is a contemporary abstract expressionist painter who earned her BA in studio art from Delaware State University, and an MFA in painting from Savannah College of Art & Design. Their work has been shown in numerous juried and solo exhibitions across the US, including at CAMP Rehoboth.

Davidson stated, “We had over 100 submissions from nearly 40 artists. It was extremely challenging to narrow it down to just 40 works, especially with the caliber of some of the work we received. Since Women’s FEST is one of my favorite annual CAMP events, I feel really honored to have been selected to jury and curate this exhibition. I think it’s important for LGBTQ+ artists and organizations to support each other and work together.”

FEST ART 2022! is on exhibit April 7-30, with an open house reception on Friday, April 8 (3:00-5:00 p.m.).

Bronze Girl with Flute by Judy Olsen, print.

This program is supported, in part, by a grant from the Delaware Division of the Arts, a state agency, in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts. The Division promotes Delaware arts events on www.DelawareScene.com.

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arts+entertainment LOOKING AHEAD Is it possible to capture the more than 30year history of CAMP Rehoboth in 30 photos?

Our May exhibit attempts to do just that.

Carefully curated by Murray Archibald and three community members, this collection of photographic artworks has it all—Sundance, the Black and White Ball, early photos, the construction of the atrium that made CAMP Rehoboth a full-service community center, and more. This will be your chance to acquire a oneof-a-kind piece of CAMP history, with proceeds going to support CAMP Rehoboth.

CAMP REHOBOTH highlights our community’s unique history and culture, and serves to further diversity, equity, and inclusion, by building unity and understanding. Exhibits may be viewed Monday-Friday (10:00 a.m.4:00 p.m.) and Saturday (10:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m.).

View and purchase art on the CAMP Rehoboth website under “SHOP.” Doug is the Artistic Director of CAMP Rehoboth Chorus and Minister of Music at Epworth UMC. You can contact him at dougyetter@gmail.com.

Billie by Taylor Gordon, print.

artist SPOTLIGHT REBECCA DAVIDSON Doug Yetter: You were just a kid at Clear Space summer camp when we met. Time to find out who you are as an adult artist.

Rebecca Davidson: When I was a teenager, I got involved in activism and the arts to channel some of my frustration about perpetual marginalization into creation. My art will always be personal and political.

Substantial portions of my related research have been on queerness, intersectionality, and feminism, so it has been an absolute honor to have exhibited with CAMP Rehoboth over the last 13 years. Getting to jury and curate a show for a gallery you love, that coincides with one of your favorite events of the year, is thrilling.

DY: Where do you find inspiration?

RD: A considerable amount of my inspiration comes from synesthesia. It’s a neurological cross-wiring where an individual experiences one kind of sensory input and experiences a sensation that most people do not. For me, it presents as seeing colors and patterns when I taste different foods, experience the sense of touch, or am listening to music.

DY: Do you have a favorite time of day to create?

RD: Mornings are great for experimenting with materials and working in my sketch book. Afternoons are my best time for all the logistical stuff. Evenings tend to be when I am most productive in the studio. And occasionally, I get “artistic insomnia” where I feel compelled to work in the middle of the night. I have an internal need to simultaneously engage with and escape from the world at large. I’d lose my mind if I didn’t create.

DY: Does your art influence other parts of your life?

RD: I’d probably have a much bus-

ier social life if I wasn’t in my studio so often! Artmaking influenced my decision to obtain a terminal degree. I never wanted to work a “day job” that wasn’t art related and getting my MFA was a way to prevent that from happening.

DY: How have your interests and/or your style changed?

RD: I did paint figuratively at one point, mostly abstracted female nudes, but eventually my work became completely non-representational. I have also been working increasingly larger. My biggest piece to date is 68 by 100 inches.

DY: What’s your favorite part of being an artist? Your least favorite?

RD: My favorite thing is transforming complex non-tangible concepts into something beautiful. A lot of my work is about finding the freedom to embrace all of oneself, despite mainstream (i.e., racist, ableist, sexist, homophobic) society. My least favorite happens all the time—I cannot stand people trying to find recognizable subjects/objects in non-representational abstract work.

If you want to know more about Rebecca, visit rebeccadavidsonart.com or follow them on Instagram—@rebeccad_official.▼ APRIL 1, 2022

67 Letters

arts+entertainment

by Terri Schlichenmeyer

BOOKED SOLID The Audacity of a Kiss: A Memoir

by Leslie Cohen

c.2021, Rutgers University Press $24.95/higher in Canada 235 pages

Don’t move.

Stay entirely still, don’t even breathe. You’re about to become a symbol of something that’s bigger than you are, something you’ll be proud of for the rest of your days. Don’t flinch, scratch, or sneeze; just don’t do anything.

Don’t. Move. Unless it’s to turn the pages of The Audacity of a Kiss by Leslie Cohen.

Behind every statue is a story, and the one behind those representing four people in Christopher Park in New York’s Greenwich Village is no different. But to explain how this monument came about means also telling a long love story and a tale about a nightclub.

Leslie Cohen’s mother was her very best friend, although there were misunderstandings in the relationship. Sevenyear-old Leslie couldn’t see why she received pink girly things for her birthday. In later years, she couldn’t understand why her mother deferred to Leslie’s father and endured his abuse.

The one thing Cohen did understand was that once puberty hit, the boys in her neighborhood were no longer pals to roughhouse with. She was supposed to want to date them, and it didn’t entirely make sense, but Cohen went along with it even after she left home for college. She went out with boys and lost her virginity to one, but meeting Beth was the most remarkable thing about higher learning. She was sure

Letters 68 APRIL 1, 2022

she was in love with Beth, but Beth was obsessed with a boy and so Cohen moved on.

She moved on to other men and then women, at a time between when women loving women was unthinkable, and the Summer of Love. Cohen embraced her lesbianism, fell in and out of love, and went into a partnership with three other women to open New York’s first lesbian club, where lesbians and straight feminists were welcome to dance and drink.

To be sure, it was a heady time. Cohen worked nonstop, gained confidence, and learned to run a bar business. She was busy, but happy.

And then Beth came back into her life....

Let’s face it: author Leslie Cohen’s life story is basically like that of a lot of lesbians born at the beginning of the Baby Boom. A solid childhood, confusion, self-awareness, entrepreneurship all make for a somewhat familiar story set apart by one abundant thing: warmth.

Indeed, The Audacity of a Kiss is an easy tale. It’s comfortable, like a crackling fireplace and a glass of wine on a cushy sofa. There are accomplishments here, told so that you really share the pride in them. Readers are shown the struggle that Cohen had, too, but experiences are wellframed by explanations of the times in which they occurred, with nothing overly-dramatic—just the unabashed truth, and more warmth. Opening this book, in a way, then, is like accepting an invitation to own the recliner for an evening, and you won’t want anything else.

Younger lesbians will get a lot from this book, but anyone who’s been there will relish it. Get The Audacity of a Kiss, then sit down...and don’t move. ▼ Terri Schlichenmeyer has been reading since she was three years old and never goes anywhere without a book.

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2022 REVISED SCHEDULE

May 13, 14 @ 7pm May 15 @ 3pm

• PA U L SI M O N

SONGBOOK

NEW DATES !

Epworth United Methodist Church 19285 Holland Glade Rd • Rehoboth Beach, DE

camprehoboth.com

June 12 @ 3pm

Sussex Academy 250 Airport Rd • Georgetown, DE

CAMP Rehoboth Chorus is supported, in part, by a grant from the Delaware Division of the Arts, a state agency, in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts. The Division promotes Delaware arts events on DelawareScene.com.

APRIL 1, 2022

69 Letters

Historical Headliners

To See and Be Seen Lesbian Visibility Day

O

ur LGBTQ+ community in the USA and worldwide has a glorious, heroic, colorful, and creative past and present. This column has tried to give readers a taste, a soupçon of that heritage in the limited space of a news column.

There have been essays about various lesbians, gays, bisexuals, trans, queer, non-binary people, et al, who have advanced our struggle for equality through political means, cultural contributions, heroic deeds, or just through the act of living their lives when to do so was outrageous at best and dangerous at worst. In this column, their stories were told with words.

But this issue’s column is different. This column celebrates Lesbian Visibility Day, April 26. Visibility means being seen, a privilege many lesbians have felt—and continue to feel—has been denied, or at least diminished.

So, the story in this column will not be told with words, but with a handful of images of lesbians past and present. Today, in advance of April 26, lesbians are visible. ▼ Ann Aptaker’s Cantor Gold crime/mystery series has won Lambda Literary and Goldie Awards. Her short stories appear in numerous publications and anthologies

Lesbians who dared to be visible despite restrictive cultures and times.

Photo credits: from top to bottom, row 1 left & right, News Dog Media; center, Laura Aguilar. Row 2, right, JEB. Row 3 left, News Dog Media. All other photos are in the public domain.

Letters 70 APRIL 1, 2022

BY ANN APTAKER

Delaware Hospice provides more than in-home hospice services.

MORE THAN HOSPICE

Whether it’s palliative care, children’s care or bereavement services you are looking for, we have you covered.

delawarehospice.org 302.683.8948 rehoboth guest 28-02_Layout 1 3/30/2018 2:13 PM Page 1

APRIL 1, 2022

71 Letters

Visiting View

BY ROBERT DOMINIC

Reflections on a Pandemic Winter

E

ven as spring arrives (at last!), I’ve been reflecting on this past winter. Just the word itself brings up dreaded images of snow, bitter cold, mittens, scarves, knit hats. For lack of a better phrase—winter blows. Give me a scorching hot summer afternoon in July any day of the week instead of a frigid NYC afternoon in January. And to add serious insult to injury, recent winters have brought along their ‘friend,’ COVID. This past year, it was Omicron.

Omicron. COVID. Rapid test. PCR. Fully vaccinated. Booster. Breakthrough infections. UGH. All these words are now part of our daily vernacular.

Some words we knew before but now they have a completely different meaning. As we settled in for a third winter battling this pandemic, many of us were still struggling. Maybe still are, even as winter gives way to spring.

If you were in NYC this past December and through the holidays, it felt eerily similar to the lockdown. I mean a JV version of the lockdown that began in March 2020, but a lockdown still. Good Morning America reported that one in 60 people in NYC was testing positive the week of December 27.

(Sobering, given that USAfacts.org was reporting that in New York state, 72 percent of those eligible were fully vaccinated and 86 percent had received one dose.)

Every time you turned a corner you were greeted with never-ending lines outside testing sites like CityMD. People getting tested as they wanted to travel to see family for Christmas. Many had to wait in those same hours-long lines upon their return in order to go back to work.

Should things like air travel even require vaccinations? I say, HELL YEAH. Planes, trains, cruises, you name it—I say fully vaccinated people only. Folks absolutely can choose not to get vaccinated. But if they don’t, then they should not get to participate in public events, thereby endangering those who did get vaccinated and boosted. Vaccines save lives.

Honestly, I was somewhat surprised when I arrived in Rehoboth last July to spend the summer.

Our first night out I was looking for my vaccination card. Housemates, perplexed, were like, “what are you doing?” After filling them in, the common response was “Yeah, this ain’t New York City.”

Speaking of NYC—numerous restaurants and

The weekend of January 8 saw my plans disappear as one by one friends tested positive for COVID.

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APRIL 1, 2022

bars temporarily closed in the days and week around Christmas and New Year’s, due to lack of staff. Dozens of Broadway performances were canceled; some, just hours before the curtain was to rise. A few shows, including Waitress and Jagged Little Pill, closed permanently. With a lack of available crew members, the famous phrase was nullified: the show actually could NOT go on. The very popular monthly queer party, Battle Hymn, canceled their December event. Holiday parties were postponed left and right.

The weekend of January 8 saw my plans disappear as one by one friends tested positive for COVID. All fully vaccinated. All asymptomatic.

Two of those went out club-hopping New Year’s weekend, so their results did not come as a huge shock. Bye-bye Drag Race viewing party, bottomless brunch, and movie night. I felt like I was quarantining, too!

In present-day NYC, life is happily returning to the “new normal” we are living with. The Music Man, with Tony award winners Hugh Jackman and Sutton Foster, is THE show to see this season, selling out nightly. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child plays to packed houses, even with its threeand-a-half-hour run time. Dollar Tree shelves are full again. Battle Hymn is back to holding their monthly party, drawing a sold-out crowd. Five thousand vacationers recently set sail on the Atlantis Cruise.

You can’t see it or touch it, but you can feel it.

There is a change in the atmosphere. The air is easier to breathe, the sun is shining a little brighter.

The mood is optimistic and hopeful.

We will get through this pandemic and we will prevail. The queer community has been through an epidemic before. One more winter done; one more spring now here to enjoy. And summer looming— c’mon, July! ▼ Robert Dominic splits his time between Brooklyn and Rehoboth Beach. He writes for publications including Instinct Magazine and his own blog, The Gays of Our Lives.

Greater Dover Boys & Girls Club, Simpson Elementary, Camden-Wyoming

Powerful Philanthropy

A donor advised fund at the DCF helps you make a difference in Delaware.

From Boys & Girls Clubs to the Choir School of Delaware, hundreds of Delaware nonprofits are helping prepare our children to be the innovative, passionate leaders who will build our community’s future.

Whatever you love about this community — whether it’s a children’s organization, a favorite museum or something else — you can make it stronger through a donor advised fund (DAF) at the Delaware Community Foundation.

A DAF is a charitable fund that brings you tax advantages while growing tax-free and helping you support the charities you care about — forever. It’s a smart way to be generous.

Talk with us about how your DAF can make what you love about Delaware even better.

To learn more, visit delcf.org/daf or contact Mike DiPaolo, Vice President for Southern Delaware, at 302.856.4393 or mdipaolo@delcf.org.

APRIL 1, 2022

73 Letters

immanuel quarter 28-02_Layout 1 3/30/2018 1:54 PM Page 1

D E E N E W R SUPPORT

YOU

Immanuel Shelter serves those experiencing homelessness in Rehoboth Beach, Lewes and surrounding areas.

Your generous support allows us to continue our mission and helps our community provide assistance for those in need.

FOR INFORMATION ON HOW YOU CAN VOLUNTEER OR DONATE, PLEASE VISIT www.immanuelshelter.org 17601 Coastal Hwy, Unit 11, #431 Nassau, DE 19969 1-888-634-9992

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APRIL 1, 2022

All monies raised go directly to Immanuel located in Rehoboth Beach, Sussex County, DE.

gay Women of Rehoboth ®

Join Us At

www.meetup.com/Gay-Women-Rehoboth Learn about women’s activities, dances, discussion groups and singles events in the area.

GROWING GRATITUDE, ONE LEAF AT A TIME Despite overwhelming challenges faced over the past two years, the people of #TeamBeebe remain dedicated to providing excellent care to Sussex County every day. During it all, our team has received notes of support and thanks. These small acts of kindness brighten their days and serve as powerful reminders of their value to a grateful community. To help our neighbors join in sharing their appreciation, we’ve created a virtual Gratitude Tree. By simply adding a “leaf”—a short note of gratitude—you can help us grow our tree, lift the spirits of our heroes, and enrich a legacy of caring that has endured for more than a century.

“I am extremely grateful for the work the team does. You are not unnoticed.” —RV

“Thank you for taking such good care of my husband in the emergency room.” —JC

Snap a pic of the code to read messages of gratitude and to submit your own. beebehealthcare.org/gratitude

BH_Print_GratitudeTree_04.indd 1

Letters 7.5 x 10

MEDICAL GROUP 2/16/22 10:53 AM

APRIL 1, 2022

75 Letters

OUR SUPPORTERS MAKE IT HAPPEN PURPLE LEVEL Greg Albright & Wes Combs X Sondra N. Arkin X Aaron, Heather, Gia & Joe Book* Catherine & Katie Brennan Carol Bresler & Carolyn Billinghurst X Pat Catanzariti & Carole Ramos* Edward Joseph Chrzanowski & Talmage Wesley Sykes* Skip Dye & Steven King* Judy & Carole Jesiolowski James W. Johnson & Matthew H. Shepard* Wesley Lin & Brian Chapman Diane & Chris Martin* Fred Munzert & J.P. Lacap Beth Pile & S.A. White X Mark Purpura & Matthew Adams* Chris Rinaldi & Brian Powers X Mary Rossettini & Kathleen Taylor Jennifer Rubenstein & Diane Scobey X Gary Seiden & Ah Bashir X Evie Simmons & Barb Thompson X Leslie Sinclair & Debbie Woods X Diane Sweeney* The Robert V. Hauff & John F. Dreeland Foundation X Susan Thornberg William Cross Foundation Steven Wright DMD PA*

INDIGO LEVEL Terry Albarella Murray Archibald & In Memory of Steve Elkins X James Beal & In Memory of David Van Patter Wesley Blickenstaff* Jane Blue & Louisa Watrel X Joe Brannen & John Klomp X Tom Brown X Chris & Richard Cahill X Elizabeth Carl & Tori Hill X Richard Coss & Mike Hull* Elbert Leroy Dage Phyllis Dillinger Lou Fiore & Jim Burke* Gary Gajewski - In Memory of Dr. John A. Boscia Richard Gamble & Paul Lindsey* David & Marti Garrett* Harry Hallock Fred Harke - In Memory of Robert Rougeau X Holly Horn & Kathleen Garrity X Claire Ippoliti X Peter Karsner X Melissa & Amanda Kaufman X Maureen Keenan & Teri Dunbar X Russell Koerwer & Stephen Schreiber X Roger Kramer* Susan Kutliroff & Barbara Snyder* Christine Lay X Curtis J. Leciejewski, DDS, PA X David Mariner & Khusan Odilovich Thom Morris & Jim Slusher Natalie Moss & Evelyn Maurmeyer X Rick Mowery & Joe Conn X Tom Negran & Marc Anthony Worosilo X John Newton & Mowry Spencer X Mark Niehaus & Brooks Honeycutt X Kathleen Nilles & Camille Nichols*

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Jeanine O’Donnell - State Farm* Gwen Osborne & Katie Handy Signarama X The Pearsall Family* Porter-Gordon Family* Deborah Qualey & Karen Gustafson X John Roane & Doug Lingenfelter In Memory of Jeff Hosley Lori & Renee Rocheleau Mark Roush & Dave Banick* Mark Schweizer & Robert Voelker Susan Tobin & Cathy Martinson* Terry Vick* Mel W. & Linda Lee M. Weller Karen West & Melissa Clement* Ronald Wetzel & Nathan Hench Brian Yanofchick

BLUE LEVEL Marge Amodei* Ronald Bass & George Robbins X Rocky Bible & Kevin Bosley In Memory of Jackie Morris Tim & Meredith Birrittella Teresa Bolduc & Kim McGeown* Karen Brause & Kim Sheaffer* Tony Burns X Donna Davis & Gail Jackson X Scott Davis & Chris Shaheen* Connie Fox & Donna Adair* Susan Furman Perry Gottlieb & Tim White* John Holohan & William Ensminger* Irene & Lou Katz* Nancy Kennedy & Tora Washington* Paul & Anne Michele Kuhns* Glenn Lash & Mark Paugh Bob Mancuso & Doug Murray Marvin Miller & Dan Kyle X Chris Rouchard X Michael Shaffer & Benjamin Wilson X Angie Strano & Cindy Gruman* Frank Surprenant, DDS & Chris Wisner X

GREEN LEVEL Sharon Bembry & Lois Powell* Alex Benjamin & Pete Grover* David Bower* Chris Bowers* David W. Briggs & John F. Benton X Charlie Browne & Rod Cook X Barry Bugg* Cheryl Buxton* Jay Chalmers & John Potthast X Beth Cohen & Fran Sneider X Stephen Corona Lewis & Greg Dawley-Becker* Penny Lee Dean Robert Defendis & Ronald O. Dempsey* Mike DeFlavia & Tony Sowers* Ann DeLazaro & Annette Potemski Marianne DeLorenzo & Linda Van de Wiele* Max Dick* Diane Dragositz Kathy & Corky Fitzpatrick X Keven Fitzsimmons & Jeff Stroud X Cynthia Flynn & Deirdre Boyle X Lisa Gilley Richard Green & Asi Ohana X Joe Greenhall & Tom Klingler Bob Gurwin & John Rourke

John Hackett & Tom Newton* David Hagelin & Andy Brangenberg* Harris Holden X Terry Hollinger & Mike May Steve Hoult & Rick Bane X Karen Hugues & Cathy McCallister X Anthony Incalcatera & James Buswold Dorsey Johnson & Kay Jernigan* Nola Joyce & Brenda Eich* Jocelyn Kaplan & Idalie Adams X Linda Kemp* Deborah Kennedy & Beth Yocum* Jerry Kennedy & Robert Quinones X Ilene Klein & Eli Scearce Eric Korpon & Steve Haber* Lee Lambert Leslie Ledogar & Marilyn Hewitt* John J. MacDonald & Douglas James Susan Morrison* Dennis Neason & Steve Bendyna* Kim Nelson & Lori Simmons X Fran O’Brien & David Gifford* Diane Pasatieri & Karen Jorgensen Don Peterson & Jeff Richman X Keith Petrack & Michael Fetchko* Anne Pikolas & Jean Charles X Gail Purcell & Sandy Kraft* Tony Purcell & In Memory of Daniel Espejel Bill Rayman & Frank King* Marty Rendon & John Cianciosi* Allison Rosenberg Douglas Sellers & Mark Eubanks* Scott Shaughnessy & John Hassell* William Snow X Mary Spencer & Kathy Lingo* Joseph Steele & Chris Leady David Streit & Scott Button* Anne Tracy & Mary Gilligan* Peter Trost & John Worek Cal Weible X Kathy Wiz & Muriel Hogan X Jon Worthington & Bryan Houlette X

YELLOW LEVEL Brenda Abell X Ria Allman Keith Anderson & Peter Bish X Gwen Atwell & Marla Hoon Shannon & Sarah Avery* Pamela Baker & Diane Dixson* Linda Balatti & Shirley Gilmer X Susie Ball & Susan Delaney X Mike Ballinger & in Memory of Martin Thomas* Miriam Barton* Chris Beagle & Eric Engelhart* Tom Beall Barbara Beavers & Kathy Carrell Sherry Berman & Deb Hamilton X Abby Bernstein & Karen Frank X Michael Boyle & Greg Murphy X Jeffrey Buhrman & Roger Alford David Carder Kathy Casey & Jean Burgess X Kate Cauley & Pat Newcomb Bob Chambers* Jean Chlastawa & Susan Griesemer* Paul Christensen & Dennis Morgan* Jim Chupella & Jim Wigand* Steve Clayton & Brad Lentz* Gary Colangelo & Gerald Duvall X Nancy Commisso* Thomas Conway & Thoth Weeda* Billy Cox & John Carr*

CAMP REHOBOTH MEMBERSHIP 2022 Drexel Davison - Bad Hair Day?* Anthony Delacruz & Ronald Mangano Fred DiBartolo & Steve Wood X Maureen Dolan & Karen McGavin* Albert Drulis & Scott Silber* Sandy Duncan & Maddy Ewald Gary Espinas & Daniel Sherlock Karen & Lisa Faber* Alice Fagans & Ruth Ann Mattingly* John Farley & Dennis Wilson X Dent Farr & Erick Lowe* Dee Farris* Jerry Filbin* Cecily Fisher & Loretta Higgins Diane Fisher & Kharma Amos Metropolitan Community Church of Rehoboth* Monica Fleischmann & Lona Crist X John Flournoy & Jim Chrobot John Furbush & Tom Feng* Gail Gormley* Susan Goudy* Ken Green & Joe Kearney* Renee Guillory & Melissa Vila-Guillory Mary Gunning Wesley Hacker & David Block* Harbor Healthcare* Pete & Joanne Harrigan* Robert Henthorne & Roger Bolduc David Herring & Karl Hornberger Carol Holland - Holland Jewelers X Caroline Huff & Brenda Robertson* Nan Hunter & Chai Feldblum Pete Jakubowski* Philip Johnson* Dee Dee Jones & Julie Blake Frank Jump & Vincenzo Aiosa* Bob Kabel* Marilyn Kates & Laura Glenn* Andy Kite & Karl Martin Rose Korten & Brenda Pinkney* Greg Kubiak* Carol Lazzara & Sheila Maden* Edmund LeFevre & Keith Wiggs X Greg Lehne Barbara Lewis Monica Lewis & Ann Zimmerman* David Lindeman & Andrew Phipps Frank Liptak & Joe Schnetzka* Jim Lonsdale & Bryan Hoffman John Mackerey & Donald Filicetti Patricia Magee & Anita Pettitt X Harold Marmon & Robert Hill* John Marson Jill Masterman & Tammy Jackson* Tony Mazzarella Michael McCarthy & Lars Kontz In Memory of Vickie Stapleton Mickie McManamon* Howard Menaker & Patrick Gossett X Phil Merola & Rocco Scutaro Ray Michener & Tom Carlson* Sandy Neverett & Pam Cranston X Robert Nowak & David Bergman X Judy Olsen & Joanne Kempton X Maggie Ottato X Dotti Outland & Diane Mead X Peninsula Gallery - Tony & Carol Boyd-Heron* John Piccirillo & Jonathan Rose Joanne Picone & Kathy Bostedo* Stephen Pleskach X Tom Poor & Tom Bachmann - Bin 66 Fine Wine* Jim Pressler X

Sam Profeta X Lisa Rabigi & Bea Vuocolo* Joie Rake & Nan Flesher X Gene Roe X Thomas Rose & Thomas Sechowicz X Lucien Rossignol & Tom Harris* Mark Saunders & Bob Thoman* Richard Scalenghe & Thomas Panetta* Gary Schell & Jim DiRago Betsy Schmidt X Sheryl Schulte & Jeanne LaVigne* Mary Ann Slinkman & Sharyn Santel* Polly Smale - In Memory of Charlotte Reid* David Smith & Kenn Williams Susan Soderberg & Terri King X John Michael Sophos & Miss Dot Sophos* Diane Sozio & Patricia Hutchinson* Dee Speck & Linda Kauffman X Russell & Patricia Stiles* Robert Stoltzfus & Gerald Warhola* Lenny Stumpf & John B. Pitchford* Jackie Sullivan & Sharon Padbury Brett Svensson & Bill Quinn Dust Doctors LLC* Thrasher’s French Fries* Don Wainwright & Tom Jamison* Lana Warfield & Pamela Notarangelo X Elizabeth Way & Dorothy Dougherty* Michael Weinert X Justin Weitz William Wheatley* Joseph & Diane Wood Tony Wright & Mary Jo Bennett X Steven Wunder & Rod Hastie Jean Sutliff Young* Joanne Yurik* Larry Zeigler X John Zingo & Rick Johnson* Karl Zoric & Mark Pipkin X

ORANGE LEVEL Ruth Ball & Mary Ellen Jankowski* Romulus Barba & Dean Yanchulis* Paul Barbera & Joseph Nolan Nancy Bearss & Jenni Lindsay Kathleen Biggs & Maria Campos Janet Blaustein Kathy Board & Jackie Maddalena Boland Family - In Memory of Michael J. Kelly* Linda Bova & Bridget Bauer The Sea Bova Associates* Victor Branham & Mark Clark William Briganti & Gary Moore* Anita Broccolino - In Memory of Cathy Fisher Wendy Bromfeld* Ronald Butt & Steve Cannon* William Byron & Ali Lazur Ingrid Callmann & Karen Askins* Helen Chang & Pat Avery Charlie Codacovi* Community Bank Delaware* Mark Conheady* Lois Cortese & Jill Stokes X Kay Creech & Sharon Still* Kenneth Currier & Mike Tyler X John D’Amico* Julie A Danan Linda DeFeo X J. Lynne Dement & Lisa J. Snyder* Continued on page 78

ENTERTAINMENT MINUTES FROM THE BEACHES!

FLYING IVORIES World-Class Dueling Pianos April 9 - 8PM

SISTER'S EASTER CATECHISM Will My Bunny Go To Heaven?

April 15 - 8PM

CELLO FURY Cello Rock April 28 - 8PM

April 7 - DEANNA FITZPATRICK: Psychic Medium / 7:30PM April 8 - NEXT BIG STAR: Stand-Up Comedy / 8PM April 10 - EASTER BUNNY TEA: Interactive Live Show / 1PM April 14 - KICK: The INXS Experience / 8PM April 16 - REMEMBERING JOHN DENVER: With Ted Vigil / 3PM & 8PM April 17 - BROADWAY CABARET: Now (& Recently Playing) / 8PM April 21 - DANCING TO DEATH, MURDER AT STUDIO 79: Interactive Murder Mystery Dinner Theatre / 6:30PM April 22 - MAGNOLIA APPLEBOTTOM: Drag Show / 8PM April 23 - FLIP ORLEY: Comedy & Hypnosis / 8PM April 29 - BETTER THAN BACON: Improv Comedy / 8PM April 30 - GLIMMER TWINS: Classic Stones Tribute / 3PM & 8PM May 1 - RAINBOW FULL OF SOUND: Grateful Dead Tribute / 8PM May 4 & 6 - RED CARPET REVUE: MTE Live Show / 7PM May 5 - LOWER CASE BLUES: Quayside@Nite / 7PM May 7 - MAGIC OF MOTOWN / 7:30PM

SUMMER CAMPS 2022

LION KING Jr. July 11-15

SHREK Jr. July 18-22

BEAUTY & THE BEAST Jr. July 25-29

SEUSSICAL Jr. Aug 1-5

For more information on tickets, show details, and full events calendar go to:

DOUBLE VISION The Foreigner Experience May 15 - 3PM & 8PM

www.MILTONTHEATRE.com 302.684.3038 110 Union St. Milton, DE

APRIL 1, 2022

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Continued from page 76

Jim DiLalla & In Memory of Frederick Episcopo* Tony DiMichele & Jeff Smith* Donna Dolce* Kevin Doss & Arie Venema Arlyce Dubbin & Kathleen Heintz* Brenda Dunn & Karen Anderson Richard Egler Susan Eig & Ellen Schiff X Jeanne Embich* Robin Esham Maureen Ewadinger* Ellen Feinberg & Lesley Rogan X Barbara Fitzpatrick & Denise Centinaro Sara Ford & Anne Donick* Roland Forster & David McDonald Deb Fox & Deb Bonneau Charles Gable Christopher Galanty & James Apistolas Ron Glick & Tien Pham* William Gluth & Channing Daniel* Ed Gmoch* Mike Gordy & Ed Brubaker* Joe Gottschall & Scott Woody Charles Graham* Deborah Grant & Carol Loewen* Todd Hacker Siobhan Halmos & Beth McLean* Sharon Hansen X Pat Harte & Nancy Sigman Steve Hayes Tracey & Erica Hellman Nancy Hewish & Vicki Martina* Bill Hillegeist X Mary Anne Hoopes & Dianna Johnston* Vance Hudgins & Denny Marcotte* John Hulse X Mary Huntt & Angela Creager Janet Idema & Patricia Higgins* Mark Kehoe X Maryl Kerley X Bonnie Kirkland & Wanda Bair X Jay Kottoff & Mark Matey* Rob & Jean Krapf X Barbara Lang & Diane Grillo* Jim Lesko Chip Logan Dale & Sue Lomas* Duncan MacLellan & Glenn Reighart* Robb Mapou & Mike Zufall Marsha Mark & Judy Raynor* James Mastoris & Edward Chamberlain X Jonathan Mattner & Chad Rinker Michael & Stephan Maybroda Kathy & Steve McGuiness* Kate McQueen* James Mease & Philip Vehslage* Margaret Moore & Sheree Mixell X R Moore Thomas Moore & Richard Bost* Carol Morris & Ann Abel Lisa Mosley Robert Neighbour & Andrew Dan* Pat Nickols* Donna Ohle & Susan Gaggiotti X Lisa Orem & Debby Armstrong* Sandra Oropel & Linda Frese* Carolyn Ortwein & Ann Barry* Rutland Paal & Robert Mittleman* Sandra Pace & Barbara Passikoff X Steve Parker* Ellen Passman X Marilyn Pate & Dorothy Smith* Patricia Pawling & Jennifer Butz* Rina Pellegrini Colleen Perry & Jane Kuhfuss* Marianne Perry & Jeanette Laszczynski*

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APRIL 1, 2022

Deena Pers X Grace Pesikey & Janet Urdahl* Russ Phipps & Stephen Jacobs* Peter Pizzolongo & Carlos Prugue* Pierce Quinlan & Ginny Daly* Alex Reed & Jed Millard Susan Reinagel & Dawn Henderson* Pat Renninger & Tammy Plumley X Joseph Rively & Ty Hoffman Bill Rogers & Jeff Wilkinson Judy Rosenstein & Elva Weininger X Deborah & Charles Ross X Michael Safina & Tim Bean Katherine Sams* Richard Sargent* Laurie Schneider & Margie Ripalda* Carol Scileppi & Valerie McNickol* Teri Seaton & Rena Frampton-Seaton Michael Seifert & Harvey Holthaus* Craig Sencindiver & Gary Alexander* Tara Sheldon Frank Shockley & Arthur Henry Anita Smulyan Tina Snapp & Susan Leathery Christine Stanley & Joyce Rocko* Matthew Stensrud & Michael Cohen* Greig Stewart & Jake Hudson* Caroline Stites & Elizabeth Coit X Brian Straka* Sandra Sullivan & Lorie Seaman* Terrence Sullivan Trudie Thompson Jeffrey Trunzo & Herman Goodyear* James Vernicek & Jeff Dailey* Joseph Vescio Tama Viola Patricia Walker Shawn Walker Don Wessel Ralph Wiest & Anthony Peraine* Daryle Williams & Steven Fretwell Terri Windlan Melanie Wolfe & Monica Niccolai Robert T. Wright & Jack Lim* Sherri Wright & Dick Byrne* Niki Zaldivar & Cecil McNeil X Kathryn Zimmerman Helaine Zinaman & Roselyn Abitbol X

RED LEVEL Guy Abernathey X Dale Adams Adrienne & Kim* Jim Affonco X Mark Aguirre & Wayne Gleason X Bill Alldredge X Chris Allison Stephani Allison & Judith Gorra X Alan Anderson X Daniel Anderson & Greg Melanson Lois Andreasen & Jean McCullough* Andrea Andrus & Maggie Shaw X Peter Antolini X Patricia Antonisse X Wanda Armwood & Illona Williams Terry & Gayle August Dale Aultman & Paul Gibbs X Josh Bach & Edward Ginley Kathleen Bailey X Christine A. Baker John Baker & Richard Latham X June Baker* Sarah Barnett Curtiss Barrows X Brian Bartels* Eric Barton & Greg Nagel Barbara Bastow & Margaret McHale John Batchelor X Karen Beck* Beebe Medical Foundation* Pat Beebe

Mike Behringer & Nelson Correa* Alex Belano Sheryl Bender & Doreen DiLorenzo* George Benes & Michael Mallee X Suzanne Bennethum & Deborah Smith* Jeri Berc X John Berdini X Joel Berelson & Charles Maples* James C. P. Berry & Matthew Stanislao Lisa Beske - In Loving Memory of Steve Elkins* Christine Bielenda & Karen Feuchtenberger* Thomas Biesiadny X Deb Bievenour & Susan Shollenberger* Beatrice Birman & Mary Malgoire Lorraine Biros* Cathin Bishop & Laura Simon X Ann Black & Kaye Wachsmuth X Carol Blair* Eric Blondin - State Farm Insurance Rehoboth Beach X Jacquelyn Blue X Rev. Dr. Tom Bohache & Tom Laughingwolf Simmons X Annabelle Boire* Carl Bomberger & Mike Rhoads Robin Bond & Leanna Johannes* Bob Bonitati X Joy Boone & Marina Simmers X Randall Borgerson X Pete Borsari X Laura Borsdorf X Nancy Bouse & Norma Morrison X David & Donna Bowman X Deni Boyer & Loretta Imbrogono Brian Boyle & Larry Gee X Beth Bozman* Jim Brady & Mike Hays X John Brady X Kelly Brennan & Susan McVey* Susan Brinsfield & Barbara Devenport Debora Brooke * Kevin Brown X Lyn Brown & Winsome Boyd Matthew Brown Diane Bruce & Annie Sorvillo* Daniel Bruner & Tim Beymer Jack Bucchioni Donald Bucher & Kevin Paul Carol Buck Al Bulliner X Belinda Buras & Linda Simeone Geoffrey Burkhart & Bruce Williams* Lyn Burleson & Sharon Werner* Carol L. Burnett X Mary Jean Burns & Novalyn Winfield Rob Burns & Cris Hamer* Stephen Burt & Michael Jones Timothy B. Bush X Sherry Butler Randy Butt & Emerson Bramble* James Byrnes X Robertine Cale Debbie Cali & Maddie Cunningham Leslie Calman & Jane Gruenebaum* Pat Campagna & Debra Sansoucie Terri Campbell & Victoria Smith Michele Campisi & Julie A. Slick X Joe Canter Matt Carey X Jim Carlo X Justine Carpenter X Shirley Carpenter & Mary Coldren X Deborah Carroll & Jill Steiner Alice Casey & Anthony Codella Jo Cason & Peggy Neidlinger Teresa Cason & Lynda Schepler X Sara Cavendish & Wendy Bunce X Denis Chandler & Sebastion DiMauro

Linda Chaney & Irene Lawlor* Dr. Harvey J. Chasser X Mike Chateauneuf X Dan Childers & Ted Hernandez* Tom Childers & John Hall X Sandra Chinchilla & Michelle Holmes X Curt Christensen & Ellen Heald* Billy J. Christian X Dennis Chupella & Rob White X Dottie Cirelli & Myrna Kelley X James Clark Norma K. Clark X Rob Cline Barbara Clipper Amy Clouse & Betty Long X Julie Cockley Anne Cole & Sandy Freeman Carolyn Cole & Sandy McDevitt X Stuart Comstock-Gay X Inez Conover X Bill Cooley & Ken Watkins DVM X Josh Cooper & Steve Rathburn Jeffery A. Coover X Michael Cornell X Lois Corson & Mary Murdoch X Mary Costa & Kris Nygaard* Becky & Tom Craft X Wendy Cramer & Carolyn Baranowski* Theresa-Ann Crivelli & Angela Murray* Robert Crocetti X Bill Cross & David McCall X Donald Crowl* Mark Cunningham & Ken Tattersall X Rich Custer Jamie Cuthbert & KT Tinney Howard Cyr & Lynn Ashley* Ellen Dahl Charles Daniels William T. Darley X Denise Davis & Jeanne Bilanin Jeremiah Davis Marsha Davis & Bev Lesher X Patricia Davis Kathy Davison & Ruth Dickerson X Scott & Donna de Kuyper Hotel Blue* Frederick Dean & Steven Swierzy X Scott Dechen & James Maino* Michael Decker & Arley Jaimes X Michael DeGraffenreid Susan Deise & Jerri Budzinski Maureen Delaney & Madonna Aldrich Bernie Delia X Frank Dell’Aquila X Claire Dente & Leslie Campo* Tracy Denton & Brenda Welsh Karen DeSantis & Carol Brice* Nancy DeToma & Meg Smith* David DeVargas & Steven Champion X Carolyn DeVito Dawn Devries & Helen Krum Henry & Marcia DeWitt X Romy Diaz & Dennis Bann Julie Dickson X Richard Dietz Mary Dipietro & Wendy Schadt* Deb Dobransky & Ketty Bennett* Arthur Dochterman X David & Lizann Dockety X Peg Dolan & Mary McDevitt X Mary & Polly Donaldson Millie Donnell Debbie & Karen Dorris* Kathryn Downs Frances Doyle X Paul Dradransky X Zita Dresner Michael Driscoll & Ben McOmber X Susan Dube & Diana Patterson*

Deanna Duby & Carol Bruce* Barry Dunkin Gene Dvornick X Sue Early X Frank Echols & Robert Robinson Eden Restaurant X Claire Edmondson & Louise Bylicki Brad Edwards Gail Elliott & Bea Hickey* Pamela Elliott W. Kay Ellis* Ann Evans* Lisa Evans & Joann Gusdanovic Susan Farr & Joanne Pozzo Jane Farrell Alexis Faust Larry & Ro Fedorka* Karen Ferguson* Virginia Fessler * Jayne & Ro Fetterman* Irene & Edward Fick* Allen Fred Fielding X Joe Filipek & Larry Richardson X Mark Finkelstein & Michael Zeik X Paul Finn & Joseph Porporino* Rick Fischer X Barbara Fischetti & Janet Thoden Gary Fisher & Josh Bushey* James Fitzsimmons & Brian Burdelle Chuck Flanagan X Paul Florentino & Chris Pedersen X Sandra Fluck & Beverly Morgan* Mary Ford & Judy Hedrick X Beebe Frazer X Phil Fretz X Billiemichelle & Evelyn Friel* Neil Frock & Bob Harrison* Bill Fuchs* Marilyn Fuller & Teresa Marigliano Lorraine Gaasche & Jill Mayer* Frank Gainer & Ramon Santos* Lynn Gaites & Faye Koslow X Nina Galerstein* Charles Gallagher & James Day Marcia Gallo & Ann Cammett Jerry Gallucci & Conrad Welch* Kathryn Gantz & Kathryn Gehret Don Gardiner X Cheri Garnet & Cynthia Arno Patricia Garrison Mindy Gasthalter* Wilson Gates X Charles George & Dennis Rivard X Tracey Gersh & Amy Johnson Gary Gillard X Jordan Gipple & Paul Weppner* Angela & Cheryl Gladowska Joan Glass X Karen Glooch X Ronald Gluck* Jane Godfrey* Randall Godwin X Jackie Goff & Mary Vogt X Katherine Goff Dave Gold & In Memory of James Yiaski X Robert Gold X Suzanne Goldstein & Dana Greenwald X Cindy Gonzalez Milton Gordon & Bill Hromnak X Teresa Gordy & Barb Ford X Dan Goren & Peter Robinson X Anita Gossett & Ronnie Smith* Robert Gotwalt & Norman Jones Amy Grace & Karen Blood* Bill Graff & Jeff Schuck* Lisa & Raymond Graff* Angela Grant & Zoe Fitzpatrick* Paul R. Grant & Marc Watrel* Cheryl Graves Harvey Grider Kenneth Grier* Continued on page 80

ADOPT A NEW FRIEND WATCH THEM BLOOM! Midway Shopping Center 18675 Coastal Highway, Suite 8 Rehoboth Beach, DE 19971 ADOPT

DONATE

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delawarehumane.org/rehoboth | 302-200-7159 |

windsor's 28-02_windsor's 14-15.qxd 3/30/2018 2:26 PM Page 1

delawarehumane

“WHERE FLOWERS SPEAK A BEAUTIFUL LANGUAGE” FLORIST SHOP • GREENHOUSES 20326 Coastal Highway • Rehoboth Beach, DE (Next to Arena’s Café)

302-227-9481

IN 38 YEARS WE HAVE BEEN

GROOVY, COOL, FAB, FLY, AND LIT What can we say... WE ARE THE BOMB DIGGITY!

Great dinners. Great times.

38 years and counting.

Dinner 7 nights, 5:00-10:00pm | Happy Hour, 5:00-6:30 pm Reservations: 301-227-3100 • www.justinthymerestaurant.com 38163 Robinsons Drive • Rehoboth Beach (the corner of Hwy. 1 & Robinsons Drive)

APRIL 1, 2022

79 Letters

Continued from page 78

Richard Grifasi X John Grillone & Paul Schlear Jr. X Joseph Gritz X Wendy Grooms & Barbara Fishel X Carol Gross X James Gross X Richard & Frances Grote* Paula Grubbs X Christopher Guidone Helene Guilfoy X Lori Guitson Bill Gunning & Joe Greoski X Marie & Ken Haag* Carolyn Haas & Debbie Williams Jay Haddock & Hector Torres* Gerard M. Haley & George D. Zahner X Cynthia Hall X Barbara Hals & Sharon Dyke Mark Hare & Mike Newman X Kelley Harp X David Harrer & Floyd Kanagy* Thomas F Harris II Mary Hartman & Laurie Nelson Jeff Haslow X Janece Hausch* John & Mary Havrilla* Nancy Hawpe Daniel F.C. Hayes* Helen Healy & Lisa Whitehouse Gail Hecky* Barb & Len Hedges-Goetti Leslie Hegamaster & Jerry Stansberry* Linda Heisner X Matthew Hennesey* David Herchik & Richard Looman X Fred Hertrich X Howard Hicks & Stephen Carey X Helen Hilderbrandt Barbara Hines & Nancy Froome X Howard C. Hines, MD X Karen Hinman Janel Hino & Patricia Ann Scully X Cynthia Hogue David Hogue & Michael Utasi Connie Holdridge* Robert Holloran & Ed Davis* Brad Holsinger & Ed Moore Mod Cottage* Chris Holt & Emory Bevill X Mollyne Honor & Shelley Garfield Larry Hooker X Penni Hope* James T. Hopkins X Elaine Horan & Debbie Sciallo X Frank Hornstein & Mark Henckel X James Hospital & Jack Fraker* Robert Hotes X Ellan Hylton Batya Hyman & Belinda Cross* Thomas Ingold X Chris Israel & John Stassi X Debbie Isser & Fran Leibowitz* Geoffrey Jackson & Will Delany X Fay Jacobs & Bonnie Quesenberry X Sharon Janis X Rich Snell X Steve Janosik X Kathy Jantzen & Debi Cunn Allen Jarmon & Ward Ellinger X Robert Jasinski* Mary Jenkins & Laura Reitman Susan Jimenez & Cathy Benson X Chip Johnson* Donna A. Johnson* Ken Johnson X Randi Johnson Tara Johnson Jim Johnston Richard Jolly & Charles Ingersoll X D. J. Jones*

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Gay Jones & Barb Bartels Glenn Jones X Sparky Jones Tom Jones X Wayne Juneau X Mick Kaczorowski X Darleen Kahl & Susan Poteet Bob Kaplan & Jeff Davis X Daphne Kaplan & Steve Scheffer* Sharon Kaplan & Pamela Everett* Kevin P. Kaporch X Amylynn Karnbach - One Day At A Time Gifts, LLC Anne Kazak & Chris Coburn X Peter Keeble & Tom Best Margaret Keefe* Alan Keffer* Donald Kelly* John Kelly & Randy Sutphin X Michael J. Kelly X Ann Kemper John Kennedy Rosemary Kerwin & C Robinson Hunter Kesmodel X Ned Kesmodel & Matt Gaffney X Tom Ketterman Marge Keyes & Julie Arenstein X C. David Kimmel* Charlotte King Spencer Kingswell X Daniel Kinsella* Jane Knaus & Cindy Myers Stephen Kopp John Kort & Hung Lai* Robert Kovalcik & Bob Howard X Myra Kramer & John Hammett* Marcia Kratz* Karen Kreiser & Beth Nevill* Kathleen Kress Kevin W. LaBarge X Adam Lamb & Eli Martinez Cheryl Landry & Lisa Corrado Peter Lanzaro & Frank Bodsford X Dr. Mathilda Laschenski & Dr. Kathleen Heacock X Ruth Lauver & Judy Wetzel* Kate Lavelle X Jim Lawrence & Bob Palandrani Charlie Lee X Nicholas Lee Jon Leeking & Dieulifete Jean* Sherry Leichman & Keith Snyder Kim Leisey & Kathy Solano Lisa Lekawa Jen Leonard & Claire McCracken Jill Leonard Marsha Levine & Susan Hamadock X Arlene & Ginny Levy-Balmforth Barbara Lilien* Cindy Lins & Diane Milam Duwayne Litz X Eleanor Lloyd & Celeste Beaupre Jonathan & Karlyn Lokken* Robert E. Long X Pat Loughlin* Cynthia Lowe & Rae von Doehren Debbie Lupton & Romana Dobbs Diane Lusk X P. Michael Lutz* Minda Lynch Becky Lyons & Ebie Hamrick X Wendy Maclay & Sheree Davis* Christopher Magaha* Joe Maggio X Loretta Mahan* Bernadette Maher & Cheryl Tarlecky* Jack Maher X Nancy Maihoff X Eddie Major X Bruce Majors X Harvey Manchester X Domenic Mannello X Stephanie Manos & Reber Whitner X

Anyda Marchant X Charles Marino & Alan Berman* Diane Markey & Randi Snader* Sharon Marquart Michelle Marsh & Barb Sann Colleen Martin Michele Martin & Rosalee Elson Norma Martin X Linda Martinak & Susan Baker Nan Martino & Patty Rickman* Joe Matassino & Tim Murray* Jason Darion Mathis Nancy Mathis John Matthews & Nick Polcini* Sarah Matthews Eric Matuszak X Lewis Maurer Linda Mazie & Terry Koff Donna McCabe & Mac Ignacio X Marcia McCollum Edward McCord Kathleen McCormick & Elizabeth Fish X Sean McDonald Mary McElhone & Nancy Kaiser X Sherri McGee & Kris Aulenbach Thomas McGlone X Kathleen McGrath Ellen McKeon & Kay Cummings* Joe McMahon X Joseph McNally & Terry Jones X Charlotte McNaughton Chuck McSweeney & Michael Clay X Jim & Bruce McVey-Back* Mary Medlock & Susan Russell Buck Melton X John Messick X Joseph & Thomas Michael-Ryan Alicia Mickenberg & Kathleen Fitzgerald* Jamie Middelton* Dr. Phyllis J. Mihalas X Melissa Milar* Alicia Miller & Shawn Noel* Bruce R. Miller & Dean D. LaVigne X Frank Miller X Marilyn K. Miller & Candice Zientek* Robin Miller Shelly Miller Todd A. Miller & Michele Frame X Trixie Miller Chris & Joann Miller-Marcin Doreen Millon Lee Wayne Mills X Stan Mills & Marcia Maldeis X Linda Miniscalco & Jeanne Drake* Martha Monell Andrea Monetti & Karen Petermann* Sue Monismith X Jamie Moore Teri Moore & Barb Kulbaba* Mary Morgan & Beth Fitton X Meg Morgan & Susan Lynham X Richard Morgante & Edward McHale* Bob Morris & James Weygandt Pearl Morris* Jack Morrison & Bob Dobbs* Rebecca Moscoso* Barry Moshinski & Robert Ponzini Andrew K. Moss & Richard Blevins X Donna Mulder & Denise Delesio* Brent Mundt X Joanie Murphy Marie Murray & Deb Ward X Robbin Murray & De Raynes* Cynthia Myers Kathleen Nagle & Susan Blazey Marta Nammack & Francis Murphy Marc Nasberg & Howard R. Nelson X Keith Neale X Cindy Necaise & Debbie Cole X David Nelson & William McManus X Lee Ann Nelson X

Darrell Netherton & Robert Wheeler X James Newkirk & Leon Wilkowsky* Janet Newkirk X Arletta Nicholl & Mary Anderson Scott Nickle Konrad Noebel, MCAT, LMT & Brian Cox* Teri Noel* James Nolan Janet Nosal Paul Nye & Jerry Hofer Chuck Oakes & Robert Dellanoce* Susan O’Brien* Terry O’Bryan & Jack Musser James O’Dell X Megan O’Donnell James O’Malley X Richard O’Malley X Missy Orlando & Patty Violini X Jeffrey & Lisa Osias X Kathy Osterholm Randy Overbaugh X Sharon Owens & Doreen Halbruner Sally Packard & Dinah Reath X Denise Page Richie Pagnotta X Bud Palmer X Fran Panzo Stephen Pape & Jerry Clark Fred Parham Emilie Paternoster & Monica Parr X Carol Patterson & Carol Hughes* Tim Patterson & Harvey Sharpe X Peggy Paul X Wesley & Connie Paulson* Lucille & Dan Payne Michelle Peeling & Wendy Adams* Caroline Pellicano & Jodi Foster Beverly Peltz* Roy Perdue X Al Perez & Gary Kraft* Susan Petersen & Luz Cruz Eric Peterson X Elizabeth Petitte & Erin Reid Bruce Pfeufer X PFLAG-Rehoboth Beach* Peggy Phillips & Norma McGrady* Frank Pileggi & Jon Blackman X Arleen Pinkos* Janice Pinto & Lori Swift* Terry Plowman X Jo Pokorny* Claire Pompei & Dolores Yurkovic* Mary Lu Pool Roni Posner X Sue Potts & Karen Kohn X Pat Powell* Renata Price & Yona Zucker* Timothy Price & Gerard Sealy X Glen C. Pruitt* Sarajane Quinn* Jean Rabian & Ralph Hackett X Elaine Raksis & Maxine Klane* Barb Ralph X Rob Ramoy X Bob & Mary Beth Ramsey X Linda Rancourt & M. Sue Sandmeyer* Lewis Rathbone* Nancy Ratner Carole Redman Janet Redman X Carolyn Redmon & Nancy Allen* Randy Reed X Rehoboth Art League* Peter S. Reichertz X Ken Reilly & Tony Ghigi X Virginia Reime & Gene Tadlock* Jeff Reinhart & Jack Miller* Patricia Remeis & Maureen Kane Thomas Resh & Jeffrey Meyers X Judith Retchin & Elyse Wander X Deborah Reuter & Deborah Bea* Sarah Reznek & Babette Pennay

Sandie Riddell & Eileen Siner* Marion Ridley & Mark Lundy X Linda Rikard & Mary Jo Tarallo Keith & John Riley-Spillane X Joel Robbins & Michael Linder X Sandra Robbins X William Robbins & Gary Ralph* Sandy Roberts X Rob Robertson & Carlos Taylor X Teri & Amy Robinson-Guy Craig Rocklin X Tim Rodden & Randy Clayton X John & Susan Roehmer* Jeanne Rogers* Roy Rollins X Lauren Romig X Debbie Ronemus & Peggy Sander* Ed Rose & Sandra Robbins X Michael Rose & David Le Sage Peter Rosenstein X Larry L. Ross X Ellen & Terry Roth Perreault X Barb Rowe X Ski Rowland & Gary Mosher X Joan Rubenstein X Mary K. Ryan* Steve Sage & Thom Swiger X Chris Sailer & Min Mancini Joe & Nancy Sakaduski* Margaret Salamon* Cindy Sanders & Donna Smith* Sanford & Doris Slavin Foundation X Kim Schilpp* Nancy Schindler & Eric Youngdale Michael Schlechter & Kevin Sharp X Lisa Schlosser & Sherri Brown Rosemarie Schmidt & Carolyn Horn X Sharon Schmitt* Holly Schneider & Linda Haake Jaime Schneider & Glenn Randall X Peter Schott & Jeffrey Davis* Carol Schwartz X Craig Schwartz & William Pullen X Mona Schwartz & Joanne Tramposch* Diane Schwarz Diane Scobey X John Scotti & Greg Landers* David Scuccimarra & Dorothy Fedorka* Clifton C. Seale & Charles A. Gilmore* Shirley Semple* Marj Shannon* Dale Sheldon & Pat Coluzzi X Banner Sheppard & Marlin Hubler Kelly Sheridan & Debra Quinton* Lynn Sheridan & Melissa Imbergamo David Sherman X George Shevlin & Jack Suwanlert* William Shively & TD Stanger Davis Short & Beverly Castner Francine Siedlecki Frank Silverio X Marc Silverman & John Campbell* Kelly Simon Ann Singleton & Twila McDonough Joanne Sinsheimer & Margaret Beatty* Sandra Skidmore X Ken Skrzesz X Jeffrey Slavin X Anne Smith & Lisa Taylor Carol Smith* Harlan Joe Smith & Dustin Abshire* Leonard Smith X Marty Smith & F. Price Connors Robert Smith Rosanne Smith & Brenda Butterfield* Shannon Smythe & Kevin Subers Claire & Mikki Snyder-Hall Continued on page 83

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Continued from page 80

Sandra Sommerfield & Cindy Scott X Sandy Souder - Unity of Rehoboth Beach* Lynda Sowbel Stephanie Specht Jim Spellman X Lorraine Stanish & Beverly Miller* Christy Steer X Frank Sterner X Shelley Stevens & Joanne Locke Lisa Stewart X Libby Stiff & Bea Wagner X Milindi Stifler Allison Stine & Pete Jamieson* Terry Stinson* Tracy Stith & Laura McCarthy Dr. Frederick C. Stoner * Michael Stover* Christine Strauss X Lois Strauss X Trish Sullivan & Sandy Hudson Jill Sungenis & Nicole Bano John Swift & Ron Bowman X Melanie Szvitich Gail Tannenbaum & Wendy Walker* Ronald Tate & Jacob Schiavo X Suzie & Robert Taylor - In Memory of Richard Bonnet Micaela Tedford X Martin Thaler David Thomas & David Tiburzio X The Hon. Henry E. Thomas IV & John-Kevin Litschgi X Thomas Tibbetts X Otto F. Tidwell X Cassandra Toroian X Manny Tortosa X Steve Touzell & Marshall Scott Beadle Cheryll & Bill Trefzger* Carol Trenga & Cheryl Harding Steve Triglia X Roz Troupin & Mary Harris X Patricia Truitt* Abby Tschoepe & Pat Dunn* Matt Turlinski & Jerry Sipes X Ed Turner & Steve Baker X Judy Twell & Cheri Himmelheber Bruce Uliss X Thomas Urban & Marc Samuels* Donna Valla Debra Van Dyke* Jennifer Varone V. James Villareale & Dale Ebert* Gail Vitale & Carmen Garrett Beverly Vogt & Waneeta Mack X Patrick Wadsworth & Mike Converse X Scott Wagner & John Sohonage* Eric Wahl & Eric Coverdale Marianne Walch X Jennifer Walker & Mary Ann Veitch X Paula Walker & Gayle Dumonceaux David Wall & Robert Houck* Kenneth E. Walz & Robert G. Ward, Jr. X Garold Wampler X Michael E. Ward X Robert Warmkessel X Jack Warren* Sharyn Warwick X Ellen Watkins X Troy Watson & Dennis Wolfgang* Barbara Weatherly Debbie Webber & Terry McQuaid* Kathy Weir & Lynn Finaldi* West Side New Beginnings Donna West Gary West & Jay Seitz - In Memory of Richard Pagnotta Patricia West Carl R. Wetzel X

Liz Wheeler & Ruth Morse X Steve White & Wayne Williamson X Thomas White & Robert Freeman X Kurt Wibbens Phil & Stephanie Wikes* Steven Wildasin Keith Wilkinson X Diane & Ken Williams Edward Williams* Jim Williams* Rich Williams X Kelly Williamson & J Ellis Lynne Wilmer & Jeannie Marsh Donna L. Wilson & Laurie R. Levin X Lynn Wilson* Patricia Wojnas David Wolanski* Max Wolf X Carol Woodcock & Carol Lewis* Cody Woodfin & Rich Morgan Michael Wray Robert B. Wright X Marjorie Wuestner & Catherine Balsley* Janet Yabroff Alexander G. Yearley X James E. Yiaski X Linda Yingst* Jay York Vickie York X Sheila & Tim Young James Zeigler & In Memory of Sam Deetz* Carol Zelenkowski* Lorraine Zellers Phyllis Zwarych & Sheila Chlanda*

CAMP REHOBOTH MEMBERSHIP Join today to support our mission!

RAINBOW MEMBERS RECEIVE:

• Basic Membership Package - Advance ticket sales to CAMP Rehoboth events - Recognition in Letters from CAMP Rehoboth - Rainbow level colored Member window cling(s) - Weekly “What’s Happening at CAMP” email • Discount on CAMP Rehoboth Event Tickets for Levels Green and above (as noted) • Free Health Screenings, Counseling Services, and Support Groups • Youth, Adult and Senior Programs, Services and Outreach • The satisfaction of knowing you are helping others!

PAY ANNUALLY or MONTHLY ☐

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Basic + 15% ticket discount X Founders’ Circle 10+ years * Members five years or more

☐

☐ $600 annual or ☐ $50 monthly GREEN LEVEL Basic + 10% ticket discount

Names in bold are new or upgraded members as of March 18, 2022

☐

YELLOW LEVEL

☐ $300 annual or ☐ $25 monthly

Founders’ Circle designation has been added to our Membership roster. Please send kudos, questions, or listing updates to membership@ camprehoboth.com.

☐

ORANGE LEVEL

☐ $180 annual or ☐ $15 monthly

☐

RED BASIC

☐ $50 annual or

NAME

☐ Basic Dual/Family, $85 annual PARTNER/SPOUSE NAME

ADDRESS CITY

STATE

EMAIL 1

CELL 1

EMAIL 2

CELL 2

ZIP

HOME PHONE

☐ Enclosed is my check payable to CAMP Rehoboth for the full annual amount. ☐ Please charge my Recurring Monthly or Annual Membership fee to: CREDIT CARD NUMBER

VALIDATION CODE

SIGNATURE

EXP. DATE

DATE

CORPORATE MATCHING GIFT COMPANY NAME

CONTACT PERSON NAME

EMAIL

PHONE NUMBER

EXPECTED FUNDS DELIVERY DATE(s)

AMOUNT

RATHER JOIN ONLINE? Go to camprehoboth.com/membership Call 302-227-5620 or visit us at 37 Baltimore Avenue.

APRIL 1, 2022

83 Letters

The reviews are in!

“My husband and I were very pleased with your clear and informative webinar.” ~Robert M. “Thank you for the information session.

It was well presented and I learned a lot.” ~S.N.

There’s No Place Like Home For over 22 years, Springpoint Choice has enabled others like you to safely and comfortably remain in their home and age in place. This membership-based program is for healthy, active adults, ages 55 and older, who want to plan for their future.

With Springpoint Choice, you can: • Plan for long-term care so you can remain in your own home as long as possible • Avoid being a burden to your loved ones regarding your long-term care needs • Access quality long-term care and advocacy, if ever needed • Preserve and protect your financial assets

Maintain Your Independence & Secure Your Future

&

DINE DISCOVER SPRINGPOINT CHOICE

Lunch is on us!

• Thursday, April 21 Lewes Yacht Club 2701 Cedar Street, Lewes, DE 19958 RSVP today to 866-616-3084 or springpointchoice.org/rsvp-delaware.

Call now! Seating is limited.

17028 Cadbury Circle, Lewes, DE 19958 • springpointchoice.org Letters 84

APRIL 1, 2022

Giving back is my way of saying “Thank you.”

George Bunting Jr, Agent 19716 Sea Air Ave #1 Rehoboth Beach, DE 19971 Bus: 302-227-3891 george@gbunting.com

1211006

We’re all in this together.

State Farm® has a long tradition of being there. That’s one reason why I’m proud to support Camp Rehoboth.

Get to a better State®.

State Farm, Bloomington, IL

Follow the Eccentric Escapades of Dick and James Fun with Dick and James

An AwardWinning Book by Rich Barnett

Rich Barnett

Includes drink recipes!

Look for it at Browseabout Books and One Day at a Time Gift Shop APRIL 1, 2022

85 Letters

More CAMP News Continued from page 10

Lesbian Visibility Day

CROP Biscuit Bakers & Toy Makers!

pril 26 is Lesbian Visibility Day. CAMP Rehoboth is proud to create spaces and events for LGBTQ women to live authentically and be who they are. Whether it be annual events like Women’s FEST or regular programs like Women in Circle, Coffee Talk, or Lesbian Widows Network, CAMP is committed to being intentional and promoting visibility for lesbians in the community. ▼

CROP (CAMP Rehoboth Outreach Program) volunteers are among those who love pets! In February, they stepped up to help the Brandywine SPCA and the furry friends in their care.

The first step—identify as dog or cat lover (although many love both!). Then teams of volunteers got busy either baking dog biscuits or making cat toys destined for the residents at Brandywine SPCA in Georgetown.

Easy biscuit recipes and instructions were found on Brandywine's website, and the final products passed all taste tests.

Cat toy makers cut felt and followed instructions by Martha Stewart. Even the cats liked the toys!

A whole lot of healthy biscuits in various sizes and many dangling cat toys were nicely packaged and delivered to Brandywine SPCA on February 25 and 26.

It was a fun project for the cold month of February. Thanks to CROP volunteers, the lives of some Brandywine pups and kitties will be made more enjoyable while they await their forever homes. ▼ Sue Goudy pictured at right.

A

— FUN FACT — The “L” in the acronym “LGBTQ” is placed first because of the exemplary example lesbians set— and the help they provided—to the community during the AIDS Crisis.

[

Pop the Question [

Why are you excited for Women’s FEST this year? Why do you volunteer for the FEST? Connecting with the community and other women—other humans. ... [ . . .

To once again meet new women and enjoy the sports activities and shows. ... [ ...

LISA SOENS

RINA PELLEGRINI

To come together for a weekend of music, dancing, laughing, learning, shopping, golf, walking, meeting old and making new friends, and enjoying cocktails at the beach. ... [ ...

SHARON MARQUART

To work with people I haven’t seen in a while and to meet new people. ... [ ...

PEGGY HUGHES

To help make this year more intentionally and strategically accessible and inclusive for all attendees. . . . [ ...

HOPE VELLA

WOMEN EMPOWERING WOMEN CREATES SUCH A GREAT VIBE! ... [ ...

TERI SEATON

Letters 86

APRIL 1, 2022

just do it for our KIDS!

Monday, May 23, 2022

at The Peninsula on the Indian River Bay 32981 Peninsula Esp., Millsboro, DE 19966

GOLFER AMENITIES

• Complimentary Bloody Mary and Orange Crush Bar • Boxed Lunch • On-course Refreshments • On-Course Games and Prizes • Dinner Buffet • Silent/Virtual Auction

REGISTRATION

SCHEDULE 10am - 11:45am: Registration and driving range open, Bloody Mary and orange crush station, boxed lunch pick up.

12 NOON: Shotgun Start!

Dinner and Silent Auction after your 18th hole!

• Single Golfer: $250 • Foursome: $1,000

No rain date. No handicaps or indexes.

No jeans on the course. No golf shoes in the clubhouse.

The mission of Children's Beach House is to help our children to be successful in life.

With a focus on positive youth development, we engage youth within their communities, schools, organizations, peer groups, and families in a manner that is productive and constructive; recognize, utilize, and enhance youth's strengths; and promote positive outcomes for young people by providing opportunities, fostering positive relationships and furnishing the support needed to build on their leadership strengths. To learn more about Children’s Beach House, please visit www.cbhinc.org ww

Special thanks to our Advertising Sponsor

APRIL 1, 2022

87 Letters

BEEBE HEALTHCARE,

The Premier Healthcare Facility in Sussex County Beebe Healthcare has become the premier healthcare facility in Sussex County, serving a thriving beach and vacation resort area and a growing year-round population.

For a complete listing of all Beebe job openings, please visit our website

www.beebehealthcare.org

Attracting and retaining the best healthcare professionals is Beebe Healthcare’s top priority.

We offer an excellent patient-focused environment, exciting career opportunities, and leading-edge technology with supportive, progressive leadership.

Joining Beebe Healthcare means joining an exciting healthcare team that is deeply committed to the community. Our customer-service focus is recognized on a daily basis through our patient satisfaction surveys. Our clinical expertise strives to surpass patient expectations.

A variety of work/pay options are designed to meet the needs of team members, including: • Flexible schedules and shifts available based on the needs of the department • Full-time/comprehensive benefits • Part-time/pro-rated benefits • Per diem incentive plan • Competitive shift differential Join us now to take advantage of our excellent benefits and compensation package.

Beebe Healthcare is committed to hiring qualified professionals who provide the best patient care in the region.

EOE | 424 Savannah Rd, Lewes, DE 19958 | www.facebook.com/beebecareers Letters 88

APRIL 1, 2022

“The probate fee on my mom’s estate was $3,750.

I want a different story.”

If you’re curious about how to avoid the fees, lengthy timeline and publicity of probate, we can help.

Estate Planning · Elder Law · Estate & Trust Administration w w w. p w w l a w. c o m 3 0 2 . 6 2 8. 4 14 0

APRIL 1, 2022

89 Letters

Celebrity Interview

BY CHRIS AZZOPARDI

Power and the Tiger King

W

hat could Joe “Tiger King” Exotic and fictional genderqueer arthouse punk-rocker Hedwig Robinson possibly have in common? John Cameron Mitchell.

And so, the Farrah Fawcett wig comes off the 58-year-old actor who created Hedwig and brought her Off-Broadway in 1998, before Hedwig and the Angry Inch became a cult indie film three years later, in 2001. Instead, to portray the wildly controversial and buzzy gay subject of the Netflix docuseries Tiger King for the new Peacock series Joe vs. Carole, Mitchell’s rocking a “Bring Me Some Water”-era Melissa Etheridge mullet.

In this eight-episode dramatization of Exotic’s ludicrous run as the Oklahoma zookeeper infamous for his plot to kill animal rights activist Carole Baskin (played here by Kate McKinnon), Mitchell slips out of Hedwig’s heels and into Joe’s cowboy boots. (Exotic is currently serving a 21-year prison sentence for hiring two men to kill Baskin.) The purely scandalous story told in the Netflix series is still scandalous—how could it not be?—but with a humanizing bent to it. You might even find yourself liking the guy.

From his apartment in New York, Mitchell, who recently came out as non-binary, spoke about his role as Joe Exotic.

CHRIS AZZOPARDI: I’ve followed your career for a long time, and being this indie art guy, a lead role in a Peacock series must feel like a big moment.

JOHN CAMERON MITCHELL: I’m old enough to know that it comes and goes. I was able to buy a house for the first time.

I’ve always kept my overhead low. And I was like, well, I’m getting older. And so this came along and it was a dream job. I loved everybody. I had a great time. They took my input. Kate’s amazing. Etan [Frankel], the showrunner, is amazing. And we shot in Australia, which was very fun and comfortable at the time. I had more fun acting in this on screen than in Hedwig because I had too much responsibility in Hedwig.

CA: Wait, so Joe vs. Carole allowed you to buy the house?

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APRIL 1, 2022

JCM: Yes. It’s called money, baby. It’s a mainstream thing. I’m considering another job right now, whether I want to commit to a multiyear thing, but we’ll see. Nice to have options. I’m working on another fictional podcast, which is very fun. This one’s more zany and of-the-moment. And I’m also working on a TV series. Pitching a musical TV series. And continuing touring here and there with my concerts.

CA: With Joe vs. Carole, I think it’s important to acknowledge that you and Kate, two queer icons, are at the center of this story. There’s something very special about that for me.

JCM: I wish we had more to do because we really hit it off and I’m writing her something now I hope she’ll do. Kate and I both obviously have strong opinions about our characters and about humor and about how the characters should be played. Because we’re not really doing the real people; we’re doing an interpretation of them. She’s much funnier than the real Carole. I’m adding my own things to it. It’s maybe 50 percent the real people and 50 percent what we’re bringing to it.

CA: Did you recognize that the series’ queerness would extend to its direction, as well, before you signed on?

JCM: I didn’t really know about the way it was shooting. Justin Tipping, one of the directors, came up with the way it’s shot. It has certain homages to the Coen

brothers, to Danny Boyle, to Hedwig even. It’s highly artificial until it gets real.

And that’s how their lives seem. They’re sui generis people. They came from trauma, but they triumphed and created their own kingdoms. But then got corrupted by that power, I think. Joe and Carole could have been buddies. Kate and I even had an improv where we just started making out in a dream sequence. It was improvised. They didn’t keep it in and they won’t let me put it on my Instagram because a lesbian’s kissing a gay man and that’s wrong. Seems right to me.

CA: Seems very right to me.

JCM: Yes. Well, I’ll just have to make it happen in another project.

CA: The one that you’re writing for Kate?

JCM: That’s for a podcast. We’ll still kiss on the podcast.

CA: I was thinking about the physicality of Joe, because there’s a lot going on here. And none of it is really you. And that includes the wig, the facial hair, of which you have none, the jewelry, the tats and the shiny tiger print shirts. What piece really helped you transform into Joe? JCM: A cowboy boot with a heel gives you something, a way of walking. All of it together felt like drag, felt like armor. So when I get into the wig and the makeup and the costumes, it’s the same as Hedwig. And in fact, the characters have a lot in common. They’re both misfits who create their own world to survive it and lash out at people because of their early trauma. Lord over people. Hedwig breaks that cycle. Joe doesn’t.

CA: Watching you I was like, “Oh yeah, this is like dressing up as Hedwig.”

JCM: I felt like a drag king. I felt like a lesbian identified gay man. The Melissa Etheridge mullet and all. ▼ Chris Azzopardi is the Editorial Director of Pride Source Media Group and Q Syndicate, the national LGBTQ+ wire service. His work has appeared in the New York Times, Vanity Fair, GQ, and Billboard. Reach him via Twitter @ chrisazzopardi.

APRIL 1, 2022

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Cool It! Welcome to the Dog Days Seasons in The Sun

2019 10 July 26, 29, Number Volume oboth.com campreh

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C R E A T I N G ment That’s Entertain A Passion for Play Taking Dance Tradition for a Twirl

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August 9, 2019 Volume 29, Number 11 camprehoboth.com

June 28, 2019 8 Volume 29, Number m camprehoboth.co

Advertising in Letters from CAMP Rehoboth pays off.

CALL TRICIA MASSELLA AT 302-227-5620 or email ads@camprehoboth.com for more information!

Letters 92

APRIL 1, 2022

Fourth-Page-V

CROSSWORD PUZZLE SOLUTION (puzzle on page 62)

Subscribe today.

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CAMP Rehoboth Volunteer Opportunities

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Local Heroes RB Candidate Forum (We Could Be) Heroes P O S I T I V E

Don’t miss a thing.

13 issues of LETTERS from CAMP Rehoboth by first class mail.

R E H O B O T H

July 26, 2019 Volume 29, Number 10 campreho both.com

WOMEN’S FEST 2022 VOLUNTEERS Volunteers needed for help at one or more of the over 30 events taking place during Women’s FEST, April 7-10.

CAMPCIERGES Volunteers needed to greet guests, answer phones, and perform other administrative tasks in the Community Center. Please email matty@ camprehoboth.com if interested.

YOUR NAME

CAMPSHOTS PHOTOGRAPHERS We are looking for photographers for Letters CAMPshots. Volunteers may use their camera or iPhone, or may sign out the CAMP Rehoboth office camera. More guidelines for photos will be shared with interested volunteers.

PARTNER’S NAME ( IF APPLICABLE)

STREET MAILING ADDRESS

CITY, STATE, ZIP

☐ YES ☐ NO PHONE

IS THIS A RENEWAL?

Send your check for $40 to CAMP Rehoboth, 37 Baltimore Ave., Rehoboth Beach, DE 19971. If you prefer to use your Visa, MasterCard or American Express call 302-227-5620.

Your volunteer efforts benefit you and others.

— PLEASE VISIT — camprehoboth.com/volunteers to register as a volunteer and to sign up for available opportunities.

thank you AARP TAX PREP GREETERS

Doug Sellers Hannah Simone ARTS TEAM

Jane Knaus Lois Powell Leslie Sinclair Tiffany Smith Patricia Stiles Debbie Woods CAMP ATTIC CLEANUP CREW

Mark Bianco Margaret Tobin

CAMP COMMUNITY CENTER

Ann Evans Natalie Moss Sandra Skidmore Alan Spiegelman CAMP LIBRARY

Glenn Lash Kim Nelson

CAMP MAINTENANCE

Eric Korpon

CAMPCIERGES

Barbara Breault Max Dick Lynn Eisner Ron Gluck Jim Mease Kim Nelson Pat Powell Kathy Solano Patricia Stiles Russell Stiles Joe Vescio CAMPSHOTS PHOTO VOLUNTEERS

Tony Burns David Camorali David Garrett Laura Reitman Patricia Stiles

CHORUS LEADERSHIP COMMITTEE

Matt Brown Bill Fuchs Dianna Johnston Dave Minges

Judy Olsen Dave Scuccimarra Sandra Skidmore

CROP AT THE FOOD BANK

Max Dick Mark Eubanks Peter Gulas Chip Logan Jill Masterman Jim Mease Doug Sellers Dave Walker

CROP BISCUIT BAKERS & TOY MAKERS

Theo Braver Carol Brice Barb Butta Brian Cox Karen DeSantis Mary Gilligan Robert Gotwalt Sue Goudy Susan Hamadock Karen Laitman Kim Nelson

to all the CAMP Rehoboth Community Center volunteers for the period: Feb. 18 - Mar. 18, 2022

Lori Simmons Leslie Sinclair Debbie Woods George Yaksic

Russell Stiles Linda Yingst

Dr. Michele Warch Nancy Wester

GRANTS COMMITTEE

MEMBERSHIP TEAM

Jane Blue Ann Evans

WOMEN’S FEST COMMITTEE AND PLANNING VOLUNTEERS

Leslie Calman Kate Cauley David Garrett John Roane Leslie Sinclair

LETTERS ARCHIVIST

Ronald Dempsey

LETTERS DISTRIBUTION TEAM

Lauren Dobey Mary Ellen Mannion Jim Mease Jennifer Rubenstein Kim Schlipp LETTERS MAILING TEAM

David Hagelin Nancy Hewish Grant Kingswell Vicki Martina Stephen Palmer

VOLUNTEER DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE

Chris Beagle Karen Laitman Jim Mease Rina Pellegrini Leslie Sinclair John Michael Sophos Debbie Woods WOMEN’S FEST ACCESSIBILITY TEAM VOLUNTEERS

Shay Almond Ang Almond Barbara Clipper Jan Di Modugno Patty Di Modugno Laura Jednorski Hope Vella Rein Vincent

Pat Catanzariti Dottie Cirelli Helene Guilfoy Nancy Hewish Peggy Hughes Fay Jacobs Kathy Lehmann Sharon Marquart Teri Seaton Hannah Simone Devon Singer Kim Smitas Lisa Soens Hope Vella Bea Vuocolo

WOMEN’S FEST RAFFLE TICKET SELLERS

Nancy Comisso David Garrett Peggy Hughes Sharon Marquart Rina Pellegrini

WOMEN’S FEST SPORTS TEAM VOLUNTEERS

Connie Fox Sandra Oropel Rina Pellegrini Mary Rossettini

WOMEN’S FEST T-SHIRT FOLDING PARTY

Deb Reed Bricker Sharon Marquart Loretta Ross Ali Scottin Lisa Soens Hope Vella

APRIL 1, 2022

93 Letters

AD INDEX 1776 Steakhouse....................................................... 29 Accent On Travel........................................................ 21 AG Renovations.......................................................... 37 All Saints’ Church....................................................... 19 Aqua Bar & Grill.......................................................... 43 Atlantic Jewelry.......................................................... 27 Beebe Healthcare...................................................... 75 Beebe Healthcare Career Opportunities................... 88 Brandywine Urology Consultants..................................7 Brandywine Valley SPCA............................................ 51 bsd.............................................................................. 82 Café Azafrán............................................................... 41 CAMP Chorus The Great American Song Book.......... 69 CAMP Rehoboth Broadwalk....................................... 13 CAMP Rehoboth Letters Subscription........................ 93 CAMP Rehoboth Premier Sponsors..............................8 CAMP Rehoboth Women’s FEST................................. 11 Caroline Huff, Artist.................................................... 15 Cat & Mouse Publishing............................................. 85 Chesapeake & Maine................................................. 19 Children’s Beach House Charity Golf Event............... 87 Chris Beagle Group, Realtors..................................... 23 Coho’s Market & Grill.................................................. 23 Country Lawn Care..................................................... 94 County Bank............................................................... 37 Delaware Community Foundation............................. 73 Delaware Hospice...................................................... 71

Letters 94 APRIL 1, 2022

Delaware Humane Association.................................. 79 Delaware Pride........................................................... 91 Donna Whiteside, Realtor.......................................... 10 Fifth Avenue Jewelers................................................ 34 Freddie’s Beach Bar & Restaurant............................. 95 Gay Women’s Meet Up............................................... 74 Go Fish Go Brit........................................................... 89 God’s Greyts Senior Greyhounds............................... 74 Harbour Waterfront Dining......................................... 34 Hugh Fuller, Realtor.................................................... 46 Immanuel Shelter....................................................... 74 Jack Lingo, Real Estate.............................................. 63 Jenn Harpel, Morgan Stanley........................................9 Jolly Trolley................................................................ 79 Just In Thyme Restaurant........................................... 79 Lana Warfield, Realtor................................................ 15 Lee Ann Wilkinson Group, Realtors............................ 61 Lori’s Café.................................................................. 31 Maplewood Dental Associates................................... 71 Mary Beth Brubeck, R.N............................................. 37 McWilliams Ballard Real Estate.................................. 39 MERR Institute............................................................ 62 Milton Theatre............................................................ 77 New Wave Spas.......................................................... 45 Olivia Travel................................................................ 17 Patterson Schwartz Real Estate................................. 55 Port 251..................................................................... 65

Purple Parrot.............................................................. 47 PWW Law.................................................................... 89 Randy Mason/Shirley Kalvinsky, Realtors.................. 29 Rehoboth Beach Bears............................................... 81 Rehoboth Beach Dental............................................. 34 Rehoboth Beach Museum.......................................... 62 Rehoboth Guest House.............................................. 71 Saved Souls Animal Rescue....................................... 85 Sea Bova Associates, Realtors................................... 96 Shorebreak Lodge Restaurant................................... 74 Springpoint Choice..................................................... 84 State Farm - George Bunting..................................... 85 State Farm - Jeanine O’Donnell/Eric Blondin............. 37 Sussex Family YMCA.................................................. 45 The Lawson Firm........................................................ 71 The Lodge at Truitt Homestead.................................. 29 The Pines.................................................................... 33 The Warren Group, Realtors....................................... 35 Time to Heal Counseling & Consulting...................... 68 Troy Roberts, Realtor.................................................. 19 True Blue Jazz...................................................... 52, 53 Unfinished Business................................................... 89 Village Volunteers...................................................... 64 Volunteer Opportunities............................................. 93 Volunteer Thank You.................................................. 93 Windsor’s Flowers...................................................... 79

APRIL 1, 2022

95 Letters

LINDA BOVA

BRIDGET BAUER

BROKER-ABR®

ASSOC. BROKER-REALTOR®

CELL

CELL

302-542-4197

302-245-0577

HOLLY OAK - Lewes. New Construction – Summer Delivery!!!

3BR/2BA home is a 1,506 sq. ft. one-level rancher with an oversized 2-car garage. Open concept floor plan. Great room opens to the kitchen and dining area. There is also a sliding glass door leading out to the big 12’x16’ deck.

Main bedroom suite has a walk-in closet & elegant bath with a 5’x4’ tiled “curbless” shower. Split bedroom plan with a tub/shower in 2nd bath.

Bamboo floors. Stainless steel kitchen appliances.

W&D included. Low HOA. $449,900 (2016730)

*A/C

WHISPERING PINES - Lewes. 1983 2BR/2BA w/ large deck. Living room has a tip-out for +1,000 sq. ft. Part furnished. Pool. 4 miles to beach. $55,000 (2016730) Lot Rent $695/mt.

NEW PRICE

LOVE CREEK PARK Lewes. Marina community.

12’x56’ 1972 2BR/1BA w/ 3season room. Fenced yard.

Big shed. 6 miles to beach. $51,800 (2010028) Lot Rent

$575/mt. includes H20 & sewer.

REHOBOTH BAY - Rehoboth.

Waterview of White Oak Creek out to the Bay. 1986 3BR/2BA w/VinylTech porch.

Part Furn. Pool. Marina. 6.5 miles to beach. $165,000

ANGOLA BEACH - Lewes.

1981 2BR/1.5BA w/screened porch & sun room addition.

Newer heater. Central AC. Marine community. 2 pools $49,900 (2016684) Lot Rent

(2016730) Lot Rent $750/mt.

$649/mt. includes water & sewer

FIELDWOOD - Rehoboth.

Cleared 0.31-acre lot already has a well, sewer connection & electric service. East of Hwy 1 & near State Park hike/bike trail. 4 miles to the boardwalk & beach. $250,000 (2017644)

~ CALL ~ REALTOR ®

302-260-2080 cell email

luz_escobar2000@yahoo.com

(2018480) Lot Rent $810/mt.

MULBERRY KNOLL - Lewes. 3BR/2BA rancher is located in a marina community. Approximately 26 slips are on an as-available basis ($450/season). There’s also a boat ramp to launch your watercrafts. The waterway is at the head of Love Creek out to the Rehoboth Bay. 1,540 sq. ft. *A/C w/1-car garage. Compact eat-in kitchen. Living room w/ vaulted ceilings.

Generously-sized main bedroom suite. And the other 2 bedrooms are also large. 1/3-acre corner lot. Public sewer coming. HOA $150/yr. $359,867 (2015946)

*A/C

LUZ ESCOBAR

CAMELOT MEADOWS Rehoboth. 1979 2BR/2BA w/sun room. Nice interior upgrades. Newer HVAC. Part furn. 3.5 miles to beach.

Community pool. $79,900

CAMELOT MEADOWS - Rehoboth Beach. 1988 2BR/2BA doublewide has a 2-car carport to keep your “rides” clean. Composite Trex-style front deck. Living room, den & Florida room. Dining area adjoins the kitchen. community pool. 3 miles to beach & boardwalk. $169,000 (2013896) Lot Rent $810/mt. SE HABLA ESPAÑOL

Welcome Our New Agent ~ PAMELA SCHAEFER ~ 302-388-8299 cell PMS1530@aol.com

THIS SPOT IS RESERVED FOR YOUR HOME ~ LIST WITH US IN 2022

20250 Coastal Highway - Suite 3, Rehoboth Beach, DE 19971  302-227-1222 office www.SEABOVA.com 

EMAIL

– RealEstate@SEABOVA.com

Office Independently Owned & Operated by SBA, Inc. Prices, promotions & availability subject to change without notice. * “A/C” Active/Under Contract -- Accepting Back-Up Offers