April 2024 - Fresh Thinking

Fresh Thinking

Jason Aviles takes a healthy approach to helping the community

Contact@TSNPub.com

Gerald duPhily • jduphily@tsnpub.com

Jim Miller • jmiller@tsnpub.com

CONTRIBUTING EDITOR

Bob Yearick • ryearick@comcast.net

Matthew Loeb, Catalyst Visuals, LLC

DIGITAL

Michael O’Brian

Amy Watson Bish

CONTRIBUTING

Adriana

THE WAR On Words

A monthly column in which we attempt, however futilely, to defend the English language

WHERE ARE THE EDITORS? (Formerly “Media Watch”)

• Dan DeLuca, music critic at e Philadelphia Inquirer, writing about the Bacon Brothers, Kevin and Michael: “ ey wrote and released ‘It’s a Philly ing,’ a song of hometown pride about all that entails with residing in the 215.” Dan’s words became a bit reversed there, and he used too many of them. e italicized phrase should be, “all that residing in the 215 entails.”

• Somewhat similarly, a photo caption in USA TODAY got things backwards by referring to David Kelly, the Golden State Warriors chief legal o cer, as “the brainchild of Golden State Entertainment.” e story itself was correct, identifying Golden State Entertainment as “the brainchild of David Kelly.”

• Also in USA TODAY, Chris Bumbaca failed the a/an test: “ e Los Angeles Chargers were one of six teams to receive a F or worse . . .” If a word begins with a vowel sound (in this case, ef) the correct choice is an. If it begins with a consonant sound –e.g., balloon — a is the choice.

• Relatedly, I came across a discussion in e English Language Police Facebook group about whether “SUV” should be preceded by a or an. Seems obvious, but the answer is an, because the acronym begins with a vowel sound — es. But some in the group assumed the inde nite article would apply not to the acronym but to the full name — suburban utility vehicle. Wrong. e choice of a or an is based strictly on the pronunciation of the acronym.

• Our Central Pennsylvania correspondent, Joe Martz, caught USA TODAY in this ga e: “On Saturday, the North Carolina Tar Heels exercised some demons, as they went to Charlottesville and beat Virginia there for the rst time in over a decade.” at’s exorcised — to drive out or rid a person or place of an evil spirit.

• Chris Vancleave, of CBS, reported that Alaska Airlines was “honing in on the cause of the door blowing out on an airliner” in January. To repeat: to hone is to sharpen. e correct word here is homing, as in this example from Alex Co ey in e Inquirer (writing about Phillies pitcher Aaron Nola): “Last season, . . . he’d try to hit a general spot, rather than homing in on every pitch.”

• Novelist Sue Grafton, in S Is for Silence: “He knew his humiliation was commiserate with his joy, but the joy had been

eeting, while the rage would burn at his core, . . . year after year.” Badly missing the mark, Sue meant commensurate (corresponding in size or degree; in proportion). Commiserate means to express or feel sympathy or pity; sympathize.

By Bob Yearick

• e vice president of the Brandywine Board of Education committed an unintentional double entendre when he commented about the consequences if a recent referendum failed (It succeeded): “ e result will be larger class sizes, less support for students in need, less maintenance and custodial sta , no courtesy bussing, and so much more.” Alas, that extra s. Bussing means kissing.

DISTURBING TRENDS

e use of “there’s” when referring to plurals has become a tsunami of semi-literacy. Some recent examples:

• Jason Nark in e Inky, about a retirement community: “ ere’s a few retired physicians around.”

• Gabe Lacques, USA TODAY, about the baseball season: “ ere’s intangibles, for certain.”

• Alabama Football Coach Kalen DeBoer, in USA TODAY, about a letter from his college coach: “It’s just perfectly handwritten. ere’s no blemishes.”

ere are plenty of blemishes here. In all three cases, there’s should be there are. People seem to forget that there’s is a contraction for there is. So, would they say, “there is physicians, intangibles, blemishes”? Let’s hope not.

DEPARTMENT OF REDUNDANCIES DEPT.

• Cherri Gregg, on NPR (NPR!): “ is landmark is one of the most busiest places in Philadelphia.” Ah, the dreaded double superlative.

HOW LONG, OH, LORD, HOW LONG? in which we address the continuing abuse of that most misused punctuation mark, the apostrophe.

From the Nextdoor Facebook page: “Hello neighbor’s, . . .” – To quote Nancy Kerrigan (screaming emoji here): “Why? Why? Why?”

NEED A SPEAKER FOR YOUR ORGANIZATION?

Contribute $100 or more to the Brandywine YMCA through my donor page and I’ll present my fun and informative discussion on grammar to your group. Go to: donate.ymcade.org/fundraiser/4552820.

FYI Things Worth Knowing

DON’T GET FAKED OUT!

In the spirit of April Fools’ Day, we’ve placed a fake ad in this issue. Tell us the page number we’ve placed it on and you can win lunch. Email your answer by April 20 to Contact@TSNPub.com with the subject line: I Found the Fake Ad. We will choose three winners from correct submissions. Congrats to Patricia Carter, Maureen Zito and Lisa Marich, who found the shamrocks in our March issue on pages 17, 41, 47, 52.

Four Middletown breweries are teaming for Brewing For A Better Community, a fundraiser set for Saturday, April 27 (4-8pm) to benefit the MOT Neighborhood House. The event will be held at Carter Farm (818 Union Church Rd., Townsend) and feature beer by local breweries Volunteer, First State, JAKL and Crooked Hammock. There will also be a country barbecue with a pig roast, live music, a hayride and bonfire. Tickets are $75. Visit EventBrite.com/Brewing-For-A-Better-Community.

INCREDIBLE JOURNEY

International photographers Jennifer Janowski and Christian Pirskanen will feature works and stories from their journey through Ukraine and the Balkans in Beyond Borders: An International Art Exhibition at eatre N in Wilmington on April 19 (6pm). e artists will also appear in Wilmington April 17 at Stitch House Brewery (7pm) and April 18 at Huxley & Hiro Bookstore (6pm).

A STAR-STUDDED BRUNCH

Comedian K-Mack is the host of the 27th Celebrity Chefs’ Brunch on Sunday, April 21 at DuPont Country Club. e event bene ts Meals on Wheels Delaware, whose mission is to raise funds, awareness and other resources in support of meal-delivery programs to homebound seniors in Delaware. e honorary chef chairs are Michael and Jillian Blackie of the acclaimed Canadian restaurant NeXT. More than 20 acclaimed chefs will be on hand. VIP and general admission tickets are available. Visit MealsOnWheelsDe.org.

WORLD PREMIERE AT DTC

Delaware eatre Company closes its 44th season with the world premiere of e Flatlanders by awardwinning playwright Bruce Graham. e brisk and heartfelt comedy, featuring acclaimed Philadelphia actors Jennifer Childs and Scott Greer, runs April 17-May 5. e production will be directed by multi-Barrymore Award winner Matt Pfei er. Visit Delaware eatre.org.

FIRST STATE BALLET PRESENTS A CLASSIC

FYOUR ORGANIZATION CAN DO IT

The deadline to register for the Food Bank of Delaware’s food structure building competition, CANgineering, is Friday, April 26. is program is a fun way to bolster food donations while encouraging spirited competition among local organizations. Teams sign up, hold a food drive, then use the items they have collected to create structures. e initiative supports the year-round hunger relief e orts of the Food Bank of Delaware. Visit FBD.org/cangineering.

irst State Ballet eatre, Delaware’s only professional ballet company, will present Tchaikovsky’s masterpiece e Sleeping Beauty April 13-14 at e Grand. e production will be danced by 21 international professional artists who currently live, work and dance in Delaware as well area students performing the children’s roles. Tickets range $25-$67. Visit eGrandWilmington.org.

FRIDAY, APRIL 5, 2024 5pm Start

Next Art Loop: MAY 3, 2024

DOWNTOWN

2nd & LOMA

211 N. Market Street

655-0124

Artist: Back To Life by Victoria Lawrence

Chris White Gallery

701 N. Shipley Street

475-0998 • chriswhitegallery.com

Artists: Liberation, Soft Girl Era Art Series: Act 2

City of Wilmington’s Redding Gallery

800 N. French Street

576-2100 • cityfestwilm. com/redding-gallery

Artist: “Fluidity”

A Fusion of Watercolor and Alcohol Ink

DE.CO

111 W. 10th Street 510-2762

Artist: City Painting by Jimmy Thompson

Delaware College of Art & Design

600 N. Market Street

622-8000 • dcad.edu

Artist: ALUMNI + FRIENDS SMALL ART SHOW FUNDRAISER

Huxley and Hiro Booksellers

419 N. Market Street • 439-0805

Artists: Second Chances by Analog Bird

John William Gallery

1313 N Market Street 585-317-5409

Artist: Shefon Taylor: Archival Encounters

Mezzanine Gallery

820 N. French Street 577-8278 arts.delaware.gov

Artist: Within the Intimate Realm by E. Schwinn

The Grand Opera House

The Grand Opera House

818 N. Market Street 658-7897 • thegrandwilmington.org

Grand Gallery: Ann-Marie Glazer “Beyond the Threshold”

baby grand Gallery: Ralph Della-Volpe “PUSH” & Tisa Della-Volpe “Creative Pursuits”

The Sold Firm

800-B N. Tatnall Street

Artist: Authenticity, Soft Girl Era Art Series: Act 3

RIVERFRONT

The Delaware Contemporary 200 S. Madison Street 656-6466 • decontemporary.org

Artists: FEATURED EXHIBITIONS: LUSH MORPHOLOGY, Rachel Blythe Udell, MATERIAL CULTURE, Ed Bing Lee and Ryan Sarah Murphy, OHEMAA, Stephanie Boateng and Sa-Kreea Mo’nay

WEST SIDE

Avenue Cuts

1700 N. Scott Street

383-3211

Artist: It’s A Spring Thing by Regina Katz

Blue Streak Gallery

1721 Delaware Avenue

429-0506

Artist: Fish Tales by William Spiker

Delaware Center for Horticulture

1810 N. Dupont Street 658-6262 • thedch.org

Artist: Earth Day Art ExhibitArden Artisans Collective

Howard Pyle Studio

1305 N. Franklin Street 656-7304

Artists: Howard Pyle Studio

Group’s Carol Mangano

BEYOND THE CITY

Arden Buzz-Ware Gallery

2119 The Highway, Arden 981-4811

Artist: Monika Bullette’s Glass Canvas

Bellefonte Arts

803-C Brandywine Blvd 547-2573

Artist: April Animal Art Show at Bellefonte

Finist & The Owl

811 Brandywine Boulevard 786-228-6638

Artist: Reni by Irina Angelova

A program of the Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs

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Making Connections

Benjamin Wagner uses storytelling to foster community and help people find peace after trauma

By Ken Mammarella

In Friends & Neighbors, Benjamin Wagner bares his soul, talking about the stresses of being a globetrotting executive with a massive workload, the traumas that he knows now are called "adverse childhood experiences," and the unhealthy coping mechanisms that he adopted. They include witnessing domestic violence with both his parents; developing a dread of flying while shuttling between parents who divorced when he was 10; the instability of moving seven times by the same age; getting drunk for the first time at 13; getting high at 16; being assaulted in a Wawa parking lot as a teen; and drinking to cope with his adult stresses. >

In creating Friends&Neighbors,filmmaker Benjamin Wagner (right) spoke with many experts in the field of childhood trauma including Lauren Scott, a Pennsylvania school counselor and longtime friend. Photos courtesy Benjamin Wagner

“I felt all alone,” he says early in the new documentary. “I was anxious, depressed and struggling.”

In the end, the 73-minute lm — which has multiple screenings planned in May, for Mental Health Awareness Month — is a thoughtful and uplifting journey through sobriety, therapy, gym time, meditation, yoga, a daily gratitude log and, as the title promises — friends and neighbors.

Wagner lives in Wilmington with his wife Abbigail and their two daughters. ey moved before the pandemic to escape New York’s intensity and returned to where Abbigail grew up — a place they had shared many joys with her family.

“I always looked for a community,” he says. “Purpose, soul and meaning.” at search led him to lm chats with their new Wilmington neighbors for their local community association.

“I think a hallmark of who I

TROLLEY SQUARE

am is being interested in making connections with people,” adds Wagner. “Maybe because my family was so disconnected.”

Wagner wrote, directed and produced the lm, devoting thousands of hours creating it, including emotional interviews with his parents and his brother Cristofer, who also worked as one of two editors.

Featured interviews include Alonna Berry, director of Community and Family Services for Delaware; Logan Herring, CEO of e WRK Group (a collection of three Wilmington nonpro ts); Delaware State Senator Sarah McBride, one of the nation’s highest-pro le transgender elected o cials; Winden Rowe, founder of the Center for Change at Kennett Square; Lauren Scott, a Pennsylvania school counselor and a longtime friend; Anne Kubitsky, a Connecticut mental health advocate and founder of the Look for the Good Project; Dr. Zachary Mulvihill, a New York integrative health specialist; Matthew Tousignant, a another longtime friend, who combines

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Wagner poses on the red carpet at the Heartland International Film Festival in Indianapolis, Indiana.

hands-on bodywork with somatic psychology; and Michael Tyler, an Illinois author and thought leader.

“Traumatic experiences are the No. 1 public health crisis in the United States, and yet we don’t understand the signi cance of them,” Rowe says. Governments are recently taking notice. In 2018, Delaware named Berry as the state’s trauma-informed care coordinator, and Rowe served on a Pennsylvania panel to establish something similar.

Friends & Neighbors is the “spiritual sequel” to Mister Rogers & Me, Wagner’s 2012 documentary about the impact of TV icon Fred Rogers, a summer neighbor on Nantucket.

“The human experience is profoundly deep, but our culture is not,” he recalls Rogers telling him and challenging him to “spread the message.”

Wagner has the tools to do so: degrees in creative writing and

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journalism and decades of experience with MTV News and Facebook’s Journalism Project.

e result so far: a multimedia exploration of mental well-being and the encouragement to talk “openly and comfortably” about depression, anxiety and other issues that includes the lm, about 100 Friends & Neighbors podcasts, 2,000 blog posts and 217 pages of a 250-page book.

“Inspired by Fred Rogers’ belief that ‘What’s mentionable is manageable,’ Friends & Neighbors seeks to understand the somatic and neuropsychology behind this mental health crisis, and to look for the helpers healing our communities,” Wagner writes on Facebook. “I set out to understand the personal and cultural impact of trauma and find a path toward individual and collective healing.”

Another way of looking at Rogers’ quote involves a concept called a ect

labeling. “When you name it, it has less power,” he says. “I nd that when I’m vulnerable, I give people permission to be vulnerable. And that’s what Fred did, too.”

Wagner, who has been composing and performing music since he was 15, considers music “an unconscious communication.” His 10th studio album is called Constellations, “because constellations are how we nd our way.” He chose all his own works for the Friends & Neighbors soundtrack, >

Delaware State Senator Sarah McBride contributed thoughts and perspective with Wagner.

except for a song by longtime friend Casey Shea that frames the film.

“I love how he sings about coming home. The movie is a hero’s quest, and the journey is to get home,” he says, adding elsewhere in the interview, “If you want to change the world, it helps to start at home.”

For Wagner, that home is Delaware, with its wellknown overlapping communities and, at times, surprising connections. When Wagner met Charlie McDowell, chairman of the board of Reach Riverside, Wagner “couldn’t fathom the disparity” between his neighborhood and Riverside, Herring says, even though they are not that far apart geographically.

“I want to get to know it, walk it, drive around,” Wagner told Herring about Riverside, later volunteering to help the nonprofit with marketing and communication.

“You don’t have to live across the street to be a neighbor,” says Herring. “Mr. Rogers is the ultimate neighbor. It’s about being kind and treating everyone like your neighbor.”

Wagner now works as the founder of Essential Industries, which offers strategic consulting; professional and executive coaching; editorial, marketing, and communication services; keynote speaking; and workshops. Abbigail is the founder of Burton & Ashby, an interior design company.

“My wife makes calm interiors,” he says. “And I try to help people with calm insides.”

— Friends & Neighbors is now making the circuit of places that have special meaning to Wagner. Advance screenings scheduled so far include May 2 (7pm) at Theatre N in downtown Wilmington, with a panel that includes local participants. There will also be advance screenings May 11 (7pm) and May 12 (2pm) at Theatre N, plus May 17 at the Easttown Public Library in Berwyn, Pa., where he went to high school.

Wagner is also working on advance screenings in downstate Delaware; Des Moines, Iowa, where he shot two acts of the film; Philadelphia; New York, where he lived; Syracuse, N.Y., where he attended college; Red Bank, N.J.; and other locations. The documentary is also available for rental (alongside the trailer and podcasts) on FriendAndNeighbors.mov through May’s Mental Health Awareness Month only. And he is in early discussions for a 2025 broadcast premiere via American Public Television.

Mister Rogers & Me is available on Amazon and Apple. It, too, has a website: MisterRogersAndMe.com.

Saving Local News

Is philanthropy the answer to keeping our communities informed?

By Andrew Sharp Delaware Journalism Collaborative

To say the newspaper business is struggling is a bit like remarking that Republicans and Democrats don’t always get along.

Both are obvious, but you might not realize they may also be connected — there’s evidence that the disappearance of your local paper could also be hurting your friendship with the family next door. You know, the ones who belong to that other political party and put up obnoxious signs in their yard.

To address problems like these, extensive efforts are underway to revitalize local news coverage, including in Delaware, where the state has recently seen nearly $4 million in philanthropic investment in news. Here’s why journalism advocates say these efforts matter, and how it all might help you and your neighbors understand each other better.

TWO TRENDS

If you have the pleasure (or misfortune) to sit next to an old newspaper editor at a bar, you may find yourself regaled with tales giving the impression that in the old days, dump trucks full of cash used to pull up to the newsroom a few times a week and unload. While these reminiscences might carry just a hint of nostalgia, it’s true that gathering the news used to be good business. Today, a staggering amount of revenue

has vanished, along with jobs, leaving communities small and large without many of the people who used to tell their stories.

“Financial instruments, hedge funds, you know, chain news organizations have cut to the bone and then cut further than that,” said Chris Krewson, executive director of Local Independent Online News Publishers (LION), which offers support to nearly 500 newsrooms ranging from tiny to small but growing. >

At the same time, the rancor and division in the U.S. have reached a pitch that is increasingly compared to the time of the Civil War — a conflict in which more than half a million Americans shot each other dead. We’re not there, but on Jan. 6, 2020, a mob did storm the U.S. Capitol building, and people died.

Delaware has seen much the same kind of polarization as other parts of the country.

“To say it’s polarized would be an understatement,” said Peter Kratofilow, former chair of the Western New Castle Region Republican Committee and currently a history teacher and pastor living in Newark. He sees that trend in both parties in Delaware.

There are lots of reasons for polarization, but believe it or not, the fact that your local newspaper has had to make big staff cuts seems to be a contributing factor.

The financial problems of your local newspaper and polarization might not seem obviously connected. Sure, you’re not reading as much about the fire company’s spaghetti dinner or what the mayor said yesterday, but how is that divisive?

“To build empathy, we have to understand other people’s experiences and stories, and how they got to the values and beliefs that they hold. And that is, I believe, a huge part of what local news and information does,” said Allison Levine, founder of the Delaware Local Journalism Initiative. (Important note to readers: LJI is the parent organization of the Delaware Journalism Collaborative, which is reporting this story.)

National news takes us to the level of 375 million people, but local news brings us back to a human-to-human level, Levine said, and that kind of connection is important to building a healthy democracy and reducing polarization.

Restoring local journalism is not about finding new jobs for a bunch of newspaper reporters, Krewson said. “It’s about healthy, democratically informed societies. It’s about making where you live a better place.”

Locals offer a similar take.

“CBS is not going to cover a school referendum in Laurel,” said Bob Wheatley, chairman of the Sussex County Planning and Zoning Commission, who lives in the area. “When you decide on whether or not you want to support a school tax referendum, well, it’s pretty important to know what they’re going to do with the money, what their track record has been … it’s information for decision-making.”

LESS NEWS, MORE DIVISION

The causes of polarization are nuanced, but multiple studies have found a strong correlation between less local news coverage and divided citizens.

Take voting for example. Researchers have found that when local news shrinks, fewer citizens punch a button for multiple parties in the voting booth — picking a GOP representative and a Democratic president, say. This is one sign of polarization.

Also, over the decades as local newspaper numbers

plummeted, polarization numbers veered sharply upward.

Just because polarization worsens at the same time as newspapers shrink doesn’t prove this is the cause. Many factors contribute, but the research does point to less local news coverage being a possible factor.

Why is that? Researchers theorize that ownership of news outlets being gathered into fewer corporate hands resulted in more partisan news coverage.

Researchers also describe a sort of trickle-down division over the years: People became increasingly focused on national politics — where party leaders were ever more divided — and paid less attention to local news. Communities then started re ecting the national schism.

If you’re depending on Fox News and CNN rather than your local paper for coverage, your views may start to be more in uenced by national opinions.

About 50 percent of revenue for local papers used to come from classified ads for real estate, housing and automotive... All of that went away. And it is not coming back.

— Allison Levine

Wheatley has experienced that impact. He’s run for local o ce twice, and “ e question I got asked more than anything else was, who did I support for president? And my question to them would be, 'What does that have to do with the job that I’m seeking?' ”

He added, “You’re running for County Council, people want to talk about abortion. And it’s because that’s what they hear about all day long.” (If you’re wondering, neither Sussex County Council nor your local school board determines state or national abortion policy.)

LOCAL NEWS OUTLETS AROUND THE COUNTRY ARE ON LIFE SUPPORT — OR DEAD

A thorough review of the state of local news in 2023, led by the Medill Local News Initiative at Northwestern University, found the nation has 204 entire counties that are complete news deserts, with no newspapers, local digital sites, public radio newsrooms or the like. Another 228 counties are in danger of ending up that way. >

While that’s out of more than 3,000 counties, this is only a list of those with no news outlets at all.

“Residents in more than half of U.S. counties have no, or very limited, access to a reliable local news source — either print, digital or broadcast,” according to the report.

In Delaware, every county has a newspaper, radio or TV station, and usually several of these. But some towns or regions still have little coverage — rural, northwestern Sussex County up into southwestern Kent County being one notable example. Perhaps even more striking is the absence of a thriving news outlet in the Middletown, Odessa and Townsend area, despite a burgeoning population there. In places where news outlets do exist, the staff has often shrunk to a startling degree.

by the advent of the internet. Media researchers note that people can turn to social media, national news websites, sports outlets like ESPN or the Athletic, and Craigslist rather than the roll of newsprint that used to land on their doorsteps every morning.

About 50 percent of revenue for local papers used to come from classified ads for real estate, housing and automotive, Levine said. “All of that went away. And it is not coming back.”

Outlets had the idea that clicks on online stories might someday equal income. Now, there’s a recognition that simply shifting from print advertising to digital advertising isn’t going to work, Levine said.

Kratofilow said when he lived downstate, the local TV station often covered local happenings. But upstate, a lot of smaller stories get missed.

“If something happens in Bear, or Glasgow, or Middletown, if you talk to people, they’ll say, ‘Well, this isn’t going to make NBC, Delaware Online is not going to cover it,’” he said. “It’s not major enough to make it.”

The shakeup of the news industry that has cost many communities their local paper has been driven in large part

“The digital advertising revenue is a joke compared to what we used to see in print advertising revenue,” Levine said.

News organizations have been working hard trying to figure out how to survive this shift, and as the statistics show, it’s often not working very well.

That doesn’t mean the whole outlook is dire.

Christopher Wink, a co-founder of Technical.ly, a Philadelphia-based regional online publication that covers technology and entrepreneurs, is a survivor, a term he embraces a bit wryly. His business has lasted 15 years.

The opening of the Claymont Train Station last fall. A strong turnout for a press event is a rarity these days. Photo by Larry Nagengast

“Someone recently introduced me as having founded one of the, what was the phrase, ‘longest surviving local online news sites,’” he said, which seemed like a sideways reference to the way “a lot of us have struggled to last.”

Levine emphasizes the focus needs to be on saving news, not newspapers.

“Local news is not dying,” she said. “Local news is evolving … I think just in the past three years, we have really seen a shift in the national conversation about this, because it is much less pessimistic.”

ENTER GRANTS, DONATIONS AND OTHER PHILANTHROPY

If money from advertisers and subscribers isn’t sufficient, can donations make up at least some of the difference?

There’s been a shift in attitude on the part of nonprofit funders, Levine said. She’s seen it firsthand through her role with the Delaware Community Foundation, where she worked for years before stepping away to focus on building up local news.

There used to be a general sense that since the news industry used to make gobs of money, they just needed to get their house in order, she said. “If they just got the right business people in there, and ran it like a real business, they’d be fine.”

Now, she said, “What’s exciting here, I think, is that the philanthropic world, including foundation funders,

community foundations, corporate funders, and individual donors have recognized that local news and information is not just a broken business model. It’s a broken business model that is critical to our democracy and our communities. And they are stepping up to make it work.”

Nonprofits make up a slightly growing share of LION Publishers, where about 35% of newsrooms are some flavor of nonprofit, according to Krewson. That’s an increase of about 5% in the past four or five years.

Just because a news organization is a nonprofit doesn’t mean they’re dedicated to charity work. It’s more about tax status than business model or approach, Krewson said. Also, the little for-profit shops in LION aren’t exactly earning fabulous money or spinning off dividends.

MONEY COMING TO DELAWARE

A portion of the nonprofit money headed to Delaware over the past few years comes from the Solutions Journalism Network, which has allocated money for the Delaware Journalism Collaborative (which means SJN is also indirectly funding this article).

The Collaborative has a two-year, $200,000 grant from SJN to report on solutions to polarization in Delaware communities. Member organizations contribute articles, which all members can share, free of charge, and which are also available to the public at no cost.

The Longwood Foundation is a local funder that has >

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also increasingly contributed to journalism. In the past couple years, it has made grants of $800,000 to DETV, a Wilmington-based TV station founded by Ivan omas, and $250,000 to Technical.ly. Both grants aim to enable the organizations to expand what they’re doing in Delaware.

Longwood also gave $275,000 to Delaware Public Media in 2022. General Manager Pete Booker wrote in an email Longwood has been a supporter ever since DPM’s early days, and this grant will help the station expand operations.

e foundation is also contributing $800,000 to the launch of Spotlight Delaware, a new nonpro t newsroom that is also part of Levine’s Local Journalism Initiative and a major part of her e orts to nd new ways to deliver news.

Spotlight Delaware also got a major boost in January of this year, when the American Journalism Project announced a $1 million grant to help build the organization.

Levine’s vision is not to compete with existing outlets, but to nd stories that these outlets aren’t able to get to, she said. Spotlight Delaware would then make these stories available for free to other news outlets and nd other innovative ways to deliver the news to communities.

“ ere are more stories than any organization could possibly cover,” Levine said. “Our interest for Spotlight Delaware is in helping ll the gaps.”

PHILANTHROPY ISN’T A NEWS UTOPIA

Just as with the old advertising model, there are challenges and drawbacks to relying on philanthropy to pay for news coverage.

One is ethical. Everyone could tell who was backing newspapers in the advertising days, just by looking at the ads, Media Impact Funders noted. But not all news organizations have developed clear guidelines for how they will acknowledge their donations.

And foundations, like advertisers, have their own motives.

“ e risk of con ict of interest has grown alongside funding,” the Media Impact Funders report noted. “More funders are nancing journalism in areas where they also do policy work … and four in 10 outlets take money to do speci c reporting suggested by a funder.”

at said, most outlets do have ethical guardrails in place to address these con icts like policies about disclosing their donors, the report found.

Another issue is that while the for-pro t model has struggled mightily, it’s not a simple matter of throwing a switch and replacing advertising revenue with donations.

“It’s no panacea, right, just saying, ‘We’re nonprofit,’ doesn’t mean the money automatically flows in,” Krewson said.

However local news organizations are reborn, it will take time and likely an enormous amount of commitment.

— e Delaware Journalism Collaborative is a partnership of local news and community organizations working to bridge divides statewide. Learn more at DeJournalism.org. Reach Andrew Sharp at ASharp@DeJournalism.org.

Dr. Bobby Buka: The Dermatology Specialists

By Scott Pruden

Healthy Oasis

Photos by Justin Heyes

in a Food Desert

With his Green Box Kitchen, wellness entrepreneur Jason Aviles offers nutritious alternatives to salty snacks and sugary drinks

Wilmington entrepreneur Jason Aviles is adamant about spreading the gospel of healthier eating and living, so much so that he was willing to set up a juicing station in a neighborhood barbershop to prove his point.

Back in 2016, the idea that would later become his plant-based restaurant Green Box Kitchen was literally a pushcart manned by youths from the surrounding community.

Aviles knew he had a challenge ahead of him: Take a neighborhood largely abandoned by supermarkets (and their accompanying produce sections) and convince customers of the benefits and deliciousness of the plant-based products he was purveying. At the same time, his goal was to hire local teens to help them learn business and entrepreneurial skills.

“I remember going to a local barbershop here in the community, and at the time we had cold-pressed apple, beet and carrot juice, and we were doing it in the 16-ounce Mason jars,” he says. “And I remember having a conversation with one of the barbers, and he argued with me that carrots and beets could not make juice.” >

Jason Aviles with Green Box Kitchen colleagues Janina Vallon (center) and Amor Alberto.

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Aviles, who was living in nearby Shipley Lofts at the time, promptly went to his apartment and returned to the barbershop just off Market Street with his juicer and enough carrots and beets to prove his point, creating on the spot the same cold-pressed juice he and his team sold from their cart.

“I juiced the carrots and beets in front of him and everyone that was in that barbershop, and he was sold,” says Aviles. “I couldn't go into these barbershops and say, ‘Hey, you don't know what the hell you're talking about. I'm about to school your ass.’”

Instead, Aviles, who grew up in the housing projects of the Bronx in New York City, understood where the barber was coming from because he had also lived a life surrounded by processed, sugar-laden foods rather than fresh fruits and vegetables.

“I had to come in there with the utmost respect and humility and humbleness to take into account all of that, because that's the reason why this conversation, this opportunity, is even happening,” he says.

It was a clear example of how the energetic, upbeat entrepreneur is determined to bring to Wilmington not necessarily what residents say they want, but what he knows they need, gently leading by example and changing minds one at a time.

Motivated to Help Others

With his infectious positivity and charisma, Aviles has become adept at educating non-believers and bringing them along for the ride. His Wilmington ventures have all blossomed from the transition he made from a child of the projects to someone motivated to help others — even though for a while he says he wasn’t quite sure how he should do that.

Motivated by his mother and her own powerful personality, Aviles began work early, bagging groceries at a nearby supermarket at 14 after his mom convinced the manager to hire her underage son. He moved on through a variety of public-facing and sales jobs, eventually becoming an education para-professional in a Bronx public school at the age of 21. That was his first experience as an adult working to help underserved kids, but it wouldn’t be his last.

“I started to feel the responsibility I had to be a role model for them,” he said during a Wilmington TEDx talk in 2018. “And for the first time in my life I felt like this could possibly be my purpose.”

He was ready to pursue this calling to help others, but also anxious to leave behind the pace and pressures of New York living. At the suggestion of a friend who had relocated here, Aviles moved to Delaware. He worked in schools as a special education advisor and behavior counselor, among other jobs, eventually leaving to work at a maximum-security juvenile prison in upstate New York before returning to Wilmington after 10 months.

Vintage Miniatures by Bart Vintage &

Mandala art by Kim Lucas

After another stint in a Delaware school, he realized that for all that was being done to address the symptoms displayed by young people underserved by society and the educational system, little was being done to address the root causes of those symptoms. He left that job in the hopes of finding a path that would help him put his vision into action.

An Alternate Avenue

That’s when he stumbled across an online ad for Maharishi Management University in Fairfield, Iowa. Founded by the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi (of Beatles fame), the school focused on consciousnessbased education.

Much to the chagrin of those who knew him, Aviles declared in 2011 that he was leaving Delaware to attend the school in hopes of finding an alternate avenue for helping young people and the community at large.

In Iowa, he learned the tenets of transcendental meditation while pursuing a self-designed interdisciplinary bachelor's degree in youth development and social change. He also came face to face with two practices that would drive much of what he did thereafter: veganism and yoga.

Aviles admits that at the time, he was both overweight and suffering from chronic asthma and bronchitis. The school, meanwhile, “was 100% vegetarian for three meals a day and snacks,” he says. One of his instructors, originally from India, suggested he take up yoga and consider dropping dairy from his diet to alleviate his lifelong respiratory troubles. >

Aviles, who grew up in the housing projects of the Bronx in New York City, says yoga and veganism have changed the direction of his life.

Since

“And I tried it,” Aviles says. “And I mean 12 years later, I haven't had an asthmatic issue. And yoga was a super important part of my journey because the way I was taught was that it was a lifestyle. It wasn't just getting on the mat with tight pants and stretching.”

Aviles also credits yoga and following a plant-based diet with helping him to lose more than 100 pounds. That, combined with his focus on uplifting others, prompted him to return to Wilmington to share what he learned.

With the benefit of a college degree and the knowledge he gained from three years of focusing on his own physical and spiritual health, he was determined to bring the lessons he learned back to the communities he had served in Wilmington.

His first goal was to take his yoga experience to a broader audience.

In 2014, he opened his yoga studio, Flyogi, at 1113 W. 9th St. It offered yoga classes taught by Aviles and three other instructors. In addition, he conducted free community yoga classes in art spaces throughout the Wilmington area. His classes took place at locations as diverse as schools and corporate retreats.

Today, in addition to maintaining its Wilmington studio, Flyogi has evolved into an international company, o ering customized yoga programs in person and online to an ever-expanding roster of clients. Aviles also launched the Urban Yoga Program in late 2023 in partnership with the Wilmington Alliance. Located at Art O Mat at the corner of 7th and Washington streets, and designed speci cally for men, the program was an eight-week intensive designed to break yoga stereotypes while imparting the physical and mental bene ts of yoga.

But there was something else that preyed on Aviles’ mind: Based on federal statistics about the availability of fresh fruits and vegetables, Wilmington was a food desert.

Stepping into food service, Aviles aimed to change that by creating Wilmington Green Box, a combination food cart and youth employment program designed to help Wilmington’s young people learn business and entrepreneurial skills while creating a healthy food alternative for those who lived and worked downtown.

A Place on the Corner

Aviles’ cornerstone venture, Green Box Kitchen, at 400 N. Market St., started in 2019 with a revolutionary idea — take the Green Box concept and create a fast service restaurant around exclusively plant-based recipes and ingredients while continuing to serve the downtown market he’d cultivated through creative marketing like his barbershop juicer demonstration.

Five year later, having made it through the pandemic, the associated restaurant shutdowns, limits on indoor food service and — finally — a return to relative stability, Aviles credits his customers and the surrounding community with the success of Green Box Kitchen.

“I think what allowed us to stay afloat was our customers just being so committed and dedicated to wanting our food, and our success and our ability to adapt and react to all the situations, circumstances that were taking place in real time,” he says.

Today, customers who may have once relied on salty snacks and sugary drinks from the corner store now make Green Box Kitchen a regular stop for smoothies, cold pressed juices, acai bowls and signature dishes like the gluten-free Belgian waffle or vegan “tuna” salad.

“Those same people from 2016 and 2015 are still here to this very day,” Aviles says. “They still come into this restaurant. They still grow it with our menu and our offerings. It's an amazing experience being here. It really is.”

Thomas Wallace is community vice president/senior executive director of the Wilmington YMCAs.

Photo by Jim Coarse

Wilmington's YMCAs: Bridges To A Better Life

Central offers new programs and improved housing, while Walnut Street fulfills its mission as ‘the Black Y’

WBy Bob Yearick

ith a competitive bodybuilder’s physique in a three-piece suit, Thomas Wallace is a walking, talking metaphor for his job title: community vice president/senior executive director of Wilmington’s Downtown YMCAs — Central and Walnut Street.

The soft-spoken Wallace, who would never describe himself in such terms, leads an organization that traditionally has aided its members in their quest to build muscle and improve their health, but in recent years is more focused on being a bridge to a better life for those in the community it serves. His job thus requires him to be as comfortable in the staid atmosphere of corporate and nonprofit boardrooms as he is in the testosteronefueled cacophony of gyms and weight rooms.

And he is.

A native of Wilkinsburg, a borough of Pittsburgh, the 43-year-old Wallace had what he calls “a challenging upbringing” in the 1980s and ‘90s. As a member of the notorious LAW (Larimer Avenue Wilkinsburg) gang, he had some run-ins with the police. (At the top of a sleeve of ink on his right arm, gang tats from those dark days are buried under the names in a family tree.) Luckily, his high school football coach saw Wallace’s potential, mentored him, and helped him earn a scholarship to Edinboro (Pa.) University, where he played free safety, met his future wife, and graduated with a degree in elementary education.

Two decades ago, after a few years as a teacher, Wallace joined the staff of the Pittsburgh YMCA

and quickly rose through the ranks to become executive director of the Baierl Family YMCA of Greater Pittsburgh in 2011, making him the first African American to hold a position of leadership at that Y. He came to Delaware in 2019 as director of the Western Y on Kirkwood Highway, and assumed his current title last year.

Both of the facilities in Wallace’s charge are teeming with activity while they continue to evolve. Because of the demographic they serve, they are perhaps more focused than any of the state’s other six branches on the three ambitiously altruistic “promises” established by State Director Jarrett Royster: “Ensure every child is on a pathway to success; improve individual family health; unite communities and inspire action for good.” >

In pursuit of those goals, neither of the downtown branches is your father’s YMCA.

No Blood, No Foul

For decades, noontime was perhaps the busiest period at the Central Branch. Located at the corner of Washington and 11th streets, it was a convenient haven for downtown o ce workers looking to unwind and burn calories.

Runners, beginning with the tness boom of the 1970s and ‘80s, crowded the elevated track (26 laps to a mile), while looking down on a basketball court where o ce workers, bankers, lawyers, cops, the occasional politician, and others waged no-blood-no-foul half-court games.

In the top oor handball/racquetball courts, Ruly Carpenter, owner and president of the Philadelphia Phillies from 1972 to 1981, bested all handball challengers, including World War II veteran and uber-Salesianumbooster Guido Schiavi. And in the cramped basement, where future Mr. Universe Kalman Szkalak sometimes stalked the weight room, the sounds of clanging iron resounded o the walls.

By the ‘90s, banks and corporate o ces had begun moving out of the city, and the noontime crowd dwindled. Meanwhile, such programs as spinning, yoga, Pilates, and kickboxing were introduced, along with water aerobics and other pool exercises.

As it did to so many downtown businesses, the pandemic dealt yet another blow to Central when even more workers left town to do their jobs from

1: Youngsters hoop it up at the Walnut Street YMCA.

2: Teens get a lesson in food preparation.

3: Both Downtown YMCAs have pools and offer swim classes.

4: A mural at Walnut Street created by Christian Kanienberg.

5: Art classes in the Barclays Teen Center.

home. Three years later, most have not returned. YMCA branches throughout the state lost members, and they continue to chase their pre-pandemic numbers, a goal that even Royster admits is probably unattainable, especially at Central.

“We have a unique challenge there because the downtown market has been disrupted,” Royster says. “Downtown business is only 60 percent of what it was pre-pandemic. I’m not sure that it is ever going to return to what it used to be.”

Staying Flexible

Wallace concurs with his boss. He estimates that the noontime crowd, with its formerly “very robust business demographic” is now “about a quarter of what it was before the pandemic,” although spin classes, Zumba, and other activities still attract participants.

Wallace understands that Central must stay exible, and continue adapting to its membership. “ e Y has always been innovative in its programs,” he says, pointing out that both basketball and volleyball were invented by YMCA o cials (at two separate Massachusetts branches in the 1890s — a few years after a Boston Y sta er coined the term “bodybuilding”).

“But we have gotten into the habit of prescribing,” he says. “We come in and say, ‘this is what the people want,’ and then we don’t get the participation we anticipated. Our membership base has changed. With that in mind, we’ve taken a step back and we’re identifying needs.

6: Music is also a big part of the YMCA's youth programming.

Photos courtesy YMCA of Delaware

“We’ve brought in consultants and put out surveys to the community. Now we’re sifting through that data and putting it into a strategic plan to serve the needs and the wants of our membership.”

Wallace says a committee has analyzed the survey data and the next step is implementation of innovative programs, with Central serving as a testing ground — “a beta group, if you will.”

180 ‘Transitional’ Rooms

In addition to extensive exercise facilities, the Central Branch contains 180 “transitional housing” rooms on the second, third, fourth and fifth floors of the six-story, 95-year-old building. As the droll Village People anthem suggests, the YMCA is “a place you can go . . . when you’re short on your dough,” and nationally, the Y began providing affordable housing in the 1860s, largely for young men moving from rural areas to jobs in major cities. Those who have stayed at Y residences throughout the country include journalists Andy Rooney and Dan Rather, civil rights leaders Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Macolm X, and novelist Jack Kerouac.

There may be a Rather or a Kerouac currently at Central, but if so he likely won’t be there long. “It is transitional housing,” Wallace says, “so occupancy fluctuates. It’s currently at about 80 percent.”

Some residents move on to other housing, and some are evicted, primarily for nonpayment of rent or for violating their lease, which requires no smoking, no alcohol, and no drugs.

Thirty-four “tempo rooms” (no lease) rent for $600 a month. While current residents are paying $480 per month on a one-year lease, the rate for new residents is now $525. Renters must have an income, and the average is about $9,000 per year. Anyone earning $40,000 or more is ineligible.

Royster says that some $500,000 in funds from New Castle County helped to refurbish the rooms recently.

Indeed, the Central YMCA Residence experienced a groundswell of support in 2023 from not only the county but other community partners, including the City of Wilmington and Attorney General Kathy Jennings and Lt. Gov. Bethany Hall-Long’s Opioid Settlement Distribution Funds. The support was earmarked for rental assistance, wrap-around services, and cosmetic upgrades.

Jimia Redden, Central’s executive director of Housing, proudly gave Out & About a tour of the freshened facilities, which include a lounge, chapel, medical area, and laundry. There is a common bathroom/shower room and a microwave on every floor. The men can keep a crockpot, but not a hot plate, in their rooms. Redden says the Y conducts crockpot cooking sessions for residents and holds Bible study in the chapel.

The Mission Market

Says Royster: “Our goal is to fill 100 percent of those beds and provide premium service to those men. We have been more intentional about partnering with other agencies to provide wraparound services — everything from >

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mental health counseling, drug addiction counseling, and finding support for some of their primary needs, like food and clothes.”

Residents — and the community in general — need go no farther than Central’s lower level to find such basics. The YMCA Mission Market, opened on Sept. 1, 2022, is a free store, available to community members in need who present an ID at the door. It stocks shelf-stable and frozen food, clothes, paper goods, and more. Donations were provided by community members and partners, including the Brandywine Hundred Rotary Club, Planting to Feed, Inc., Wawa, Giant, and Starbucks.

Wallace credits his predecessor, Jesus de La Salas, the YMCA of Delaware’s current vice president of Social Responsibility and Corporate Partnerships, with creating the Mission Market. He says it is being evaluated and may be reconfigured, but he is all-in on its purpose. “I fell in love with the Y because of the social services like Mission Market,” he says.

Walnut Street

Wallace also oversees Walnut Street — which, as he readily points out, has traditionally been known as “the Black YMCA.” Formerly a full-service branch and fitness center, it became a Youth Resource Center in January of 2011. Under the guidance of Executive Director Anesha Law, it lives up to that sobriquet by providing a varied menu of programs and services dedicated to minority children in

a city of 71,000 with a Black population of 53.7 percent.

Located at the corner of Walnut and 11th streets, in Wilmington’s Eastside neighborhood, the branch dates back to 1940. That original building was demolished in 1998 and a new Y was erected on the same site. The tower and relief friezes, depicting Marian Anderson, Booker T. Washington, and Dr. George Washington Carver, were the only original features retained in the new building.

Membership is free. That enticement plus Walnut Street’s numerous activities make it a magnet and a haven for many city youngsters.

“We average 200 kids in and out of the building per day for all of the programs,” says Law.

Walnut Street offers preschool and before and after school care as well as a teen after-school program. The building is open until 9 p.m. on Friday and 6 p.m. on Saturday for the Safe Haven program. “These are students 13-17 years old,” says Law. “They can play in the gym, work out in the fitness center, or hang out in the Teen Center,” where food is provided by Chick-Fil-A. The number varies, but she says about 100 kids register for a typical weekend.

Weekends are also for Youth in Government, which attracts up to 100 students from across the state. Says Wallace: “It’s affectionately known as the YIG program — we love our acronyms. It introduces youth to politics. A number of times a year they go to Dover and go through the parliamentary and legal process for a weekend. They do a takeover on both House and Senate sides and go through

the same procedures that elected officials do, creating policy that they debate.”

He says this election year “is exciting for us, because our job is not to select one side — we’re simply trying to expose them to all sides.”

Two other programs, Black Achievers and Teen Workforce Development, help youth improve their academics and develop educational and career awareness with the guidance of mentors. Teen Workforce Development conducts workshops focusing on life skills

and job readiness, including resume writing, financial literacy, stress management, conflict resolution, etiquette, and public speaking.

A Taste of Camp Life

“We also have a Summer Day Camp program that’s aimed at making sure students have a productive and safe place to go for the summer,” Law says. “We partner with Hanby Outdoor Center and the Western Y, and each day of the week we send some kids there to get a taste of outdoor camp life.”

Law also points out the STEM lab, which is supported by Barclays Bank. It serves as the home of Royster’s new twice-a-month podcasts.

A native of Washington, D.C., Law is a diminutive bundle of energy who has always worked for nonprofits, joining the YMCA in 2017. When she talks about Walnut Street, her operative adjective is “amazing.”

“Working here is amazing. We have an amazing team, a team that is passionate about what they do, on a mission to make sure the students are safe, that they have a responsible adult in their lives, and that we’re preparing them for their next step — whether it’s college, high school, elementary school, or the working world.

“Working here you feel good, you see the impact of the work. This place is amazing.”

— View a timeline of significant moments in Wilmington YMCA history by visiting us online at OutAndAboutNow.com/Community

Executive Director Anesha Law says the Walnut Street YMCA building averages over 200 kids in and out per day. Photo by Jim Coarse

The Show Must

Go On

By Pam George

Photos by Joe del Tufo

If you grew up in Delaware, you likely celebrated a birthday, anniversary or Valentine’s Day at Vincente’s Italian Restaurant, and chances are good that your parents also went there on special occasions. Quite possibly, your grandparents started the tradition. That’s because the restaurant opened in the 1970s, and founder Vincent Mancari owned eateries before then. “I’ve been dining with them since they were on Concord Pike,” says Tina Louise Stewart, who was 21 then. “I’ve been following them ever since. Great family and great food.”

Like Stewart, many customers updated their address books over the years. Vincente’s was initially in Wilmington’s Little Italy before it moved to Concord Pike. The restaurant then had a Glen Mills location before settling into the Kirkwood Highway space.

But faithful fans are willing to travel for the dishes that made it famous, including the tableside Caesar salad and veal entrees. Although Vincent Mancari died in 2013, his larger-than-life persona still permeates the restaurant. >

Tableside Caesar salad was performance art for Vincente's founder Vincent Mancari. Dan (pictured here), along with brothers Tom and Vincent Jr., keep those signature moments alive at the restaurant's Kirkwood Highway location.

The Taste of Nostalgia

Vincent J. Mancari was born in 1931 to Elizabeth Nardo and Frank “Blackie” Mancari, who moved from Italy to the United States in 1913. e couple had a large brood. Elizabeth’s 1987 obituary notes that she was the mother of 17 children, but only six daughters and four sons, including Vincent, were listed as survivors.

Frank owned confectionery stores at Second and Orange streets and, later, Fourth and Madison streets. Vincent and Louise Bosetti both attended Wilmington High School and in 1951, they wed at St. Anthony’s Catholic Church. e couple had three sons: Vincent Jr., Daniel and omas. ey also gave birth to a healthy business that, like any child, went through growth spurts. e couple started with Lincoln Luncheonette, a sub shop on West Fourth Street. By 1974, they’d turned the space into Vincente’s. An expansion into two neighboring townhouses increased the dining rooms from one to four, son Dan says.

The early menu was heavy on Italian American dishes. For instance, an ad promoted nine types of pizza, cheese ravioli with meatballs, veal parmesan and veal scallopini, which fearsome restaurant critic Otto Dekom called “the genuine article, made with thin slices of meat, sauteed gently,” he wrote in 1974. “Most Italian restaurants here don’t know a scaloppino from a piece of stew meat.” The Caesar salad, then $3, tasted “pretty good, with plenty of garlic.”

at year, Vincente’s participated in a two-for-one promotion along with other blasts from the past: Arsenalon-the-Green in New Castle, Swiss Inn in Elkton, Iron Hill Inn in Newark and Piane Grill in Wilmington.

Dinner and a Show

e gregarious Vincent quickly developed a reputation for showmanship. “ e Green Room sells atmosphere; Vincente’s sells the performance of maestro Vincent Mancari,” wrote News Journal critic Al Mascitti in 1997. To start, Mancari prepared Caesar salad at the table.

Well, sort of.

Vincent started mixing the famous salad next to his customers but by the time he was ready for the cheese, he’d backed up across the room to toss it into the bowl. It wasn’t unusual for him to lob Locatelli from 15 feet away.

“At that distance, even the direct hits into his well-worn wooden bowl exploded into a shower of cheese shrapnel,” Mascitti noted.

“It’s all in the wrist,” Mancari once said.

In 1994, e News Journal published the restaurateur’s recipe, which included red wine vinegar instead of lemon juice. (Mancari learned how to make the salad from the former head waiter of the Wilmington Country Club.)

ose who wanted another act followed with Bananas Foster and Café Diavolo (co ee of the devil), also prepared tableside. “With a cry of ‘Watch for the devil’s tail!' ” he raises the ladle and pours a three-foot stream of re back into >

33rd Annual Delaware City Town-Wide

into the bowl,” Mascitti detailed in his review.

But you didn’t need to order those three items to witness a performance. Mancari was also famous for his “walking menu,” a routine that started with determining guests’ preferences and evolved into suggesting a dish and listing its ingredients.

While Mancari kept guests entertained, Elizabeth handled the back of the house. In the days before high-tech point-of-sale systems, she handwrote orders for the chefs. “ ey were there early, like 10:30 a.m., would come home between lunch and dinner, and then go back until 1 or 2 a.m.,” says their son, Tom. “It was never a job to my father. ey don’t make ’em like that anymore. He had incredible passion.”

Tom has bartended in every location, while Dan started as a dishwasher at 16 and worked his way up the line. Vincent Jr. worked as maître d’ and head waiter.

e Old World service, Italian food and Vincent’s personality attracted celebs, including Robin Williams, who was lming Dead Poets Society in Delaware. In a 1994 interview, Mancari said that Williams was so jazzed by the tableside salad that the comedian “got up and started throwing cheese all over the place.” Bruce Willis invited the Mancari family to his Sun Valley, Idaho, home. ( ey went!)

On the Road

When Mascitti’s review appeared—one of many over the years—Vincente’s had moved to Independence Mall on Concord Pike, partly due to concerns about crime in the city, says Dan, now the restaurant’s executive chef. Vincente’s stayed in that location until 2005 when Mancari had a dispute with the landlord and moved to Glen Mills.

“We did well in Pennsylvania —we were very busy—but it was a cruise from Hockessin, where Dad lived,” his son says. When a businessman wanted to open a steakhouse in Vincente’s space, he made Mancari an o er Mancari “couldn’t refuse,” Dan recalls.

Mancari hinted that he would retire, but his sons knew better. A month after closing Glen Mills, Mancari called Dan to pick him up. “I wanna go for a ride and look around,” he told his son, who knew his father wanted to reopen. They pulled up to Liberty Plaza on Kirkwood Highway, which was under construction after a fire. Mancari put his window down.

“What’s going in there?” he asked the site manager.

“What you want to put in there?” the manager replied.

“An Italian restaurant—I’ll take those three spaces,” Mancari said, and he made the deal the next day.

Eleven years later, the menu still bears Vincent Sr.’s imprint. “We still work the same way Dad would.”

— Dan Mancari

No Place Like Home

In June 2009, Vincente’s Restaurant reopened, and his followers rejoiced. Unfortunately, Mancari died in 2013 at age 82. Today, Dan and Tom own the restaurant, but Vincent Jr. helps when needed, which might mean making the Caesar salads.

Eleven years later, the menu still bears Vincent Sr.’s imprint. “We still work the same way Dad would,” Dan says.

Customers are appreciative.

“I was just there this past Saturday night,” says longtime guest Rick Whittick. “Danny is the best. My go-to every visit is the lobster bisque, which is the best I’ve ever had anywhere, and the tableside Caesar, which is also the best.”

When Renata Kowalczk wants to treat herself, she starts with the Caesar and ends with the Bananas Foster and the Café Diavolo. “Those culinary shows are a must,” she maintains.

And while Italian food is a specialty, Vincente’s has long been known for non-Italian dishes, such as the crab cakes and steak, which have received Reader’s Choice awards. Can’t make up your mind? Dan is now the walking menu.

“I will go over, ask the guest their likes and dislikes, and either create a new dish or modify one on our menu,” he explains.

After making the salad, igniting the coffee or serving up Bananas Foster, Mancari would proudly proclaim: “It could be my greatest!” But his restaurant’s legacy remains his crowning achievement.

Presented by 2024

April 15-20

Wilmington’s culinary rite of spring, City Restaurant Week, returns for its 19th year this month. This annual promotion provides great incentive to visit one of Wilmington’s destination restaurants and that roster has expanded signifi cantlly over the past few years.

The 2024 lineup features 21 of Wilmington’s fi nest, each owner-operated. That’s one of the beauties of the city’s fi ne dining scene. Chain restaurants are not an option.

“I have participated in City Restaurant Week since it started because the event promotes the fine dining scene in Wilmington and introduces Cafe Mezzanotte to potential new patrons,” says Sergio Pelligrino, owner of Caffe Mezzanotte.

Once again, diners will be treated to an array of menus, offering everything from Asian to French to Italian. Prix-fi xe, two-course lunches are $15. Three-course dinners are $35 or $50

For an overview of this year’s participating restaurants, read on. ►

CAFÉ MEZZANOTTE

1007 North Orange St. 658-7050

Café Mezzanotte has built a reputation as Delaware’s premier spot to enjoy classic Pan-Mediterranean cuisine. We o er an intimate atmosphere with servers who attend to each diner with exceptional care. We look forward to seeing you.

CATHERIN E ROONEY’ S DEL A WARE

CATHERINE ROONEY’S

1616 Delaware Ave. 654-9700

Enjoy the Irish atmosphere, great food & drinks at Catherine Rooney’s Irish Pub & Restaurant! Opening in Wilmington 21 years ago, the McCoy Family named Catherine Rooney’s after their mothers and grandmothers and you will feel as though you are part of the family when dining in this lively Irish pub. Along with traditional fare, Catherine Rooney’s o ers a wide selection of great food items in a casual, friendly atmosphere. Open seven days a week for dinner with brunch available every Friday, Saturday & Sunday.

CHELSEA TAVERN

821 North Market St. 482-3333

Chelsea Tavern is a popular local gastropub located in downtown Wilmington directly across from the Grand Opera House. The kitchen prepares made-from-scratch comfort food with local ingredients, complemented by an ever-changing craft beer selection. Chelsea’s 33 taps, large format bottles, cans, and single-serving bottles spotlight seasonal and local brews, in addition to wine and cocktails. Chelsea is a neighborhood favorite for a quick lunch, weekend brunch with friends, pre-show dinner, group outings, and vibrant outdoor patio dining. The energetic bar scene is a gathering place always playing the game of the week on its large TVs.

CIRO FOOD & DRINK

321 Justison St. 543-6071

Michael DiBianca the 15-year veteran of the Wilmington dining scene and semi nalist for multiple James Beard Awards have teamed up with Venu Gaddamidi of Veritas Wines to take guests down an exciting, unique culinary experience. Two chefs preparing worldly cuisine featuring share plates and tasting menus. Ciro features an intimate dining experience with 30 seats, an open kitchen, plenty of wines by the glass and can accommodate dietary restrictions.

COLUMBUS INN

2216 Pensylvania Ave. 571-1492

Columbus Inn has been a historic staple of the Wilmington dining scene. Reborn in 2010 as a contemporary bar & restaurant that combines the best of the classics with a new-age twist. Featuring seasonal Modern American menus with an extensive selection of wine, beer, and craft cocktails.

CROW BAR

1711 Delaware Ave. 482-1241

Crow Bar has an eclectic menu, designed by chef Bryan Sikora, that will include “lots of small plates, pizza and an emphasis on cheese and charcuterie.” They will also be o ering a selection of “great value” wine and beer along with brews and wine on tap.

C.R. HUMMINGBIRD TO MARS

1616 Delaware Ave. 407-5971

Step Back in Time to Celebrate Life’s Simplest Pleasures in Style! In 1919, the Volstead Act brought an end to the manufacture and sale of alcoholic beverages. Liquor consumption dropped, the price for illegal alcohol rose, but that did not stop those who wanted to drink. Experience the speakeasy at C.R. Hummingbird to Mars located in Trolley Square above Catherine Rooney’s. Find the black door with the gold hummingbird & ring the bell for entrance.

DORCEA

1314 North Washington St. 691-7447

Dorcea is an inviting American bistro with lots of local beers on tap. We use the best ingredients and provide a great atmosphere.

ECLIPSE BISTRO

1020 North Union St. 658-1588

Eclipse Bistro opened in the Fall of 1996 with the intent to o er simple, honest, and skillfully executed food and drink in a comfortably modern setting. Unfussy service provided by individuals who share a love and respect for the art of hospitality. 28 years on and Eclipse continues to shine.

LA FIA

421 North Market St. 543-5574

La Fia has something for everyone. From handmade pasta, gnocchi and ravioli to the eclectic menu of small plates, each dish is carefully crafted by Chef Bryan Sikora. Chef Sikora nds inspiration in all types of European cuisine. The kitchen at La Fia prides itself in making everything in house from the freshly baked bread to the desserts, La Fia is true artisan cooking. In 2014, Chef Sikora was nominated for Best Chef of the Mid-Atlantic and he continues to deliver his outstanding food to Wilmington.

MERCHANT BAR

426 North Market St. 502-3385

Merchant Bar is an elevated gastrobar that infuses a chef-driven menu with an original hand-crafted cocktail menu focused on high-quality ingredients, aiming to bring you a unique bar and dining experience. Both for intimate dining or for a large group, Merchant Bar’s dynamic space is perfect for any occasion.

MIKIMOTOS

1212 North Washington St. 656-8638

Located on Washington Street in center city Wilmington, Mikimotos Asian Grill + Sushi Bar o ers an upbeat atmosphere with modern Asian fare. The ideal location to enjoy the best + freshest sushi in town, along with an extensive chef-inspired hot menu to appease any palate. Mikimotos o ers a variety of Asian inspired dished like our famous Dim Sum varieties, hand crafted Rice + Noodles, and many more.

PICCOLINA TOSCANA

1412 N. DuPont St. 654-8001

Piccolina Toscana, one of the area’s most popular and creative Italian restaurants is the beating heart of Trolley Square, the vibrant hub of Wilmington’s nightlife. For over 30 years, Piccolina Toscana has been one of Wilmington’s favorite restaurants serving unfailingly fresh “Really Good Food”. If we didn’t make it, we don’t serve it.

RIVER ROCK KITCHEN

818 Shipyard Dr. 397-5518

River Rock Kitchen Inspired by local ingredients, and providing the freshest avors of the season, River Rock Kitchen is a multi-occasion gathering place for a power breakfast, a great weekend brunch, or socializing over drinks and dinner. Located at the Westin Hotel in the heart of Wilmington’s Riverfront. River Rock is steps away from Frawley Stadium and JAM river walk and trail!

THE BRANDYWINE

2000 Pennsylvania Ave. 240-4700

The kitchen is center stage in our 155-seat restaurant and bar, and our chefs are the masters at work. They’re bringing the borders of Southern France and Northern Italy together in our modern wood- red fare. The menu puts a contemporary spin on the Riviera to Riviera style. Indulge in thoughtfully prepared seasonal specialties built to pair perfectly with our extensive list of old-world wines and craft cocktails.

THE QUOIN HOTEL RESTAURANT

519 N. Market St. 446-5600

The kitchen is center stage in our 155-seat restaurant and bar, and our chefs are the masters at work. They’re bringing the borders of Southern France and Northern Italy together in our modern wood- red fare. The menu puts a contemporary spin on the Riviera to Riviera style. Indulge in thoughtfully prepared seasonal specialties built to pair perfectly with our extensive list of old-world wines and craft cocktails.

TONIC SEAFOOD & STEAK

111 West 11th St. 777-2040

At Tonic Seafood & Steak, each plate is prepared with the highest-quality products and the freshest ingredients. The collaboration between our Director of Culinary Operations, Patrick Bradley, and our Executive Chef, Ivan Torres, has produced a unique interpretation of classic American dishes. To enhance your experience, our extensive wine collection and specialty drink menu o er limitless pairing opportunities. So, whether you are here to sample our lighter fare menu, our land and sea creations, or our wine and spirits…your dining experience will be one that is sure to please!

TORBERT STREET SOCIAL

305 Torbert St. 407-6627

Torbert Street Social is nestled in the heart of downtown Wilmington’s nancial district. Hidden behind the well known restaurants of Washington Street, located in what was once one of Delaware’s historic stables originally built in 1887. O ering a nostalgic sense of class and history, with the right clue you can step through the threshold into our sophisticated cocktail lounge, and patio. Torbert St. Social brings together a fusion of elusiveness and complexity, serving only the nest spirits and cocktails. If you’re looking to disappear for a delicious bite to eat and a uniquely crafted cocktail, come in and see for yourself.

TROLLEY TAP HOUSE

1616 Delaware Ave. 652-2255

Trolley Tap House inside you’ll nd craft beer options from around the world poured from one of our thirty available draft lines or o of our extensive can or bottled beer selection paired with tasty food selections. Located in the heart of Trolley Square, we are about bringing those “intimidating” or “strange” brews into an approachable relaxed atmosphere that is fun for all and child and dog friendly!

WASHINGTON STREET ALE HOUSE

1206 North Washington St. 658-2537

Washington Street Ale House opened in 1997, located in the heart of Wilmington’s business district, specializing in great food and handcrafted beers. With an extensive selection of local microbrews and over 24 on tap, the Washington Street Ale House is THE neighborhood bar & restaurant in the city of Wilmington.

WILMA’S

900 N. Market St. 400-7766

A full-service dining room. Enjoy a feel-good menu of New Orleansstyle staples and favorites.

A Place to Call Home

Delaware Rock and Roll Society finds new digs at Smyrna Opera House

WBy Larry Nagengast

by Colleen D. Gjefle

hen the Delaware Rock and Roll Society hosts its annual induction ceremony this September, celebrating the achievement of its new honorees won’t be the only cause for jubilation. e event will be the society’s rst big activity in its new home — the Smyrna Opera House.

Details for the Sept. 8 event honoring this year’s inductees to the society’s Hall of Fame are still in the planning stage, and Brian Hill, the opera house’s managing director, says the program just might grow into a two-day a air.

George and Paula Wolkind, the society’s founder and executive director, haven’t gotten that far along in their thinking. ey’re just ecstatic that they’ve found a place to honor Delaware’s rock history, display memorabilia and hold events throughout the year. >

Photo

The Delaware Rock and Roll Society hopes to host a variety of events at its new home in the historic Smyrna Opera House.

Even better, it’s pretty much a lowcost deal for the society no rent, just paying a share of the utility bills and some of the other costs incidental to running a museum.

“ ey’re going to move walls, to move mountains for us,” Paula Wolkind says.

Well, maybe not mountains, but de nitely walls, Hill says.

e Wolkinds had been looking for a permanent home since they created what was originally known as the Delaware Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nearly six years ago. ( e national Rock & Roll Hall of Fame made some noise about branding and trademark infringement, hence the name change.) A quest for sites in Wilmington and Newark came up empty, and then …

Construction of a new regional library in Smyrna began and Ken Boulden, the part-time singer best known as New Castle County’s clerk of the peace from 1997 to 2021, stepped up to broker the deal between the opera house and the society.

With the new library slated to open at the end of this year, the current Smyrna library will depart its space on the rst oor of the opera house, a 154-year-old structure that has served as a community, government, entertainment and social hub throughout its history.

Last summer Hill invited Boulden to join the opera house’s board after hearing Boulden’s group, the DelVikings, which reprises the 1950s and 1960s doo-wop hits of the similarly named Dell Vikings, perform at the opera house. Soon Boulden was telling Hill and his new fellow board members about the rock society’s search for a home, and both organizations quickly recognized some mutual bene ts.

While the rock society’s needs were obvious, the bene ts for the opera house are more subtle. Hill and his board want the opera house to become not only central Delaware’s arts and entertainment hub, but also a venue that can attract audiences from throughout the state. Putting the rock society under its roof not only adds another musical genre

to the opera house’s broadening portfolio of visual and performing arts, but it also provides some statewide cachet. That combination, Hill and Boulden say, should pay off when the society seeks grants from governments and nonprofits to underwrite its programming.

“It’s a win-win situation,” Boulden says.

“We want to do it all, to be a place for all the arts,” Hill adds. “ is will make us more of a destination.”

Most of the details of the arrangement were settled in December when the opera house board invited the rock society to take over the rst- oor space. Now society leaders and opera house o cials are working on how to renovate the area that the library will be vacating. Hill says the opera house has retained its own architect to draw up the plans.

While the blueprints aren’t ready yet, Hill and the rock society have a pretty good idea of what they want the space to look like.

A wall in the current library area will

be torn down to create more room for visitors. e south wall will become the primary display area — a place to mount posters or plaques recognizing the society’s honorees. ere will be ample room for exhibiting memorabilia — the instruments used and out ts worn by the rock stars of Delaware’s past, and possibly some push-button audio and touch-screen displays so visitors can hear and see those performers as they were in their prime.

e work can’t start until the library moves out, most likely in October or

early November, but everyone is hoping the society’s new space will be tted out by the end of the year.

When it’s ready, Hill says, the area will double as an entrance for guests heading upstairs to the opera house’s 300-seat auditorium. For that reason, the rock society’s area will also have a small, raised stage for pre-show performers and a niche where beverages and snacks can be served.

And, even before the renovations begin, the society will have access to all the facilities within the opera house — thus making the auditorium available for the induction ceremony and possibly for some smaller events this summer and in future years.

“It’s amazing what they’re going to do,” says Tim Cleary, a veteran Delaware musician and rock society board member who will serve as the society’s liaison for the renovations.

Having the space in Smyrna will also be a blessing for the Wolkinds. ey were close to giving up hope that their apartment in Bear would forever “be lled with Delaware Rock stu ,” Paula says.

Delaware Rock and Roll Society founders George and Paula Wolkind. Photo by Larry Nagengast

e Rock Society’s 2024 honorees

When the Delaware Rock and Roll Society holds its annual induction ceremony for its Hall of Fame on September 8 at the Smyrna Opera House it will recognize nine individuals (and their associated organizations or groups) for their contributions to the state’s musical heritage.

Musician Paul Janocha of Ken-Del Studios, who has provided audio and video for so many Delaware musicians as well as Dionne Warwick, Jimmy Bu et, e Temptations, Weird Al and Johnny Neel.

Joey Fulkerson , with 30 years in the business, plays guitar at a gig almost every night of the week all over Delaware.

Brothers Dale and Dean Teat run the Dover and Delmar locations of Earl Teat Music. ey’re the second generation of a musical family tradition, as their parents welcomed Johnny Cash and other country celebrities to Dover in the ’50s.

Ken Boulden, who played with the Coasters, completes the current version of the Del-Vikings, singing doo-wop, 1957 style.

e Bullets, still performing regularly, feature the guitar antics of rockabilly great Michael "Kid" Davis and the impressive occasional yodeling of Bobby Bloomingdale with his upright bass.

Gayle Dillman , owner and operator of Gable Music, created the Ladybug Festival, showcasing female talent countrywide.

Steve Nardo is the creator of Magical Mystery, a popular Beatles’ tribute band.

Gene Cooke, both playing guitar and encouraging other performers, has helped establish a strong community of downstate musicians.

Michael Davis and The Bullets will join the Hall of Fame this September.

O&A file photo

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Vinyl FINDS

In celebration of Record Store Day on April 20, we asked local musicians to share some of the music they’ve recently found or rediscovered at area record stores. Here’s what they had to say…

Franciene Hatcher of Frantastic Noise

Vinyl single: “Shy Guy” by Diana King

“I’m a huge fan of Caribbean music, and this song is a nostalgic throwback for me. It takes me back to the days when I would grab a hairbrush, stand in front of the mirror, and sing along with all my heart, trying to imitate Diana King’s sound and movements from the music video.

“Owning a vinyl holds a unique appeal to me. ere’s a certain skill and delicacy required to handle vinyl records, reminding me of the care and attention I strive to bring to the music I create.”

Franciene Hatcher is following a knockout Shine A Light performance with the release of Frantastic Noise’s new single “NoiseMaker” on Saturday, April 27 in conjunction with a birthday celebration at Philadelphia’s AudeoBoi Studios. Tickets are available at Eventbrite.com.

Fred Reed

Vinyl album: e Best Of . . . Vol. 1 by Earth, Wind & Fire

“I just purchased this album on vinyl. ey are one of the greatest bands I’ve listened to. I always love their unique sound and needed to add it to my vinyl collection. Make sure you get a copy!”

John Faye

Vinyl album: Eat To The Beat by Blondie

“A few months ago I saw an almost-pristine copy of Eat To e Beat by Blondie in a thrift store and I took it home and fell in love with it all over again. ey were one of the rst bands I got into in my early teens, and this was the record that came out directly after Parallel Lines, which had “Heart of Glass” and “One Way Or Another” on it.

“To me Eat To e Beat has more urgency and adrenaline to it, with songs like ‘Dreaming’ and ‘Accidents Never Happen,’ and when I listen to it, I’m right back in my house in Newark dreaming all my adolescent rock and roll dreams.”

John Faye will be releasing his new singles “Sell Your Soul As An NFT!” on April 1 and “Feng Shui” on May 10 in advance of his appearance at “Asian American Pie” — an all-Asian fronted music fest — at Philly’s World Café Live on May 11. For more info, visit JohnFaye.com

Chris Malinowski of The Collingwood

Vinyl album: Sunshine Superman by Donovan

“ is record is unbridled Summer of Love romanticism, swathed in psychedelia and bedeviled by Scottish folklore.

e regal Donovan is to folk rock what Ronnie James Dio is to heavy metal. He poetically lures the listener into a swirling cosmos of “be-ins” and free-love circles, but he wears a sincere eros on his satin sleeve, richly embodying both the dancing and the yearning of the human heart.

“‘Guinevere’ and ‘Bert’s Blues’ are my most beloved from this release, which is best spun behind Ren Faire walls when the patrons have staggered home for the evening. Embrace your partner. Pour the wine. Warm the blood. Find a lonely re. Disrobe. Burn out, lovingly.”

Fred Reed follows up his recent R&B hit “I Want You Back” with a new hit single "Found You" featuring Raheem DeVaughn, set for release on April 5 on all major digital platforms

Chris Malinowski and his band, e Collingwood, will be releasing a music video for their new song “All Velvet” on April 14 in advance of their appearance on e KOH Show on April 22 and their performance at Kelly’s Logan House on April 26.

Photo by Joe del Tufo

Photo by Paul Patton

Samuel Nobles

Vinyl single: Self-titled by Emahoy Tsegué-Maryam

Guèbrou

“Emahoy Tsegué-Maryam Guèbrou is an Ethiopian pianist and composer, and this is one of my favorite albums — I nally got a copy a few months ago.

“I love the spirit in which she plays the piano. Her style is so emotive and unique, featuring fast, bright trills and melodic runs that are super infectious. To me, there’s a haunting quality of these aged recordings that somehow feels both distant and as if you’re standing in the room with her while she plays.”

Musician and soundtrack composer Samuel Nobles has recently released a new 14-track piano album called How Sweet You Are, which is available on most digital platforms including Bandcamp.

Olivia Rubini

Vinyl single: Wildflowers by Judy Collins

“I take such inspiration from the original Laurel Canyon ladies of the late ‘60s & ‘70s, like Judy, Joni Mitchell, Carole King, Linda Ronstadt and Joan Baez — that era has given me some of my all-time favorite songs, like ‘Both Sides Now,’ which is on the 1967 Wild owers album. Albums like that really ful ll me creatively and spark my inspiration for writing.

“I think I’ve really embraced that classic sound in some of my new music so it’s de nitely no surprise that writers like Judy Collins are in heavy rotation for me.” can be seen and heard on NBC’s e representing both Team Legend and Wilmington, Del., on Mondays and Tuesdays at 8 p.m

Chris Julian of Lester’s Pearl

Vinyl album: Hell on Church Street

“ is album is a reimagining of Tony Rice’s 1983 Church Street Blues. If you are familiar with Punch Brothers, their rendition of this album stays true to their ve-piece instrumentation, while giving a massive salute to the classic Tony Rice songs!”

Chris Julian and his band Lester’s Pearl will open for Philadelphia’s Cosmic Guilt at e Queen’s Crown room on Friday, May 17. For tickets visit eQueenWilmington.com

Photo by Paige Walter

Kenny Vanella

Vinyl album:

by Stephen Marley

“ e title track is great, plus there are some really great collaborations like ‘Winding Roads’ with Jack Johnson and Bob Weir, a great acoustic remake of ‘I Shot the Sheri ’ featuring Eric Clapton, and a remake of the Joe Higgs classic, ‘ ere’s A Reward’.”

Kenny Vanella will be releasing his new single “I Fly a Flag” featuring Kumar Bent at the end of April. e full album, Revival of the Spirit, will be released late spring/early summer. Recorded at Tu Gong International in Kingston, JA and produced by Squidly Cole, it features collaborations with Andrew Tosh, Alex Wasily (Dumpstafunk), and Wilmingtonbased MC/lyricist, Richard Raw.

Butch Zito

Vinyl single:

See You Around by I’m With Her

“I’m With Her is a group composed of Sara Watkins (Nickel Creek), Sarah Jarosz and Aoife O’Donovan — a great band in the Americana vein!

“I’m a hard sell anymore, but these folks got me. I’m hooked and would travel to see them.”

Relix Records recording artist, Butch Zito and his band, Stackabones, just released their h album, Roll em Bones, which features collaborations with Barry Sless (Bobby Weir & Wolf Bros) on pedal steel and the late Johnny Digiovanni (Steal Your Peach) on drums. More info at Stackabones.com.

2024 Reader's Survey

We are always looking to improve, and your feedback helps greatly. Submit your entry (one per person) before Monday, April 15, to enter for the grand prize drawing. Must be 21 or older to win.

Photo by David Heitur

Photo by Joe del Tufo

The City

STEPHEN MARLEY COMES HOME

Wilmington Mayor Mike Purzycki honored Stephen Marley with a Tribute and a Key to the City on Weds., March 20, as the eight-time Grammy Award-winning reggae star made a return visit to the city where he was born more than 50 years ago.

Stephen is the second-eldest son of the late reggae icon Bob Marley, who also called Wilmington home for a time. Stephen’s grandmother, Cedella Marley, left Jamaica in 1962 and moved to a house near 24th & Tatnall streets. e park across the street in which Stephen and his siblings used to play, then known as Tatnall Playground, was rededicated as “One Love Park” in April 2014. Stephen was also presented with a framed copy of the original ordinance renaming the park of his childhood.

“What’s really important to us is to re ect on our community,” Mayor Purzycki said in comments to Stephen Marley. “And when you see everybody here at this event, there is a depth of feeling that reminds us what community is all about. We appreciate that, and it’s a tribute to you that you have so many folks who want to be with you here today.”

e Mayor extended a warm welcome to Stephen on behalf of the City of Wilmington and saluted his contributions to the world of music as he carries on his father’s legacy. “Wilmington is proud of its connection to the Marley family, which continues to this day through the Malcolms, and wants all members of the Marley family to know they will always have a home here as Wilmington holds them in our collective heart.”

“It’s a very emotional moment here,” said Marley. “I do give thanks to everyone who made this possible…my family. Wilmington [is] home. I have fond memories of running across the street to the park and my father…I have fond memories here and thank you. I’m not a man of many words. I love you all. I feel at home.”

e brief visit to One Love Park came in between stops on a tour of North America that Stephen is on with his younger brother, Damian Marley, the recipient of four Grammy Awards himself. Stephen Marley was enthusiastically greeted by a crowd that included over a hundred friends and relatives — members of the Malcolm family who continue to reside in Wilmington and throughout Delaware — as well as neighbors and members of the community.

Mayor Purzycki, Stephen Marley, and Chief of Staff Tanya Washington

Stephen Marley (right) is shown some love in Wilmington from Vinnette Robb-Oddman, sister of Bunny Wailer, on March 20, 2024.

Photo by Jea Street

CITY’S PARKS & RECREATION DEPARTMENT HONORED

The City’s Parks & Recreation Dept. received two prestigious awards last month. At its annual conference in March, the Delaware Recreation & Parks Society presented Wilmington Parks & Rec with its “Outstanding Organization Award” for 2023. According to DRPS, this award is presented annually to one organization for its outstanding and exemplary eld programming work. is is the rst year the City of Wilmington Parks & Recreation Dept. has won the award. DRPS is an organization that seeks to bring together everyone involved in structured activities relating to recreation and parks in the State of Delaware.

In addition, the Mid-Atlantic Assn. of USA Boxing named the William “Hicks” Anderson Community Center as its “2023 Gym of the Year.” More than 75 gyms in the Mid-Atlantic Region contend for this award, which is based on the number of shows and competitions a gym participates in along with the number of boxers — professional, amateur youth, and amateur adult — in di erent weight classes at the gym. e Mid-Atlantic Assn. of USA Boxing also considers the character of the coaches and whether the team adheres to USA Boxing’s code of ethics.

e Purzycki administration completed a nearly $4 million renovation of the center, at 5th & N. Madison St., in 2019 — the rst full-scale interior and exterior refurbishing of the center in many years. “Hicks” Anderson reopened to the public in February 2020 and served as a valuable community resource during the coronavirus pandemic, which hit the U.S. a month later.

“I congratulate Director Ian Smith, Deputy Director Melody Phillips, and their entire team of dedicated sta on this well-deserved honor,” said Mayor Mike Purzycki. “ is recognition validates our commitment to providing high quality facilities and programming for our young people. ey deserve nothing less than the best we can provide. From the revamped “Hicks” Anderson Center and upgraded playgrounds and splash parks all across our City, to the varied, inclusive, and innovative programing that brings our communities together, we have much to be proud of. But despite all that’s been accomplished in recent years, we continuously strive to do more for our children by investing substantially in our next generation.”

Director Smith (center, back), Deputy Director Phillips (5th from left, front), and Parks and Recreation staff celebrate receiving the Delaware Recreation & Parks Society’s “Outstanding Organization Award” for 2023.

William “Hicks” Anderson boxing coaches and some of their students display the Mid-Atlantic Association award.

Pictured are Coach Douglas Pettiford (sitting), Coach Olu Douglas (standing, black shirt), and former pro fighter Coach Omar “Super O” Douglas (standing, white shirt).