Letters from CAMP Rehoboth, Vol. 33, No. 3

CREATING A MORE POSITIVE REHOBOTH

Women’s FEST! Superheroes Among Us One Earth, One Health

April 21, 2023

Volume 33, Number 3 camprehoboth.com

Letters from CAMP Rehoboth 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.

Marj Shannon

EDITORIAL ASSOCIATE Matty Brown

DESIGN AND LAYOUT Mary Beth Ramsey

ADVERTISING SALES MANAGER Tricia Massella Mark Wolf

Ann Aptaker, Rich Barnett, Matty Brown, Ed Castelli, Pattie Cinelli, Wes Combs, Michael Cook, Robert Dominic, Clarence Fluker, Michael Thomas Ford, JuneRose Futcher, David Garrett, Michael Gilles, Fay Jacobs, Tom Kelch, Tricia Massella, Sharon Morgan, Eric Peterson, Mary Beth Ramsey, Richard Rosendall, Nancy Sakaduski, Terri Schlichenmeyer, Olivia Segeda, Marj Shannon, Beth Shockley, Leslie Sinclair, Mary Jo Tarallo, Eric Wahl, Debbie Woods

Letters from CAMP Rehoboth is published 11 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.

© 2023 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.

Walk in Bruges” by Geri Dibiase. See page 78.

CAMP REHOBOTH MISSION STATEMENT AND PURPOSE

MISSION

CAMP Rehoboth, which stands for (Creating A More Positive) Rehoboth, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit LGBTQ+ community service organization. It is the largest and only organization of its type serving the needs of LGBTQ+ people in Rehoboth, greater Sussex County, and throughout the state of Delaware.

CAMP Rehoboth is dedicated to creating a positive environment inclusive of all sexual orientations and gender identities in Rehoboth Beach and its related communities. It seeks to promote cooperation and understanding among all people as they 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.

From the Editor

BY MARJ SHANNON, EDITOR

First off—anyone reading who is in town for Women’s FEST 2023—welcome! We are so glad you’re here—and glad you’re browsing a copy of Letters from CAMP Rehoboth. Of course, we’re delighted all our readers are browsing Letters—we treasure our regular readers even as we give a shout out to the perhaps-more-seasonal ones.

We have lots of Women’s FEST-related content for all our readers to enjoy. See Nancy Sakaduski’s Women’s FEST day-to-day (really, hour-to-hour) for a quick guide to what’s happening where and when. She’s planning to pack a good deal into her long weekend; maybe you will, too? And Beth Shockley offers a broader perspective, noting the importance of women’s spaces (Women’s FEST being one) and the joy she’s found occupying them over the years.

One special space you’ll want to occupy: the CAMP Rehoboth Community Center gallery, where FEST ART 2023! comprises the 44 artworks selected for this juried exhibit. Want to meet some of the artists whose work fills the gallery? There’s an artists’ reception on April 28, 3:00-5:00 p.m. Please stop by!

We’re honoring superheroes this issue—April 28 is National Superheroes Day— and our cover kind of says it all: Karen Laitman represents all the superheroes who worked to conceive, plan, organize, and produce FEST. Thanks to all those wonderful folks who wielded their respective superpowers to make it happen.

Our LGBTQ+ YA columnist this month, Olivia Segeda, offers some thoughts on what it’s like to be an almost-inadvertent superhero. Like when you find yourself performing in a high school musical—in drag—just as some states are outlawing that very thing.

Also in April—Earth Day. Landscape architect Eric Wahl has something to say about what Mother Nature is telling us—or trying to, anyway. Sharon Morgan introduces us to the One Earth concept (and initiative) in her health and wellness column. Rachel Carson is pretty much synonymous with nature; Nancy Sakaduski offers some insights into her life and work.

Speaking of nature…spring lures many of us outdoors. Mary Jo Tarallo has some ideas about what we might do when we get there (golf? softball?), and JR Futcher suggests some kite-flying might be just the thing.

PRESIDENT Wesley Combs

VICE PRESIDENT Leslie Ledogar

SECRETARY Mike DeFlavia

TREASURER Jenn Harpel

AT-LARGE DIRECTORS

Amanda Mahony Albanese, Pat Catanzariti, Lewis Dawley, Lisa Evans (non-voting), David Garrett, Teri Seaton, and Jason D. White

CAMP REHOBOTH

37 Baltimore Avenue, Rehoboth Beach, DE 19971

tel 302-227-5620 | email editor@camprehoboth.com www.camprehoboth.com

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.

CAMP Rehoboth has some big news of its own, this issue—see Matty Brown’s How “Suite” It Is to learn about the HIV testing and counseling program’s new digs. It’s a great space for this core program’s providers and clients. More on health and wellness—a quick guide to Medicare services available to transgender adults. Take a look; you might be surprised….

So—find yourself a comfy spot, sip one of those daiquiris Rich Barnett writes about, and page through this issue. We think you’ll find lots to enjoy.

Drag Is Not a Crime

On March 22, CAMP Rehoboth issued a statement on the growing anti-drag legislation manifesting in many states across America. Estimates point to at least 26 bills introduced in 14 states—including Tennessee, Kentucky, and Texas— that target drag events. The proposed bills aim to restrict drag as “adult cabaret” performances and ban them altogether from public spaces with the intention to protect minors. Earlier this month, Tennessee’s Governor Bill Lee signed the legislation into law; it took effect on April 1, and offenders will be charged with misdemeanors for first offenses, and felonies for any subsequent offenses. According to the ACLU, there are many states with similar legislation close behind.

These laws join the larger movement taking aim at LGBTQ+ rights, especially those of transgender and nonbinary individuals and disproportionately youth. Examples of other recent bills advancing in state legislatures include efforts to exclude transgender girls from youth sports, to prohibit access for transgender folks to public facilities like restrooms, and—alarmingly—to prevent gender-affirming healthcare for trans youth.

CAMP Rehoboth invited local show hosts to share their perspectives on the issue. Roxy Overbrooke offers a salient call to action: “To our allies out there, I want to remind you: while you enjoy our shows and want to come and have a good time, remember those who provided those good times...and speak up.”

Mona Lotts, show host at the Top of the Pines, gets personal: “I can remember as a young man coming out of gay bars—when I was in the closet—and being afraid that someone was going to attack me. But those days are over. I’m out, I’m proud, and you should be too.”

For the full CAMP Rehoboth statement and videos with Roxy and Mona’s responses, visit camprehoboth.com. ▼

Women’s FEST Weekend is Here

The time has come! Women’s FEST weekend will kick off Thursday, April 27, and will bring fun, entertainment, spring, and tradition to the Rehoboth Beach area. CAMP Rehoboth invites readers to welcome the hundreds of attendees to the beach! Plus, be sure to check out Nancy Sakaduski’s column on page 10 for the Women’s FEST scoop.

Gracing the cover for this issue is Karen Laitman, co-chair of this year’s Women’s FEST, representing all the “superhero” volunteers who made the festivities possible. ▼

Looking for Letters

Even people who don’t know they’re looking for Letters will soon be able to find it. In late 2022, CAMP Rehoboth was approached by research database developer EBSCO, which provides databases to academic, government, corporate, and public libraries worldwide. EBSCO is building an LGBTQ-centric database and wanted to include Letters. Inclusion in the database comes at no cost to CAMP Rehoboth, as EBSCO can acquire Letters content for the database via the online versions of the magazine.

A decision to partner with EBSCO was reached recently. Letters’ content will be indexed for the database beginning with its 2023 issues. ▼

Thank You, Nicola Pizza!

On Monday, March 6, Nicola Pizza held its monthly “Dineand-Donate” fundraiser, choosing CAMP Rehoboth as the beneficiary. The night was a fabulous opportunity for community members to visit Nicola’s new location on the highway in Lewes.

“We were excited to pair with CAMP Rehoboth to raise some money for a great organization,” said Kelly Munyan, Nicola Pizza co-owner.

In total, $1,225 was raised, which Munyan reported as a stellar night. CAMP Rehoboth thanks the generosity of dozens of members who came out to support us, and Nicola Pizza for supporting the community. ▼

Photo by Murray Archibald

Welcome, City Manager

On March 28, Rehoboth Beach’s new City Manager, Laurence Christian, visited CAMP Rehoboth along with Chief of Police Keith Banks. CAMP Rehoboth was proud to welcome Christian to the community, discuss CAMP Rehoboth’s history and collaboration with the city with programs like LGBTQ+ cultural competency training for summer cadets, and give a tour of the CAMPus, including the new CAMP Rehoboth Health Suite (see page 18 for more about the suite).

CAMP Rehoboth thanks City Manager Christian, Chief Banks, and all city officials for helping to create a more positive Rehoboth! ▼

PTK Back in Person

Parents of Trans Kids (PTK) will return to inperson monthly meetings in Sussex County starting in May. Prior to COVID, the group met in Milford; they will now reconvene in Lewes. For the exact time and location, contact ptkdelaware@gmail.com.

PTK’s mission is to provide a safe, nonjudgmental space for parents and caregivers of transgender and gender expansive children of any age to ask questions, offer support, and to share information, resources, and life experiences. ▼

Pride Film Festival Opens During Pride Month

The Rehoboth Beach Film Society (RBFS) is proud to present the 2023 PRIDE Film Festival (formerly known as Delaware LGBTQ+ CINE-brations Festival) in partnership with CAMP Rehoboth. Eight films (selections will be announced soon) will be presented over three days (June 9-11) at the Society’s Cinema Art Theater in Lewes. Participants also can expect other social gatherings in celebration of the Festival and PRIDE Month.

“We are very excited to bring the PRIDE Film Festival back to our community, and we’re pleased to partner with Rehoboth Beach Film Society to promote LGBTQ+ arts here,” said CAMP Rehoboth Interim Director Lisa Evans.

“The Society felt strongly about expanding the audience for what was the first LGBTQ+ festival in the State of Delaware. Updating the name of the festival and focusing on PRIDE month made sense for the 2023 relaunch. Why would we not celebrate as any other US city with the patrons we serve?” asked RBFS Executive Director Helen Chamberlin.

Admission is $12 per screening. Patrons are encouraged to purchase tickets online at RehobothFilm.com. (If seats are available, tickets will be available for sale in-person starting 30 minutes prior to each screening.) Tickets are non-refundable and there will be no exchanges. ▼

Fetch the Champagne Flutes!

Letters contributor Tom Kelch was nominated for a Delaware HIV Consortium WOW Award! He didn’t make the final cut, but he’s still a winner in our book. Congratulations, Tom!

Tom was nominated based on his Guest House Chronicles series, which began running in Letters last year. (You can read it at camprehoboth.com/letters/2022.) The series detailed the early years of the Rehoboth Guest House

and offered an up-front-and-personal look into the lives of many of the town’s gay pioneers.

The WOW Award is presented annually by the Delaware HIV Consortium, and honors Delawareans who have helped improve the lives of people living with HIV in Delaware. Awards will be presented to winners on Friday, April 21, at the Consortium’s Gala and Auction. ▼

NORWEGIAN PEARL CRUISE

Scott Beadle, Ed Black, John Black, Jeff Davis, Mike English, Bill Graff, Bob Kaplan, Rich Nacey, David O’Berry, Jeff Schuck, and Steve Touzell. Absent from photo—Max Dick.

– TRAVELS WITH LETTERS –

HAWAII Robb “the Uke Guy” Mapou

President’s View

BY WESLEY COMBS

What the Women in My Life Have Taught Me

As CAMP Rehoboth gears up for this year’s Women’s FEST, I am reminded how women have shaped my life and taught me important lessons. From a young age, being in the company of adult women felt safe. I attribute this in part to the strong bond that developed out of necessity with my mother, Eunice, when my father suddenly passed away. I was only 12 years old.

The two of us became deeply connected because we had no choice. As the only child who still lived at home, I became my mother’s shoulder to lean on as she was forced to enter the workforce at age 49, and to be her cheerleader while she dated, seeking companionship and security.

Looking back, my emerging sexual orientation had a lot to do with how our relationship developed because I was and have always been a very emotionally sensitive person. Which meant I was hyper-aware when she was sad. Being the best little boy in the world was my way of providing her with some comfort. This is perhaps why I strive for perfection in everything I do.

This connection grew stronger when I came out. While my mother initially struggled with my being gay, over time she became was my biggest champion who never hesitated to brag about me to anyone who would listen. Her unconditional love and support helped me weather difficult times, especially when my sexual ori-

TRANSITION

entation threatened to end my career at IBM. Eunice loved my friends, cherished my husband Greg, and adored being the belle of the ball at our parties.

Life Lesson #1: Value people by what they add to your life, regardless of who they love. When you invest time getting to know the whole person, you will be surprised by what you have in common and what you can learn from each other.

Eunice loved my friends, cherished my husband Greg, and adored being the belle of the ball at our parties.

Another person who played a huge role in shaping my passion for LGBTQ+ equality is Elizabeth Birch. We met when I served as a consultant to the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), and she left her job at Apple to become the executive director. Our corporate backgrounds meant we knew being openly gay at work was complicated and often impossible.

Elizabeth believed achieving equality would be accelerated if corporate America created workplaces that valued LGBTQ+ people by banning discrimination and offering health benefits for employees in same-sex relationships. I was invited to be a member of HRC’s inaugural Business Advisory Council, which worked with Elizabeth and the staff to create the Corporate Equality Index (CEI). This

The search for the next Executive Director is progressing as planned and this update reflects what had transpired by the deadline for this issue of Letters. Search firm Cooper Coleman conducted a nationwide search to identify candidates whose experience and interest align with the job description developed by CAMP Rehoboth’s Board. Over 100 candidates were initially identified from a variety of sources: Cooper Coleman’s network, referrals, and those who applied directly. Cooper Coleman contacted each person to learn more about their qualifications and answer questions. During this process, some proved not to be sufficiently qualified, others declined the outreach or withdrew (mostly because of the need to

benchmarking survey is used to assess corporations’ policies and benefits and determine how LGBTQ+ friendly they are.

This innovative approach, now considered the gold standard for LGBTQ+ best practices, is largely responsible for motivating leaders to update policies and make it safe for LGBTQ+ people to live their lives openly and honestly. Elizabeth’s out-of-the-box vision became a reality because she understood progress required influential non-LGBTQ+ stakeholders to help advocate with us and for us.

Life Lesson #2: Change is possible if you are willing to listen to new ideas, seek consensus by presenting facts, understand why others disagree, communicate throughout the process, and demonstrate measurable progress. Our lives depend on it.

I invite everyone to attend Women’s FEST 2023—April 27-30 in Rehoboth Beach—where you will have the opportunity to mingle with over 1,200 women attending the four-day extravaganza. Events feature entertainers, dances, sports events, an expo, an auction, health information and screenings, and other activities. The FEST is open to all, and its initials say it all: Fun, Entertainment, Spring, Tradition. To learn more, visit camprehoboth.com. ▼

relocate), and some could not be reached.

Cooper Coleman then conducted Zoom interviews with the remaining candidates to narrow the pool to top candidates. The Search Committee conducted in-person interviews in late March and early April, selecting which candidates to move forward into the next round. Then, Interim Director Lisa Evans and I had follow-up Zoom calls to dig deeper and clarify information.

The Board and staff will be meeting those that make it to the final interview in April, with a goal of offering the role to one of them by mid-May. Our hope is the selected candidate will begin soon after Memorial Day. ▼

Wesley Combs is CAMP Rehoboth Board President.

CAMPNews

CROP at the Food Bank

OnMarch 14, seven CAMP Rehoboth Outreach Program (CROP) volunteers visited the Food Bank of Delaware to assist with “backpack meals.” They created 356 meals that will be placed in the backpacks of children at school as they head home for the weekend.

Addressing food insecurity in Delaware has been one of CROP’s priorities. A team volunteers at the Food Bank of Delaware’s Milford location every two months.▼

Soak Up the Brotherly Love

Tickets are still available for the Philadelphia Gay Men’s Chorus ensemble concert in the Elkins-Archibald Atrium at CAMP Rehoboth on May 6 at 4:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. The select ensemble of the PGMC presents musical selections from classical, Broadway, and contemporary genres, including a preview of their upcoming concert GAY ICON: The Music of Elton John. The show runs 75 minutes with no intermission.

Seating is limited and we expect both shows will sell out. So, purchase your tickets ahead of time! ▼

Celebrating Lazy, Hazy, Crazy Summer Days

The 85-member CAMP Rehoboth Chorus is now preparing for its June 2023 concert, Out for the Summer, to entertain audiences with hit summer songs including a Beach Boys medley, “Saturday in the Park,” “Summertime,” and many, many more. Tickets are now available at camprehoboth.com for $25.

Concert dates/times are: June 16 and 17 at 7:00 p.m.; June 18 at 3:00 p.m. All performances are at Epworth United Methodist Church, 19285 Holland Glade Road, Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.

Concert sponsorships are available; please call 302-227-5620 if interested. ▼

The Clothesline Project

OnMarch 31, The Delaware Alliance Against Sexual Violence (DAASV) partnered with CAMP Rehoboth to host The Clothesline Project. This project is a visual display consisting of t-shirts designed by survivors of sexual violence or their loved ones. It’s intended to raise awareness of the impact of sexual violence while centering survivors’ voices. During this event, community members were invited to design t-shirts to be hung during the month of April at multiple locations.

Through April 28, portions of the display will be visible at Legislative Hall in Dover, The Green at the University of Delaware, and Delaware State University in the MLK Student Center.▼

Salesianum School Went Head Over Heels

For the first two weekends of March, Salesianum School Theatre performed the musical Head Over Heels, with proceeds benefitting CAMP Rehoboth and Broadway Cares: Equity Fights AIDS. The production is a jukebox musical set to the Go-Go’s. It contains many LGBTQ+ themes, including very topical ones centering on drag, gender identity, and same-sex relationships. The production raised $1,190 for CAMP Rehoboth’s services. CAMP Rehoboth applauds Salesianum School Theatre for promoting LGBTQ+ arts and encourages readers to check out this issue’s LGBTQ+ YA column by Olivia Segeda (page 36) for what performing this work meant to her.

CAMP REHOBOTH THANKS OUR 2023 ANNUAL SPONSORS

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

Photo credit: Charles Barilo

WOMEN’S FEST ✺ Day by Day

BY NANCY SAKADUSKI

These Girls Just Wanna Have Fun!

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 26

12-3 p.m. | Registration and FEST

Pass/Ticket Pickup, Rehoboth Beach Convention Center

I’m so excited. Lots of familiar faces but plenty of new ones too—this is gonna be great! My friend Lucy and I pick up our packets and head to the Sands to see who’s arrived.

TICKETS, TICKETS, TICKETS!

For tickets, go to camprehoboth.com to see what’s left.

Complete ticket and pass pickup times at the Rehoboth Beach Convention Center: Wednesday, April 26, 12-3 p.m.; Thursday, April 27, 12-3 p.m. and 7-10 p.m.; Friday, April 28, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. and 7-10 p.m.; Saturday, April 29, 9 a.m.-3 p.m. and 7-9 p.m.

THURSDAY, APRIL 27

9 a.m. | 18-hole Golf Tournament at The Rookery South

It’s a beautiful day for golf. I check out the competition. There’s Kat—I remember her from last year. She’s wearing that ridiculous golf outfit again. It’s enough to make my eyes hurt, but maybe it’ll keep the geese away.

7-10 p.m. | Georgette Krenkel

Welcome Dance, Rehoboth Beach Convention Center

We stroll into the convention center. This is getting serious. We’re really here!

FREE FUN

Women’s FEST events that are free and open to all include the Georgette Krenkel Welcome Dance, Broadwalk on the Boardwalk, the art exhibit, health screenings, expo, and casual bike ride. Be sure to pop by the golf, pickleball, or cornhole tournaments to cheer for your favorite contestants.

FRIDAY, APRIL 28

7:30 a.m. | Pickleball Doubles Tournament, Dave Marshall Tennis Center

Lucy is the world’s last pickleball holdout, but I’m game, so I grab my paddle and head out. All that practicing is about to pay off.

9 a.m.-12 p.m. | CAMP Rehoboth Outreach Program, Southern Delaware Therapeutic Riding

Lucy has this thing about horses. But in this case, she’s helping to support a therapy program for individuals with physical and emotional challenges, so how can I argue with that? We agree to meet for lunch at Lori’s Oy Vey Café.

9 a.m. | 9-hole Golf Scramble, The American Classic Golf Club

This sounds like fun, but I got my golf in yesterday, so I’m taking a pass.

9:45 a.m. | Casual Bike Ride, Bikes To Go

Another pass, but I’m definitely doing this next year!

9 a.m.-2 p.m. | Beebe Health Screening, CAMP Rehoboth Community Center

I should have had Lori’s chicken salad after the health screenings, but at least my blood pressure’s down. I credit the Women’s FEST vibe for at least 10 points.

11:30 a.m. | Bingo, Dos Locos Scrabble, yes; bingo, no. Just not my cup of tea.

2-4 p.m. | Speed Dating, Aqua Grill

Thought I had a winner, but then she ended a sentence with a preposition, and one must stand firm. Lucy had better luck and came away with a date for the tea dance.

3-5 p.m. | FEST ART 2023! Art Reception, CAMP Rehoboth Community Center

Wow, these works are amazing! Sorry we can’t linger; Lucy is eager to get to the tea dance.

4-6 p.m. | Singles Tea Dance (all are welcome), Aqua Grill

Lucy heads off to meet her date while I cross the street to Top of the Pines. I’m looking for love, but there’s no way I’m missing Regina Sayles.

4-5:30 p.m. | Regina Sayles (cocktail hour starts at 3 p.m.), Top of the Pines This is a perfect venue for Regina. Love her eclectic style.

7-10 p.m. | Mouths of Babes, Jen Kober, and Live Auction; Rehoboth Beach Convention Center

GOING ONCE, GOING TWICE...

Don’t miss the fabulous live auction, which this year includes Olivia Cruise’s spectacular Majestic Alaska Cruise; fabulous get-aways—a December 2023 week at Aruba, “The World’s Greatest Beach,” or a two-night stay at Downton Inn, a women’s-only resort in Northampton, Massachusetts; and great fun closer to home—a wonderful Italian wine-tasting and concert (for eight) at The Market/Paul’s Kitchen and Cullen-ary in Lewes, or Fay Jacobs performing her one-woman show at your very own house party.

I see Lucy has her date in tow, so that’s a good sign. I nearly snag the Olivia cruise at the live auction, but only because I wave at someone across the room at the wrong time. Jen Kober is hilarious. OMG! I laugh so hard I get hiccups.

10 p.m.-1 a.m. | FEST Late Night Party, Aqua Grill

I’m beat, but the Aqua Grill is rocking, so I pop in for just a minute. Next thing I know it’s midnight, so I leave Lucy in what look to be the capable hands of her date. It’s been a great day, even if I didn’t find love.

SATURDAY, APRIL 29

9 a.m.-3 p.m. | Women’s FEST Expo, Rehoboth Beach Convention Center

SHOP ’TIL YOU DROP AT THE EXPO

Vendors will be offering a tempting selection of jewelry, photography, t-shirts, scarves, chocolate, books, and artwork. Women’s FEST is welcoming several new vendors this year: an artist who paints pet portraits, a massage therapist, a hair product vendor who will be doing demonstrations, and a vendor selling electric bikes. The Women’s FEST Expo will also have a section for nonprofit organizations with information on topics of particular interest to women, including breast cancer, sexual assault, and other issues.

Lucy arrives with a huge coffee and an even bigger smile. I buy a box of chocolates (for the antioxidants) and pick out some great Christmas presents. (Yes, I know it’s only April.)

10 a.m. | Cornhole Doubles

Tournament, the beach in front of The Atlantic Sands Hotel

I don’t get cornhole. Sorry, I just don’t. But Lucy now has a doubles partner, so she heads over to the Sands and I’m off the hook.

11 a.m. | Bowling Tournament, Millsboro Lanes

I’m counting on my excellent hand-eye coordination to save me from humiliation. I haven’t bowled in, oh, five years? I pop a few chocolates for a boost and then realize I’m having fun and don’t care whether I win (well, not much).

11:30 a.m. | Bingo, Dos Locos

Going to pass again on bingo. Inspired by Lucy’s success, I give speed dating another try. Maybe love is in my future after all.

12-2 p.m. | Speed Dating, Aqua Grill Awkward. No one seems impressed with my degree in comparative linguistics and by the time I explain it, my turn is up. One participant answers every question with “k.d. lang.” Is that a red flag?

1:30 p.m. | Regina Sayles, CAMP Rehoboth Community Center

I saw Regina’s performance yesterday, so I’m going to skip this one, but I told Lucy not to miss it. She and her new girlfriend are inseparable. I console myself with a chocolate or two.

3:30 p.m. | Christine Havrilla, CAMP Rehoboth Community Center

Glad I didn’t cave and go back for a nap. Christine never disappoints.

5 p.m. | Fay Jacobs (cocktail hour starts at 4 p.m.), Top of the Pines

Good thing I got my drinks in early. Fay is spit-take funny. Lucy and her girlfriend giggle back and forth. I feel as if I’m the one aging gracelessly. I reach for a chocolate, but somehow the box is empty.

7 p.m.-12 a.m. | FEST 2023 Premier Dance, Rehoboth Beach Convention Center

The last dance of Women’s FEST. Sigh. Then, my thoughts are suddenly interrupted. “Would you like to dance?” I turn around and lock eyes with a goddess. I try but can’t quite articulate the word “yes.” Where’s that linguistics degree when I need it? She smiles invitingly and takes my hand. Oh my.

SUNDAY, APRIL 30

9 a.m. | Broadwalk on the Boardwalk, CAMP Rehoboth Community Center

Lucy’s eyes widen when she sees me arrive holding hands with my dance-mate. I make introductions (she’s a pickleball player AND a librarian!). The four of us stroll the boards happily.

DO WELL BY DOING GOOD

Never have the boards seen so many broads! Meet at CAMP Rehoboth Community Center at 9:00 a.m. for free registration/check-in, coffee, and music. Walk begins at 10:00. Proceeds benefit Delaware Breast Cancer Coalition programs that increase breast cancer awareness, promote early detection, provide access to mammograms, and offer support and resources to women and men in our local community who are newly diagnosed or facing recurrence of breast cancer.

4 p.m. | Fay Jacobs, CAMP Rehoboth Community Center

Fay has the last laugh, as she always should. ▼

CAMP Rehoboth Women’s FEST strives to create and maintain an inclusive and accessible environment that empowers all persons, including persons with disabilities, to participate in our event. If you or your companion have any needs related to accessibility, please contact Hope at Hope@ phoenixaccessibilityteam.com.

Women’s FEST delivers fun—and more! Play...laugh...dance...shop...cheer...bid...walk...help. It’s ALL good!

OUTlook

A Big Room of Our Own

There’s something special about women’s spaces. Especially queer women’s spaces. I can’t put it into words, so I’ll quote Virginia Woolf from A Room of One’s Own: “Life for both sexes—and I look at them, shouldering their way along the pavement—is arduous, difficult, a perpetual struggle. It calls for gigantic courage and strength. More than anything, perhaps, creatures of illusion that we are—it calls for confidence in oneself.” Women’s spaces, for me, amplify the ability to be confident and courageous. Women’s spaces encourage me to explore, both inside myself and outside in the world at large.

In 1984, young, single, and newly clean and sober, I attended my first women’s music festival, the Southern Women’s Music Festival near Atlanta. So many women! So many topless women! I saw Cris Williamson and Lucie Blue Tremblay for the first time. Alicia Bridges performed “I Love the Nightlife.” I had no idea she was a lesbian. Everyone in charge, from the security guards to the sound engineers, were women. It seemed like there were miles of crafts tables and tons of food. And did I mention, all the women?

Everywhere, for four days, it was all women, all lesbians, all the time. I had never felt so free, courageous, and bold. I was mesmerized by the sight of so many women together in one place and felt the concept of sisterhood in my bones for the first time. It seemed like everyone was celebrating, in a good mood, friendly, loving. It was like a lesbian pride parade for four solid days, a once-in-a-lifetime experience that I’ll never forget.

Some say it’s getting harder these days to find women’s spaces, especially lesbian spaces. Not necessarily true. Yes, depending on the source, only 1521 lesbian bars currently remain in the US. Taken by that measure, you could say that lesbian spaces have all but vanished. The Michigan Womyn’s Music Festival, which drew tens of thousands

of us in the 1970s and 80s, died in 2015, a victim, many say, of transphobia.

But with a quick online search, I found dozens of women’s festivals, including the Michigan Framily Reunion coming up in August, a “womyn’s music festival by womyn, for womyn.” Then, there’s the 47th annual National Women’s Music Festival in Wisconsin this coming July, the West Coast Women’s Music and Cultural Festival, the all-inclusive Fern Fest, The Dinah—which bills itself as “the largest lesbian event in the world.” Don’t forget Women’s Week in October in Provincetown. These are just some of the festivals in the United States alone.

And, of course, there is Women’s FEST this month right here in Rehoboth. FEST stands for Fun, Entertainment, Spring, and Tradition. This outstanding event began in 2001, when CAMP Rehoboth was looking to expand its community center and programs. A small group of women, the CAMP Rehoboth Women’s Project, put on a half-day event

BY BETH SHOCKLEY

in April, featuring speakers talking about health, financial planning, and legal protection for lesbian couples who at that time could not be married. Seventyfive women attended the sold-out program.

Today, 22 years later, thousands of women will converge at the beach for the four-day party downtown. Women’s FEST is now the largest women’s event in the mid-Atlantic. It features well-known performers, music, comedy, dances, golf, pickleball, Broadwalk on the Boardwalk, workshops and presentations, the auction, and so much more. Rehoboth’s bars and hotels will be full of women. What’s not to like?

So yeah, I would say that women’s spaces are alive and doing pretty well in 2023. We still have some big rooms of our own. ▼

Beth Shockley is a retired senior writer/editor living in Dover with her wife and furbabies.

Today, 22 years later, thousands of women will converge at the beach for the four-day party downtown.

CAMP REHOBOTH’S WOMEN’S FEST will bring the best entertainment and special events to Rehoboth Beach April 27-30 for what has become the largest event specifically for women in the Mid-Atlantic region.

Cheer!

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS

Dance!

Thursday Georgette Krenkel’s Kick Off, and Saturday’s FEST 2023 Premier Dance at the RB Convention Center!

Bingo, speed dating, CAMP outreach program (CROP) volunteer event, health screenings, and more!

Wes Combs & Greg Albright

Susan Kurtliroff & Barbara Snyder

Natalie Moss

Barb Delmarvelous Quilt Guild

Jackie Everett

Pat Catanzariti & Carole Ramos

Kenneth Currier & Mike Tyler

Lewis Dawley & Greg Becker

David Nelson & Bill McManus anonymous

Ricki Geiger, LCSW, CGP

Donna Ohle & Susan Gaggiotti

Sandra Oropel & Linda Frese

Phoenix Accessibility Team

Paul Cullen

Chris Dances LLC

Lisa Evans & Joann Gusdanovic

Connie Fox & Donna Adair

Lewis LeBrun & Michael Poniatowski

Nancy & Tora Kennedy

Diane Scobey & Jennifer Rubenstein

Teri Seaton

Dental

Leslie Ledogar & Marilyn Hewitt

Jane Blue & Louisa Watrel

Deborah Duran

First State Pickleball Club

Four Buckets, LLC

Kim Parks & Sharon Denny

Yona Zucker & Renta Price

Delaware Senior Olympics

Leslie Sinclair & Debbie Woods

Joanne Yurik

The Writing Life

Words to the Wise

For a very good reason, life has gotten harder for writers. It’s even more difficult, I think, for comic writers like me whose hallmark is familiar catch phrases and jokes based on common words.

That’s because there’s an ever-increasing list of words and phrases that are now to be avoided. Let me be clear, there is no formal list and no punishments are handed down by editorial authorities. Although editors might delete them and if they stay, readers may call me out for using words that offend.

And that’s the point. We are evolving to understand the origins of some common words and idioms, and that even if we don’t mean to offend, we do. It’s a learning process.

One of my favorite lines in my comedy show used to be “My spirit animal is a rubber chicken.” The audience laughed. But I’ve since been made aware that a spirit animal is a serious part of Native American religious culture. It’s wrong and insensitive to make fun of it.

I’ve been thinking about using “My service animal is a rubber chicken.” Is that offensive to people with disabilities? I’m not sure.

Likewise, at a writer’s conference a few years ago, we called a session “Circling the Wagons” to mean coming together to tackle a problem. One of the Native-American members of the organization was upset.

None of us really ever thought about the origin of the phrase, or its connection to the widespread genocide of Native Americans. We changed the title. I just heard it on CNN the other day. But I won’t use it anymore. Also, bye-bye to “off the reservation,” which I no longer use to mean wildly off topic. I never meant to offend, but good intentions are no excuse for language I now know to be racist. So too “having a pow-wow,” “low man on the totem pole,” and “Indian giver.” How the hell have we gotten to the 21st century not caring that these terms were insulting?

Did you know that calling something

the “peanut gallery” does not refer to the 1950s Howdy Doody Show audience section? That phrase originated during segregation, when Black people were made to sit only in the balcony at movie theatres and people made fun thinking they only ate peanuts. I had no idea. Now that I know its true meaning, it’s dead to me.

Our country’s shameful slave-holding past gave us a myriad of words and phrases we used without thinking of their original context. “Sold down the river,” “plantation,” and even the phrase “grandfathered in.” Heck, that word is embedded in zoning and building codes all over America.

BY FAY JACOBS

gypsies. Calling the nomadic Romani people, originally from Northern India and then Europe, Gypsies is derogatory to them. So too, the shortened verb “to gyp.”

I hate to see our nomadic chorus kids, who go from show to show, lose their designation. And I sure don’t want to censor the title of one of my favorite Broadway musicals. But like Whoopie Goldberg, who just got in hot water for using the term on TV’s The View, I won’t use the term “gypped” again.

I want it to disappear just as the pejorative and terribly hurtful phrase “Jew you down” has mostly gone from responsible writing. I’ve actually had it said in my presence, and it was super painful. Now that I know where gypped comes from, it’s out of my lexicon.

With dance floors not permitted in downtown Rehoboth, one large restaurant’s dance floor was “grandfathered” to still exist. Nobody knew that the term was from the Reconstruction Era. If a Black man’s grandfather voted, he could vote. I don’t think that one is going to be expunged everywhere anytime soon, but I’m hesitant to use it.

Even in my comic zip-line story I skirt trouble. I used the phrase “Zip-a-DeeDoo-Dah” from a song everyone knows from the film Song of the South. Now Disney has retooled one of its biggest attractions to remove that song. The film has long been out of circulation due to being declared racist. I can substitute “Zip, Zip, and Away” but the sound of the phrase is not as funny as using doodah.

I also don’t know if we’re going to stop calling Broadway chorus members

I was working on the script of the play Mike Gilles and I wrote about the Stonewall Inn. Yikes, every account describes young gay men being hauled off to jail in paddy wagons. That term hails from early New York and Boston when the immigrant Irish not only were the police drivers of the wagons, but lots of Irishmen were arrested for drunkenness. I’m sure there were all ethnicities in those police vehicles, but they were dubbed paddy wagons. Should I delete the term from quoted first-person accounts? I’m torn.

If I’ve missed any problematic words or phrases, I’m sure readers will alert me when they take offense. I promise to listen, and course correct as necessary. This writing life is tougher now, it’s true, but it feels right to be more sensitive to others.

And what the hell, Artificial Intelligence will be doing my job by next week anyway. “Hey, ChatGBT, write something for me in the style of Fay Jacobs—oh, and watch out for slurs.” ▼

Fay Jacobs is the author of five published books and tours with her one-woman sit-down comedy show, Aging Gracelessly.

We are evolving to understand the origins of some common words and idioms, and that even if we don’t mean to offend, we do.

Olivia is the proud premier sponsor of CAMP Rehoboth and the proud sponsor of the Olivia Shore Sharks, Rehoboth's Senior Women's Softball League.

AN ENVIRONMENTAL PROVOCATEUR BY

NANCY SAKADUSKI

The Not-So-Silent Rachel Carson

Born in 1907, scientist, writer, and activist Rachel Carson played a pivotal role in launching the environmental movement. Carson spent her childhood living in a two-story clapboard house on a 64acre farm in western Pennsylvania. She wrote stories about the nature around her. “I can remember no time, even in earliest childhood, when I didn’t assume I was going to be a writer,” she said. “I have no idea why.” She left home for the Pennsylvania College for Women to study English.

“Ray,” as she was known to her friends, went to a college prom in 1928, but never displayed any romantic interest in men. She was, however, deeply passionate about her biology professor, Mary Scott Skinker. It was Skinker who convinced Carson to change her major and go with her to Woods Hole for a summer research project. That was where Carson first saw the ocean.

Carson began graduate study in zoology at Johns Hopkins, completed a master’s degree, and entered a PhD program in 1932. Carson worked as a lab assistant and taught biology and zoology. Her mother, her ailing father, her divorced sister, and her two young nieces moved to Baltimore to live with Carson, their only wage-earner. Carson had to leave graduate school to take a better-paying job in the public-education department of the Bureau of Fisheries, and brought in extra money by selling articles to the Baltimore Sun.

When she joined the US Fish and Wildlife Service as a biologist in 1936, Carson was one of only two women holding professional positions there. During that time, she drafted an 11-page essay called “The World of Waters.” Her department head told her it was too good for a government brochure and suggested she send it to The Atlantic. After it was published, as “Undersea,” Carson began writing her first book.

The Sea Around Us is a captivating combination of scientific knowledge and poetic prose. Initially, The New Yorker

published it as “Profile of the Sea,” the magazine’s first-ever profile of something other than a person. It became one of the most successful books ever written about the natural world, landing on the New York Times best-seller list, where it

of scientific endnotes), she was mocked as a “hysterical woman” and even labeled a Communist for her unyielding efforts to force government and business to confront the dangers of pesticides, especially DDT. Yet subsequent study proved her right and DDT, once used extensively, was banned in the US in 1972.

Rachel Carson loved two things: the sea and Dorothy Freeman, whom she met in 1953. Carson was 46 and Freeman was 55. Freeman was married, with a grown son, but the women felt a connection immediately. When apart, they wrote letters expressing their love for each other. In one, addressed to “My Darling,” Carson told Freeman, “I can imagine no substitute for you in my life.” They began to write two letters at a time—one that could be read aloud to Carson’s mother or Freeman’s husband, and a second, private one. They arranged to be together as often as they could and longed for each other when apart. “I know I need you terribly. (And I believe you need me, too. Shameless!)” wrote Carson.

remained for a record-breaking 86 weeks and ultimately sold well over a million copies. The book has been translated into 28 languages, inspired an Academy Award-winning documentary, and won both the National Book Award and the John Burroughs Medal. Even so, it is her lesser-known work.

Silent Spring was the Seneca Falls, the Stonewall, the March on Washington of the environmental movement. It informed, outraged, inspired, provoked, and launched a movement. It prompted passage of the Clean Air Act (1963), the Wilderness Act (1964), the National Environmental Policy Act (1969), the Clean Water Act and the Endangered Species Act (both 1972) and led to the establishment of the Environmental Protection Agency, in 1970.

Despite extensive research (55 pages

After 10 years, with Carson battling breast cancer, their relationship was still strong. After one visit, Rachel left a note under Dorothy’s pillow that said, “And as long as either of us lives, I know our love ‘will never pass into nothingness’ but will keep a quiet bower stored with peace and with precious memories of all that we have shared. I need not say it again but I shall—I love you, now and always.”

Carson died of breast cancer just 18 months after Silent Spring was published.

Rachel Carson was an introvert but didn’t stay quiet when others tried to silence her. She once said she had “no wish to start a Carrie Nation crusade” with the publication of her new book, Silent Spring. Nevertheless, her non-crusade changed the public’s understanding of and appreciation for the delicate balance between humans and their environment. ▼

Nancy Sakaduski is an award-winning writer and editor who owns Cat & Mouse Press in Lewes, Delaware

Silent Spring was the Seneca Falls, the Stonewall, the March on Washington of the environmental movement.

CAMPsafe

How “Suite” It Is! CAMP Rehoboth Opens New Doors

CAMP Rehoboth is proud to announce the opening of its Health Suite, located at the rear of 39 Baltimore Avenue, in the corner of the CAMP Rehoboth Courtyard.

The new space affords a welcome level of privacy and confidentiality for CAMPsafe HIV testing. For the past 20+ years, CAMPsafe testing has taken place in the upstairs offices at 37 Baltimore Avenue. This can be problematic in a thriving community center, where community members wanting to take advantage of CAMPsafe’s walk-in, anonymous testing had first to navigate the front office and its programming.

The new space also holds sentimental value for CAMP Rehoboth, as it marks the office “where it all began.” In 1991, the corner office at 39 Baltimore Avenue saw the birth of the CAMP Rehoboth operation, founded by Murray Archibald and Steve Elkins.

“To expand CAMPsafe HIV testing to this space, where CAMP Rehoboth grew from an idea into an office and soon into the heart of the community, really is terrific,” said Lisa Evans, CAMP Rehoboth Interim Director.

The suite will be staffed by CAMPsafe’s volunteer testers and counselors. Last July, CAMPsafe increased the availability of HIV testing to daily. The expansion was made possible by the availability of additional certified testers—E.J. Kenyon, Joe Vescio, and Sharon Morgan—who completed training offered by the Delaware Division of Public Health.

Additionally, Alan Spiegelman, who for the past several years had tested Mondays from 12:00 to 4:00 p.m., expanded to Tuesdays during the same hours. Rounding out the week, Vescio and Kenyon test on Wednesdays and Thursdays, from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m., respectively, and Morgan tests on Friday mornings, 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Since January, Morgan has been evaluating test sites in Western Sussex,

such as the ACE Peer Resource Center in Georgetown, Laurel State Service Center, ACE Peer Resource Center in Seaford, and Addictions Medical Facility (AMF) in Seaford.

BY MATTY BROWN

CAMP Rehoboth owes a debt of gratitude to Project Manager Carol Brice, who spearheaded the project renovations. Brice’s previous experience as the associate director of residential facilities at the University of Maryland made her the perfect person for the job. The repairs were made throughout the winter by Seaside Home Services, LLC. Brice met with the crew regularly.

“Without Carol’s tremendous help, this project would not have been possible,” said Evans.

“It’s a wonderful location and turned out to be one of the best-looking offices in downtown Rehoboth,” Brice said proudly.

“We’re so excited to kick off the Rehoboth Beach summer season with a new Health Suite,” said Tara Sheldon, CAMP Rehoboth’s new Health & Wellness Manager, who moved into that role on February 27. “This will be an invaluable resource to our community, and we welcome anyone interested in learning more to contact us.” Options are to ring the office at 302.227.5620 or email tara@camprehoboth.com. ▼

HIV testing is free of charge, and results are given in 15 minutes. The tests are administered via a finger stick. Testers cannot diagnose or treat any symptoms. If you are experiencing symptoms as a result of a sexual encounter, please see your primary care physician or visit a local sexual health clinic. If you are concerned that you have been exposed to HIV in the last 72 hours, please contact your primary care physician immediately or visit your local Emergency Department. CAMP Rehoboth’s HIV testing program has a long-standing relationship with the Delaware Division of Public Health.

Matty Brown is the Communications Manager at CAMP Rehoboth and editorial associate at Letters from CAMP Rehoboth.

“To expand CAMPsafe HIV testing to this space, where CAMP Rehoboth grew from an idea into an office and soon into the heart of the community, really is terrific.”

CHOOSING WISELY

Medicare & Transgender Older Adults

Transgender older adults have unique health care needs. Medicare is working to address them. It has been almost 10 years since the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) changed longstanding policy and began coverage of medically necessary gender-affirming surgeries. In that time there has been significant clarification of Medicare policies for many services accessed by transgender adults. Here are some basics.

GENDER IDENTIFICATION

Gender does not appear on Medicare cards. Medicare records, however, include a gender marker based on one’s Social Security record. If one’s gender identifier has changed with the Social Security Administration, that change will also be reflected in Medicare records.

CHOOSING THE BEST MEDICARE COVERAGE

Transgender individuals need to choose carefully among their Medicare coverage options—e.g., when deciding whether to enroll in Original fee-for-service Medicare or in a private Medicare Advantage plan. That choice may impact enrollees’ access to the providers they know and trust. Affordability of prescription drugs may vary markedly among prescription drug plans; it’s important to compare plans to identify those offering coverage of the drugs which meet an individual’s needs. Assistance with those choices is available through local State Health Assistance Programs (SHIPs; shiphelp. org), which provide personal, unbiased help to Medicare beneficiaries.

SURGERIES

Medicare approves coverage of medically necessary gender-affirming surgeries to address gender dysphoria on a caseby-case basis. The medical necessity standard is the same whether one gets Medicare coverage through Original fee-for-service Medicare or through a Medicare Advantage plan. Although determinations are on a case-by-case

basis, Medicare looks to the guidelines contained in the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) Standards of Care. When supporting requests for Medicare coverage, providers should address how a case meets WPATH standards.

As with any type of care, an individual must use doctors who take Medicare. (Not all health care providers participate in Medicare.) If an individual is covered under a Medicare Advantage plan, they would usually need to use doctors who are in the plan’s network or get permission to go outside of the network.

TRANSITION-RELATED DRUGS

Medically-necessary hormones to address gender dysphoria are generally covered under Medicare Part D (Medicare’s prescription drug plan). You usually need prior authorization for coverage to be approved.

SEX-SPECIFIC PROCEDURES

Medicare will not deny coverage for procedures that are sex-specific just because the gender identifier in a Medicare record reflects a different gender identity. An identifier showing one as male, for example, cannot be the basis for denying coverage of a pelvic examination if it is medically appropriate. Medicare has created a special billing code, condition code 45, for such procedures. If a provider uses this code in connection with these procedures, it can help avoid improper denials of coverage.

If one is denied coverage for any surgery, procedures, or drugs and believes coverage should have been provided, there is an option to file an appeal. Directions on filing an appeal appear in the denial letter. Getting the cooperation and support of a medical provider is important to a successful appeal. It can also be helpful to consult with a local legal services program or a private attorney.

DISCRIMINATION IN HEALTH CARE

Federal law protects from discrimination based on sex—including sexual orien-

tation and gender identity—by health entities or care providers who receive federal funds, either directly or indirectly. Anyone experiencing discrimination can file a complaint with the Office of Civil Rights at HHS (hhs.gov/civil-rights). Someone receiving Medicare through a Medicare Advantage plan can also file a grievance.

POLICY WATCH

HHS recently proposed rules to strengthen protections against discrimination and expand the range of providers subject to its regulations. The proposed regulations are very specific in addressing the health needs of transgender people.

They proposed rules would prohibit limits on health services based on gender assigned at birth or gender identity; denials of services for gender transitions or gender-affirming care that would be provided to individuals for other purposes; and any policies or practices that would separate or treat individuals differently on the basis of sex in a way that is not consistent with the individual’s gender identity.

In addition, the proposed rule clarifies that sex discrimination includes discrimination based not only on sexual orientation and gender identity, but also on the basis of sex stereotypes and sex characteristics, including intersex traits. Final rules are expected sometime in 2023. ▼

BY MICHAEL GILLES

Home of the Brave

Ihad an interview that morning at 10:00 a.m. at the Milford Police Department. The interview was with new police chief, Cecilia Ashe. I got there 15 minutes early.

10:00: No police chief. A nice young man came out to tell me Chief Ashe was out on police business and would be back soon.

10:30: Still no chief. A nice young woman came out to tell me that there was a threat of an active shooter at Milford High. Chief Ashe was on site and should be back in a few minutes. At that point, I didn’t care when she got back. I just wanted to say thanks and shake her hand for exemplifying the police officers I idolized when I was a kid. Brave. Bigger than life. Willing to go the extra mile to serve the community.

As it turned out, the threat wasn’t real, but several schools, including Milford High, were shut down until the police confirmed it. That morning, I learned an important lesson: on every call, in every situation, police willingly go toward the danger, while others go in the opposite direction. We see that over and over again, whether it be 9/11 (now-Chief Ashe was a first responder at the Pentagon) or an active threat in Milford.

Chief Ashe rose through the ranks to get where she is today. Milford’s first female Chief of Police was sworn in in February of this year. She comes from the Wilmington, Delaware, Police Department and has over 27 years of law enforcement experience, including time spent as a police officer in Arlington County, Virginia. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice and is currently working on her Master’s degree in Administration of Criminal Justice and Organizational Leadership.

During her stint as a police officer in Wilmington, she was instrumental in a 58 percent reduction in homicides and nearly 30 percent reduction in shooting incidents. This outcome simultaneously increased homicide clearance rates from 12 percent to over 67 percent and reduced citizen complaints against police

officers by 22 percent. That’s quite a record!

But who is Chief Ashe? Cecilia Ashe is a woman, a lesbian, and is married with two sons. She may be the boss of a city police force, but her wife is the boss of the home. The chief’s family support

is an opportunity not to be missed.”

On a more personal note, knowing that one shift can be the last, she wants to take care of her officers. Knowing the toll that the heavy responsibilities of this work can take on her officers, she hopes to help them remain centered and mentally healthy. One of her darkest moments as a police officer was losing a colleague to suicide. “He was a great cop. They see the worst of the worst; how do we protect them? One way is to stop dehumanizing them. They want Milford to be a safe, friendly place to live.”

A long-time Millsboro resident, Chief Ashe plans on moving to Milford so she can intertwine with the community. She feels that being a member of her new community will help her understand the needs and concerns of the people who live there.

In Wilmington, Chief Ashe supported the gay community. She says “that’s the other side of policing…diversity of thought. People tend to underestimate minorities. You can change that by listening to all and looking inside to your own reactions. Diversity provides structure and leadership.”

gives her the ability to do what she does, knowing all the while that one morning may be the last time they see her. They are her unsung heroes. Her belief in God, country, and family gets her through the worst days; her family gives her the strength to do the best job she can. So does the occasional fishing excursion, but that’s a story for another time!

Her professional goals are very much a reflection of the job she has just taken on. She plans to build an organization that focuses on health and wellness, and promoting transparency between police and community. She hopes to embrace the community by talking to kids and parents, empathizing with their problems and concerns. The chief says, “It is progressive and forward thinking here. This

The chief points out that for every bad action there are thousands of good ones. But police and their actions must be held accountable. She went on to say, “officers are not perfect, but must operate with honesty and transparency. People want and need to see it.”

As a police officer, actions can have a positive impact or a negative one. If officers do the job with respect and professionalism, the people they protect will give that respect back. You can bet that Chief Ashe will marshal a police force that understands that and will sit with people, understand them, and most importantly, listen.

11:10 a.m.: I get to meet Chief Ashe. And shake her hand. Thanks, Chief. ▼

Michael Gilles is a playwright, actor, and director from Milton, and a regular contributor to Letters from CAMP Rehoboth.

Chief Cecilia Ashe is a woman, a lesbian, and is married with two sons. She [is also] the boss of a city police force.

BY DAVID GARRETT

From Dysphoria to Euphoria

The Transgender Day of Visibility occurred March 31. In his address, President Joe Biden stated, “I want every member of the trans community to know that we see you. You’re each made in the image of God, and deserve love, dignity, and respect. You make America stronger, and we’re with you.”

Unfortunately, there are too many others across our country who want the trans community to disappear for good. Radical legislation is being passed in many states that criminalizes and penalizes transgender persons.

A variety of studies have been done on the transgender community. Interesting findings show they number about 1.3 million total, and most trans adults are younger than 35. In a recent Washington Post KFF (Kaiser Family Foundation) survey,1 transition is defined in vastly different ways. “Most trans people have socially transitioned, meaning they’ve changed their clothing, names or pronouns, [but] far fewer have medically transitioned. [Fewer] than a third have used hormone treatments or puberty blockers, and about 1 in 6 have undergone gender-affirming surgery or other...treatment to change their physical appearance.”

Josie Nixon is a 30-year-old who identifies as nonbinary. She had her epiphany about her gender identity at age 24. According to the Post report, “One night, they cried until they fell asleep, and when they woke up, they brushed their teeth, looked in the mirror and said the word for the first time. ‘I just said, ‘You’re trans.’ Then I crumpled on the floor, crying. I probably cried for like a week.’”

Things have changed drastically since. “As Nixon’s hair grew and their body changed, people sometimes harassed them in bathrooms, and a roommate ‘came out’ as transphobic. Still, Nixon felt newly relieved. ‘The worst day I’ve ever had as a trans person is still better than the best days I had pre-transition,’ Nixon said. ‘That’s not to say that I don’t look fondly on the memories of my life, but not living authentically was terrible, and I would rather live authentically than hide a version of myself to appease people I don’t even know.’”

Michele Angello is a certified clinical sexologist whose practice focuses on helping gender-variant and transgender youth and adults. She writes, “The fear mongering and misinformation land easily with misinformed communities and there isn’t enough ‘gender euphoria’ messaging taking place.”

“Too many are being fed deceptive information that minors are coerced into transitioning.... That simply isn’t true! Kids know a great deal about themselves but don’t always have the verbal ability to express it. As far as adults transitioning, if you are not trans, don’t transition.”

Many trans people encounter discrimination and outright violence at times. A greater percentage of trans people consider or attempt suicide, compared to the general population.

There are others who have arrived at their moment of Uncontainable Joy. Such is the case for Jennifer, who transitioned at age 52. She and her wife Karen, married for 33 years, have faced all the doubts, tears, and fears that are part and parcel with those who make the life-changing move to transition.

In Jennifer’s own words, “My transgender journey began when I was six years old, praying to God that He would make me a girl. A pivotal faith moment in that journey happened 44 years later, in 2010. [On my way to a transgender conference,] I left the house early, switching my attire from the suit and tie I wore the night before to a more appropriate skirt and blouse.

“Listening to a CD [about the miracles of Jesus], I broke down crying and began yelling at God that if Jesus could do all these miracles, why couldn’t He do something simple and let me live my life as a female…. [He answered and said] my mission was to become a woman and to be visible in the community.... This now became very scary because there was the very real possibility that I would lose my entire world as I knew it. I have so many transgender friends who lost everything.”

Jennifer shares the details of her transition, then adds, “It’s been an amazingly difficult and wonderful journey.... My prayers that had begun so very long ago were answered. God, thank you for allowing me to experience uncontainable joy!”

My dear friend Jennifer speaks for so many who have transitioned to live as the person they have always felt themselves to be inside. From dysphoria to euphoria. What a journey. What a change. What a joy— uncontainable, that is!

1 Detailed results are available at washingtonpost.com and kff.org.

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.

“It’s been an amazingly difficult and wonderful journey.”

BY SHARON MORGAN

One Planet, One Health

If we take Oscar Wilde’s notion that Life imitates Art into the scientific realm, then before the COVID pandemic, we had its blueprint, the movie Contagion. In this 2011 thriller, a highly contagious virus of unknown origin not only wreaks havoc on the world’s population; the resultant attempts by medical researchers and public health officials to identify and contain the disease highlight the detrimental effects of misinformation and loss of social order as the virus turns into a worldwide pandemic.

Although a work of fiction, the movie underscores the scientific principle of zoonosis, an infectious disease that has jumped from non-human animals to humans. Over 200 zoonoses currently exist, representing a large portion of newly infectious diseases. The pathogen—that which causes illness--may be a direct viral, bacterial, or parasitic transfer, or take a more unconventional route through food, water, or the environment.

Estimates indicate zoonoses cause approximately 2.5 billion illnesses and 2.7 million deaths around the world annually. Because agricultural practices will consistently require intimate interaction between humans and animals, the risk for a zoonotic disease is always in the foreground. Hence, One Health—a global approach to maximize the health and sustainability of humans, animals, and ecosystems.

While the formalized organizational efforts of One Health have only been in existence for the past few decades, the recognized risks of interrelated ecosystems have been well documented since the mid-1800s. The nineteenth century physician Rudolf Virchow first coined the term zoonosis to describe the similarities between human and animal medical practices.

Jump to the mid-20th century, where the noted veterinary epidemiologist, Calvin Schwabe, also documented the interconnected health of humans, animals, and ecosystems. He coined this as One Medicine in his textbook Veterinary Medicine and Human Health.

While increasingly discussed in various scientific journals, the global danger of a zoonotic infection was not fully embraced until the 2003 outbreak of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). Caused by a previously unrecognized virus associated with animal markets (in this case, bats), the readily transmissible airborne pathogen quickly spread to 29 countries on five continents. The speed with which SARS took hold demonstrated a new era in global infectious diseases:

• a previously unknown disease could emerge from a wildlife source at any time and in any place;

• a clear need exists for countries to maintain an effective alert and response system to detect and quickly react to outbreaks; and,

• global cooperation and global participation are required to mitigate the spread of new infectious diseases.

To meet these challenges, over the years One Health international consortiums have developed evolving core competencies that focus not only on cross-disciplinary collaboration, but also strategic analysis skills to foster program development at the local, national, and international levels. In addition, as individual relevant disciplinary fields attempt to better understand zoonotic infections, the One Health cross-pollination concept has gained traction in research. Such cross-collaborative research has led to a more mechanistic vs functional understanding of a specific problem.

COVID-19 provided a devastating illustration of the criticality of the One Health approach to a healthy planet. No event in modern history has resulted in such worldwide disruption. Even after close to three years, the world is still coping with the health, societal, and economic consequences, requiring innovative solutions for full recovery.

COVID exposed the disconnect between governmental promotion of the One Health-like approach in international arenas (e.g., conferences and

consortiums) and the reality outside of government spaces. The absence of an efficient global early warning system and early collaboration among stakeholders resulted in disjointed governmental efforts worldwide, resulting in unnecessary deaths and prolonged economic discord. Yet regional examples of the One Health concept to manage the pandemic through a shared resource base, interdisciplinary engagement and communication networks, and global answers to address local needs resulted in less adverse impacts in those regions.

Human activity remains the catalyst behind new, emerging, and re-emerging diseases. The crossover of ecosystems will only occur with greater speed and frequency over time. The world population is anticipated to increase by another 2 billion by 2050. In addition, more individuals globally are living in urban centers, with higher density and more economic disparity. This resultant demand for adequate healthcare, food, water, and sanitation may affect human and animal health through contamination, pollution, and changing climate conditions that could lead to the emergence of newer, unanticipated infectious agents. One Health has a proven roadmap to mitigate these opportunistic infections and provide for a more holistic and healthier planet. ▼

More information on One Health is available at cdc.gov, WHO.int, and onehealthcommission.org.

Sharon A. Morgan is a retired advanced practice nurse with over 30 years of clinical and healthcare policy background.

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 the weekly email newsletter. Meetings are in-person and take place at CAMP Rehoboth unless noted otherwise. Do you have a suggestion for a new class? We want to hear from you! Send your idea to tara@camprehoboth.com.

Weekly Events

WALK-IN HIV TESTING

Mondays-Fridays

Free, rapid, walk-in HIV testing at CAMP Rehoboth. Get your results in 15 minutes. Appointments available for other dates and times.

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

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

Wednesdays ........ 1:00-4:00 p.m.

Thursdays 1:00-4:00 p.m.

Fridays 9:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m.

YOGA OVER 50 (ZOOM)

Mondays 8:30 a.m.

Sue’s classes are skillfully designed to relieve cumulative effects of stress while toning the body, quieting the mind, and rejuvenating the spirit. Email tara@camprehoboth.com for more info.

MORNING MINDFULNESS

Tuesdays 8:00 a.m. (Zoom)

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.

MEN’S YOGA

Saturdays 8:45 a.m.

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

YOGA FOR ALL

Wednesdays 11:00 a.m.

Come enjoy this new, open-toeveryone, pay-what-you-like yoga class!

Bi-weekly & Monthly Events

ASK YOUR PHARMACIST

5/17 3:00 p.m. (Zoom)

Do you have questions about side effects of your medications? Are you wondering if there are contraindications for starting a new medication? Are you curious to learn more about PEP or PrEP? Cape Pharmacy pharmacist Joli Martini, PharmD, BCGP, is now offering “Ask Your Pharmacist” on the 3rd Wednesday of each month at 3:00 p.m. All questions can be confidential. Email tara@camprehoboth.com for more info.

PTK (PARENTS OF TRANS KIDS)

In-person meeting added!

05/04 7:00 p.m. (Zoom), 05/09 7:00 p.m. (in-person; Lewes), 05/18 7:00 p.m. (in-person; Wilmington)

Parents of Trans Kids (PTK) is a support group for parents and caregivers of transgender and gender expansive children. PTK meetings are held the first Thursday (Zoom), second Tuesday (in-person), and third Thursday (in-person) of each month.

PTK offers separate meeting spaces for adults and youth (ages 12-19). Email ptkdelaware@gmail.com for the secure Zoom link or location details for inperson meetings.

WOMEN IN CIRCLE

5/06, 5/20 10:00 a.m.

Women in Circle is a gathering of LGBTQ women that meets the first and third Saturday of each month. The circle is a welcoming, inclusive, and positive place to meet, connect, and share with other women.

YOUTHUP DISCUSSION GROUP

5/11, 6:30 p.m. (Zoom)

The YouthUp Discussion Group meets the second Thursday of each month. This discussion group is for 11- to 19-year-old

LGBTQ+ youth to get together and chat virtually with other LGBTQ+ youth and a supportive adult moderator. Email julian@ camprehoboth.com for information.

YOUNG ADULT DISCUSSION GROUP

5/18 6:00 p.m. (Zoom)

The Young Adult Discussion Group meets the third Thursday of each month. This group is for 19- to 25-year-old LGBTQ+ young adults. For more information email julian@camprehoboth.com.

YOUTHUP THEME NIGHT

4/27, 6:30 p.m. (Zoom)

Every fourth Thursday we do our Theme Nights over Zoom, and this month we’re doing a murder mystery! Join us for this whodunit full of puzzles and secret messages. Please sign up by emailing julian@camprehoboth.com.

YOUTHUP BOOK CLUB

4/24, 7:00 p.m. (Zoom)

The YouthUp Book Club meets the last Monday of each month. This month’s book is the apocalyptic thriller All That’s Left in the World by Erik J. Brown. If you need a copy of the book or want to be added to the mailing list for the Zoom link, email julian@camprehoboth.com.

FLAMING KNITTERS

04/24, 5/9, 5/23 6:30 p.m.

Flaming Knitters meets the second and fourth Monday of each month. The group provides a queer- and trans-affirming space for anyone working on fiber-related crafts/projects.

CAMP REHOBOTH BOOK CLUB

4/24 5:30 p.m. (Zoom)

The Book Club meets the last Monday of each month and is a queer-facilitated discussion group which reads novels about queer topics and/or books by queer authors. The April section: Young Mungo by Douglas Stuart.  ▼

Headliners

Genius at Work: Michelangelo

Few artists in the western canon have been venerated as passionately as Italian Renaissance master Michelangelo. And with good reason. Whether depicting secular or religious images in paintings, sculptures, and architecture, he brought to all of it a combination of sensitivity and strength, and in some cases an almost savage power.

But the question for us here isn’t whether Michelangelo was an artistic genius, but whether he was homosexual. The question arose among art historians largely due to how Michelangelo depicted male nudes.

Not since the Classical Greeks had nudes been so sensually and powerfully rendered. The tastemakers of the Italian Renaissance were crazy for all things Classical, the Greeks in particular, and it was well known that the ancient Greek view of love and sex between men was considerably more tolerant than the post-Classical Christian one.

The church, especially in Italy, was not only the primary source of politics and morality, it was also a major sponsor of art and architecture. Thus, while many of Michelangelo’s paintings and sculptures are based on biblical themes, scholars have

readily acknowledged the Greek artistic influence on Michelangelo.

Viewing Michelangelo’s famously sensual sculpture of the biblical David, or his numerous and rather erotic male nudes on the ceiling of the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel, one is inclined to accept that the artist was indeed gay. But history demands more than visual confirmation.

It turns out that Michelangelo was not only a visual artist but a literary one as well, specifically a poet. Handwritten notes by Michelangelo’s grand-nephew in the margins of his uncle’s poetry were found in the Buonarotti family archives (Michelangelo’s family name was Buonarotti) in 1863 by historian John Addington Symonds. The grand-nephew’s marginalia stated that the poems should not—indeed must not—be published as Michelangelo originally wrote them since they expressed male/male love. As a result, when the poems were posthumously published in 1623, all references to male/male desire were altered to imply male/female desire.

There is also considerable evidence that Michelangelo engaged in affairs with more than a few of the “ragazzi,” street boys who also earned coin as models for Rome’s and Florence’s many artists. This

BY ANN APTAKER

was not a practice particular to Michelangelo. It is fairly certain that Cellini, Botticcelli, even Leonardo da Vinci, all of whom were charged with sodomy by the authorities at one time or another, indulged in such affairs.

So, it seems that Michelangelo, giant of Renaissance art, painter and sculptor of biblical-themed masterpieces such as David, the epic of the Creation in the Sistine Chapel, the heart-grabbing sensitivity of the Pieta, and all the others, was indeed homosexual. Just looking at his work, at the loving way he fashioned a torso or a hip, the sexually charged positions of male bodies with genitalia exposed, leaves little doubt about his sexual preferences. But though the images are erotic, they are not pornographic. They are too beautiful, too poetic for that.

Well then, it appears that there’s yet another creative genius in our tribe already overflowing with creative geniuses. Bravissimo! ▼

Ann Aptaker is the author of short stories and the Lambda & Goldie award winning Ann Aptaker...Cantor Gold series. The next in the series, A Crime of Secrets, will be released in July 2023.

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Being Alive A

bout two years ago, I was in New York with friends, having a theatre weekend. We’d seen two shows together already, but on Sunday, they wanted to see something I’d already seen. So I bought myself a ticket to see the revival of Stephen Sondheim’s Company, the one that gender-swapped half of its characters and featured Patti LuPone swilling martinis in a giant fur coat. I’d never seen it before, and I was excited. But when I met my friends later at our hotel for a drink before hopping on the train, I had a confession to make: I hated it.

Before you take away my gay card (just kidding; you can’t have it), I didn’t hate it because the songs weren’t sublime, or the performances weren’t hilarious and/or heartbreaking. I loved the set, the costumes, and the staging. But I hated the show because it hurt my feelings.

If you’ve never seen Company, it’s basically a series of little disjointed scenes between our protagonist (“Bobby,” a man, in most versions, but a woman—“Bobbi”—in the 2021 revival) visiting with the married couples that make up her circle of friends or going on a series of dates. All of Bobbi’s married friends want her to settle down, but Bobbi isn’t sure, and it goes on like that for two hours of sublime songs and hilarious/heartbreaking performances, until it finally culminates in a song called “Being Alive,” in which Bobbi realizes that her unwillingness to be vulnerable and therefore open to love is no way to live a life. She then commits to finding “someone to hold you too close/ someone to hurt you too deep.”

To be clear, I’m not against the idea of love. I happen to think that love is a very important part of every psychologically healthy person’s life, and to be deprived of love is a situation that absolutely must be remedied. I also believe that love isn’t limited to the romantic variety. I’m a single person; I haven’t been in a committed romantic relationship in over

a decade. Perhaps I will be again, if I meet someone single and compatible— but I’ve learned through experience that couplehood is not by itself a recipe for happiness, and being on my own is infinitely preferable to being with the wrong person. So, when Bobbi got to lyrics like “but alone/is alone/not alive,” it stopped me short. I’m single and okay with being single. Am I not…alive?

BY ERIC C. PETERSON

I left the theatre, and for a solid 15 minutes wallowed in my lonely, single existence. But it didn’t stick. Because I didn’t feel lonely. Like Bobbi, I have a whole “company” of people, some single and some married, who function as a found family. And if I’m not a lonely, miserable person, why was I so upset? As I approached the hotel bar and ordered a cocktail, I realized I wasn’t sad, I was angry. I wasn’t sad and pathetic, but I’d been insulted. I’d been told that my single life was meaningless. I rejected the premise of the insult but had to admit it still stung. Then, my friends arrived and asked with wide eyes, “How was the show?”

A year later, it still upsets me to think about that solitary walk from the Jacobs Theatre back to my hotel. Mostly, I’m upset with myself. It’s terrible to think how long it took to get to a place of acceptance and happiness. For decades, my single status was the absolute worst thing about my life. I used to turn down opportunities to take trips or make plans too far in advance in case I happened to obtain a boyfriend between now and then. I went on awful second and third dates with men who would have

made me miserable in the hopes that I could trick them into liking me. I went to therapy and practiced mindful gratitude, and all of it was undone by a two-hour musical.

What I now believe is that Stephen Sondheim was very lonely in the late 60s when he wrote the show. He was a gay man—living in a deeply homophobic world—who wouldn’t find someone to pull him up short and put him through hell and give him support for another 30 years or so. He believed everything he’d ever heard about being single and threw those insecurities up on stage. I suspect that happy couples who see the show love it, partly because of the sublime songs and hilarious/heartbreaking performances, but also because they’ve found their person and can leave the theatre feeling validated. And I write this with no snark whatsoever: I’m happy for them, and glad they enjoyed the show.

But I learned that art isn’t the truth, at least not an objective truth. We go to art to learn and grow, to look in the mirror or through a window, and what we see has a lot to do with the artist(s) who created the work and even more to do with ourselves. And sometimes, because of who we are or who they are, we don’t like what we see, and that’s okay. (My gay card is staying right where it is.) ▼

Eric Peterson is Interim Managing Editor of Amble Press, a novelist (Loyalty, Love & Vermouth), and a diversity, equity, and inclusion practitioner. In his spare time, he hosts a podcast, The Rewind Project.

We go to art to learn and grow, to look in the mirror or through a window…

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Head Over Heels at Salesianum School Theatre

Queer History and Its Importance

Queer representation is becoming more and more prevalent in today’s media, and likewise important. When I heard that Salesianum School Theatre (SST) was putting on a production of Head Over Heels for their 2022-23 season, I knew I had to be a part of it.

When I auditioned for the role of Pythio, the nonbinary Oracle of Delphi warning Arcadia of chaos and mass extinction, I was aware of some of the strings attached to the role. Being a female-presenting person playing an incredibly queer role in an all-boys Catholic high school production would obviously come with its challenges.

At some point, however, the stakes rose higher than I had ever wanted to imagine. In the middle of our production, a bill was signed in Tennessee restricting drag in public places or in the presence of minors. Suddenly—if I were in Tennessee—I would be breaking the law. But let’s start from the beginning of the rehearsal process with some character background and queer education.

Head Over Heels is essentially queer utopia; the entire show revolves around queer representation and self-discovery, and most importantly, acceptance. The whole show was double-cast—that is, a different performer played each role during the first weekend vs. the second weekend of the show.

I shared my role, Pythio, with a friend who attends Salesianum School. Given we have completely different gender identities and experiences in real life, playing the same role could have been very difficult in terms of character development. This is where dramaturgy comes in. SST has a fantastic dramaturgy program, which we were both able to use as a resource to fully understand our character and relate to their experiences. From their work and my own, I’d like to share with you some history.

Identifying outside of the gender binary is nothing new. In fact, records of these “other” identities is recorded in some of

the world’s earliest civilizations. Mesopotamian myths featured many references to individuals who were neither male nor female. Alongside these individuals were Hijras in the Indian subcontinent, and the

part because of how different I looked from the other actor playing Pythio, but also to highlight the strength and regality of Pythio as a character.

With frequent RuPaul’s Drag Race references in my character’s lines, I knew drag would be fitting—and so came more history and dramaturgy work. Aside from watching countless hours of Drag Race for inspiration behind my makeup designs and gestures, I turned to one of my favorite books: Legendary Children: The First Decade of RuPaul’s Drag Race and the Last Century of Queer Life.

We discussed everything from the Stonewall Riots to Club Kids, Paris is Burning to 5ninthavenueproject. It was incredibly important to not only learn the history and culture behind these aspects of queer life, but to understand it. I know that as a white, queer, female-presenting person, my experiences will never compare to the hardships of the queer people of color who came before me. They paved the way to make the world a more accepting environment for the people of my generation. However, this work is being undone by recent legislation, such as the drag ban in Tennessee.

two-spirit identity within Native American communities. Within these societies, these “other” identities held valuable roles such as religious leaders and healers; most importantly, they were people. They were seen, treated, and respected as all other people.

Along with the history of nonbinary gender identities, we researched the history and art of drag. In our production, Pythio was played in drag. This was in

Performing shows like Head Over Heels is more important than ever in today’s political climate. It is our job as artists to educate audiences on issues of hate and inequality that make our society ever more hostile to oppressed communities, a construct we have created to ostracize people who differ from us in ways ultimately unimportant. We have turned basic human rights surrounding people of differing race, gender, and sexual orientation into issues of politics. I am incredibly grateful to Salesianum School Theatre for allowing me to be a part of the art-making process to combat these issues and make our community a more accepting environment for everyone. ▼

Olivia Segeda (she/they) is a senior of Padua Academy (class of ’23) and incoming freshman Drama major at Hofstra University.

It is our job as artists to educate audiences on issues of hate and inequality that make our society ever more hostile to oppressed communities…

Guest House Chronicles BY

Double Trouble

Sometimes in my life running an inn, I find myself right smack in the middle of very personal situations. I honestly don’t always know what the right thing to do is, and sometimes I make the wrong choice. I still wonder sometimes if I made the right—or wrong—one in this story….

When I first met Kathy and Gary, I was so impressed by them. They arrived at their check-in on their bicycles—a first for me. I figured they must have done the local bike trails before checking in, so asked where they had parked their car. It turned out they had just ridden their bicycles from Washington, DC to Rehoboth Beach for a sponsored charity event. I thought that was really cool. They were booked to stay five nights and I looked forward to getting to know them.

Kathy and Gary each brought only a small bag for their five-night stay. After I checked them in, they mentioned they had dinner plans. An hour later they came downstairs, dressed to impress. They wore beautiful high-end clothing and jewelry, and Kathy had her hair all done up. They both looked elegant and polished. The tired, sweaty bikers turned out to be so sexy! How did they pull this all off after a long bike ride and with only the contents of a small bag?! I was blown away.

After a couple days of interacting, I was beginning to feel close to them. They were both beautiful people, and deeply in love. They made good money, and they did a lot with many different charities. They had a beautiful family and home, and everything seemed to be picture perfect. At the end of their stay their son picked up them and their bikes; when they left, I was sad. I immediately began to miss them. However, I didn’t have to wait too long to reconnect.

A few weeks later, I saw Gary’s name appear on the reservation list. I was excited to see they were coming back. The surprise came when Gary appeared for breakfast with a woman I had not met before. He introduced her as a co-

worker and asked if she could join him at breakfast. I had no problem with that and served them both.

Every couple of weeks Gary would make another reservation, and in the morning I would meet another female co-worker. I had some suspicions, but it wasn’t my business to question people’s personal lives and relationships.

A year or so later, a new reservation came in, this time with Gary and Kathy’s

TOM KELCH

name on it. Before their arrival I got a frantic phone call from Gary; he asked me not to tell Kathy about his visits to the guest house. I agreed not to say anything, and I didn’t.

Another year later Gary’s name was again on my list of arriving guests. It was always nice to see him and meet his friends. He checked in early and went off to do his thing.

Later that same day, another of my guests arrived. I went out to meet their car, and to my surprise, there was Kathy sitting in the passenger seat. Kathy’s girlfriend had booked; they wanted a couple of beach days while their husbands were away. In my gut, I felt something really bad was about to happen. I didn’t know what to do or say, so I chose to stay out of it and said nothing to anyone.

It didn’t take long for the inevitable to happen. That night Kathy and her friend were having some wine and relaxing on the front porch when an Uber pulled up out front, and out popped Gary. He opened the passenger door for a

woman, took her by the hand, and kissed her. Then he turned around to lead her into the guest house, only to find Kathy sitting right there on the porch, stunned.

Within seconds we had a live version of the Jerry Springer show happening right on the front porch. At some point during the screaming, fighting, and hysteria, Gary’s girlfriend called herself an Uber and escaped. After calls to the police from concerned witnesses, Gary got in his car and left. Kathy stayed behind, sobbing.

She was in shock, and I wanted to comfort her, but I felt a strong sense of guilt. She asked me if I had known he was at the guest house, and in total panic mode I lied and said no. He called me and asked why—if I had known she was staying there—I didn’t call and warn him? I told him—truthfully—that I hadn’t known she was coming; the reservation wasn’t in her name.

Eventually, it all resulted in a pretty bitter divorce.

Despite all that, occasionally they both continue to stay at the guest house, and I am still always very happy to see them. I hear both sides, and just try to listen and be supportive.

To this day, I really don’t know if I did the right thing. Was my decision to stay out of it good or bad? Could I have done anything to prevent what ended up happening right in front of me?

All I know for sure is that the whole sorry situation made for a great story. ▼

Tom Kelch is the innkeeper and property manager of the Rehoboth Guest House.

Every couple of weeks Gary would make another reservation, and in the morning I would meet another female co-worker.

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Love Is Love A

few years ago, I had a job with a demanding travel schedule. I recall there being a month when I spent more days on the road than at home. On these trips, I would do lots of talking, lots of learning, and lots of work to support my boss and make sure the trip was smooth and successful for him. He was always appreciative, and I found the work fulfilling.

In addition to the satisfaction of the work, another perk was being able to eat at a lot of great places in cities across the country. Typically, they weren’t highend or fancy places. Almost never were they restaurants where you would find lots of tourists. We went to places our hosts in each city thought would give us a taste of their town.

Once we were in Birmingham, Alabama, and the local team took us to what was one of the best BBQ restaurants I had ever been to. I knew it was going to be good when we walked in, and I saw rolls of paper towels at each table.

At a small mom-and-pop breakfast spot in Cleveland, Ohio, I had eggs so soft and fluffy they could have been mistaken for clouds. In Monroe, Louisiana, we attended a luncheon where the food was so delicious that when the formal program was over, I made my way to the kitchen to personally thank the waitstaff and the chef. It was just that good!

But I did not enjoy the meal every single time we sat down to eat. The most glaring example is from a trip to Texas—to a city I shall not name. We had a packed itinerary for the first half of the day which began with a morning tour of a facility, media coverage, and my boss giving remarks at a ceremony. After that we would attend a luncheon, change clothes in the nearest bathroom, and head straight to the airport to be on our way to the next stop on our tour.

Well, the morning was off to a brisk start. The tour began a little late, but all the dignitaries were there and enjoying each other’s company. A photographer and a few members of the press followed them and did a couple of one-on-one interviews. The ceremony was well attended, and my boss’s remarks were well received.

I was very much looking forward to sitting back at the luncheon, relaxing, and having a good meal. I had not eaten all morning and while it was only noon, it felt

BY CLARENCE FLUKER

like it had been a full day. I was seated at a lovely, decorated table with friendly faces. When the staff began to place plates covered with beautiful silver dome plate toppers in front of each guest, I knew I was in for a treat. They had already delighted my eyes, surely my stomach was next.

The moment came to take the dome covers off. My heart sank. It was the most unappetizing dish I had seen and there was scant chance that day I would even try it. Everyone else at the table was smiling and ready to dig in. I simply asked for another salad and loaded up on rolls. I did not comment on what they were eating or why I did not care for it. I had learned long ago, “don’t yuck somebody else’s yum.”

Recently, I realized that saying applies not only to food, but also to people and their relationships.

The slogan, “Love is love,” was coined by the marriage equality movement and rolls easily off the lips. It is the idea that all forms of love are valid and equal. The love counterpart to “don’t yuck somebody else’s yum.”

We may not always be in love with the person our friend or family member brings home and announces that they are dating or in a relationship with. She might not be what we expected. He might not look like the ones before. They might not fit in. We might think three or four people in one relationship is a crowd.

But we are not the ones in the relationship and if the mutually consenting adults who are in the relationship are having a healthy and happy experience, then we need not open our mouths to yuck their yum. It is our opportunity to lean into the idea that love really is love, despite the confines of the box we would like to see it in. What works for you might not work for everyone else. Love and attraction are deeply personal things. Not too far off from tastebuds.

So, the next time you get even the tiniest urge to make a face or comment judgmentally about what someone else is eating and enjoying, stop yourself and let them enjoy it. Concentrate on your own fulfillment. Ask the server if there is more salad and rolls. Get full. ▼

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.

It is our opportunity to lean into the idea that love really is love, despite the confines of the box we would like to see it in.

It’s My Life

Conditions of the Heart

Ifolded the laundry before I went to the ER.

In my defense, it had been sitting in the dryer since the day before, and I didn’t want Cubby to have to deal with it if something happened. Folding laundry is not his thing. Plus, I figured he’d have enough to worry about with the dogs.

The dogs were the reason I hadn’t gone to the ER the night before, when the trouble with my heart began. I knew that if I left, they’d be upset. So, I told myself that if I didn’t feel better in the morning, I’d go then.

And I didn’t feel better. I felt worse. The irregular heartbeat was still irregular. “I think I should probably go to the ER,” I told Cubby once the t-shirts and socks were folded. “Just in case.”

When I arrived, I approached the attendant at the front desk. “Not to be dramatic,” I said, “but I think I may be having a heart attack.”

He seemed unconcerned but sat me down and checked my heart rate. “This can’t be right,” he said. He called a nurse over and asked her to take a second reading. “Get him in a room,” she said after seeing the number on the monitor. “Now.”

After that, a lot happened very quickly. Then a doctor appeared. “Your heart rate is almost 200 beats per minute,” he said. “How long has it been like this?”

I counted backwards. “About 13 hours,” I said.

He looked surprised. “Your heart is reacting as if you’ve been running a marathon all night,” he said. “I’m surprised you’re still with us.”

He then informed me that they needed to reset my heart. Specifically, they were going to use a drug to stop it and restart it. “This is going to feel yucky,” he said as he prepared to inject something into the IV in my arm.

Before I could ask him to define “yucky,” it was done. I waited for something to happen. Things went a little fuzzy. Then I saw the heart monitor beside the bed flatline. A few seconds

later, it blipped happily again.

“Did I just die?” I asked.

“Technically, yes,” the doctor said. “But only briefly. How do you feel?”

“Better,” I told him. “Actually, fine.”

BY MICHAEL THOMAS FORD

“You’re very calm about all of this,” he remarked. “People are usually much more upset when we do that.”

I offered to cry a little, but he said that wouldn’t be necessary. “So,” I said. “Did I have a heart attack?”

“It was a supraventricular tachycardia,” he said. “Not a heart attack. But it could easily have caused one, particularly since somebody let it go on for 13 hours before coming in.”

“I had laundry to fold,” I explained. But I promised I wouldn’t do it again. “I’m still going to say I had a heart attack,” I told him. “It’s more exciting. And easier to pronounce.”

They kept me overnight, both to make sure I didn’t have another SVT and because there was more news—I

also have diabetes. That was a whole other thing, and actually worse than the heart thing, as it involved insulin and waking me up every half-hour to test my blood. Also, they sent in a perky dietitian to explain to me that I can never eat anything fun ever again and have to learn to like spinach greens and sand.

Both things also resulted in prescriptions for a lot of medications. Before going in, I took only a daily multivitamin. Now, I take seven different things. I also get to test my blood sugar twice a day. I had to make a chart and get a pill box, which is a bit like the Trapper Keeper I had in fifth grade to organize all my papers but somehow less fun. I also have an app on my phone that reminds me when to take my pills and records the readings from my glucose monitor and sends them right to my doctor, so that he can yell at me for eating the wrong things.

The meds have been the most difficult thing to adjust to, especially in the first few weeks. One of them caused changes in eye pressure, which made my vision fuzzy for a while. Another I would know was working, my doctor said, “when you start having diarrhea.” Which of course came on while I was at the Kroger, shopping for spinach greens and sand.

I do feel better than I have in years, though, which is something. And given that I made it to 54 before having any major health issues, I consider myself pretty fortunate. Still, this is a reminder that bodies do wear out, and that Things Can Happen. And we won’t even get into how much getting your heart reset costs, even with insurance.

But at least the laundry got folded. ▼

Michael Thomas Ford is a much-published Lambda Literary award-winning author. Visit Michael at michaelthomasford.com.

I saw the heart monitor beside the bed flatline. A few seconds later, it blipped happily again.

BY LESLIE SINCLAIR & DEBBIE WOODS

Freddie’s: Barbies & Boas, Flamingos & Fun

After 20 successful years at their Arlington, Virginia location, in October 2021 owner Freddie Lutz realized his dream of opening a second Freddie’s Beach Bar and Restaurant location in Rehoboth Beach. And are we glad he did! This LGBTQ+, straight-friendly restaurant and bar is such a vibrant and fun addition to the local scene.

Those who approach the 3 First Street location will be greeted by an explosion of pink, purple, and turquoise. The minute you walk through the front door, you know it is going to be fun! Inside the walls are lined with Barbies, kitsch, and a collection of festive painted furniture pieces artfully arranged by Freddie himself. We were pleased to see that a stack of Letters from CAMP Rehoboth and a container of safe-sex kits were prominently displayed. Thanks, Freddie!

Freddie’s is gearing up for the 2023 season with a new menu and a friendly crew in place. Upon entering we were welcomed by Fluffy, bartender extraordinaire, and now also general manager. Other members of the team include bartender Rudy, server Abby, and new chef Oscar.

They have just introduced their new summer menu. The cocktail menu contains a dozen or more specialty drinks, masterfully crafted by Rudy. We selected two classics—a cucumber martini and an orange cosmo (which also comes in raspberry, watermelon, and blueberry flavors). Both were icy cold, crisp, and refreshing. Non-alcoholic selections are also available—Coke Zero is popular and there are a variety of flavored seltzers and iced tea.

As we perused the menu, we enjoyed appetizers of loaded potato skins, their special app for the evening (delicious!), and their unique onion petals, a variation on onion rings, with ranch and honey mustard dipping sauces. Additional appetizers include Freddie’s famous wings with choice of sauce, peel-andeat shrimp, and several others. A very

generous portion of Nacho Daddy Nachos can serve as a meal for a very reasonable price. Indeed, we found all of Freddie’s prices to be reasonable.

The “handhelds” portion of the menu includes a chicken bacon ranch

mushroom sauce. The chicken was quite tasty, and the mushroom sauce was flavorful.

Fluffy checked in with us periodically (and Abby, too!), and when we said, “now about dessert…,” she replied, “It’s already being prepared.” Shortly thereafter, chef Oscar presented a “boozy whoopy pie” with a Bailey’s Irish Cream filling and accompanied by chocolate sauce, whipped cream, and strawberries. Yum!

More than just a seasonal dining option for residents and visitors, Freddie’s is a year-round, fun-filled entertainment venue, with karaoke on Thursday evenings, drag shows on Fridays, and a drag brunch (including bloody marys and mimosas) on Sundays.

And…(drum roll please) the one and only Pamala Stanley brings down the house at Freddie’s with The Pamala Stanley Experience! on selected Sundays, with the prospect of more frequent performances this summer.

Do you wanna dance? Join DJ Sandra C. as she spins the tunes at Freddie’s Dance Party every Saturday evening starting at 9:00 p.m.

And finally, you can enjoy happy hour every day beginning at 4:00 p.m. with great drink prices and appetizer specials.

Colorful! Flamboyant! Vibrant!

Freddie’s is a fun, welcoming place to hang out for delicious drinks, tasty fare, and fabulous entertainment. Thanks to the fun time we had and our most gracious host Fluffy and her friendly and attentive team, we will be returning to Freddie’s. We hope to see you there!

sandwich (tempting but we couldn’t eat everything!), an Angus beef burger, and a crab cake sandwich—all on toasted brioche buns. Next were two types of flatbreads. We tried the margherita flatbread, which had a crisp crust and was quite tasty. New mains are now on the menu, such as fish and chips and healthy options like a rainbow salmon noodle bowl. We tried the Chicken Asti, a grilled chicken breast with a creamy

Update: We returned to Freddie’s three days later to see The Pamala Stanley Experience! It is a fabulous show—not to be missed!  ▼

Leslie Sinclair and her wife Debbie Woods are longtime fans of the Rehoboth Beach dining and entertainment scene and have been fulltime residents since 2009.

More than just a seasonal dining option for residents and visitors, Freddie’s is a year-round, fun-filled entertainment venue.

BE A SPORT

Play Ball!

Ladies, are you interested in pickleball, golf, tennis, bowling, or even softball? If so, you are in luck! The Rehoboth Beach-Lewes corridor is chock full of leagues to suit all levels of experience and tastes. Some include requirements but all concentrate on the “fun factor” and camaraderie.

CAMP Rehoboth member and self-proclaimed sports fanatic Lisa Mosely does it all! She has participated in these sports for years and says that she finds the atmosphere among local ladies’ leagues to be friendly, supportive, and fun.

Let’s start with pickleball, the fastest growing sport in the US for three years running, according to the 2023 Sports and Fitness Industry Association’s Participation Report. The Pickleheads website offers additional interesting statistics about the sport.

Locally, the First State Pickleball Club organizes tournaments, player development programs, and social events for a large swath of area residents. The club’s website lists numerous places to play, including Dave Marshall’s Tennis and Fitness Club (Plantation Road) for winter opportunities indoors. The club’s mission is to “promote the development of the sport of pickleball through participation, training, and good sportsmanship.”

Golfers have numerous options. CAMP Rehoboth’s Thursday night ladies league convenes at the nine-hole American Classic Golf Club and includes about 80 women with a wide range of skills. CAMP member/coordinator Rina Pellegrini uses a shotgun scramble format to

BY MARY JO TARALLO

maximize the number of players on the course.

“Many of us get together when the league is over and continue playing golf throughout the year,” says Mosely.

Milton’s Rookery, another public course, offers a couple of women’s leagues, including one that requires a handicap score from the Golf Handicap and Information Network (GHIN). Its Women’s Golf Association hosts a weekly 18-hole league intended to help ladies work on skill improvement, practice/learn the rules, and have fun, according to President Debbie Romenus.

The group supports women’s golf activities sponsored by the Women’s Peninsula Golf Association (WPGA), and Delaware Women’s Golf Association (DWGA). Ladies’ clinics start in April and continue through the beginning of September.

Tuesday is Ladies Day at Mulligan’s Point near Georgetown. The club hosts a nine-hole and an 18-hole friendly competition. No need to be a member to play in the league. One of the largest golf leagues is organized by the Indian River Senior Center.

The Senior Ladies Softball League starts in June, ends in late August, and consists of six teams of 20 women each

“I like working on the skills needed to play, the friendly competition, the banter that comes with a hard-fought game (like softball) among teammates and opponents.”

with playoffs at the end of the season. Tuesday night games for women 45 and older are played on Holland Glade Road Little League Field and the games attract a large number of team supporters each week. For further details contact rehobothsoftballover45@gmail.com.

Pellegrini coordinates the Ladies Rainbow Bowling League that plays on Thursday nights at the Millsboro Lanes bowling alley. She started the league about 12 years ago and is an accomplished bowler in her own right. Her contact information is rpelligrini6469@gmail.com.

The league has 16 teams comprised of four women on a team. It runs from November to end of February and celebrates the season with an end of year

party (recently held in March).

A group of women tennis players meet on Saturday mornings at the Cape Henlopen High School from April through November depending on the weather. Organizer Lori Dewald started the informal (and free) “league” in 2010. She has about 30 women of all ages and skills on her email list. There are 10-12 courts at the school so Dewald rotates players to make sure everyone gets a chance to play (primarily doubles matches). It’s a “non-competitive” group but Dewald pulls together the Lew-US tournament in September during the US Open in NY. For information, contact Lori at loridewald@gmail.com.

OutLoud, a national nonprofit sports

organization, has a chapter in the Rehoboth Beach area. Primarily a co-ed group, OutLoud Sports brands itself as “the nation’s original Queer+ recreational sports leagues.” Founded in 2007, it claims to be all inclusive and welcoming. Chapters typically are in major cities like Los Angeles and Denver. The Rehoboth chapter offers bowling, kickball, dodgeball, softball, and pickleball.

Many local sports league women marched in the October 2022 Sea Witch® parade, under the banner of “A League of Their Own.” Several were decked out like the ladies’ softball team, the Rockford Peaches; Pellegrini and CAMP Rehoboth member Jen Leonard pulled it together.

Leonard is another avid sports enthusiast who plays in various leagues. “I like working on the skills needed to play, the friendly competition, the banter that comes with a hard-fought game (like softball) among teammates and opponents. Most importantly I love to be outside,” she says. “The parade theme was chosen to celebrate and bring awareness to the women’s leagues and all the sporting options that enhance our community,” she said.

“My vision is to have more and more of us dressed in Rockford Peaches uniforms marching together in Sea Witch® parades for years to come,” she added. ▼

Mary Jo Tarallo is a former journalist and public relations professional for various non-profits including a ski industry trade association. She won a Gold Award for a United Way TV program starring Oprah

Winfrey.

Photos, opposite page (top): Shore Sharks, 2022 Softball Senior Olympics Champions. Photo credit: Lisa Mosley

(Bottom): Lisa Mosley. Photo credit: Sharon Brosnahan. This page (top, L-R): Chris Durr, Alley Cats; Robin Esham, Shore Sharks; Photo credit: Sharon Brosnahan. Chi Wu, Janet Redman; Tara Leek, Lisa Mosley.

At left, top photo: CAMP Rehoboth Ladies Golf League. Photo credit: Lisa Mosley

Bottom: JR Futcher, Claire McCracken, Jen Leonard, Karen Landy, Isabel Ortiz, Clarice Maggio

The Daiquiri and Me

You’d think at my age I wouldn’t be embarrassed to order a daiquiri in a bar. I don’t have a problem sipping a glass of white wine while getting a pedicure. But put a frozen pink strawberry daiquiri garnished with a paper umbrella and a colorful straw in front of me, and I get itchy. Do real men drink daiquiris?

I realize this reaction is ridiculous because cocktails are inanimate objects and have no gender identity. Misogyny, however, is deeply entrenched in our culture and it plays out in all sorts of unexpected ways, including with cocktails. Sweet, fruity, brightly colored, garnished drinks are considered as “girly” and sour, spicy, strong drinks are characterized as “manly.” Girls drink cosmos and daiquiris and men drink whiskey and martinis. This false dichotomy seems even more absurd when you consider the origin of the daiquiri.

The classic daiquiri is a simple blend of rum, lime juice, and sugar syrup. It was first mixed as a cocktail and served over ice in the 1890s by an American mining engineer working in the village of Daiquiri, Cuba. It helped him and his fellow gringos deal with the island’s heat, and it quickly became a favorite in Cuban bars. The cocktail, however, wasn’t very familiar to Americans until Prohibition when men and women flocking to Cuba for its bars and nightlife discovered it.

Some say the daiquiri’s popularity was due to the writer Ernest Hemingway. Hemingway lived in Cuba for 20 years starting in 1940 and regularly frequented Havana’s famous La Floridita bar after a day of writing and fishing. Hemingway loved the daiquiri so much that he once drank 17 of them on a hot Havana afternoon in 1942. The renowned bartender at La Floridita even created a special version of the daiquiri in Hemingway’s honor. It came to be known as the “Papa Doble” and was made with two jiggers of white rum, the juice of two limes and half a grapefruit, and six drops

of maraschino liqueur. No additional sugar was added. It was then blended vigorously over shaved ice and served foaming in large goblets. The tourists and celebrities visiting Cuba drank them up.

beverage machine in 1965 and the beginning of daiquiri franchises in the early 1980s enabled the drink to morph into the colorful, sickly-sweet slushie we now expect of a modern daiquiri.

In fact, it’s almost impossible to find an old school-style daiquiri today. I know because I searched while in Key West this winter. Bartenders either smirked or looked puzzled when I asked for one. A couple of bartenders declined to make the drink. Seriously? It’s three simple ingredients and not too dissimilar from mojitos and margaritas that appear on just about every cocktail menu nowadays. Those who did mix daiquiris presented me with concoctions that tasted surprisingly like key lime pie. Don’t get me wrong, I adore key lime pie. I just don’t want to drink it.

How then did a drink favored by Ernest Hemingway become viewed as a girly drink? Here’s how I think it happened. As the daiquiri’s fame grew, bartenders struggled to keep up with the demand, so they turned to the Waring blender (invented in 1938) to pulverize ice faster. The blender also allowed a creative bartender to puree any fruit, so the classic lime daiquiri expanded into sweeter flavors like banana and strawberry. When the tiki cocktail craze of the 1950s swept the country with tropical flavors that masked the taste of the liquor, the daiquiri came along for the ride. The invention of the frozen

At wits’ end, I stumbled into a place called The Rum Bar, a serious establishment featuring over 350 kinds of rum and all sorts of rum cocktails, including a classic daiquiri. The bartender mixed one up for me. Alas, like the others I’d tried, it was still too sweet for my taste. He explained it’s probably because modern limes are sweeter than the limes used back in Hemingway’s time and the recipe ought to be tweaked. Then he mixed me a daiquiri made with Old St. Pete spiced rum, key lime juice, and just a little bit of sugar syrup. Spiced rum? I was dubious and, yes, a tad embarrassed. But it was quite good. Sweet, yes, but the spiced rum somehow balanced the sweetness without ratcheting it up.

I’m not convinced the daiquiri can overcome both its modern reputation and bartender reticence. But I do believe one should be comfortable drinking anything he or she pleases, stereotypes and umbrellas be damned. But the daiquiri? I’m afraid she’s still not for me. ▼

Rich Barnett is the author of The Discreet Charms of a Bourgeois Beach Town, and Fun with Dick and James.

BY RICH BARNETT

Hemingway loved the daiquiri so much that he once drank 17 of them on a hot Havana afternoon in 1942.

Experts in coastal comfort.

Ocean Front, 6 Wilmington Avenue

Dewey Beach, DE 19971

302 227 2999 • Reopens March 16 avenueinn.com

Ocean Block, New Castle Street

Rehoboth Beach, DE 19971 302 296 4400 • Dog Friendly cooper-cottages.com

At The Lodges of Coastal Delaware, we respect, honor and celebrate the individuality of every resident and team member. Here, we believe that a lifestyle community is a place to live, belong, and enjoy 'Life. Your Way.'

The Lodge at Truitt Homestead is proud to be the first SAGECare Certified senior lifestyle community in Delaware, treating each resident with dignity and respect while catering to the unique needs of seniors in the LGBTQ+ community.

Opening late summer 2023, The Lodge at Historic Lewes will be home to the same exceptional and inclusive lifestyle, offering vibrant assisted living and groundbreaking The Compass Memory Care™.

Start your journey to “Lodge Life” today by calling 844-493-9888.

CAMP REHOBOTH BEACH GUIDE

BEACH

REHOBOTH RETAIL SHOPS

New Wave Spas, 20660 Coastal Hwy

Unfinished Business, Rt. 1 behind Panera Bread

302-227-8484

302-645-8700

REHOBOTH ART | GALLERIES | MUSEUMS

Caroline Huff, Fine Artist www.carolinehuff.com

Gallery 50, 50 Wilmington Ave

Philip Morton Gallery, 47 Baltimore Ave

Rehoboth Art League, 12 Dodds Ln

Rehoboth Beach Museum, 511 Rehoboth Ave

REHOBOTH FOOD & DRINK

1776 Steakhouse, Midway Shopping Center

Aqua, 57 Baltimore Ave

Back Porch Café, 59 Rehoboth Ave

Blue Moon, 35 Baltimore Ave

Café Azafrán, 18 Baltimore Ave

Café Papillon, Penny Lane Mall

Coho’s Market & Grill, 305 Rehoboth Ave

Diego’s Bar Nightclub, 37298 Rehoboth Ave

Dos Locos, 208 Rehoboth Ave

Freddie’s Beach Bar & Restaurant, 3 South First St

Go Fish, 24 Rehoboth Ave

Goolee’s Grille, 11 South 1st St

Just In Thyme, 38163 Robinsons Dr

Lori’s Café, 39 Baltimore Ave

Loves Liquors, LLC, 305c Rehoboth

302-227-2050

302-727-0905

302-227-8408

302-227-7310

302-645-9355

302-226-9001

302-227-3674

302-227-6515

302-227-8100

302-227-7568

302-227-2646

302-227-1023

302-227-3353

302-527-1400

302-226-1044

302-227-7653

302-227-3100

302-226-3066

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)

Lewes Senior Activity Center (age 50+)

LGBTQ Student Union—University of DE, Newark

PFLAG-Rehoboth—3rd Tuesdays, Public Library, 111 Adams Ave, Lewes

SLAA and SAA—Thursdays, 7:30 pm, All Saints’ Church

Social Security Administration—Lewes office

TransLiance of DE—Rehoboth—4th Tuesdays at 7 pm, MCC of Rehoboth; contact: TransLiance@gmail.com

LEGAL/ACCOUNTING/TRUST SERVICES

Lawson Firm, 402 Rehoboth Ave

PWW Law LLC, 1519 Savannah Rd, Lewes

Steven Falcone CPA, Taxes & Planning

MASSAGE THERAPY/FITNESS

Midway Fitness & Racquetball, Midway Center

One Spirit Massage, 169 Rehoboth Ave

Reiki CENTRAL, thecentralfirm.com

PEST CONTROL

Activ Pest Solutions, 16803 New Rd, Lewes

PET RETAIL

Critter Beach, 156 Rehoboth Ave

Pet Portraits by Monique

PET SERVICES

Brandywine Valley SPCA, 22918 Dupont Blvd, G’twn .........

302-226-3700

302-703-6993

302-644-8634

302-645-0407

302-226-3552

302-408-0878

302-645-1502

302-226-2690

717-650-4626

302-856-6361

Humane Animal Partners (formerly Delaware Humane Association & Delaware SPCA)

Parsell Pet Crematorium, 16961 Kings Hwy, Lewes

REAL ESTATE

Allen Jarmon, NextHome Tomorrow Realty

Bill Peiffer, Patterson Schwartz, 18958 Coastal Hwy

Chris Beagle, Berkshire Hathaway, 37230 Rehoboth Ave

Debbie Reed Team, 319 Rehoboth Ave

Donna Whiteside, Berkshire Hathaway, 16712 Kings Hwy

Hugh Fuller, Realtor

John Black, Patterson Schwartz, 18958 Coastal Hwy

Lana Warfield, Berkshire Hathaway, 37230 Rehoboth Ave

Lee Ann Wilkinson Group, 16698 Kings Hwy

Lingo Realty, 246 Rehoboth Ave

McGuiness Group, 246 Rehoboth Ave

302-200-7159

302-645-7445

302-745-5122

302-703-6987

302-227-6101

800-263-5648

302-381-4871

302-745-1866

302-703-6987

302-227-6101

302-645-6664

302-227-3883

302-227-3883

McWilliams Ballard, Kevin McDuffie kmcduffie@mcwb.com

McWilliams Ballard, Justin Orr jorr@mcwb.com

Randy Mason/Shirley Kalvinsky, Lingo Realty

Sea Bova Associates, 20250 Coastal Hwy

Troy Roberts, Mann & Sons, 414 Rehoboth Ave

302-227-3883

302-227-1222

302-228-7422

RETIREMENT LIVING/SENIOR CARE FACILITIES

Springpoint Choice, 17028 Cadbury Cir, Lewes

The Lodge at Truitt Homestead, 36233 Farm Ln .................

TRAVEL & TRANSPORTATION

Accent On Travel, 37156 Rehoboth Ave

CHEER Transportation (age 50+)

ITN Southern Delaware (age 60+ or disabled)

Jolly Trolley Shuttle from Rehoboth Ave & Boardwalk

INSURANCE

Eric Blondin, State Farm

George Bunting, State Farm

Jeanine O’Donnell, State Farm

302-644-3276

302-227-3891

302-645-7283

302-313-6658

302-232-6372

302-278-6100

302-856-4909

302-448-8486

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.

BY ED CASTELLI

Magic Mac-N-Cheese

One month to go! Memorial Day and the start of long, lazy beach days are nearly here. But with growing crowds and shrinking sand, we all need to gird our patience. Because traffic, parking, and checkout lines will soon be busting at the seams.

I’m reminded of an annoying, now funny, experience I once had involving a mother and her daughter Katie. The daughter’s name is forever burned in my mind. The mom I’ll call Loraine.

Picture it. I’m reading a couple books while getting some rays. (I often juggle three or more books. Yes, for fun. I get bored easily.) And little Katie started doing endless cartwheels between me and my serene ocean view.

Let me define endless. It was over and over for half an hour. Nonstop, no exaggeration. Let’s guesstimate the math. Say three cartwheels per minute, allowing time for Katie to adjust her scrunchy from time to time, or tug at the occasional wedgy. That’s nearly 100 cartwheels. But that’s not the annoying part.

You see, Loraine said “Good job, Katie” after every single one. No cartwheel went unacknowledged without that exact feedback. "That was nice" was never uttered. Nor "fantastic effort." Or "you rock, kiddo." It was an endless loop of “Good job, Katie.”

I wanted to stab my ears with a butterknife. The sheer gall of it. Because Loraine was a liar. Katie’s cartwheels weren’t all good. Hey Loraine, how’s about we pepper in the occasional "point your toes"?! Or "straighten those knees." Or "stop hyper-extending."

At 30 minutes, my fight or flight response kicked in. I was determined to hold my sand. But instead, my heart softened. That, or I sensed Loraine could kick my ass. So I caved and gave the duo their bonding time. I woke my husband and we headed to the boardwalk for junk food. Everyone was happy.

The moral is: be kind to one another. We all want part of the beachy dream. We all must learn to coexist.

This month I’m highlighting a dish in honor of Katie and cartwheeling kids everywhere, my Magic Mac-NCheese.

This recipe had a lifechanging effect on me. I remember it like yesterday. My husband’s cousin mentioned a mac-n-cheese she bakes without boiling the noodles first. Say what?!?! No roux?! No mounds of pots and pans?! How can that be? Just wait, you’ll see. This recipe will have a cult following in your house too.

Let’s get started, shall we?

 Preheat your oven to 350°. Lightly grease a deep 3-quart baking dish and place on a foil-lined cookie sheet big enough to catch any spills.

 Add the following: 2 ½ cups raw macaroni (this is less than a 16oz. box); 6 cups of milk; 4 Tbls. butter cut in small chunks; ½ Tbl salt; ½ tsp pepper; 1 ½ pounds of sharp American cheese cut into 1" chunks (look for brand name Cooper at your deli).

 Bake for approximately 1 ¼ to 1 ½ hours, watching carefully. When the butter and cheese are melted (or if you see the milk is about to bubble over) give the pasta a gentle stir.

  Stir several times as the pasta bakes, gently stirring the top under. Stop stirring the last 15 minutes or so to allow the top to get some brown singed edges. If you’re like me, the toastier the top the better.

 The dish is done when the pasta is tender and most liquids have been absorbed.

TIPS:

• I recommend you make this the first time with sharp American cheese. It melts perfectly and is really creamy. Then, experiment swapping in up to half other cheeses like cheddar. Be careful though as harder cheeses can separate a bit leading to a texture similar to cottage cheese between the noodles. Still delicious.

• For a fancy make-ahead twist, try this: bake as directed the day before you want to serve, then cool, cover, and refrigerate overnight. Preheat your oven to 375° while you cut serving size portions. Top each with a small amount of a grated sharp cheese, like Asiago. Transfer the servings to a parchment-lined sheet pan, and bake about 10 to 15 minutes, until the top cheese is melted and the edges are a little crispy. ▼

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. Recipe requests and feedback welcome: ed@seasalttable.com.

SILENCE IS GOLDEN BY TERRI

SCHLICHENMEYER

Shhhhhhhh…..

So let’s say a couple of your ancestors are arguing deep in their cave one night.

You might wonder what two fine fellows like that would have to argue about—leg of lion, perhaps—but then one of them tells the other to “Shut up!” and you really just know this isn’t going to get any better.

To understand why those two little syllables, “shut” and “up,” are fightin’ words, we need to look at a brief history of insults first.

Indeed, as long as there have been humans, there’s undoubtedly been a little bit of Yo Mama-ing going on. Joking and jibes are built into our DNA, it seems: ancient Romans wrote epic poetry and paeans to warriors with jabs hidden cleverly within the couplets. Roman and Greek soldiers inscribed nasty taunts on the ammunition they sent flying via slingshots—things like “Catch this!” and other barbs. Virgil couldn’t resist a little snark, nor could Shakespeare; neither could a random relief-seeker in Pompeii who scrawled “Sanius to Cornelius: Go hang yourself” on the wall of a restroom. It’s said that even Diogenes used “the finger” to show his displeasure with politics of his day.

An insult caused Aaron Burr to kill Alexander Hamilton. Britain’s Boris Johnson accumulated years of insulting behavior, which likely didn’t endear him to a whole lot of folks in Parliament. Khruschev, Mussolini, and Churchill all knew the way to sink a fang into an enemy with their words. And, of course, we could talk about Hollywood movers and shakers trading insults all day long and we still wouldn’t find the end of the jabs and jibes aimed at directors, writers, stars, and back-stabbing wanna-be’s.

As you could surmise, it never takes long for insults to escalate, no matter what era you live in, and there were absolutely times when the words ultimately involved axes, clubs, fisticuffs, and other weapons, including tongues as sharp as knives. Even the lightest off-the-cuff slur could be a reason for “honor” to be

defended and there you go. The lesson here, you might say, is that if you ever travel back in time, be careful what you say, and to whom.

So, anyway, why is “Shut up!” so inflammatory?

person who believes that their scintillating thoughts are of the utmost importance and that they deserve to be brought forth in a stream of consciousness, but the one doing the insulting has also just exerted control of everything in an aggressive and angry way with the (probable) barking of two little words. Game changer, right?

It should be mentioned that, also psychologically speaking, there really are people who don’t know when to... um, yeah. But do they deserve to be told to “shut up”? You be the judge, but just remember that by demanding that someone stop talking right now, right this minute, you could be propagating racism, sexism, or homophobia: lots of groups throughout history have been silenced for all kinds of invalid reasons, and all it took was a single “Shut up!”

Even psychologists point out that it’s sometimes better to just walk away. Barring that, though, how can you shut up, “Shut up!”?

People who study family dynamics say that the words “shut up,” when said together, should be eliminated from your family’s vocabulary, that you shouldn’t say it and you shouldn’t allow your kids to say it because it’s not going to make things any easier on any playground, now or later. There are kinder words to use, such as “hush,” or “be quiet,” or do the librarian thing with your finger to your lips, “shhhhhhhhh.”

Putting aside the modern use of the phrase, at its mildest, “shut up” is rude. You are insisting that the speaker immediately cease talking and close their mouth, as if you’ve suddenly been appointed Boss of the World. You’re not asking kindly for silence; you’re demanding it.

Psychologically speaking (no pun intended), when one person talks more than anyone else in a conversation, unless they are a teacher or preacher, they are dominating the conversation. To say “Shut up!” is not just insulting to the

Overall, be careful how you use those words, and remain cognizant of the social situation. Be sure that in casual conversations, you put emphasis on the “UhhhhP!” part of the phrase (or equal emphasis on both syllables), follow it with a fauxshocked look, and know your audience. And if you still can’t say something nice, maybe the best thing is to...shhhhhhhh.

Terri Schlichenmeyer’s second book, The Big Book of American Facts, comes out this fall. Her first (Big Book of Facts) is available now in bookstores.

Khruschev, Mussolini, and Churchill all knew the way to sink a fang into an enemy with their words.

NATIONAL SUPERHERO DAY: APRIL 28

Searching for My Superpower

Blank. My head filled with white space. When a friend who is a coach asked me what my superpower was, I felt like a deer in headlights. Frozen. Incapable of thought. My brain scrambled, tossing around adjectives. I just said something that made people laugh—so am I quick-witted? Hardly. My aunt called me brilliant. I don’t think so. I‘m good at connecting people, places, jobs, and information—but is that a strength or just something I do?

Everyone needs a superpower so we can feel confident in ourselves. It’s a strength we can build upon and it helps us identify and become secure in our abilities. “Once we believe in ourselves, we can risk curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight or any experience that reveals the human spirit,” stated E.E. Cummings. The mere act of finding a superpower and acting on it can be transformative.

The hard part is finding one that fits a person’s personality and strengths, and one that is purposeful and fun.

The world in general is infatuated with superheroes with superpowers. I think that might be because at some level, people realize they have the ability to be much more than they are allowing themselves to be. Children in particular embrace these characters and their extraordinary skills—maybe because kids have an invincibility about themselves that adults have long since left behind?

I’ve always struggled with identifying and acknowledging my strengths, yet I can easily list all my many weaknesses. If you don’t know where you are strongest then you may have trouble aligning with your best skills and may miss developing essential skills for the future. Research shows that people who use their personal strengths in new and unique ways are much happier and less likely to be depressed. Some describe a superpower as your contribution—the role you were put on this earth to fill. It’s what a person does better than anyone else.

Getting to know and accept your character strengths can not only increase your happiness, but also improve physical health. In one study, a group that was asked to list their character strengths and then put them into action had a more positive outcome than a group who was not asked to identify character strengths.

BY PATTIE CINELLI

Meaning at Work and its Hidden Language. He says passion not only makes you happy by motivating you but also makes you want to do more, even if it means hard work or sacrifice.

Job interviewers often ask you to talk about your superpower. They are said to be testing your creativity and ability to think on your feet. Superpowers are often thought to be those traits held by superheroes—e.g., the ability to fly, invisibility, telepathy, or to be psychic. But there is a more practical way to view our dominant ability: a superpower equals strength in life.

I would love to be able to fly. Not only would I get a chance to go anywhere I wished, but I could also see things from a new, broader angle. I could see the big picture. Could this be a superpower— my ability to see things from different perspectives?

Many use their superpower to successfully choose their careers. “The superpower I’ve always wished for is invisibility, and I chose my vocation accordingly. A novelist gets 140,000 words per one tiny author photo. That’s a visibility ration I can live with,” said author Barbara Kingsolver.

Among our skills, experts say, we usually have a dominant gift—an attribute or ability that is stronger than the rest. A superpower.

My friend suggested a few ways I could identify my superpower. She told me to make a list of things I do well; remember my proudest accomplishments; ask people who know me well; and follow the flow. Notice what feels effortless—what gets me into the zone or when I lose track of time. When you are doing something in which you have a deep interest, it feels good and you probably are using your superpower.

Superpowers are born through a combination of passion and mastery said Danny Gutknecht, co-author of

TV character Shawn Spenser from the series Psych uses his superpower to create his dream job in which he excels. He notices details no one else sees and is able to recall them as needed. After floundering from job-to-job, Spenser found his niche as a consultant who helps police solve crimes by pretending to be a psychic.

Unlike Shawn Spencer or Barbara Kingsolver, I need to do more soul searching to uncover my superpower. However, just focusing on trying to identify my strengths has given me new insights into my true self. ▼

Pattie Cinelli is a health and fitness professional and journalist who focuses on holistic ways to stay healthy and get fit. She can be reached at: fitmiss44@aol.com.

I would love to be able to fly.

View Point

Never Say Never

There is a long history in this country of saying one thing and doing another. From the man who wrote “all men are created equal” owning 600 people to professed Christians seething with intolerance, betrayal of humanity has been the id battling America’s superego for 247 years.

The latest example is Donald Trump. Using what conservative columnist George Will once called feral cunning, Trump has played our lowest impulses like a virtuoso.

Fortunately, American history also includes freedom struggles and course corrections. On March 30, Trump, whose privilege and brazenness long permitted him to flout the law without consequence, finally experienced what many people feared would never happen: a criminal indictment.

It surprised no one when the GOP, which has long portrayed itself as the law-and-order party, circled the wagons around the former president. Determined to hold onto power regardless of election results, they have embraced Richard Nixon’s statement to David Frost: “When the president does it, that means it is not illegal.”

Republicans think their contradictions don’t matter. They invoke freedom in opposing an assault-weapons ban even as they push bans on abortion, vaccines, literature, history, and drag queen reading time. Thus, they ignore real threats in favor of culture war incitements.

Another ploy is the quaint assertion that it is unseemly to bring a former president to justice. Any concern about unseemliness should also extend to Trump’s unseemly behavior as president. Respect is a two-way street, and he did much to disrespect his office. We do not have kings. The president is a public servant, and when he so egregiously serves himself instead, failing to hold him accountable sets a dangerous precedent.

Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg persuaded a grand jury to indict Trump on 34

felony counts, demonstrating what most Americans believe: that presidents and former presidents are not above the law. Trump was grim-faced in the courtroom, with none of his usual bravado. He pled not guilty and will have an opportunity to defend himself in court.

Former Attorney General Bill Barr said it would be a bad idea for Trump to testify at his own trial. As journalist Brian Krassenstein wrote, “Trump’s own Attorney General thinks he ‘lacks all self-control,’ yet Republicans want him to control the nuclear codes.”

BY RICHARD J. ROSENDALL

side the courthouse. Earlier she saw fit to compare Trump to eminent arrestees Nelson Mandela and Jesus Christ.

There are signs that Trump’s hold on his supporters is weakening, despite his dramatics and the media circus of news helicopters following his motorcade, which recalled O.J. Simpson’s slow car chase with police in 1994. But voter suppression and election denial remain key to the Republican playbook.

One rather desperate tactic on Trump’s behalf was the claim that his indictment boosts his gangsta cred. Benny Johnson of Turning Point USA said after the indictment, “Democrats just turned Donald Trump into Tupac.”

Not even a little. The man who demanded the death penalty for the Central Park Five—and refused to apologize after their exoneration—deserves no glamour, only comeuppance.

MAGA minions are forever trying to impose their alternate reality. For example, those exploiting the Nashville school shooter’s reported gender identity to engage in group blame ignore what the Human Rights Campaign noted: “that transgender and nonbinary people are much more likely to be victims of violence, rather than the perpetrator of it.” Republicans, intent on dividing the country to gain power, respond to tragedy by seeking scapegoats rather than solutions.

Trumpists are flooding the zone, especially on social media, with projecting and gaslighting. Donald Jr. posted a photo of Judge Juan Merchan’s daughter on Truth Social and claimed his father was the target of a “hand-picked Democrat show trial.”

Prior to Trump’s April 4 arraignment, New York Mayor Eric Adams warned protesters, “Behave yourselves.” In the event, the media outnumbered the protesters. Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene lasted only a few minutes out-

Not that he will go quietly. His lawyer in the Stormy Daniels case, Joe Tacopina, tried to grab a document from Ari Melber during an interview on MSNBC. The consigliere in The Godfather had greater decorum.

But this is not only about Trump. Take Tennessee, where GOP lawmakers moved to expel three Democratic colleagues for joining protesters demanding gun control legislation. Conflating dissent with insurrection is nothing like upholding the rule of law. Republicans do not oppose weaponizing government; they simply assert an exclusive claim to it.

Let us rise to our best to beat back the fascists while we still have the chance. ▼

Richard J. Rosendall is a writer and activist at rrosendall@me.com.

Conflating dissent with insurrection is nothing like upholding the rule of law.

Visiting View

Florida Man

What the heck is going on in Florida? And for that matter, Texas and Tennessee. The news out of these GOP-led states is sickening. Just the other day two young African Americans were expelled from the Tennessee House of Representatives for having the gall to stand up and fight for gun reform. In a state that just had another mass shooting at a school. Republicans way overplayed that hand because now—thankfully—people, especially Gen Z, are fired up.

That doesn’t seem to be the case in Florida where Governor Ron DeSantis has been ruling with an iron fist. The wannabe presidential nominee has waged a war against the LGBTQ community, specifically transgender youth. He has also decided that Mickey Mouse is his public enemy number one. Picking fights with your state’s largest employer is seldom wise. Who is advising this guy?

I lived in Florida for many years. I was a teacher in Florida for many years. From 2004-2013 I taught middle- and high-school English in Miami. I lived in South Beach and Fort Lauderdale. I actually LOVED it.

I taught in great schools with amazing teachers, where I learned how to be a better teacher. All three administrations were supportive and helpful. I advised clubs like the Safety Patrol Club, Future Educators of America, and the Diversity Action Club. I coached swimming and cross-country teams. I was awarded Coach of the Year in 2012.

Personally, life in Florida was easier than life in New York City, where I currently live. Compared to Florida, teaching in the NYC school system was like day and night. More like day and nightmare. After a few years of constant battles, constant frustration, and constant stress I made the very tough decision to leave teaching.

As an activist in the queer community I have been dismayed with the book bans and the Don’t Say Gay laws enacted in the once Sunshine State. How did it get so bad? How did Florida turn so red so fast?

So, what do we do about Florida? Many have suggested boycotting the state. They say we should not give any of our tourism dollars to a state where public schools have erased any and all mentions

BY ROBERT DOMINIC

of the word gay, and where classroom libraries are non-existent. “If the state is going to arrest me for having a queer-themed book in my classroom, I am not taking that chance. All books are gone,” said one scared educator. How are parents OK with this?

Instead of boycotting the state, I am taking the other route…I am moving back. Didn’t see that one coming, did you?

For me, it is the best decision. I am a single, gay man. A queer activist who will join the resistance movement in Florida. I will be working with gun control groups and voter registration groups to do my part to change what’s wrong into what’s right.

On a purely selfish level, my quality of life was way better in Fort Lauderdale than in NYC. When I lived there, Fort Lauderdale was way more affordable than NYC. I have heard through the grapevine that’s not the case anymore. That being said, NYC is tough. I love it, but it’s loud, it’s crowded, and it has winter—which is very cold and lasts a solid four months.

If I were the parent of a queer or trans child, I would do my best to get them out of the state. If I had a son or daughter looking at colleges, college in a red state would not be an option. Those situations are different than mine.

Will I teach down there? As I write this column, I have no plans to teach in a state where you can’t say gay. If I am in desperate need of money, I might have to revisit that. But there are many other jobs that would allow me to preserve my self-respect.

So, as I start packing my bags and head back to a place I loved many years ago, I am skittish yet hopeful. I’m confident things will get better. I still believe good does prevail over evil.

Wherever you are, I urge you to get involved, too. It’s time to fight back however you can do that, even if it’s just voting blue. Each one of us can make a difference.

Come visit me in the soon-to-be-shining-again Sunshine State! ▼

Robert Dominic has been splitting his time between Brooklyn and Rehoboth Beach. He writes for publications including Instinct Magazine and his own blog, “The Gays of Our Lives.”

I will be working with gun control groups and voter registration groups to do my part to change what’s wrong into what’s right.

ENTERTAINMENT SCHEDULE ENTERTAINMENT SCHEDULE

APR 23 - DELAWARE COMEDY THEATRE: Adult Improv Comedy

APR 27 - SUPER TRANS AM: Anthems Of The 70's

APR 28 - FLYING IVORIES: Dueling Pianos

MAY 4 - UNIVERSAL FUNK ORDER

MAY 5 - SPRING INTO LAUGHTER: Stand-Up Comedy

MAY 7 - RAINBOW FULL OF SOUND: Music of Grateful Dead

MAY 10 - FALSE FAIRY TALES: MTE Showcase

MAY 11 - CHRISTINE HAVRILLA DUO: Quayside @ Nite

MAY 12 - FALSE FAIRY TALES: MTE Showcase

MAY 13 - COMPLETELY UNCHAINED: Van Halen Tribute

MAY 14 - RAT PACK TOGETHER AGAIN

MAY 17 - MANDIE STEVENSON: Psychic Medium

MAY 18 - LOWER CASE BLUES: Quayside @ Nite

MAY 21 - REVIVAL HOUSE: Shorts Fest - Film Festival

CAMPshots

SCENES FROM REHOBOTH BEACH

Painting the Town...Green?

St. Patrick's Day, USO Salute to Veterans Benefit at Clear Space, Habitat for Humanity Cooking Challenge, and More!

THIS PAGE (left to right) 1) St. Patrick’s Day Celebrations: at Purple Parrot: Michael Maloon, Michael Dick, Toby Dunbar, Eric Engelhart, Karen Anderson, Brenda Dunn, Chris Beagle, Michael Clay, Chuck McSweeney, Kate Abendschein, Toshia Brodbeck; at Diego’s: Ron Smith, Emily Zuber; at Rigby's: Sandra Skidmore, Ricky DiDomenico, Tony Burns, Tommy Paoletti.

OPPOSITE PAGE 2) at St. Patrick’s Day Celebrations: at Rigby's: Jim Scheiver, Anthony Sica, Lou Bier, Emerson Bramble, John Derrick; at The Pines: Jamie Thompson, Amy Thompson, Fred Hay, David Gonce; at Freddie’s Beach Bar: Cody White, Rudy Gilbert, Tim Curley, Steve Lee, Fluffy Ortega, Paulette Lanza, Andy Guthridge; at Theo's Restaurant: David Russo, Efren Gauilanez, John Flynn.

More CAMPshots page 70.

SCENES FROM REHOBOTH BEACH

(Continued from page 69

THIS PAGE (left to right) 1) at Freddie’s Beach Bar: David Herchick, Jeremy Bernstein, Richard Looman, Ray Kennedy, Rob Jennings, Norman Falk, Richard Baylor, Ed Gmoch, Bill Gluth, Channing Daniels, Leslie Sinclair, James Scheiver, Anthony Sica, Debbie Woods, Shawn Evans, Pamala Stanley, Joe Petrone.

OPPOSITE PAGE: 2) at Freddie’s Beach Bar: Tim Buckholz, Monica Buckholz; 3) at Clear Space Theatre: Ed Peters, Kip Kunsman, Bob Neverly, Carol Neverly, Scott Burdette, David Gifford, Fran O’Brien, Chris Hughes, Kent Swarts, Paul Lovett, Cindy Lovett. 4) at Peninsula Gallery: Dan Graziano, Kristin Blanct, Emmy Challenger, Jackie Atkins, Dave Sarfaty, Maggii Sarfaty, Joan Orcott, Brenda Kidera.

(More CAMPshots page 92)

Celebrity Interview

Michael Feinstein on Judy Garland

After three decades of bringing The Great American Songbook to the world, Michael Feinstein brought his critically acclaimed tribute performance, Get Happy: A Celebration of Judy Garland, to New York City for a special one-night-only performance on Wednesday, March 29, 2023. Following his Garland Celebration, Feinstein hit the road for a nationwide tour. I sat down to talk with the incomparable Michael Feinstein about his lifelong love affair with the artistry of Judy Garland, his deep personal friendship with Liza Minnelli, and what it’s like crafting a centennial retrospective for one of music’s most incomparable voices.

MICHAEL COOK: It’s Judy Garland’s 100th birthday and you are commemorating it with a stunning concert retrospective. Tell me, what can we all expect from this concert?

MICHAEL FEINSTEIN: This is a program that has been a long time in gestation. Three or four years ago I was thinking about the fact that Judy Garland would have been 100 years old. I wanted to do something to celebrate her, but at the same time was feeling reticent due to the enormity of her talent and accomplishments. Compared to her, I feel like a schlep (laughs).

As we moved closer to the centennial, I was talking to Liza Minnelli about it, and she said, “why don’t you do something for mama”? I didn’t think I could do her justice, but Liza persuaded me to do it. It is only because of her persuasion that I pursued it. It’s an enormous challenge to try and encapsulate a sense of who Judy was and bring forth her achievements in a way that will celebrate them and not be pandering or sound like I am trying to imitate or copy her.

MC: What was the process like to craft this program and put it together?

MF: I had an advantage—because obviously it is completely different—that I could approach it in a celebratory and historical fashion. I put together a

program that would celebrate all of the reasons that she is iconic, completely separate from the sadness and the heartbreak. Judy Garland was an ageless artist of magnificent talent, and it puts into perspective, through anecdote and her humor, her story of what she would want to be celebrated for—her musical history, her artistic choices, the people she worked with, the orchestrations.

It’s a biographical program with amazing photographs that go back to her beginnings, supplied by her family and John Fricke. I was able to draw from 7,000 photographs and they’re eye popping in how we present them for the multimedia presentation portion. Then there are some private film clips from family home movies and a recording that I found of her singing the song “I’ll Be Seeing You,” a song that she never sang or recorded publicly.

MC: What was it like unearthing a treasure like a never-before-heard Garland song?

MF: The story of how I found it is that I was in her house that she had lived in; it had been left behind 80 years earlier. It was in a fake wall that I found this recording. I have to feel like for whatever reason, fate made it possible for me to find it after all these years.

The recording is her singing without any accompaniment—acapella—so I accompanied her on the piano when she sings it. It’s a world premiere of Garland singing a song that is very well-suited to her and it’s a very touching moment. This is a whole program that, to quote Cabaret, goes from “cradle to tomb.”

MC: When did you realize that Judy Garland, or musical theater itself, was going to be a true passion for you?

MF: Judy Garland is an enormous through line of my life, from having become close to her family and having become a trustee of her estate at one point. Like many, I discovered The Wizard of Oz at a young age, and that is how I knew Judy Garland. I knew a few other movies and liked them but as a kid, I didn’t realize how special she was compared to others until I got a

BY MICHAEL COOK

little bit older.

I was in junior high and probably 13. I was babysitting at a friend’s house and they had a little flexible record that you could play on a turntable. This record was a sales offer for Judy Garland at Carnegie Hall—it was a five-minute musical advertisement. It’s the first time I had ever thought of Judy Garland outside of The Wizard of Oz and I was trying to wrap my brain around it as a teenager.

Then I found a copy of that Carnegie Hall recording and I had never heard anything like it. A live recording that captured a connection with an audience to that degree. The programming, the special material…listening to how it was curated for her, the key changes and routines—it knocked me for a loop.

I discovered the art of routining songs—not just opening sheet music and singing it as written, but finding other ways to interpret it. I learned that from her work. It took me a while, but I learned

about living the lyric. You can’t sing anything deeply if you don’t know what you’re singing about.

As someone who started playing the piano first, I was always attracted by the music first, even though I worked for a lyricist, Ira Gershwin, for six years. By that time, lyrics had become much more important, as I was singing in piano bars.

I met Johnny Ray at one of these piano bars; he was very close to Judy Garland. He talked about Judy and said I was a “fine interpreter but you don’t have it yet.” When he said “yet,” I was encouraged. Watching him, he is magnetic like Garland was, but different. So many through lines in my life connected to Judy Garland.

MC: Judy Garland and Liza Minnelli are both monumental LGBTQ icons, with everyone from Jinkx Monsoon portraying her on RuPaul’s Drag Race, and the legendary Jim Bailey portraying Judy Garland countless times live and on television. What are your thoughts on seeing her paid homage to in this way?

MF: Jim Bailey knew Judy Garland and she actually taught him how to do her. Jim Bailey was the only person that Liza ever saw, and she actually worked with him doing her mother. She asked him, “Please don’t ever stop doing my mother—that means I’ll never lose her.”

I knew Jim and when I saw him, I thought he was spectacular. There’s a difference between where he is vocally singing and channeling her essence, and someone who does a brilliant Garland and is lip syncing. Jim was a person whose life was consumed by Garland in a way that was evident when he performed. I think it’s great that people pay tribute to both of them in drag. I think it’s wonderful. Jim Bailey, though, was definitely not like anyone else.

MC: Working so closely with Liza Minnelli on the music her mother made must add a truly special layer to your very close friendship, is that fair to say?

MF: Yes, we have a level of trust that is special. I know that I can say anything to

her and she is like a vault. She has also shared things with me about her mother that are personal and special. She loves listening to her mom’s recordings. The other day, she asked me to “put on mama’s recording of ‘Just in Time.’” At one point in the chorus of the song, Garland sings “Now, you’re here,” and Liza just said, “my heart….” A single moment like that, when you feel an enormity of emotion and expressiveness—that is what it is in Garland that nobody else can capture. It is something that is an essence of her soul. That’s the part that matters to me.

MC: What is the one song in a setlist that truly has to be included when paying tribute to Judy Garland?

MF: Well, it would not be “Over the Rainbow” (laughs). In the program, I do “Zing Went the Strings of My Heart” and I do it in three different versions because it was a through line of her career. She sang it when she auditioned for MGM to help her get the job, she sang it in a different arrangement in a film, then she sang yet a different version when Nelson Riddle did a swing version. For me, that is quintessential Garland—it shows the three phases of Judy Garland. She went through different periods.

I can’t sing “The Man That Got Away”—it nowhere approaches what she could do with it. I’ll do a few lines of it going into another beautiful torch song that Ira Gershwin wrote and it evokes a sense of that emotion without people being distracted by that fact that it’s not Judy Garland. ▼

FOR MORE INFORMATION on Michael Feinstein on tour, check out his website: michaelfeinstein.com/tour.

Michael Cook has been a part-time resident of Rehoboth Beach for over a decade. He is currently a contributor to Instinct Magazine, World of Wonder’s WOW Report, and South Florida Gay News.

Photos: Art Streiber

Judy Garland was an ageless artist of magnificent talent, and it puts into perspective, through anecdote and her humor, her story of what she would want to be celebrated for…

Q Puzzle Whale Intentioned Solution on Page 100

The REAL DIRT

Nature Is Telling Us What to Do

April is Landscape Architecture month and just so happens to include Earth Day (April 22) as well. I like to say, being a landscape architect, that we know just enough about a lot of stuff to get us into trouble. On any given day, you may catch me talking about a variety of topics, from town planning to coastal resiliency, to planting design, and then on to my favorite plants and their characteristics.

I was recently approached by someone asking my opinion on Delaware’s renewable energy efforts. Unsurprisingly, this veered into the subjects of climate change, sea-level rise, and of course politics. The truth of the matter is that all these topics are tied together, along with many other relevant issues.

I like to repeat the well-known phrase, ”The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago; the second-best time is now.” The same holds true for implementing sustainable and green practices. Many current initiatives should have been implemented decades ago. However, money and politics got in the way…sound familiar?

So now we are faced with environmental challenges from numerous directions, and the second-best time to do something about them is now. Mother Nature is telling us what to do.

Let’s take a step back and view our place on this blue marble from a distance. We live on a peninsula. The Delaware River and Bay to the east, Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and the Chesapeake Bay to the south and west. Essentially, the Delmarva peninsula consists of sediments that deposited here for eons of time from these water bodies and through glacial and ice-sheet melt. This is one reason why our soils are so well suited for agriculture.

It is also why we are host to an abundance of diverse flora and fauna. Our tidal marshes and inland wetlands act like sponges during flooding events, while also sequestering huge amounts of carbon compounds (known as carbon-sinks). Uplands that are further inland provide

different environmental roles, but all are important for sustaining healthy ecosystems.

Simple observations of our current situation will show us that something is off. Extreme storms and weather patterns that occur more frequently, increased flooding, saltwater intrusion into local aquifers or into coastal farmlands, increased rates of illnesses or chronic health issues—the list goes on. Many of these result from or are exacerbated by climate change.

I’m not here to debate climate change. The fact is, something is happening with greater rapidity near coastal regions, and with 90 percent of our country’s population living in coastal areas, something needs to be done.

Logic (as well as Mother Nature) tells us that we need to change how we interact with the environment. But it also tells us that we need to address how we will live in the future. This is where developing and promoting renewable resources comes into play.

If we are to truly wean ourselves off fossil fuels, increase and improve our electrical grids and their capabilities, reduce carbon emissions, and try bringing

BY ERIC W. WAHL

nature back into balance, then we need to take steps now so that we can reach those goals in the future. Yes, the transition will be difficult. Yes, it will change how we live. Yes, mistakes will be made along the way—from which lessons will be learned. But what is the price if we do nothing? What is the cost for upcoming generations if we continue to kick the can down the road?

Nothing in our country’s 250-year history has been easy. Indeed, we take pride in overcoming obstacles, solving problems, and upholding our freedoms. Moving into a more sustainable and greener future should be just one more great American ideal that we all strive towards.

Be inspired, and let’s garden together. ▼

Eric W. Wahl is Landscape Architect at Pennoni Associates, and President of the Delaware Native Plant Society.

Photo: Ray Hennessy on Unsplash.com

Logic (as well as Mother Nature) tells us that we need to change how we interact with the environment.

BY LESLIE SINCLAIR

SPOTLIGHT ON THE arts

CAMP Rehoboth Puts Art at the Heart of Our Community

CAMP REHOBOTH is continuing to unveil its season of visual arts that shines a light on the talents of our community. Read on to learn about upcoming exhibitions you won’t want to miss! ▼

FEST ART 2023!

April 21 to May 25, 2023

Artists’ Reception: April 28, 3:00 to 5:00 p.m.

FEST ART 2023! is open at CAMP Rehoboth! Held in conjunction with CAMP Rehoboth’s Women’s FEST, this juried exhibition celebrates women in the arts and is CAMP Rehoboth’s largest community arts exhibition of the year.

Juror Roberta Tucci, a Delaware artist and teacher, was the juror for the exhibition. Over 100 artworks were entered for consideration, and she had the daunting task of selecting the art that comprises the exhibition.

Roberta chose 44 artworks by 44 artists and commented that this is “such a great group of artworks!” She was also inclusive of all mediums and new forms of art. FEST ART 2023! contains oil and acrylic paintings, photography,

assemblage, ceramics, fabric art, stained glass, and digital art. It also includes the first non-fungible token (NFT) art to be exhibited at CAMP Rehoboth.

Artists are from throughout Delaware, as well as Maryland, Pennsylvania, Florida, and Wisconsin. And this year, FEST ART has gone global with artists from Japan and Venezuela exhibiting.

The exhibiting artists include Edward Alban, Karen Abato, AGUILAR, Nancy Allen, Helen E. Barnett, Daniel Bartasavich, Carol Dandrade, Rebecca Davidson, Sharrill Dittmann, Geri

Dibiase, Jane Duffy, Ash Dunlap, Logan Farro, Kiara Florez, Susan Frey, JuneRose “JR” Futcher, Missy Gentile, Mary Gilligan, Taylor Gordon, Dee Gray, Helebo, Donna Hitchens, Laura Jednorski, Theresa Kehrer, Crystal Kilby, Jane Knaus, Mademoiselle l’eau, Wendy Labofish, Amy B. Nestor, Sara Lynn Paulish, Bev Pasquarella, Lorraine Quinn, Allyson Rice, Kim Schuler, Stained Glass by Yona, R. Stiles, Bea Stryjewski, Takibi, Theresa Taylor, Willow Troise, Sabina Troncone, Von Dickens Ulsa, Kathy Waterson, and Rita Woodward.

Attend the reception on April 28 from 3 to 5 p.m. to celebrate these talented artists! ▼

IMAGES

(L-R): Between the Realms by Kathy Waterson; Show Me My Silver Lining by Daniel Bartasavich; The Take Off by Amy B. Nestor.

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 DelawareScene.com.

Mask Hysteria—New Works by

Murray Archibald

June 3 to 30, 2023

Opening Reception: June 3, 4:00 to 6:00 p.m.

While others were at home working on jigsaw puzzles, Murray Archibald was busy creating art. Mask Hysteria is Murray’s 21st solo exhibition, and CAMP Rehoboth is honored to host it.

This exhibition is comprised of three series, collections that each encapsulate a different aspect of this complex and challenging period.

Conceived in the early days of the COVID pandemic, the work was begun at a time when masks were standard attire. The first small paintings in LOCK DOWN 2020 focus only on the eyes. All we could see in those early days was the eyes. As the George Floyd protests spread around the world, the work expanded to become an exploration of all that is hidden from view.

The InterACTION Series explores relationships—with each other and with the world around us—and the viral nature of life and communication in the social media age.

Murray’s favorite themes continue to resonate in his new work. The HeartSCAPE Series plays with stories. Filled with transparent images and patterns, the heart of each “story” emerges from a chaotic and textured background.

Plan to attend the June 3 opening reception to see this thought-provoking new art from Murray, congratulate him on this latest exhibition, and see many friends too!

Murray Archibald is an artist and co-founder of CAMP Rehoboth (along with longtime CAMP Rehoboth Executive Director, co-founder, and husband Steve Elkins). He has served the organization and aided the community in many ways since its creation in 1991. In 2013 Murray and Steve were awarded the Order of the First State by Governor Jack Markell.

Art has the power to bring us together, break down barriers, and highlight our shared humanity. We hope you will participate as an exhibitor or patron. Watch Letters from CAMP Rehoboth, emails, and social media for updates on CAMP Rehoboth’s visual arts. ▼

Image above: Red Vase by Murray Archibald.

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.). You may view and purchase the art on the CAMP Rehoboth website under the “SHOP” heading.

artist SPOTLIGHT ROBERTA

TUCCI

Artist and longtime art educator Roberta Tucci served as juror for CAMP Rehoboth’s FEST ART 2023! exhibit. We talked with her about that experience, as well as what she’s working on these days in her own studio.

CAMP Rehoboth: What did you most enjoy about being juror for the FEST ART 2023! exhibit?

Roberta Tucci: It was great to connect with artwork being created in and around Delaware. I think it’s so important to document—and celebrate—work being done locally. I think FEST ART 2023! does that.

CR: What—if anything—surprised you about the submissions?

RT: The sheer diversity of the submissions, which was just fantastic! They were so diverse, in so many different ways. They represented all levels of experience, different intentions, different media, and a wide variety of styles. We all benefit from those diverse interactions.

CR: What advice would you give an artist who is thinking about submitting something to the FEST ART 2024! exhibit?

RT: I’d tell them that anytime they submit a piece—for consideration for any exhibit—they need to be sure it fully represents their unique and authentic point of view. It should be their very best work.

And, they should submit the very best—the clearest, the sharpest—photograph of that work they possibly can. Artwork most often is submitted, reviewed, and selected via the internet these days, so there can be an enormous number of submissions for each exhibit. Images of the work need to be as good as they can possibly be, showing the piece to its very best advantage.

CR: What are you working on yourself just now?

RT: I retired from teaching at Delaware State University a little less than a year ago, so I’m now able to really focus on my studio work. It’s been a very busy time, as I have multiple exhibits this spring and summer.

CR: Wonderful! Tell us about those.

RT: I have a solo exhibit at The Delaware Contemporary in May, and a solo exhibit at 919 Market Street in Wilmington that runs May till July. I have botanical work exhibited at the Riverfront Bakery in Wilmington right now, and my work will be included in The Woodmere Annual: 81st Juried Exhibition, on view June 3–August 27, 2023.

CR: Congratulations! And thanks so much—in the midst of all that—for serving as juror for our show! ▼

arts+entertainment

BOOKED SOLID

Pat in the City: My Life of Fashion, Style, and Breaking All the Rules

by Patricia Field c.2023, Dey Street Books, $35.00, 272 pages

The shirt’s just a little too big. But that’s no problem; you’d rather your shirts be looser anyhow. Pants, they’re another matter; they need to be snug all over. You have your own sense of style, and you wear it fabulously. In the new book Pat in the City, by Patricia Field, read about an icon’s journey into clothes, clubs, and couture.

Almost from the time she was born, little Patricia Haig (later, Field) knew that clothing made a statement. She knew it while wearing her cowgirl outfit to play, when she clothesshopped with her aunts, and when recalling her father, who was “handsome, sweet, and mild,” and who died when she was small. Adoption later changed her surname, but not her love of clothing.

Working in her mother’s dry-cleaning “shop” as a kid, Field learned all about fabrics; her aunts’ forays into fashion taught her even more. She “always had beautiful clothes,” although a pair of men’s-style pants discovered in a small boutique in the mid-1950s was life-changing.

Field entered college and landed dual degrees in philosophy and political science, though she says, “style came easy to me.” By then, she’d turned away from ‘50s femininity, preferring an androgynous look. She also learned that she preferred women as partners.

One of them was a partner in Field’s first business, a small

by Terri Schlichenmeyer

shop near NYU in Manhattan that opened in 1966. In 1971, they opened a larger store, calling it “Patricia Field.” Partly due to her contacts with designers, Field sold inventive, trendy, “nouveau glamour” outfits to clubbers who made Studio 54 the “high-octane” place it was then. Field dressed a lot of celebrity clubbers, too, which led her to the ballroom scene, where she became a House “Father” and a part of vogueing history. And then someone suggested to someone else that Field would make a great costumer for an upcoming movie….

If you could somehow take two books by a good author and smash them together to make one, that’s what you’d have with Pat in the City. This book is divided almost clean in two, and almost with separate reader-audiences.

In the first part, author Patricia Field shares her biography, her childhood, her formative years, and the awakening of her personal sense of style. Fashionistas won’t be able to put those pages aside, nor will anyone who attended any New York City club with any regularity back in the day. This half of Field’s book drips with disco lights and ballroom “reads.”

Celebrities stretch into the second half, as Field writes about being the costumer for Sex in the City, the friendships she struck up with its cast, and how the iconic opening scene came to be. This part of the book—likewise glittering with big names and big productions—is for younger readers and Hollywood watchers.

Reading this book is like time-travel to the ‘70s, and a backstage peek at your favorite show. If you love clothes and people who love fashion, then get Pat in the City. It fits. ▼

Terri Schlichenmeyer’s second book, The Big Book of American Facts, comes out this fall. Her first (Big Book of Facts) is available now in bookstores.

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Continued on page 84

For more than 30 years CAMP Rehoboth has served the LGBTQ+ and wider community in Sussex County. We rely on the generous support of businesses, corporations, foundations, members, donors, and volunteers to fulfill our vision to create proud and safe communities where gender identity and sexual orientation are respected.

WE INVITE YOU TO JOIN US FOR OUR UPCOMING 2023 EVENTS LABOR

APRIL 27-30, 2023

SEPTEMBER 2-3, 2023

OCTOBER, 2023

Eight films to include documentaries and features along with a mustsee block of shorts will be presented over three days (June 9 - 11) at the Society’s Cinema Art Theater in Lewes.

Confirmed film titles include KOKOMO CITY, HORSEPLAY and PASSAGES. The Society will also host a late-night special feature of the film classic, ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW for festival moviegoer’s and a special student rate. Participants can expect other social gatherings in celebration of the Festival and PRIDE Month.

Complete film schedule to be announced soon!

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CAMP REHOBOTH MEMBERSHIP

RAINBOW MEMBERS RECEIVE:

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It’s a Bird! It’s a Plane! It’s a…KITE?!

For thousands of years and all across the globe, the ancient sport (and business) of kite flying has delivered the joy of color, form, and energy with hand-controlled, wind-driven flying machines. Kites may be functional tools in research, a worldwide recreational sport, and serve a ceremonial function in many communities, but to many, kites are just plain fun to fly.

Across many hundreds of years, kites brought pure and simple pleasure, weaving and flowing around the world. Kites have been a mainstay as a festival theme in many nations for centuries as well as in recent decades. But kites also were used for communications and weather experimentation. They’ve even been used as weapons in battle. The Song Dynasty launched kites loaded with explosives to stealthily surprise the enemy.

Locally, the Great Annual Delaware Kite Festival has been held for more than 45 years. (This year’s festival had to be cancelled due to renovations at Cape Henlopen State Park.) But even without the festival kites remain popular, as Rachel Webster, of the Rehoboth Toy & Kite Company, can attest.

Webster hosts an annual customer appreciation day in early spring, bringing visitors to her shop on the Rehoboth Boardwalk—a kite flyer’s little piece of heaven. Though stocked with kites in a myriad of shapes, sizes, and designs, Webster notes that many adults who wish to recapture the thrill of a kite gravitate to the iconic diamond shape. But while those may evoke fond memories of childhood fun, Webster notes that the diamond-shaped kits are considered a more difficult apparatus to fly. Happily, the same fun can be found using many (perhaps more easily flown) forms and shapes of kites.

Uninterrupted open space on beaches or in fields offers the best kite-flying. These spaces provide straight-moving wind or air currents to support the aerodynamic lift of the kite. And— importantly—they enable the flyer to

avoid electrical (or other) wires and other obstacles.

When kites were put to the skies as far back as 500 AD in China, they were made of bamboo and silk. The practice of traditional kite-making today in China involves bamboo and paper. Natural materials have largely been replaced by synthetics and plastics.

One such material is ripstop, a woven pattern of nylon suited for strength and longevity of performance. The synthetics available for modern day kite-making produce radiant colors, patterns, and graphics. Representation of animals and mythical figures is popular in communities as varied as Japan, Brazil, and Germany.

Many kite models are simple in form and while the original diamond-shaped model may be a tradition in the sport, it is just one of many in modern kite flying. Kites in the shape of a box, a delta wing,

or tetrahedral (multi-celled rigid box kite) are all very popular. Inflatable kites take on characteristics of any animal or structural form. Sled and para-foil models are made of cells and respond to the wind and lift by inflating and rising aloft, not unlike a hot air balloon, but all on the power of wind and basic aerodynamics.

Kite “tails” are streamers of ribbon of varying length, quantity, and breadth, and add both visual interest and—in stronger winds—stability to the kite by adding drag. (In light winds, tails may be ill-advised as they add too much drag to get the kite aloft.)

With a basic system of tether and multi-strand lines or cables, kites with substantial wing spans can be supported for dynamic flying stunts. Large delta- or rogallo-wing kites are seen in kite ballet competitions and at major festivals. Kite ballet is a precisely controlled and choreographed performance to music and makes for a truly breathtaking visual experience.

Want to fly with a kite, rather than just guiding one aloft? Kiteboarding may be for you! Using large, inflatable kites, enthusiasts ride wind-powered boards across open waterways (or sometimes, land or snow). Kiteboarding requires a wind speed of about 12 miles per hour, and relies on an inflatable kite, multiple high-tension cables that attach to a control board and harness, and an adventuresome rider. The kiteboarder maneuvers the kite (via the cables) to increase wind load, propelling the board forward.

When there’s a warm day and sun-filled breeze, take to the skies (or waterways) with a kite, and capture the joy and thrill of color, form, and energy. Large or small, box or delta or diamond—a steady air current is all it takes to set your kite aloft. ▼

JR Futcher is a native of Delaware, a lifelong sailor and certified sailing instructor, an awardwinning photographer, and a community and arts activist.

Kite ballet is a precision controlled and choreographed performance to music…

(Continued from page 71)

OPPOSITE PAGE: 6) at Habitat for Humanity—Look Who’s Cooking Benefit: Greg Becker, Lewis Dawley, DE State Senator Russ Huxtable, Courtney Harrigan, Tom Carney, Elsha Smith, Sterling Townsend, Cheryl Crowe, Adam Linder, Terry Isner, Chris Beagle, Jason Mathis, Mark Purpura, Matthew Adams; 6) at The Pines: Chris Schaay, Mike Dillon, John Bator, Brian Sparrow, Kevin Naff, Brian Buebel, Stephen Cremen, Terry Barrera, Will Freshwater, Deb Chase; 7) at Salt Air Restaurant: Cameron Mandalas, Sarah Mandalas, Glenn Mandalas; 8) at Purple Parrot: Matt Rice, Tara Gush. ▼

THIS PAGE (left to right) 1) at Big Chill Surf Cantina: Alice Averitt-Sanzone, Rene Averitt-Sanzone; 2) at Rehoboth Art League: Ellen De Petro, Ava De Petro, Renee De Petro, Frank De Petro, Michelle Marshall-Johnson; 3) at Clear Space Theatre—USO Salute to Veterans Benefit: Jerry Birl, David Button, Grace Riddle, Jamie Riddle, Holly Lane, Linda DiDomenics, George Robbins, Ron Bass, DE State Senator Russ Huxtable, Courtney Harrigan; 4) at CAMP Rehoboth Gallery Opening of Connections: Matty Brown, Jordan Crump.

MATTY BROWN

Gun Violence Prevention

On March 27, a mass shooting at a school in Nashville left three children and three adults dead. CAMP Rehoboth and Moms Demand Action of Everytown condemn this violence and had a conversation about how to engage the community ahead of Moms Demand Action’s presence at the Women’s FEST Expo on Saturday, April 29.

Mara Gorman, who spoke with us, has been the volunteer state chapter lead for Moms Demand Action in Delaware since 2021. Before that, Gorman was the legislative and election volunteer lead for the group in Delaware.

Gorman reports that Moms Demand Action is the largest gun safety grassroots organization in the country. “We have over 10 million volunteers and chapters in every state and DC,” said Gorman. She added that Delaware holds four groups; they are in the Greater Wilmington area, Newark, Dover, and the “Beaches” group (encompassing Rehoboth, Lewes, and Bethany), which kickstarted last fall.

CAMP REHOBOTH: What is the mission of Moms Demand Action?

MARA GORMAN: As a national organization our mission is multifaceted. We work to pass gun safety legislation, educate the community about responsible gun ownership, and elect candidates who prioritize gun safety. This past election we had over 30 gun sense candidates win their elections and support survivors of gun violence. Finally, we work with survivors, so we have networks of support for survivors or anyone who identifies as a survivor of gun violence. That’s also very core to our work. It’s one of the biggest things I’ve learned as chapter lead: every day, 120 Americans are killed by guns—tragically, so many people in our country identify as survivors of gun violence.

CR: In light of the recent Nashville shooting, what has Moms Demand Action seen regarding reports that guns are now the primary killer of children?

MG: In Delaware, guns are the top killer of children, and in particular Black and Brown children, who are disproportionately impacted. Among children and teens, 88 percent of all gun deaths are homicides in Delaware. So we know children are being shot, not shooting themselves.

We live in a state where there are as many children killed by guns as are killed by car accidents. With car accidents, a national program was enacted to encourage safe driving and stop drunk driving. It seems like it would be prudent to take similar action here [with gun safety].

Gun violence has really big impacts beyond the people it harms and kills. It has mental health impacts on all of the children who see it and witness it and live with it every day. That can have really adverse impacts on them in terms of their mental health, their success at school, and a whole host of issues that come along with this issue. That is why it is also important to ensure that our community violence intervention programs that offer a wide range of services, including mental health services, receive sustainable funding

CR: In a statement you applauded Governor John Carney for passing and signing into law a comprehensive package of gun safety bills. You also spoke about the House’s failure to pass permit-to-purchase legislation. Can you say more about this?

MG: Last summer, after the horrible shooting in Uvalde, Texas, we were very lucky that the Delaware legislature took action and passed a slate of bills, including a bill that raised the minimum age to purchase a firearm to 21, a ban of so- called assault weapons in Delaware, and one that increased industry accountability among

other things. That was very significant and strengthened our laws to the point that when Everytown for Gun Safety, which is the parent organization and research wing of Moms Demand Action, did their report card of states and their laws, they rated Delaware 11th. Of course, as chapter lead, I would love to see us in the top 10, especially because our neighbors New Jersey and Maryland are there.

There was a permit to purchase a handgun bill that was passed by the State Senate. Unfortunately, it did not pass both chambers and this is something we will be advocating for this legislative session. There are multiple reasons we know why passing a permitting bill would help save lives in Delaware. A permitting bill lessens both homicides and suicides.

Permitting bills ensure that there are the right safety measures in place, such as requiring fingerprinting and training on both storage and use of a firearm. They make it a little bit slower to get a gun. It wouldn’t stop people from getting guns. But it would mean that a person could not immediately access a gun and give someone a chance to rethink their actions or seek help.

The ban on assault weapons is very important, and we’re so glad that it was passed, but that is not going to prevent most of the gun deaths in Delaware. More people die by deaths from a handgun than by an assault weapon. I’m not sure if anyone recently has died in Delaware from an assault weapon.

CR: The Nashville shooter was a transgender woman, and we’ve noticed greater attention there. How does gender identity factor into these discussions?

MG: While extremist lawmakers will try to use the shooter’s identity as fuel for their

Continued on page 96

hateful agenda, we know that transgender and gender nonconforming people are far more likely to be victims of gun violence than perpetrators. Between 2017 and 2022, there were 222 homicides of transgender or gender nonconforming people. Seventy-four percent of these were with a gun. Black trans women face the bulk of this violence. Forty-five percent of LGBTQ+ youth have seriously considered a suicide attempt in the past year and nearly one in five transgender and nonbinary youth have attempted suicide.

CR: Moms Demand Action will have a presence at Women’s FEST. What can we expect?

MG: We are very excited. We will have lots of information for people. Plus swag because everyone loves that—the pins, bracelets, buttons, and everything. Our color is bright red, so we will be very noticeable. We’ll have information on what kinds of action you can take, how you can join the group as a volunteer, and what kinds of programs we run.

For instance, we have a group called Be Smart, which is all about educating families about secure storage and normalizing the conversation around secure storage for people who are not gun owners. We will have information about what is happening politically. We’ll be telling people to send your representatives and senators postcards or emails or call them

MG: We will also be at Delaware Pride in Dover. Our program for Pride Month will be called “Disarm Hate.” We usually do observances of the Pulse Nightclub shooting, and we’ll have rainbow signs that say, “disarm hate.” If people don’t have the opportunity to see us at Women’s FEST, they can see us there.

of living in a free society. Our society isn’t free if we’re at risk of being shot at the movies, in the grocery store, or place of worship, or truly anywhere.

depending on what we see happening around the legislation we want passed. We’ll also have information on how to get involved with helping survivors. The beginning of June is National Survivors Day—we call that Wear Orange—and we’ll have some events going on with that. At the very least, they can find out how to get involved in a meeting and find out where the next meeting is and how they can join that way.

CR: Where else can folks find Moms Demand Action?

We’re very excited to work with CAMP Rehoboth because we know how vulnerable the LGBTQ+ community is to both homicide and suicide, especially young people and young people of color. That matters enormously to us and we want to bring awareness to that fact, to lift up your community, to be true allies to the work you’re doing, and make sure that everyone is safe. That’s our top priority. Every Delawarean is a neighbor and it’s very important to make sure everyone is safe from a gun.

CR: What else is important to know regarding this issue?

MG: The important thing to know is how pervasive gun violence is. It’s a uniquely American problem. Other developed nations don’t have nearly the amount of gun violence that we do here. And it’s a preventable problem. I think there’s been a lot of work to make it seem like this is somehow inevitable and this is the cost

I think a lot of people think of gun violence as these national events, but people in Delaware are dying from gun violence every day. I think shifting our view to a more holistic view is important to really understanding and changing things. We have to start with the root causes of gun violence, which are a lot of other societal problems, starting with poverty, education, lack of housing, lack of jobs, and bigotry, racism, homophobia, all of those things. It’s an intersectional problem that’s the responsibility of all of us to fix. That’s the mission of Moms Demand Action: to help people to see that and to work with every constituency to make us all safer. ▼

Matty Brown is Communications Manager at CAMP Rehoboth and editorial associate for Letters from CAMP Rehoboth.

Photo: Nic Neufeld, Shutterstock

Our program for Pride Month will be called “Disarm Hate.”

New Breed Brass Band, Freeman Stage, Selbyville

Ellen Nofer Sinclair

Ellen Nofer Sinclair died unexpectedly March 13, 2023. She was born in 1964 in Abington, Pennsylvania. She graduated from Abington High School in 1982 and Susquehanna University in 1986. Later, she received a master’s in education.

She started her professional life as a paralegal, then taught elementary school for many years. After her move to Delaware, she worked for Beebe Healthcare Family Practice and, most recently, Cape Henlopen School District, Sussex Consortium.

Ellen was a remarkably fun-loving person who was passionate about singing, the beach, dogs, and her Christian faith. A special joy in her life was her participation in the CAMP Rehoboth Chorus and in their smaller, select ensemble. Ellen loved people, drew them in with her smile, and soon became their lifelong friend. Ellen believed fervently in and supported many causes, including Rehoboth Art League, Wounded Veterans, and the Humane Society.

Ellen’s devotion to her family was central to her life, including to her parents; her son, Liam; her husband, Leo; and her best friend, Wendi Schirvar, who was like a sister to her. She is survived by many friends and family who loved her dearly.

In lieu of flowers, send donations in honor of Ellen Sinclair to CAMP Rehoboth Chorus, camprehoboth.com/camp-center/ programs/camp-rehoboth-chorus. ▼

Melvin Nathaniel Claiborne Jr.

Melvin “Skip” Nathaniel Claiborne Jr. died January 29, 2023, after a battle with a failing heart. Skip was born March 19, 1966, to Melvin and Mildred Claiborne in Essex, Maryland; he is survived by his mother, two brothers, nieces and nephews, his roommate, Yadi, and a huge community of friends in Delaware. He was preceded in death by his father.

Skip graduated from Essex High school in 1984 and worked for Eastern Airlines as a flight attendant for 19 years. After the 9/11 terrorist attacks, he hung up his wings and joined the Peace Corps. There, Skip taught English to children in Mexico and later moved to Nicaragua, where he farmed and taught agriculture. He loved his time in Nicaragua, but he decided to return home and help those less fortunate in the United States. In the early 2000s, he ran a business that sold habits to nuns and monks.

Skip later sold his business and turned his talents to a new craft, quilting. There, he found a calling and a new nick-

Thomas Harrison Holmes

Thomas Harrison Holmes died March 5, 2023, after a long battle with lymphoma. Thomas was born February 2, 1950, in Manassas, Virginia, and graduated from Manassas’s Osbourn High School in 1968.

He served in the US Navy for 10 years, becoming one of the first Navy Intelligence Specialists. He then joined the Office of Naval Intelligence in Washington, DC, overseeing the security of the US submarines until his retirement in 2006.

Thomas met his husband, Mario Rocha, in 1998 and 13 years later they were finally allowed to be married in Washington, DC. They built their first retirement home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware and then moved to Fort Lauderdale, Florida for four years of condo retirement living.

Thomas loved entertaining, cooking up meals to share with others, and traveling. He readily offered a helping hand, such as volunteering with the Whitman Walker Clinic in its fight against AIDS and completing the Marine Corps Marathon to help raise funds. He also served as a DC Capital Pride volunteer and Chairperson.

Thomas is survived by his husband, Mario Rocha; sisters, Delores Brown (Kenneth) and Barbara Lepre; “Little Brother” Robert Caruano (Peter Sacoulas); Alan Pyles (Kaye); granddaughter, Jennifer Wright; great-grandson, Hunter; and many close relatives and friends. Services were held March 15 in Washington, DC. ▼

name, “Quilty Guy.” His quilts were as unique as he was, and he won national recognition for his work.

Quilting became another way for Skip to give back. Many of his quilts were donated to churches and charity fundraisers. Skip made quilts and donated them to support the Millsboro Police Department Victim Services Unit. Skip had that rare talent of making each of his friends feel as though they were his best and oldest friends. We know he is on the outskirts of heaven in a huge music-filled quilting studio with glitter, bling, thread, and fabric everywhere, just waiting for us to join him.

A celebration of life was held March 19, at Millsboro Fire Hall. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Skip Claiborne Jr. Memorial Fund of the Millsboro Police Department Victim Services Unit. Mail checks to Millsboro Town Center, 322 Wilson Highway, Millsboro, Delaware 19966. Checks should be made out to Town of Millsboro with Victim Services Unit written in the memo line. ▼

Barbara Lynn Lewis

Barbara Lynn “Summer” Lewis of Lewes died March 16, 2023. She was born May 26, 1950, in Big Rapids, Michigan; after graduating high school, Summer’s carefree spirit led her to fun adventures in Michigan, California, Alaska, and Florida before she started her career at Virginia Power. Subsequently, she became an accomplished business owner, real estate investor, realtor, and school bus driver before finally settling down in Lewes with her wife, Peggy.

Summer’s passion for life, her love of animals, and her love of family and friends are a testament to a life well lived. Summer could always be counted on to bring laughter and levity to any situation. She enjoyed traveling, and she lived in many different places throughout the United States.

Summer is survived by her wife of 32 years, Peggy Connor of Lewes; their daughter, Jillian Hinskton (Jeremy) of Lewes; her siblings, Judy DeNoyer, Dave (Pat) Lewis, and Darlene “Tilly” Ellis; and countless extended family members and friends.

Services will be private. Although no memorials are necessary, consider donating to First State Animal Center, 32 Shelter Circle, Camden, Delaware 19934; or SPCA, fsac-spca. org/in-memory. ▼

Walter Jeffrey Bassett

Walter Jeffrey “Jeff” Bassett died March 11, 2023, at his home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.

He is survived by his mother, Louise “Buttons” Bassett, his brother, David Thomas Bassett, his sisterin-law, Kathy, and many extended family.

Jeff was a graduate of Stephen Decatur High School, class of 1979. He loved to make others laugh, was kind and friendly to all, was an avid reader, and collected lots of books and symbols of Native American history. He had worked for many restaurants, the latest being Shrimpy’s Bar and Grill in Rehoboth Beach.

A private memorial service will be held at a later date. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Pam and Macky Stansell House. PO Box 1733, Salisbury, Maryland, 21802. ▼

CAMP Rehoboth Volunteer Opportunities

WOMEN’S FEST 2023 | APRIL 27-30

Women’s FEST is one of CAMP Rehoboth’s landmark events, bringing fun, entertainment, sports, and tradition to women all over the Mid-Atlantic for 20+ years. There are many volunteer needs throughout the weekend, including: entertainment, sports, auction, registration, volunteer coordination, and more.

CAMPSAFE HIV

TESTERS & COUNSELORS

Join our CAMPsafe testers and counselors in providing essential HIV testing resources to our local community. Sign up to get involved in weekly routine testing hours. The next training is May 16-17 in Dover.

CROP: CAMP REHOBOTH OUTREACH PROGRAM

Check CAMP Rehoboth website for monthly volunteer opportunities.

CAMPSHOTS PHOTOGRAPHERS

Shoot CAMPshots for Letters! Use your camera or iPhone, or the CAMP Rehoboth office camera. More guidelines will be shared with volunteers.

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 AID AT CAMP REHOBOTH

Mark Eubanks

Grant Kingswell

Stephen Palmer

Doug Sellers

Lorraine Stanish

Susan Taylor

ARTS TEAM

Logan Farro

Jane Knaus

Lois Powell

Leslie Sinclair

Patricia Stiles

Debbie Woods

CAMP DATABASE

Sondra Arkin

CAMP LIBRARY

Glenn Lash

CAMP MAINTENANCE

Eric Korpon

CAMP THEATERDRIP FEED

Rick Buske

Lissa Dulany

Mark Eubanks

Mary Gilligan

Dennis Harr

Karen Laitman

Shawn McHugh

Mary Rossettini

Doug Sellers

CAMPCIERGES

Joe Benshelter

Barbara Breault

Ken Currier

Bob Grant

Jim Mease

Mike Merena

Kim Nelson

Patricia Stiles

Russell Stiles

Joe Vescio

CAMPSAFE CONDOM STUFFING PARTY

Mark Eubanks

Dick Hospital

Claire Ippoliti

Shawn McHugh

Jim Mease

Doug Sellers

CAMPSAFE HIV TESTING AND COUNSELING

E.J. Kenyon

Sharon Morgan

Alan Spiegelman

Joe Vescio

CAMPSHOTS PHOTO VOLUNTEERS

Tony Burns

David Garrett

CHORUS LEADERSHIP COMMITTEE

Bill Fuchs

Dianna Johnston

Judy Olsen

Dave Scuccimarra

Sandra Skidmore

CROP’S VISIT TO THE FOOD BANK

Deb Carroll

Chris Cossette

Max Fleishman

Bob Grant

Todd Hacker

Dick Hospital

Beverly Miller

to all the CAMP Rehoboth Community Center volunteers for the period: 2/24 – 4/7, 2023

GRANTS COMMITTEE

Leslie Calman

Kate Cauley

David Garrett

John Roane

Leslie Sinclair

LETTERS DISTRIBUTION TEAM

Todd Hacker

Glenn Lash

Jim Mease

LETTERS MAILING TEAM

Nancy Hewish

Grant Kingswell

Vicki Martina

Stephen Palmer

Russell Stiles

Linda Yingst

MEMBERSHIP TEAM

Jane Blue

Ann Evans

VOLUNTEER DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE

Liz Aranza

Jim Mease

Kim Nelson

Rina Pellegrini

Leslie Sinclair

John Michael Sophos

Debbie Woods

VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES MEETING

Cindy Arno

Cathy Balsley

Donna Becker

Barbara Breault

Deb Bricker

Cheryl

Nicole Cucinotta

Lisa Cummings

Melissa Danskin

Karen Doctor

Debra Doricchi

Rhona Fieheler

Kate Frampton

Cheri Garnet

Angela Glodowske

Cheryl Glodowske

Jasmine

Leslie Jennings

Erin Jones

Lamar Kellam

Karen Laitman

Teresa Madonna

Denise Manning

Stacey Mazzacco

Shawn McHugh

Sharon Morgan

Deb Quinton

Rina Pellegrini

Linda Rikard

Loret Ross

Teri Seaton

Carol Schleppi

Mary Jo Tarallo

Jayden Taylor

Margaret Tobin

Hope Vella

Tama Viola

Pat West

WOMEN’S FEST COMMITTEE

Liz Aranza

Mary (Lulu) Beach

Anita Broccolino

Mary Ann Dellinger

Lissa Dulany

Connie Fox

Peggy Hughes

Karen Laitman

Leslie Ledogar

Kathy Lehmann

Michelle Manfredi

Marcy McCollumMartin

Deb Quinton

Cindy Sanders

Teri Seaton

Kelly Sheridan

Hannah Simone

Kim Smitas

Hope Vella

BARCLAY FARMS - Camden.

2BR/2BA 2006 Ritz-Craft w/ 1-car garage. 2,024sf. Living rm, family rm, dining rm & breakfast rm. Mins to Dover.

55+ $176,000 (DEKT2016204) Lot Rent $539/mt

HOLLY OAK - Lewes. New Construction – Immediate Delivery. Double 1-acre lot. 3BR/2BA home is a 1,506 sq. ft. one-level rancher w/oversized 2-car garage. Open concept floor plan. Great room opens to the kitchen and dining area. There is also a sliding glass door out

to thebig 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. $484,999 (2029152)

COLONIAL EAST - Rehoboth Beach. 2002 3BR/2BA w/ Fla. room. LV opens to dining area & kitchen. Community pool. Just 4 miles to the beach. $184,900 (2038432) Lot Rent $541/mt.

SANDY BEACH - Dagsboro. 2019-built 3BR/3BA home is 2,048 sq. ft. with an additional 1,120 sq. ft. in the full, unfinished basement. Luxury vinyl plank flooring on the main level with 9’ ceilings. Living room opens to the kitchen, which has quartz countertops & stainless

appliances. The kitchen adjoins formal dining area. 1st-floor main BR suite. Other 2 bedrooms are upstairs next to the family room. 13 miles to Bethany Beach. Boat slip leases are available *ask for details* $473,500 (2029962) +$5,000 Seller Assist Credit at Settlement

SUSSEX STREET - Milton. New Construction – Ready Now! This is an absolutely stunning 4BR/4.5BA home that’s so close to all the resort area has to offer. Wonderful for year-round living, as a vacation home, or an Airbnb. 3,280 sq. ft. & each bedroom is en Suite. Features wide-plank white oak floors on the main level. Beautiful kitchen has premium Calabria quartz countertops, wet bar & GE Café appliances. 1stfloor bedroom suite. Upstairs family room. Sunroom, patio & privacy fencing. No HOA. 6 miles to beach. $795,000 (2038314)

SILVER VIEW FARMRehoboth. 2014 3BR/2BA. +2,000 sq. ft.! BIG kitchen. Shed & fenced yard. $5k carpet credit. Community pool & 3 miles to bch. $235,000 (2036800) Lot Rent $646/mt.

SILVER

FARMRehoboth. 1997 3BR/2BA. 14’x76’. Fully remodeled interior + new roof & new HVAC. Community pool & 3 miles to beach. $144,900 (2039172) Lot Rent $646/mt.

CAPTAINS GRANT - Millsboro. 2002 4BR/3BA home is on a 1/3-acre lot. 2,100 sq ft. Bring your boat or RV. 15 miles to the RB boardwalk & nearby Indian River boat clubs. $350,000 (2039462)

A SPEN MEADOWSRehoboth. 1985 3BR/2BA. Split BR plan. Big rear deck. Fencing, shed & outdoor shower. 3.5 miles to beach. Community pool. $159,900 (2037846) Lot Rent $875/mt

REHOBOTH BAY - Rehoboth. Fully remodeled 1987 2BR/2BA. Gorgeous kitchen. Split BR plan. Screened porch & sheds. 6 miles to RB. Marina & pool. $145,000 (2038670) Lot Rent $633/mt.

VIEW