Out & About Magazine January 2019

Five Food Trends for 2019

26 Ways to Improve Your Health & Wellness

Jackson Inn Finds New Energy

G R E AT E R W I L M I N G T O N

Worth 9th Annual Issue of Things

We heard it from a bird that you should check out the stuff inside

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*First-time guests only. Valid only for select services. Additional terms may apply. Participation may vary; please vis waxcenter.com for general terms and conditions. ©2018 EWC Franchise, LLC. All rights reserve European Wax Center and the other identified marks are trademarks of EWC P&T, LLC JANUARY 2019 | OUTANDABOUTNOW.COM

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Performs R.E.M.’s Automatic For The People plus their many hits.

Featuring members of THE BAND and the LEVON HELM BAND.

Celebrating the album that introduced the world to rock music.

Liberty Comedy Presents Battle of the Relationships THUR | FEB 7 | 8PM | $31

Young Dubliners

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Three comedians in three phases of life— single, married, post-married. Who’s better off?

Celtic rock’s hardest working band

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The Weight Band

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The Division promotes Delaware arts events on www.DelawareScene.com.

All tickets subject to box office service charges. Artists, dates, times and programs are subject to change.

4 JANUARY 2019 | OUTANDABOUTNOW.COM

D Jo

2 INSIDE 2

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Out & About Magazine Vol. 31 | No. 11

31

Published each month by TSN Media, Inc. All rights reserved.

Mailing & business address: 307 A Street, Wilmington, DE 19801

63 Publisher Gerald duPhily • jduphily@tsnpub.com Director of Publications Jim Hunter Miller • jmiller@tsnpub.com Contributing Editor Bob Yearick • ryearick@comcast.net Creative Director & Production Manager Matthew Loeb, Catalyst Visuals, LLC. Graphic Designer Tyler Mitchell, Catalyst Visuals, LLC. Contributing Designer David Hallberg, Catalyst Visuals, LLC Contributing Writers Adriana Camacho-Church, Cindy Cavett, Mark Fields, Pam George, Jordan Howell, Rob Kalesse, Michelle Kramer-Fitzgerald, Dan Linehan, Mike Little, Dillon McLaughlin, John Murray, Kevin Francis, Larry Nagengast, Kevin Noonan, Leeann Wallett

Contributing Photographers Jim Coarse, Justin Heyes, Rebecca Parsons and Joe del Tufo/Moonloop Photography, Lindsay duPhily, Tim Hawk, Anthony Santoro, Matt Urban Distribution David Hazardous Special Projects Sarah Green, Bev Zimmermann Interns Elizabeth Carlson, Emily Stover

69 START

EAT

7 The War on Words 9 FYI 10 Worth Recognizing 12 A Remembrance 13 What Readers Are Saying 15 Riverside Ressurrection

FEATURES

31 Food Trends 2019 36 Worth Trying Eats 39 Bites

22 Worth Trying

LEARN 8 The Drone Tech Boom

FOCUS 22 Worth Trying 27 How To Be Your Best Self

WILMINGTON 40 In the City 43 On the Riverfront 46 Art Loop

WATCH 49 Arts Worth Trying 53 2018 Movies of Worth 55 Top Indie Picks

DRINK 57 Sips

LISTEN 59 63 66 67

Jackson Inn Stone Shakers Tuned In Worth Trying Music

PLAY 69 Mike Goes Behind the Mic at WVUD 72 Ugly Sweater Crawl

On The Cover: Using the Pantone Color of the Year (Living Coral), Creative Director Matthew Loeb demonstrates his illustration talents to create a dynamic January cover.

For the ninth straight year, the O&A crew gives its take on stuff worth checking out (Suggestions also appear throughout the issue).

27 How to Best Your Best Self From A-Z: 26 ways to improve your health and wellness in 2019

By Leeann Wallett

31 Five Food Trends for 2019 Our gastronomic expert attempts to predict the future —again.

By Matt Sullivan

38 Staging A Comeback The Jackson Inn was nearly sold.

Then a local band stepped in.

By Kevin Noonan

69 Mike Goes Behind the Mic Writer Mike Little gets schooled in DJing by WVUD veteran Bill Barnett.

By Mike Little

Editorial & advertising info: 302.655.6483 • Fax 302.654.0569 outandaboutnow.com • contact@tsnpub.com JANUARY 2019 | OUTANDABOUTNOW.COM

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A writer/editor’s slightly snarky and relentless crusade to eliminate grammatical gaffes from our everyday communications

Compiled from the popular column in Out & About Magazine

THE WAR ON WORDS A monthly column in which we attempt, however futilely, to defend the English language against misuse and abuse

Media Watch • Willie Geist and Dylan Dreyer, in a segment on NBC’s Sunday Today, talked about a little girl refusing to go in her house by “laying down on the driveway.” Yo, Willie and Dylan, that’s lying down.

• Reader Jane Buck found this in a story in The News Journal about a police standoff: “A robot diffused the situation.” It’s defused, as in removing the fuse from a bomb.

• On the TNJ sports pages, a story on the Delaware-James Madison playoff game praised UD’s defensive effort, then added this: “But Delaware could mount little complimentary offense, . . .” The word needed here is complementary, meaning matching, corresponding.

• Apparently the UC Berkeley School of Public Health believes in that misguided rule about not ending a sentence in a preposition. Reader Janet Strobert received an email from the school that included this: “In general, the benefits of statins outweigh the risks, so work with your doctor to find a treatment plan with which you can stick.” Says Janet: “It reminds me of Churchill's famous line: ‘This is the kind of nonsense up with which I will not put.’”

• Joe Juliano, Philadelphia Inquirer sports writer, apparently missed “object of the preposition” day in English class. He set my teeth on edge when he recently wrote this: “ . . . and a failed handoff between he and Trace McSorley resulted in a lost fumble. . . ” The preposition between requires the objective pronoun him.

• Mike Castle, on WDEL election night, called one candidate a “good, erstwhile young man.” Like many people, the erstwhile governor and senator seems to think that the word means earnest or upstanding. It doesn’t. It simply means former.

• On his nationally syndicated sports talk show, Rich Eisen started a question with this: “Do you prescribe to the theory that . . . ” One subscribes to a theory.

• Alex Byington, in a USA TODAY story about Alabama quarterback and Heisman Trophy favorite Tua Tagolvailoa, wrote this dangling modifier: “While admittedly daunting at times, the unassuming Tagolvailoa hasn’t let the attention alter his approach . . .” It’s the attention that’s daunting, not Tagovailoa — at least not in this context.

Word of the Month

solecism Pronounced sola-sizem, it’s a noun meaning an ungrammatical combination of words in a sentence.

By Bob Yearick

• John Clark, on Comcast Sports, talked about “the amount of bird fans who will be at the [Cowboys] game.” John and others in the media need to be reminded that when speaking of plurals, you must use the word number.

• Reader Maria Hess caught this on Philadelphia’s Action News (Channel 6): “If you suffered a stroke, surviving could be the difference between life and death.” While there is no grammar problem here, there does seem to be a problem with the logic.

Department of Redundancies Dept.

• On the McDaniel Crest website, a member mentioned “paeans of praise.” Paean: a song or lyric poem expressing triumph or praise. Reminds us of the time, years ago, when baseball broadcaster Tim McCarver referred to “a respite of rest.” Respite: a short period of rest.

• In TNJ, a caption on a picture showing a politician preparing to throw an ax claimed that he was “competing in a competition."

• The TV play-by-play announcer for the Penn State-Iowa game said a kicker was “going to try and attempt a field goal.”

• Contributing writer Larry Nagengast reports that in Game 5 of the World Series, Joe Buck said, “I mentioned this verbally...”

Observes Larry: “How else would you mention it”?

Latest Pet Peeves invite (pronounced IN-vite) as a noun, as in, “We got the invite to the party.” Must we abbreviate invitation in this way? It’s ugly.

We invite people via an invitation. meteoric rise: Why has this become an acceptable phrase? Ever notice? Meteors fall.

Follow me on Twitter: @thewaronwords

NEED A SPEAKER FOR YOUR ORGANIZATION? Contact me for a fun presentation on grammar: ryearick@comcast.net.

Seen a good (bad) one lately?

Send your candidates to ryearick@comcast.net

Buy The War on Words at the Hockessin Book Shelf, on Amazon, or by calling Out & About at 655-6483.

LEARN

DRONE TECHNOLOGY IS TAKING OFF— NEW CAREERS, NEW OPPORTUNITIES It’s not just for kids. Learn how you can take advantage of the drone tech boom.

I

magine law enforcement officers using drone aircraft to assess active shooter situations from a safe distance. Imagine firefighters using thermal drone cameras to gather data on the heat signature of a burning building … first responders performing seek-and-rescue after a devastating hurricane … construction companies documenting site progress and identifying safety issues more efficiently ... even cruise lines live streaming footage of nearby marine life to their passengers—all using drones.

“Across the field of technology, from Videomaker to Popular Mechanics, almost every month there’s an article about the new applications and uses for drones,” says Timothy Day, who teaches in Wilmington University’s College of Technology and is a drone operator himself.

Drone technology is experiencing incredible growth as more and more industries realize the benefits of using unmanned aircraft vehicles (UAV) to gather data from a bird’s-eye view. In addition to public safety and construction, drone technology is used widely in the agriculture, real estate, insurance, surveying, roofing, mining, filmmaking, telecommunication, transportation and energy fields.

According to DroneDeploy’s 2018 Commercial Drone Industry Trends Report, the adoption of commercial drone technology at large companies is growing at a pace of 20 percent each month, and more than 600,000 drones are expected to be registered with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) by 2022.

Of course, certified pilots are needed to expertly operate these complex aircraft. Local drone enthusiasts can look to Wilmington University to gain the skills they need to become a legally registered drone pilot.

WilmU’s Drone Operations and Applications Dual-Credit Certificate® is a five-course program based at the University’s new Brandywine site, located on Rte. 202 across from Concord Mall.

Students in the program will study aerial 3D mapping, drone building and repair, aerial cinematography, and drone security and hacking.

The program also teaches students all FAA laws related to drone operation and prepares them for the FAA Part 107 test, which is required to gain remote pilot airman certification. Moreover, the certificate can be embedded into many of the College of Technology’s degree programs.

Perhaps best of all, students do not need to own a drone to enter the program. WilmU has a fleet of professional-level drones of various types and sizes with which students gain extensive hands-on experience. And the new site offers an ideal location to safely fly remote aircraft over the Brandywine countryside.

Day says the program is resonating with students, a mix of hobbyists and those who want to use drones commercially. “We’ve had a great response from students, a great deal of excitement,” he says.

“The state-of-the-art Brandywine site is a perfect home base for the drone certificate program,” remarks Day. “The new site and new program show WilmU’s commitment to providing students with the most current resources and academic programs possible.” To learn more about the Drone Operations and Applications certificate or the new WilmU Brandywine site, visit wilmu.edu/Brandywine.

WilmU works for the

Brandywine Valley.

New Site, Rte. 202 across from Concord mall Spring Block II classes start March 11 wilmu.edu/BrandywineValley 8 JANUARY 2019 | OUTANDABOUTNOW.COM

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F.Y.I. Things worth knowing Compiled by Emily Stover & O&A Staff

CENTRAL YMCA OPENS PERFORMANCE TRAINING STUDIO

T

he Central YMCA (501 W. 11th St., Wilmington) has opened a new workout area for those looking for an option to the facility’s large fitness room.

The Performance Training Studio offers more than 75 pieces of equipment, turf flooring for enhanced agility drills and sprint workouts, and is ideal for those looking for individualized or small-group training with or without an instructor. Equipment includes an Olympic weight station, kettlebells, bikes, treadmills, rowers, battle ropes and more. Visit ymcade.org.

GROWING YOUR KNOWLEDGE AT DCH

T

his month, the Delaware Center for Horticulture is offering a pair of events for those interested in urban farming or gardening. On Thursday, Jan 17, from 5-8 p.m., Ben Flanner, CEO and co-founder of New York Brooklyn Grange, will speak on his organization’s 2 1/2-acre soil-based rooftop farm. The evening is presented in partnership with Delaware Urban Farm and Food Coalition, whose mission is to take a collaborative approach to urban farming in improving lifestyle and increasing access to healthy food across Northern Delaware.

On Thursday, Jan. 24, from 6 to 7:30 p.m., Mark Highland, owner and operator of soil company Organic Mechanic, will discuss his new book, Practical Organic Gardening: The No-Nonsense Guide to Growing Naturally.

Both events require pre-registration. Visit thedch.org.

NEW DIRECTOR FOR WILMINGTON RENAISSANCE

W

ilmington Renaissance Corp., a non-profit founded in 1993 that is focused on community and economic development in the city, has named Renata Kowalczyk as its new directing manager. Kowalczyk has a bachelors and master’s degree, both in business administration, and has more than 20 years of experience in the business sector in New York, Seattle and Wilmington. She is a member of several Wilmington organizations, including Delaware Shakespeare, Forum of Executive Women Delaware and the Rotary Club. “I believe that with my passion for creating thriving communities, experience in strategic planning and partnership building, I can help usher in another quarter-century of dynamic projects and big ideas for Wilmington Renaissance Corp.,” Kowalczyk says. “I’m ready to get started.”

DIVISION OF THE ARTS GRANT APPLICATIONS

T

he Delaware Division of the Arts has opened its annual online application process for grants for arts programming and projects taking place during fiscal year 2020 (September 2019 – August 2020). Applications should be submitted through the new smARTDE online system and are due by 4:30 p.m. on March 1, 2019. Visit arts. delaware.gov/grant-overview to access the full guidelines for each program and a description of the grant review process.

ED ASNER STARS IN DTC’S THE SOAP MYTH

O

n Thursday, Jan 24, the Delaware Theatre Company is hosting a staged reading of The Soap Myth.

This play follows a journalist named Annie Blumberg as she tries to uncover the truth of an event that was rumored to have happened during the Holocaust; namely, did the Nazis make soap from the corpses of their murdered Jewish victims? The Soap Myth was written by Jeff Cohen and stars Ed Asner and Tovah Feldshuh. Tickets are $45 and can be purchased at delawaretheatre.org.

WINTERTHUR EXPLORES DINNERWARE

W

interthur’s Dining by Design explores the way people have incorporated nature into the designs of dinnerware, dating back to the 1600s. The exhibition, which runs through Jan. 6, features dishes, glasses and tureens, as well as instructional napkin folding, which transforms normal napkins into palm trees. There is a guided gallery walk every Saturday and Sunday at 11:30 a.m., and 1 and 2 p.m. Visit winterthur.org exhibitions for more information.

UNIQUE DONATION TO DELAWARE SYMPHONY

T

he Franciscan Center of Wilmington has donated seven of its Bells of Remembrance to the Delaware Symphony Orchestra. The bells each have specific pitches that correspond to requirements for certain musical works in the traditional symphonic canon. For instance, the two largest bells, a 1,200-pound, 42-inch diameter bell pitched at G, and a 550-pound, 301/2-inch diameter bell pitched at C, are nicknamed the Berlioz bells because they are used in the final movement of Symphonie fantastique by Hector Berlioz.

Other popular works that require bells in this collection include Pictures at an Exhibition and Night on Bald Mountain by Modest Mussorgsky.

“This is such an amazing and unique gift by The Franciscans, and something that sets apart the Delaware Symphony from, pretty much, any other U. S. Orchestra,” says DSO Executive Director Alan Jordan.

The Franciscan Center of Wilmington established a collection of large-scale bells that grew to more than 20 in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The first victim of those attacks was Father Mychal Judge, O.F.M., a Franciscan Friar of Holy Name Province, who was chaplain for the New York City Fire Department.

He also was a mentor for Brother David Schlatter, who was based in Wilmington at the time and spearheaded the Bells of Remembrance effort. Over the years, the Bells have been featured at events commemorating 9-11, fallen armed service men and women, firefighters, police officers and other victims.

JANUARY 209 | OUTANDABOUTNOW.COM

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WORTH RECOGNIZING

Community Members Who Go Above & Beyond

THE DESTAFNEYS: Skating Past Challenges

J

CHEER UP!

COMING IN FEBRUARY OUR ANNUAL OPTIMISM ISSUE

ustin DeStafney loves to play hockey.

The cool, crisp air of an ice rink exhilarates him, and the solid ice beneath his skates make him feel free and confident.

“I guess it’s where I can truly succeed at something I can do well,” says the 20-year-old Wilmington resident. “It’s energizing and exciting being part of a team.”

Born with spina bifida, DeStafney takes the ice in a specially-designed sled that sits on top of two hockey skate The DeStafney family. blades. He uses two sticks with metal picks on the end for maneuvering and propelling himself across the ice.

The Del Tech student is a goalie for the Delaware Sled Snipers (DSS), a competitive youth hockey team founded in 2008 by his mother, Tammy, and his father, Chris, for physically challenged male and female athletes typically 7-20 years of age. The team plays in Delaware as well as Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Maryland.

Mark Martell, who runs The Snipers Ice Hockey organization out of the University of Delaware, helped the DeStafneys get DSS started. The couple reached out to him when they decided Delaware needed a supportive and competitive ice hockey team for physically challenged youth and their families.

DSS is the only competitive team for physically challenged youth in Delaware. “There are adult programs, but no youth programs that are specific to physical disabilities,” says Tammy.

“There’s not a whole lot for them to do to stay physically healthy. There are programs like Special Olympics, but some of our players do not qualify as they don’t have developmental delays.”

“The only requirement (to participate in DSS) is that something has to keep the player from participating in ‘stand up’ ice hockey,” she says.

Tammy is the nonprofit’s manager and fund raiser, and Chris is a DSS coach. Before DSS, the DeStafneys traveled to New Jersey so Justin could play for a team there.

DSS players include amputees, athletes with limb deficiency, cerebral palsy or spinal cord injury. The team has had as many as 14 players and as few as four.

In early 2018, DSS honored two players who died battling childhood cancer: Leon Huhn, who died in 2016, and Nathan Silpath, who passed away last year. Both had lost the ability to use their legs due to the illness.

“They always came to games champing at the bit to get on the ice, and many times these guys were just coming off chemo treatments and being in the hospital,” says Justin. “They didn’t take being able to play for granted.”

Justin’s 13-year-old brother, Jared, who is an actor and volunteers at the Wilmington Drama League, says Justin and the team have taught him to persevere. “They don’t stop even when they’re sick; they keep on rolling.”

Older athletes also inspire the younger ones by showing them that despite limitations you can still do such things as go away to college and live there, says Tammy.

The DeStafneys, who work for BYN Mellon, an investment company in Wilmington, need to raise $10,000 annually to cover expenses, including ice time and equipment. Besides proceeds from 5K races, DSS receives donations from friends and partners, including the Open Net Foundation and the Delaware Bobcats of the Mid-Atlantic Women’s Hockey League.

“We don’t charge players to play,” says Tammy. “Some of our families have financial hardships.” When they fall short on funds, the DeStafneys are forced to reduce the amount of ice time, which can cost $230-$275 an hour at the University of Delaware Ice Arena.

For more information, e-mail Tammy and Chris DeStafney at info@sledsnipers.com or check out their FB page—Delaware Sled Snipers, or donate to crowdrise.com/o/en/campaign/mrttde.

— Adriana Camacho-Church 10 JANUARY 2019 | OUTANDABOUTNOW.COM

BANDS ARE BACK!

Fridays & Saturdays 8pm til 11pm!

Fri 4th

Stone Shakers

Fri 1st

Sat 5th

Bad N’ Ruin Band

Sat 2nd Too Tall Slim Fri 8th

Fri 11th Three Sheets Band

March

February

January

Sat 12th D. Corridiori’s Band Sat 9th

Bad N’ Ruin Band

Fri 1st

Bad N’ Ruin Band

April Fri 5th

Destination Unknown

Sat 2nd Fifty Fives Band

Sat 6th

Too Tall Slim

The Bogarts

Fri 8th

Lyric Drive

Fri 12th Special Delivery

Bill Currier Band

Sat 9th

Destination Unknown

Sat 13th Three Sheets Band

Fri 18th Blue Cat Blues

Fri 15th Three Sheets Band Fri 15th Three Sheets Band

Fri 19th Stone Shakers

Sat 19th Delta Cosmonauts

Sat 16th Special Delivery

Sat 16th What the Funk Band

Sat 20th Blue Cat Blues

Fri 25th Lyric Drive

Fri 22nd Stone Shakers

Fri 22nd Roger Girke Band

Fri 26th Roger Girke Band

Sat 26th Destination Unknown

Sat 23rd Lyric Drive

Sat 23rd Stone Shakers

Sat 27th Fifty Fives Band

Fri 29th Bill Currier Band Sat 30th Wrecking Ball

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UNIQUELY SUCCESSFUL Remembering Buddy Milburn of Ubon Thai Cuisine

L

ast month, the Wilmington area said farewell to a uniquely successful restaurateur—Norris “Buddy” Milburn of Ubon Thai Cuisine, who died unexpectedly after suffering a stroke.

Milburn was uniquely Buddy Milburn successful because of the way he helped grow his family’s business from a small location in Boothwyn, Pennsylvania, to a spot at Wilmington’s Riverfront Market in 2000.

The name Jeenwong Thai Cuisine honored his wife, Kamphon, and her family, and it was dishes like Yai’s Signature Rolls, a Jeenwong family recipe, that helped earn its outstanding reputation.

In September of 2011, Milburn and his family expanded the business just a mile down along the Riverfront with the opening of Ubon Thai Cuisine. Starting in 2013, the restaurant went on a sixyear streak of winning Best of Delaware in the Thai cuisine category.

To win Best of Delaware once is an honor. To win six times in a row is a measure of true success.

Likewise, for the past three years, Ubon has also earned the distinction of “Thai SELECT,” a certification that Thailand’s Ministry of Commerce awards to restaurants worldwide that serve and promote authentic Thai cuisine.

Milburn was also uniquely successful in the way he maintained a loyal staff—not an easy feat in an industry in which turnover is common. In many ways he used the restaurant as classroom, teaching the elements of the industry to his two sons, Narrinchai and Norrawit, as well as area novices and rookies from faraway lands.

Two years ago this month, Out & About wrote about the foreign exchange program that Ubon participates in, bringing in students from Asian countries to learn all aspects of restaurant management.

We spoke to 25-year-old Tham Hong Tran, a graduate student from Ho Chi Minh City University in Vietnam.

“I’m getting a chance to learn how a restaurant works in America, but at the same time seeing it through Asian cuisines,” Tran said. “I came here in December, and Ubon has helped me feel at home. They set me up with a place to stay, my English is getting better, and I’m really enjoying my time in America.”

Last but certainly not least, Milburn was uniquely successful in the way in which he supported the local jazz and R&B communities.

Every Wednesday night and Sunday evening, Ubon would be filled with the rich sounds of music from area acts such as Gerald Chavis, Stacia Lachole, Pristine Reign, Sharon & Shawn and Aniya Jazz. The lush, mellow sounds complemented Milburn’s easy-going nature.

In Milburn’s obituary, it said: “Buddy was known for his infectious smile and hearty laughter, which brought joy to those who surrounded him.”

The staff at Out & About will miss him, and wish his family all the best moving forward.

— O&A 12 JANUARY 2019 | OUTANDABOUTNOW.COM

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WHAT READERS Ring INN the New Year!

ARE SAYING About Wishing It Forward A Middletown teen’s selfless decision is making hospital stays more comfortable for children with cancer

By Dan Linehan, December 2018 What a wonderful story and wonderful young man and his family. All good wishes to Quincy for health and happiness.

— Cindy M. Johnson Quincy, you are an amazing young man!

— Johna Murray Ingraham God bless you, young man.

— Catherine Broadway

About Hollywood On The Riverfront?

Light Action’s huge new facility, including a world-class sound stage, could bring big-time productions to Wilmington

By Rob Kalesse, December 2018 Great news for Wilmington.

— Jeffrey Boy

Hats off to you, Scott Humphrey! You were there for me 25 years ago when you provided and installed stage lights for me at the original Fat Rick’s BBQ & Blues Joint on Market Street Mall back in 1995—FREE OF CHARGE! We needed lighting badly, but I was out of money. I will be forever in your gratitude for your generosity in that moment of time. Best wishes with your new venture. And thank you!

— Rick Betz

Book a private party for January with twenty or more people, and receive 18% off !

WEEKLY SPECIALS Monday: Steak & Cake $28 Tuesday: 3 Course Menu $30 Wednesday: 1/2 Price Bottles of Wine Thursday: 1/2 Price Pizzas in the Tavern Saturday: Prime Rib Night featuring Queen & King Cuts for $29 & $34 Sunday: BRUNCH! 10AM - 2PM Happy Hour: Mon - Sat in the Tavern!

18% off of any Taste Catering order, booked before March 1st! $1,000 food & beverage min.

How about re-opening a boat ramp back there and investing in the water front as planned all those years ago? You can't have a booming waterfront without the boaters.

— Daniel Bargelski I told everyone I know that the DE Riverfront needs a film studio. Such a great spot for Action Films. Today I’m reading Rob Kalesse’s Out & About article “Hollywood on the Riverfront” and all I can say is yes, yes, oh heck yes!

— Renata Maslowski

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+PÕ įōíĽğįFPØ æıÃæ Ĝĥį PŎįğ Ĥ ğʼnPıÃíçįæíŊ

HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY? SEND US A MESSAGE! contact@tsnpub.com • OutAndAboutNow.com

302-571-1492

2216 Pennsylvania Ave Wilmington, DE 19806 www.ColumbusInn.net

JANUARY 2019 | OUTANDABOUTNOW.COM

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THE CROSSING FEBRUARY 7 | 8 PM A professional chamber choir dedicated to new music

BLACK STRING

JANUARY 18 | 8 PM A fusion of Korean traditional music and improvisational jazz

2301 Kentmere Parkway | Wilmington, DE 19806 | 302.571.9590 | delart.org

WHAT’S NEW ON

MARKET.

LIVE | MEET | TASTE | SHOP

Follow the stories—new blog posts every Wednesday

NewMarketWilm.com | #NewMarketWilm | @NewMarketWilm 14 JANUARY 2019 | OUTANDABOUTNOW.COM

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RIVERSIDE RESURRECTION With the infusion of millions in capital funds and the efforts of government and the community, a neglected area of Wilmington is now looking to a brighter future The “Our Past, Our Present, Our Future” mural by Eric Okdeh at the Kingswood Community Center.

By Larry Nagengast Photos by Justin Heyes

T

ucked into Wilmington’s northeast corner, Riverside has seldom gotten much attention.

Perhaps that explains why it’s one of the city’s poorest communities, one where, according to 2010 U.S. Census data, 38 percent of the 18-and-over population had not graduated from high school, only one in eight adult males had a job and nearly one-quarter of its 3,275 residents were living in poverty.

But Wilmington is starting to pay attention to Riverside now, and its residents are starting to work to improve the community’s living conditions and its image.

With the possible infusion of up to $100 million in capital, coupled with free—yes, free—consulting advice and technical support from a well-endowed nonprofit called Purpose Built Communities, the newly created REACH Riverside Development Corp. has kicked off a major revitalization effort for the area bordered by the Brandywine on the south, the city line on the north and, for the most part, squeezed between Northeast Boulevard and the Amtrak rail line, with the Howard E. Young Correctional Institution, long known as Gander Hill, and strings of mostly vacant warehouses appended to its southeastern edge.

Many of the details are being worked out now, and will be unveiled later in the spring, but the key components are clear:

• The nearly 300 units in the Wilmington Housing Authority’s aging Riverside project will be demolished and replaced by about 400 units of new housing, most likely to be built on the east side of Bowers Street on land owned by the Kingswood Community Center.

• The community center itself, a neighborhood hub that includes a childcare operation, a senior center and an array of social services and recreational programs, will be replaced by a new building that would provide even more services, perhaps including a wellness center.

• Developing a “cradle to college or career education pipeline,” with the East Side Charter School, which now offers prekindergarten through eighth grade, eventually expanding to include high school grades.

• A new facility, called the Teen Warehouse, would open in the former Prestige Academy charter school building, at 12th and Thatcher streets, to provide an array of recreational, social, academic, athletic and wellness services that teenagers could access in the afternoon and evening hours.

As these pieces of the plan come together, REACH Riverside organizers believe the project will trigger a wave of retail and commercial redevelopment along Northeast Boulevard, providing essential services for what they hope will become a thriving community. ► JANUARY 2019 | OUTANDABOUTNOW.COM

15

START

10-YEAR TIMELINE

The concept for a new RIVERSIDE RESURRECTION Riverside may seem massive, continued from previous page as do the $100 million price tag and 10-year timeline, but Mayor Mike Purzycki says the project will be “way, way easier than the [Christina] Riverfront,” a revitalization he knows well from having spent more than two decades as head of the Riverfront Development Corporation, guiding transformation of that area into an office/recreation/residential center.

Purzycki’s optimism stems from two factors: the support of Purpose Built Communities, which has successfully supported redevelopment projects in 19 other cities, and an alliance of Riverside residents and community leaders with potent agencies and individuals that have a statewide reputation for getting things done.

The key figures guiding the project are Charlie McDowell, a retired Wilmington attorney whose interest in Riverside developed after he joined the board of directors of the East Side Charter School 12 years ago, and Logan Herring, Kingswood Community Center executive director and grandson of the late Rev. Dr. Otis A. Herring, a longtime civic leader and beloved pastor of Union Baptist Church.

McDowell is now chairman of the REACH Riverside Development Corporation, and Herring is serving as the organization’s executive director. In Purpose Built Communities’ lingo, REACH Riverside is the “community quarterback,” the agency through which all the redevelopment plans flow. REACH, by the way, is an acronym for Redevelopment, Education and Community Health, which are pillars in Purpose Built Communities’ transformation strategy.

The organization tailors its services to the needs and dynamics of the communities that it is working to revitalize. With a goal of

breaking the cycle of intergenerational poverty, it works to create pathways out of poverty for the lowest-income residents while building strong, economically diverse communities.

PURPOSE BUILT COMMUNITIES

After joining the East Side Charter board, McDowell says, “it didn’t take long to figure out that no matter how good a job we did at the school, with poverty, dysfunctional families and limited employment opportunities in the community, our work would be like spitting into the wind.”

About five years ago, McDowell read an article about Purpose Built Communities and decided to check it out. He invited Purzycki, real estate developer Rob Buccini, co-president of the Buccini/Pollin Group, and Fred Purnell, then the executive director of the Wilmington Housing Authority, to join him on a scouting expedition to Atlanta, Georgia, in January 2014.

“It was incredibly impressive,” McDowell recalls, describing their visit to the East Lake community in Atlanta. “It was a longterm project … but they had a game plan for revitalizing the neighborhood and bringing it out of poverty.”

However, McDowell says, “the last administration [of Mayor Dennis P. Williams] and the WHA leadership were not particularly interested” in adopting the Purpose Built model, “so I went to work to help get Mike elected mayor.”

Purnell left WHA in 2016 and Purzycki, within weeks of taking office as mayor in January 2017, reshuffled the authority’s board of directors. Also in 2016, Herring was named Kingswood’s executive director, taking over a poorly managed and debt-ridden organization whose stature had fallen to the point that it was no longer securing grants from the state’s major foundations.

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Lounge! in For details visit tonicbargrille.com/events Logan Herring, grandson of the late Rev. Otis A. Herring, is executive director of the Kingswood Community Center.

Over the past two-plus years, as Herring rebuilt Kingswood’s standing in the community, he and McDowell stayed in touch with Purpose Built Communities, learning more about its operation and taking preliminary steps to develop alliances and to involve the community in the planning process.

SUPPORT FROM STATE, COUNTY AND CITY

They garnered support from the state, New Castle County and city governments, with the General Assembly including $1 million in this year’s bond bill to help get the ball rolling. The housing authority, under new Executive Director John Hill, is also on board. The University of Delaware, through its healthy communities initiative, has stepped in, with tentative plans to include a wellness center in the Teen Warehouse. Both UD and Delaware State University are exploring ways to provide other services at the new Kingswood Community Center.

While lining up partnerships with business and government agencies, Herring began what he calls “a robust community engagement process,” holding sessions with area residents to gather their input and keep them posted on developments before major announcements were made.

Community advocate Beatrice Patton Dixon, who spent some of her childhood living in WHA’s Eastlake project across Northeast Boulevard, now serves on the REACH Riverside board. She’s impressed with Herring’s outreach efforts, and believes the process will preserve and strengthen the sense of community that now exists in Riverside.

Most of all, she hopes it will avoid a recurrence of what happened more than a decade ago, when Eastlake was demolished and a new Village of Eastlake was built in its place.

At the time, Patton Dixon recalls, WHA relocated residents to units elsewhere in the city and promised them that they could return to Eastlake when new housing was completed. However, few of those residents actually returned, she says.

As now planned, the old Riverside housing units won’t be demolished until new homes are built, so it’s more likely current residents will stay in the neighborhood. “If we scatter residents,” she says, “we don’t have as much ability to sustain the community.” ►

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Details of the master plan will be worked out in the next few months, in time for REACH Riverside to meet an April deadline to file an application with the Delaware State Housing Authority for low-income housing tax credits that would help fund the first phase of housing construction.

Purpose Built Communities has assigned a community development organizer to work directly with REACH Riverside, according to Eytan Davidson, the organization’s director of communications. The organizer may make occasional visits to Wilmington, but most of his contact will be through phone calls and emails, Davidson says. In addition, REACH Riverside officials will meet at least twice a year with Purpose Built leaders, and they will be able to confer with leaders in other communities affiliated with Purpose Built.

The first physical sign of progress in the Riverside redevelopment will be work on the Teen Warehouse. Capital One Bank, which had foreclosed on the Prestige Academy property in mid-2018, had agreed to donate the building, and paperwork was expected to be completed by the end of last month. Interior renovations should begin soon, with the goal of opening the center at the start of the 2019-2020 school year.

The housing component will come next. McDowell and Herring anticipate the first phase of construction will begin in the spring of 2020 and include 100 to 120 of the 400 planned units. Pennrose LLC, a Philadelphia-based company that specializes in mixed-income affordable housing, would develop and manage the new housing, Herring says.

The housing would be a mix of subsidized and market-rate units, attractive enough to appeal to individuals and families with incomes above those of public housing residents.

Herring hopes that construction of a new building for Kingswood Community Center can begin at the same time as the first phase of the new housing, or soon after that. The timing, as well as decisions on the design, services and amenities in the new building, will likely be determined as the master plan is written. ►

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The Kingswood Community Center is to be replaced by a new building that would provide more services, perhaps including a wellness center.

Expansion of the East Side Charter School to include high school grades is several years away, McDowell says. While East Side has a generally good reputation among the state’s charter schools, he says its leaders would like to strengthen its existing programming before launching an expansion. Adding more grade levels would require securing the approval of the Charter Schools Office in the state Department of Education.

‘BACK OF THE ENVELOPE’ ESTIMATES

Still to be determined is how the retail-commercial corridor along Northeast Boulevard would be redeveloped. Herring and McDowell believe the new residential construction will make the commercial zone more attractive to private investors. The arrival of new businesses would mean more jobs for Riverside residents, Herring says.

Herring admits to using “back of the envelope” estimates to come up with the $100 million project cost, and says the money that will be spent in Riverside will come from a variety of sources: government grants, like the $1 million provided by the state; the low-income housing tax credits; grants from local foundations and businesses, and private investments.

In addition, Herring says, REACH Riverside plans to hire a consulting firm experienced in securing grants from national foundations to assist with fundraising.

Dixon, the neighborhood advocate, says she is pleased that the revitalization effort thus far has stemmed the “historical tide” of having leaders of powerful institutions, rather than community residents, making decisions about what is best for the areas they are trying to change.

“We can become a national model” for community revitalization, she says, if political leaders, financial interests and residents work together throughout the process.

As Herring and Dixon note, while Riverside residents have become accustomed to being overlooked and pushed aside for many years, it is critically important that they understand that the anticipated changes are not going to occur overnight.

“This is not something that’s going to happen in two or three years. Ten years is a reasonable time to start looking for significant results,” says Davidson, the Purpose Built executive.

“We’re working with people so they don’t feel marginalized and isolated,” Purzycki says. “We have to take it one step at a time, but we want to become a community where everybody feels like they’re part of the franchise.”

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FOCUS

Worth Welcome to our ninth annual Worth Trying Issue. Though we feature Worth Trying suggestions monthly, each January we devote much of the magazine to personal recommendations from staff, contributors and friends of Out & About. These suggestions on where and what to eat, drink, see and do are scattered throughout these pages, interspersed with our usual assortment of feature stories, news items and other fun stuff.

Enjoy, and have a very happy New Year!

MAIN EVENT ENTERTAINMENT Opened just last summer, Main Event Entertainment in Newark is a great place for the whole family to enjoy. Inside there are so many things to try, including ziplining, laser tag, bowling, arcade and video games. Prices vary depending on the day you visit. On Mondays there is a discounted flat rate of $10.95 for ziplining, laser tag, and bowling starting at 4 p.m. Open every day from 11 a.m. to 1:30 a.m., Main Event Entertainment is located at 2900 Fashion Center Blvd.

— Elizabeth Carlson, Intern

GET LOOPED The Art Loop is not just a showcase for Wilmington’s visual arts scene, it’s a great way to meet people if you are new to town, and an inexpensive night out for those on a tight budget.

The concept is simple: Synchronize free opening receptions for galleries throughout the city to take place the first Friday of every month (5 p.m. start), throw in complimentary drinks and hors d’oeuvres, and spread the word. It’s been a successful formula for 30 years.

— Jerry duPhily, Publisher 22 JANUARY 2019 | OUTANDABOUTNOW.COM

JOE PURZYCKI’S STORY In 1982, former UD All-American defensive back Joe Purzycki (brother of Wilmington Mayor Michael Purzycki) was famously hired as the first-ever white head football coach at Delaware State, a Historically Black College. The story of how he partnered with Athletic Director Nelson Townsend to turn around a faltering program is told in Mr. Townsend & The Polish Prince, by Purzycki and writer/broadcaster Mike Gastineau. The book, at $19.95, was already a top seller in Amazon’s football biographies category at press time.

— Bob Yearick, Contributing Editor

YMCA SKATE CAMPS Looking for an alternative to team sports? Let your kids try skateboarding. It’s is a healthy alternative activity that allows kids to advance on their own. Like most sports and activities, the more you practice the better you get. With skateboarding, there are no cuts, no choosing teams; kids simply advance on their own with no pressure. The Brandywine YMCA has partnered with Ben Jones of Kinetic Skateboarding to provide Skate Camps for kids. The camps teach kids who have never stepped on a skateboard all the fundamental skills required for them to start to skate. Once they have the basics they naturally begin to try new things while improving their balance, and they continue to grow and enjoy the sport.

— Anthony Santoro, Contributing Photographer

BROOKBEND INTERIORS ESCAPE ROOMS If you haven’t heard of the concept behind escape rooms, it’s relatively simple: A group of two or more people is locked in a room, typically for an hour, and must find clues and solve puzzles to find the key to escape. It may sound a bit contrived, but well-made rooms provide an exciting challenge for friends, coworkers or, for the particularly brave, family. There are several options to choose from in New Castle County, though not all escape rooms are created equal. Look up online reviews and, if possible, ask a friend who’s done a few.

Located in the thriving town of Elkton, Maryland, this unique shop has a little something for all.

John and Steve have items to make any home more decorative: custom-made furniture, rugs made of recycled plastic, pictures and things to put on your walls. They have it all. It's worth a short ride to visit this eclectic shop at 116 East Main St. in Elkton.

— John Murray, Contributing Writer

— Dan Linehan, Contributing Writer

STOP DRIVING EVERYWHERE Frances Thrasher, owner of Kindred Skincare Co., created this all-organic skincare line after she developed overly sensitive skin and allergies from chemical overexposure at work. She used her background in chemistry to understand and craft oils to create skincare products that could gently cleanse and moisturize her allergic skin. I found her skincare line through the First State Health & Wellness Integrative Health Center and now I'm hooked. The Body Oil is a proprietary blend of more than 10 different oils and is the perfect daily moisturizer. At first it feels weird (read: greasy), but then something magic happens and it absorbs fully into your skin. In addition to the Body Oil, Kindred sells face cleansers and moisturizers for a full-body experience. Try the Starter Core kit with four sample-sized oils.

This tip is more for those Delawareans living in cities, but suburbanites and rural folk might find some use in it. Evidence is piling up that the car is terrible for just about every aspect of urban life.

Parking lots create economic dead zones. Street planning sacrifices what's good for the pedestrian to cater to the car.

Public transportation suffers to the point that it stops being a viable way to get around. Then there are the obvious car accidents, air pollution, and the sheer expense of owning a car. Recently, I've been struck by how walkable and bikeable Wilmington is and, as a result, I've been leaving the car in the driveway and biking into town. I like it because it connects me with the city, gives me a better understanding of the geography of my hometown, saves money, and makes transportation a healthier choice. I'm not saying you have to sell your car and burn your license, just remember that your feet can do more than push a gas pedal.

— Leeann Wallett, Contributing Writer

— Dillon McLaughlin, Contributing Writer

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JANUARY 2019 | OUTANDABOUTNOW.COM

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ELDERBERRY ELIXIR SIMPSON’S HOBBIES Simpson’s Hobbies has been a Brandywine Hundred tradition since 1951 and generations of kids of all ages have stopped there for, well, pretty much everything, from comic books to radio-controlled cars and planes. The Foulk Road shop has evolved over the years as technology has changed the toy/hobby market, but you can still get low-tech things like model airplanes, cars and ships, as well as trains and rockets, and even board games, which some kids today might not even recognize. Plus, the place has a special ambience that has built up for more than 60 years, and you can’t find that just anyplace.

What if cold medicine tasted good? Prevent the cold from striking by making (or buying) your own elderberry syrup. To make it at home, all you need are dried or fresh elderberries, water and sweetener. Clinical studies suggest that it boosts our immune status, which helps combat viruses that cause the common cold and flu.

Or, if you can't find dried or fresh elderberries, Harvest Market carries this bluish-black elixir

by Areté, a wellness company based in Chester County, Pennsylvania. The elixir can be used as a preventative or when you feel that distinct tickle at the back of your throat.

— Leeann Wallett, Contributing Writer

— Kevin Noonan, Contributing Writer

HIYA This is a free caller ID app for iPhones. These days we're getting more and more calls from numbers in our own area code that look like they just might be from a friend. But Hiya will tell you when it's a spammer or a pesky telemarketer. Makes it easy to fend off unwanted calls.

DELAWARE HISTORICAL SOCIETY'S MUSEUM STORE

— Larry Nagengast, Contributing Writer

VOLUNTEERING AT FAITHFUL FRIENDS Are you an animal lover looking to do more for your brethren? There’s no better way than volunteering at Faithful Friends Animal Society in Wilmington.

Whether you do some cat or dog cuddling, walk dogs, or help to clean up behind the scenes (scientific fact: cats can’t do their own laundry), you’ll be doing your adoptable animal compadres at this nonprofit no-kill shelter a large.

Call 427-8514 or go to faithfulfriends.us.

— Mike Little, Contributing Writer

ADOPT A HIGHWAY This statewide program is an ideal way to making Delaware a more beautiful place to live. Simply pick a mile stretch of roadway and recruit a group to commit to cleaning it up three times a year. DelDOT will provide bags, gloves and vests. As a thank you, your volunteer group receives a sign with its name placed on the roadway you adopt. Visit deldot.gov/programs.

— Julie Miro Wenger, Special Events

24 JANUARY 2019 | OUTANDABOUTNOW.COM

Celebrate the First State and its rich history and support this local cultural institution at its two museum store locations—Delaware History Museum in Wilmington and the Read House & Gardens in historic New Castle. Both museum stores include plenty of Delaware-themed tees, books and postcards, as well as toys and reproduction prints—and the highly-sought-after Joe Bidenscented candles. The Wilmington location even carries the signature coffee (Provocative Pairings Blend) and CDs of its performing arts partner, Mélomanie!

— Michelle Kramer-Fitzgerald, Contributing Writer

DELAWARE GREENWAYS The state’s collection of trails and pathways has evolved way beyond a pedestrian path here, a bikefriendly path there. Delaware now has 57 named trails totaling 155 miles and three more are in the “real” planning stage. Out-of-staters have taken notice, regularly coming to places such as Delaware City, where they park for free and take advantage of the Castle Trail. Ditto for the Riverfront and Historic New Castle, the bookends of the new Markell Trail.

For you, a Delawarean, these greenways are a benefit of residency. So, take advantage. Grab your bike, sneakers or hiking shoes and hit the trail.

SURF FISHING Surf fishing is a great way to spend time on the beach while trying your luck at catching a fish. From Fenwick Island to the banks of the Delaware River in Wilmington, surf fishing has been a popular pastime for many. During the summer months the beaches are lined with four-wheel vehicles and families fishing, barbecuing and enjoying the beach. Spring and fall produce the most sought-after fish for the true surf fisherman: bluefish, drum, flounder and stripers (aka striped bass). Water temperature, tides and moon positioning all affect fish activity and provide a guide to the best times to fish.

— Anthony Santoro, Contributing Photographer

— Jerry duPhily, Publisher

TAKE A "LITTER LAP"

GIFT SHOP AT MAGIC CAR WASH, NAAMANS ROAD Sure, the car wash part of this operation is fine: thorough, quick, reasonably priced. But take moment to examine all the cards, mugs, signs, games and other stuff packed into the short hallway leading from the back entrance to the front desk. Some unusual, quirky, often humorous items. You may find just the thing for that hard-to-shop for friend or relative.

Although we should do it more often, my family and I will occasionally grab the wagon and some trash bags to pick up litter around our neighborhood.

We start with a "Litter Lap" around our local park and almost ALWAYS fill our wagon and bags.

Unfortunately, more people are discarding garbage than picking it up, but every little bit helps, right?

— Matt Loeb, Creative Director & Production Manager

— Bob Yearick, Contributing Editor

BOMBAY HOOK NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE You don’t need to be a birder to enjoy what may be the best winter bird-watching spot in Delaware, Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge. Located along the Delaware Bay near Smyrna, the refuge is home to bald eagles aplenty along with lesserknown birds, like colorful bufflehead ducks. You can enjoy the refuge by car—making it a great choice for visiting family members—but there are plenty of places to get out and walk. The Shearness Tower Trail is a great spot to find swans and other waterfowl.

Photo Joe del Tufo

Look for more Worth Trying suggestions throughout this issue!

— Dan Linehan, Contributing Writer JANUARY 2019 | OUTANDABOUTNOW.COM

25

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FOCUS

HOW TO BE YOUR BEST SELF,

FROM A TO Z Twenty-six ways to improve your health and wellness in 2019

By Leeann Wallett

A

T

his year, why not resolve to be your best self? Set a course for self-improvement with this full-alphabet list of helpful tips, gathered from local health and wellness experts.

— Eat antioxidant-rich food. Antioxidants protect our bodies and cells from the onslaught of damage caused by free radicals.

“They are found in many foods, including fruits and vegetables and other sources like nuts, beans, and even dark chocolate,” says Tricia Jefferson, RD, LDN, director of Healthy Living and Strategic Partnerships, YMCA of Delaware. Antioxidants are important to keep our bodies healthy by “slowing the signs of aging and reducing cancer and heart disease risk,” she says.

— Buy local produce and meat. Buying local comes naturally to Karen Igou, owner and operator of Honeybee Seasonal Kitchen in Trolley Square. Says Igou: “Local food is fresher since it takes less time to travel to our store. It’s also more likely to be grown sustainably, which can strengthen the community supporting this type of agriculture.” Her store is packed to the brim with such local foods as honey from Iris and Callisto’s Apiary, Avondale, Pennsylvania, and greens from Bright Spot Farms in Wilmington.

— Become part of the community. It’s time to reconnect with your friends and family. Says Jefferson, “Connecting with others and being part of a trusted community can help improve your quality of life by boosting your mental health, decreasing risky behaviors and helping you live longer.” These social and emotional connections are important at all life stages, so make sure to reach out whether it’s by internet, snail mail, phone or in person.

— Disconnect from your device. Do you find yourself aimlessly scrolling through Facebook or Instagram? You’re not alone. We rely heavily on our phones to keep us on track, but

B C

D

it’s become an addiction we can’t seem to kick. Try spending time with your friends and family and “turn off your phone and leave it in another room,” says Liz Freeman Abel, a licensed dietitian/ nutritionist and owner of free + abel, a food and lifestyle company based in Delaware. “Or set time limits on your social media accounts, if only for a few minutes at a time. Increase the frequency and duration [of the limits] each day.”

—Exercise is a no-brainer when it comes to a healthy lifestyle.

Its benefits are not limited to your physical health. A study done by the University of British Columbia has shown that regular aerobic exercise appears to “boost the size of the hippocampus, the brain area involved in verbal memory and learning.” Follow a consistent schedule and change up your routine with a mix of strength, interval and cardio exercise.

— Resolve to eat more fermented foods. Igou, who battles chronic health issues, eats fermented foods as part of her daily routine. “They help balance gut health by repopulating beneficial bacteria killed off by processed foods and antibiotics,” she says, “and they help level out the pH balance in the intestines.” She turns to well-known fermented foods like raw sauerkraut, kombucha (fermented tea), kimchi and miso.

Want to make your own fermented foods? Look no further than The Noma Guide to Fermentation, an ode to the history of fermentation and guide to how to ferment at home written by David Zilber, director of the Noma fermentation lab, and René Redzepi, chef and co-owner of Noma in Copenhagen. ►

E F

JANUARY 2019 | OUTANDABOUTNOW.COM

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FOCUS HOW TO BE YOUR BEST SELF, FROM A TO Z continued from page 19

G

— Setting and achieving goals can be as easy as making a to-do list. Says Jefferson: “Goal-setting helps us think about what we want to achieve, how to get there and then provides the motivation to commit to it.” Goals should be S.M.A.R.T.: specific, measurable, assignable,

realistic and time-related.

— High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) has remained one of the most popular workouts. Scott McCarthy, owner and personal trainer at Balance Strength & Fitness Center in Wilmington, says that HIIT classes make up a “considerable portion of our membership base.” Classes are targeted and quick and vary between high- and lowintensity for increased fat burning. The changes in intensity allow clients to achieve rapid weight loss and fat burning results.

— The Insight Timer app is a free meditation app that’s similar to Headspace, but with many more free meditations and lectures. The best part of the app is the custom meditation timer that allows you to set the duration, interval bells and ambient sounds of your individual session. It’s available on the App Store and Google Play.

— Just breathe. Due to our hectic lives, we’ve become accustomed to going full tilt until we fall into bed. Abel recommends taking more moments throughout our day to breathe and to “let the oxygen come into your lungs deeply and then feel it gently leave.”

She recommends repeating this five-to-10 times while in line at the grocery store or in the shower – or whenever you feel rushed or stressed.

— Kindness: Pay it forward. Need inspiration? Here are some random acts of kindness: Pay for someone’s coffee or tea next time you’re in line at Starbucks; donate blood; donate to your favorite nonprofit; hold the door for someone; volunteer your time or services.

— Les Mills workouts are highly effective. Take a class like Sprint, which is a 30-minute, high-intensity interval training class on an indoor bike. It’s the perfect class for busy people. Available at the YMCA, Sprint is just one class on the Les Mills list, which includes BODYPUMP, BODYCOMBAT and GRIT, to name a few. Teachers are rigorously trained and must pass certification before they can teach any Les Mills class.

Check out all options at one of the seven YMCAs statewide.

— MyFitnessPal App helps you lose weight. From counting calories to exercising on a daily basis, it can be challenging to keep up with the numbers. The MyFitnessPal app helps track your caloric intake and activity levels each day. It allows you to set specific goals based on your biographical information and weight loss goals and also syncs easily between your Fitbit or other fitness devices. Available on the App Store and Google Play.

— Reconnect with nature. “Nature is something we’re missing from our everyday, 9-to-5 lives,” says Adam Lush, co-founder of Areté, a wellness company based in Chester County, Pennsylvania. Studies have shown that spending time in nature may reduce stress, and possibly lower the risk of depression. Says Lush, “It’s a way to keep grounded and stable on a daily basis.” He recommends keeping it simple by walking the dog, walking with your partner or kids, or walking with a friend at lunch.

— Open up. Share your feelings. Whether it’s to your partner, trusted friend or colleague, or family member, resolve to speak your mind more often. We all know everyone has a unique story, so be sure to share it. Or speak with a licensed mental health professional, who can help you improve your mental health and overall happiness.

— Use Plant Nanny App and drink more water. Most people don’t get the recommended daily quantities. This app rewards (and politely reminds) you to drink water throughout the day. The goal is to drink all the recommended cups of water each day while remembering to “water” your plant. If you forget to water your plant, it will look sad; if you neglect your plant, it will die, and you must start all over. Available on the App Store and Google Play.

— Quit (fill-in-the-blank). Whether it’s smoking, biting your nails or procrastinating, now is the time to quit those bad habits. According to the American Lung Association, smoking “kills more than 480,000 people per year, making it the leading cause of preventable death in the U.S.” It’s never too late to stop smoking. Enlist your friends and family to help ease the process.

— Enjoy recreation in the great outdoors. There are more than 15 state parks and preserves throughout Delaware to explore. From hiking White Clay Creek’s various trails to kayaking Trap Pond State Park, there are many opportunities for fun in local parks and recreational areas. Delaware State Parks annual passes give you access to all parks for a reasonable $35 for Delaware registered vehicles or $70 for out-of-state vehicles.

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— Social Support is critical. When was the last time you spent time with your friends, siblings or parents?

Connecting with friends or family in meaningful ways can have a profound impact on our long-term health and wellness. Says Abel: “Find new opportunities; try something new together.

The more you grow and nurture your community, the more it will nourish you in return.”

— Get some functional training through a functional fitness class. These classes are dedicated to making everyday movements easier and “allow clients to focus on proper movement, which can improve balance, strength, flexibility and coordination,” says McCarthy. Think walking up and down stairs, playing football with the kids or picking up groceries.

— Unsubscribe. Clean out that inbox. It’s time to start this New Year right by unsubscribing to those annoying sales and marketing emails and weekly newsletters. While you’re at it, be sure to add your phone to the National Do Not Call Registry to minimize telemarketing calls, and deactivate those incessant news notifications on your phone. Also, use the “block caller” function on your phone.

— We all know it’s important to “eat your vegetables,” so why not try to incorporate new vegetables? Says Abel: “Try a rainbow of fresh produce each week. Vegetables in different colors provide vitamins that are necessary for so many bodily functions, such as cardiovascular health, respiratory health, and immune support.” Some winter vegetables to try: red cabbage, rutabaga, parsnips.

— Establish a work/life balance. “Work smarter, not harder” has become a cliché that is easier said than done.

We all lead busy lives, so it’s no surprise that all interviewed agreed that it’s important to find balance between our work and personal lives. Jefferson recommends taking these steps to achieve balance: Prioritize tasks, structure time, take breaks and use holidays.

“Chronic stress is one of the most common health issues in today’s workplace. Work-life balance means reducing stress to help prevent burn-out,” she says.

— Say no. It may be uncomfortable, even difficult, but saying no is a choice. And no, it’s not rude to say no. It’s a skill that takes time to perfect, so start easy. Value your time and health and make sure what you’re saying yes to is something you truly want to do.

— Look to your future self. Forward or future thinking has been shown to be a very powerful mindset. A study conducted

by Hal Hershfield, a social psychologist from UCLA Anderson, explored how “human behavior can be modified by bringing people closer to their future selves.” Arete’s Lush was inspired by this study. “People vastly underestimate their future goals and aspirations, and personality,” he says. “Their goals don’t line up and it’s as if they’re in a stranger-like relationship with themselves.” He recommends setting aside time each week “to think about where you’re going to be in a couple of months or years” and to make “better decisions to improve that future self.” For the full report, go to ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3764505/ — Zzzzs—Catch more sleep. It’s essential for a healthy body and mind. Says Jefferson: “Sleep is involved with healing and repairing your heart and blood vessels. Ongoing sleep deficiency is linked to an increased risk of heart and kidney disease, high blood pressure, diabetes and stroke.” Most adults need seven to nine hours of sleep each night.

So there you have it—a full alphabet of actions you can take to better yourself. And you’ve got all of 2019 to pursue them.

Good luck!

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EAT

Five Food T rends for 2019

Once again, our expert on all things gastronomic presumes to predict the future. Based on his report card for last year, we should all take notice.

By Matt Sullivan

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ilk will come from oats, butter will come from watermelon seeds, hummus will be served for dessert, and everyone will be eating beets beets beets beets all the time.

That’s the apocalyptic vision of the future of food being painted in the national trend reports for 2019. Or it’s the prologue to Soylent Green. They read about the same.

If that’s what you’re looking for, you’ve come to the wrong trend-spotter.

My annual mission is to take stock of what’s cooking in Delaware to see if we can catch a whiff of what’s happening in the future. To do that this year, I enlisted the kind help of

Chef Robert Lhulier; the Delaware Restaurant Association’s Carrie Leishman and Karen Stauffer, and many, many local bartenders who pretended not to be bored with me because I tip well. We talked about the growth of local restaurant groups, the popularity of kimchi, the lessons learned from the Amish, the backlash against no-tipping policies, the future of Venmo, how I like my martini, and more.

With their help, I have identified five entirely beet-free trends that I believe will change the way we eat in Delaware in the next year.

(Check the end to see the results from last year’s predictions.) ►

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EAT 8th & Union, Wilmington | 302.652.6780 | WalterSteakhouse.com

GOING VEGAN…

…WOULD BE A BIG MISSED STEAK!

FIVE FOOD TRENDS FOR 2019 continued from previoius page

TREND: AMERICAN REGIONALISM, REVISITED

A couple of years ago, I had the misfortune to know several people who ate their way through Italy on vacation and posted all their pasta pics on Facebook. This past year? Not much Italy.

But three couples I know toured their way down the Kentucky Bourbon Trail.

I’m not sure what that means, but I know I’ve been drinking more Manhattans lately, and maybe they’re related.

American cuisine is as old as the nation, but what’s trending is a growing appreciation for hyper-specific regional cuisine, whether that’s Carolina Lowcountry cooking, Austin barbecue, Nashville chicken … or even rustic MidAtlantic fare.

“That makes sense to me, if you look at the political landscape and how it affects food trends,” Leishman says. “We're looking inward to America right now.”

We may be looking and traveling inward, but we’re also bringing it back home. Chef Robbie Jester visited Franklin Barbecue in Texas last year and proved taste can travel when he opened Limestone BBQ and Bourbon. ( Just try some of that fatty brisket.) But beyond barbecue, there’s still much of America left to explore. Expect those culinary adventurers to return to Delaware with new ideas in the new year.

Prediction #1: “American” cuisine becomes more specific on local menus, and expect at least one restaurant to open with a very tight regional focus. I’d always bet on grits and beans—so look for a restaurant offering Carolina Lowcountry cuisine.

TREND: ASIAN BEYOND SUSHI

Remember 10 years ago, when PanAsian restaurants were all the rage?

The increasing American appetite for sushi had Chinese restaurants and Thai restaurants rebranding and adding tuna rolls to the menu, and swanky new sushi spots were opening up on the regular.

And then … it stopped. Maybe there was a glut in the market, maybe the Great Recession hit at just the wrong time, but either way, Asian innovation in northern Delaware (outside of Newark) slowed considerably.

32 JANUARY 2019 | OUTANDABOUTNOW.COM

That’s regrettable, because the past 10 years have seen an explosion of interest in Asian street food in its infinite variety: Korean fried chicken, Bao buns, Ramen, Filipino adobo. Hunt around Delaware’s more authentic Asian restaurants and you’ll find great examples of each, but even put together, they can’t compete for attention with the sushi joint on every corner.

But that dam has to burst sometime. Expect a more diverse scene in 2019.

Prediction #2: When the DE.CO food hall opens in the Hotel du Pont, expect at least one stall—or possibly even two—offering Asian street food.

TREND: FINE DINING, AT HOME

Once again, you can blame the millennials.

(It’s easy and fun! I do it all the time.) Delivery is booming, thanks to the time-starved generation that’s not willing to sacrifice quality when they’re eating at home in their footie pajamas.

The problem? Traditional fine dining establishments aren’t set up with grab-andgo curbside takeout service—or even delivery drivers. That gap in the market has been filling with third-party vendors like Uber Eats and DoorDash, service that sometimes fails to reach the standards expected at local restaurants. That’s led to friction between some Third-party food delivery has grown in popularity. restaurateurs and these takeout services … and some actual lawsuits in cities outside Delaware.

“Still, these delivery services will take off because the Gen Z and millennial buyer likes them,” Leishman says. “They like to eat and they like to stay put. They don't necessarily like to go out.”

When I saw a takeout order get picked up at the bar at The House of William and Merry a few weeks ago, I asked how often that happened. A few times a week, I was told.

More than it used to? Much more, they said. Moral of the story: Takeout requests are going to continue to boom, and restaurants that can handle them can increase profits without adding tables. Independent restaurants just need reliable delivery partners.

Prediction #3: Better coordination leads to more local restaurants joining forces with delivery services. You’ll be able to order your favorites from your couch by the end of next year.

TREND: MORE BREWERIES. (YES, I SAID MORE BREWERIES.)

“Two Delaware breweries shut down; more closures inevitable, says expert.” That was the headline after 16 Mile Brewing closed in Georgetown and Frozen Toes stopped brewing at Pizza by Elizabeths, both in 2018.

Delaware beer historian John Medkeff Jr., the expert in the headline, was quoted saying market forces might cause more closings than openings in the next few years. With all due respect to someone who thinks that much about beer, I think Medkeff is wrong.

The craft beer revolution that’s rolled out over the past 20 years represents two trends in one—a simple trend toward better beer (thank goodness) and a locavore trend toward eating and drinking foods produced near where you live.

Big Beer has co-opted some of the best brewing practices of the craft industry, but they still can’t deliver on that local flavor. Wilmington Brew Works became an established local hangout five minutes after it opened its doors, and my sources—very well-placed sources who visit WBW just about every weekend—say it remains quite busy. Could many more neighborhoods support their own local brew spot? Well, in 2017, Delaware had 2.9 breweries per 100,000 residents, according to the Brewer’s Association. Vermont had 11.5 breweries. I think there’s room to grow.

Prediction #4: Delaware’s thirst for local suds does not dry up, and at least three more breweries open in 2019.

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TREND: BETTER WAYS TO KETO

Halfway through our conversation, Stauffer confessed: She’s gone “keto,” the low-carb, high-fat diet that’s everywhere right now – and not just for her physical health.

“You read all the science about the mental aspects of it too, about how your gut is your second brain and it affects mood and all these things,” she says. “I think people are just going to learn more about that as time goes on, because 10 years ago, I don't think anybody was talking about it." ►

WWW.JANSSENSMARKET.COM 3801 KENNETT PIKE, GREENVILLE, DE 302.654.9941

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EAT

Big Fish Restaurant Group

FIVE FOOD TRENDS FOR 2019 continued from previoius page

Lhulier cooked at least one all-keto dinner for a group of 14 this year, and gets requests from others fairly regularly. But he puts a delicious spin on the trend: Israeli food, which is heating up right outside Delaware.

“Michael Solomonov from Zahav in Philadelphia just put out a cookbook, and when I went online to look for it, I couldn't believe how many similar cookbooks there were, and a lot of them were marketed towards vegans and vegetarians,” Lhulier says. “And it occurred to me that there are so many possibilities for that in Israeli food, if that's the way that you eat.”

He thinks you’ll see more people experimenting with dishes in the Israeli palate in the next year, inspired by both personal dining experiences at Zahav and diet trends.

Prediction #5: Hummus checks a lot of boxes. Look for more than one fast-casual restaurant to open with an Israeli/hummus theme.

LAST YEAR’S SCORECARD

EST. 2018

Let’s see how last year’s predictions stacked up: 1. Veggies on Main: You’ll be eating your vegetables, even when they don’t look like your vegetables, as the Impossible Burger comes to Delaware.

The Impossible Burger arrived at Grain in early 2018 and quickly spread to Harvest House, Pachamama Chicken, Crooked Hammock and more. It’s now in at least 12 restaurants around the state.

2. One-Dish Restaurants: The most exciting restaurant opening of the year will be in the fast-casual space, with a menu that features one item done very well (with maybe some room for customization).

Not quite, but Farmer & The Cow might be the closest we came.

3. The Evolution of Grocery Shopping: Amazon rolls up its sleeves and reveals the cards it is hiding in there. Whole Foods Prime pick-up kiosks, maybe?

Prime Now offers two-hour delivery to some northern Delaware ZIP codes, and Prime members can order ahead for pick-up at the store.

4. Market Street as Dining Destination, Part Deux: Restaurants may come and go, but I see a net positive five new restaurants/eateries on Market in 2018.

The Market Street restaurant scene boomed in 2018, even with the opening of the DE.CO food hall being pushed back to 2019. Wilmington added Stitch House Brewery, Farmer & The Cow, Margaux, Bardea, 218 Grill and Eat Clean. Qdoba did close suddenly in December, and the much-missed Cocina Lolo departed from King Street earlier in the year, but all-in-all, this prediction was on the mark.

5. Coffee on Nitro: Cold brew on tap. It’s what’s for breakfast.

Nitro’s only going to get bigger. In December 2018, Starbucks announced that every company-operated location in the United states will offer the nitrogen-infused cold brew coffee on tap by the end of 2019.

Three trends I missed: • The explosion of design-your-own-instant-pizza joints • The anti-straw movement • Large-format entrees for two or more

34 JANUARY 2019 | OUTANDABOUTNOW.COM

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EAT

Worth PICKS OF THE FOOD VARIETY

ZAHARA INTERNATIONAL FOOD MARKET Foodies and aficionados of all things Middle Eastern will want to check out Zahra International Food Market in Newark. The owners are both helpful and sweet, and the selection! You’ll find items such as fresh breads, excellent halal meats and exotic spices in this deceptively big little store, and it’s a tea lover’s Mecca. Seriously--where else are you going to find a box of delicious baclava large enough to feed a small midwestern city?

— Mike Little, Contributing Writer

ZOUP! EATERY The variety of its menu makes Zoup! a notch above other soupand-sandwich shops. It all starts, of course, with the soup, which has a rotating schedule that includes Curry Thai Chicken, Corn and Crab Chowder, Fiery Chicken Enchilada, Mulligatawny and Chicken Pot Pie. And the best part is that if you’re uncertain which soup you want, you can sample as many varieties as you desire. The sandwiches also are excellent and include Chicken Toscana, Maple Bacon Ham, Southwest Turkey and Turkey and Bacon Club. Locations on Kirkwood Highway and Fashion Center Boulevard in Newark. Want to check out their daily menu?

Go to zoup.com.

— Kevin Noonan, Contributing Writer

REHOBOTH ICE CREAM STORE GOAT KITCHEN & BAR Goat Kitchen & Bar took a hit when it lost founder and Chef Dave Weir last year, but the Brandywine Hundred restaurant, tucked in an L-shaped strip center on Marsh Road, is more than holding its own under the direction of chef Ryan McDonald, an alum of Chelsea Tavern and Le Meridien in Philadelphia. The restaurant, which flies under the radar, remains a popular hangout for Arden residents. goatkitchenandbar.com.

— Pam George, Contributing Writer

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Everyone knows about the Rehoboth Ice Cream Store – if you live in Delaware it’s the classic place to go for ice cream, with thousands of flavors to choose from. The store is always coming up with something new and the 2018 flavor of the year was Devil's Breath Carolina Reaper Pepper Ice Cream. It might be a mouthful, but with Delaware’s obsession with the Carolina Reaper Pepper challenge, this flavor has to be something worth looking into. The Rehoboth Ice Cream Shop is located on the boardwalk, 6 Rehoboth Ave., and it’s open year-round.

— Elizabeth Carlson, Intern

FARMER & THE COW

UDAIRY CREAMERY It may not be the season for ice cream, but it's worth making an exception for UDairy Creamery, a University of Delaware-run enterprise named

by Reader's Digest as the best ice cream shop in Delaware. In addition to locations in Newark and downtown Wilmington, the students take the business on the road with the Moo Mobile.

Its ice cream is made with milk from UD cows and operated by UD students, so there's some positive karma to offset the pangs of caloriefueled guilt. But, oh, it's worth every milligram of cholesterol. I prefer mint chocolate chip, but the 32 flavors share an indulgent, rich taste. The prices are affordable, too, with a single scoop costing $3. But with options like the chocolatey Delaware River Mud Pie and blueberry-laden Delaware First, you'll want to spend the extra buck-and-a-quarter for a second scoop.

— Dan Linehan, Contributing Writer

One of the most recent gifts Market Street's ongoing revival has brought us is Farmer & the Cow, an excellent combination of a burger joint, shake shack (not the chain, just the general concept), and rustic whiskey bar. For your meal, you can get one of the many delicious signature burgers with a beef, turkey, lamb, salmon, chicken, or veggie patty. There are plenty of craft whiskeys and beers behind the bar and a cocktail menu that is always being tweaked. There’s no lack of desserts, either, with plenty of milkshakes, each accompanied by a recommended spirit for spiking the shake. It's a delicious night out.

— Dillon McLaughlin, Contributing Writer

HONEYBEE MARKET Conveniently located in Trolley Square, Honeybee has become at least a oncea-week stop for my family.

The market is fully stocked year-round with seasonal, local, organically grown items, including produce, dairy, meats, canned goods, frozen foods, cleaners and a full line of medicinal and culinary bulk herbs, spices and teas. I've recently needed to make a dramatic change to my diet and Honeybee is my best local resource.

— Matt Loeb, Creative Director & Production Manager

THE POINT CAFÉ I have recently decided that when I go out, I want to expand my horizons. The first place I went after making this change was The Point Café in Rehoboth. They have fresh, daily-made pastries as well as an abundance of beverages. The two days that I went, we got a variety to test out. From chocolate croissants, which were flaky and perfectly chocolatey, strawberry macaroon, my first ever (and it was amazing), all the way to the Almond Joy cappuccino, which was one of the best cappuccinos I’ve ever had. There are many different flavors of coffee, smoothies, other drinks and food in both healthy (\and not so healthy options. It’s a quaint café right on the edge of the hustle and bustle of the outlets, and I can’t wait to go back and taste the other creations.

TAQUERIA LOS PRIMOS A lot of restaurants talk a big taco game, but few deliver as deliciously and authentically as Los Primos. Just check out the Yelp reviews. If you like tacos, go there tomorrow. It's a small place just off Kirkwood Highway, and you may need to know a little Spanish to order. Try the lengua. For dessert, head next door for chamoyada.

— Jordan Howell, Contributing Writer

— Emily Stover, Intern

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EAT THE PERFECT PIE

O EL DIABLO COMES TO MARKET

BITES E Tasty things worth knowing Compiled by Emily Stover & O&A Staff

NEWARK RESTAURANT WEEK

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l Diablo Burritos will add its fifth location when it opens a shop at 837 Market St. in Wilmington. The location was formerly QDOBA Mexican Eats. El Diablo, whose build-your-ownmeal model has flourished in New Castle County, plans to have the Downtown Wilmington location in operation by April.

El Diablo currently has shops in Downtown Newark, Pike Creek, North Wilmington and Trolley Square.

n Sunday, Jan. 20, guests will have the opportunity to learn how to make the perfect pie in the Eatery of the Route 9 Library in New Castle. Award-winning pie maker Amy Watson-Bish will host a class for those who would like a hands-on, step-by-step tutorial. Students will be provided with all the ingredients, and will leave with new knowledge of baking as well as the finished product. This class is an all-ages event, but children under 12 must have an adult with them. The class, which begins at 1 p.m., is $15 per person. Go to the calendar page on nccde.org for more information or to register.

WHIST CLUB WELCOMES HARI CAMERON

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he 13th annual Newark Restaurant Week is set for Jan. 15- 21, with 12 of Newark’s favorite eateries participating. Most of the lunch offerings are two courses, ranging in price from $10$15. Dinner menus include two courses (usually soup or salad plus entrée) or three courses, including dessert, with prices between $25 and $30. Caffe Gelato will host a Painting Dinner Party on Friday, Jan. 19, at 6:30 pm. It includes dinner and the chance to paint your own version of Monet’s “Road Under Snow” for $59. For a look at the menus, pricing at each location and reservations, visit enjoydowntownnewark. com/restaurantweek.

cclaimed Rehoboth Beach Chef Hari Cameron will serve as guest chef for a special dinner at the Tilton Mansion (805 N. Broom St., Wilmington) on Monday, Jan. 24. Cameron operates the Delaware beach restaurants a(MUSE.) and Grandpa (MAC) and has been recognized numerous times by the James Beard Foundation. He will prepare a five-course meal open to club members as well as guests. The dinner will begin at 7 p.m. For tickets, call 658-5125 or visit bit.ly/HariAtTheWhist.

BEST WINGS ON THE SHORE

KENNETT SQUARE CHOCOLATE FESTIVAL

BIG FISH GROUP GETS BIGGER

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he Kennett Square Chocolate Festival will take place on Sunday, Jan. 27, at Kennett High School from 1-3 p.m. The festival will have hundreds of chocolate treats for tasting, and the $13 general admission ticket includes six tastings. Additional tasting tickets as well as take-home boxes of goodies can be purchased at the event or online. There are family discounts and VIP discounts that can only be purchased online until Jan. 24. For information, go to kennettchocolate.org.

A

month after revealing that it plans to open a steak house in Wilmington’s West End, at a location that formerly housed Moro, the Big Fish Group confirmed that it has purchased the former Trolley Square eateries Scratch MaGoo’s and OldBanks Craft Bistro. Scratch MaGoo’s was part of the Trolley scene for 29 years.

rom mild to extra spicy, it’s all available during the sixth annual Best Wings on the Shore. The contest is set for Sunday, Jan. 27, from 123 p.m. at the Crooked Hammock Brewery in Lewes, in partnership with 98.1 FM to support the “Ocean 98 Cash for College Fund.” Tickets are $20, and free to kids 10 and under. There are three categories that guests can vote on: Best Overall, Most Creative and Hottest Wing. Go to ocean98. com for more information.

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THE CITY 34 YOUNG PEOPLE ATTEND MICHELLE OBAMA’S ‘BECOMING’ BOOK TOUR IN PHILADELPHIA

WILMINGTON POLICE DEPARTMENT RECEIVES PROJECT SAFE NEIGHBORHOODS AWARD

M

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ayor Purzycki sent 34 young people from Wilmington to Philadelphia last month to see former First Lady Michelle Obama at the Wells Fargo Center, a stop on her nationwide tour to promote her new book, “Becoming.” The Mayor used free tickets he received from Mrs. Obama’s office and arranged the transportation for the young people and their chaperones.

“When the former First Lady’s office contacted me offering free tickets, I knew we had to make this a special night for some of Wilmington’s youngest fans of Mrs. Obama,” said Mayor Purzycki. “This was a wonderful opportunity for them to hear about the life of a living historical figure that they knew about and admired.” The Mayor added he is most appreciative of the former First Lady for making the tickets available to the youth from Wilmington.

40 JANUARY 2019 | OUTANDABOUTNOW.COM

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT...

he Wilmington Police Dept. received one of 16 Project Safe Neighborhoods awards given at the 2018 Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) National Conference. These awards recognize individuals and groups for their dedication and contribution to the success of PSN. “We had a lot of impressive nominees, but even with tough competition, these 16 stood out. I want to thank each one of them for their service and congratulate them on a job well done, “said Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker “We’ve spent the past year and half building and rebuilding connections to people and organizations throughout Wilmington based on our police department’s new operating philosophy that only through strong community engagement will the WPD succeed in its mission to prevent and reduce crime,” said Mayor Mike Purzycki. “I can’t express how proud I am of the progress that Chief Tracy and the men and women of the WPD have made in promoting and encouraging community engagement. That their work is appreciated at home and has now been recognized at a national level confirms we are on the right track to creating safer neighborhoods and a stronger City.”

The Project Safe Neighborhoods Award for Outstanding Local Police/Sheriff Department Involvement went to the Wilmington Police largely for their efforts in the Mayor’s West Center City project, the heart of Delaware’s PSN efforts. WPD also established a “Real Time Crime Center” to support data-driven policing strategies—efforts that have made Wilmington safer for everyone. The WPD has reduced homicides by 33%, shootings by over 70%, burglaries by 31%, and rapes by 100% in the target neighborhood.

A SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT TO OUT & ABOUT MAGAZINE

MIDTERM ACCOMPLISHMENTS Mayor Mike Purzycki

I

t’s been two years since I had the honor of being sworn in as your Mayor, so it is a good time to reflect on the state of our City, what we’ve accomplished and what we still need to do over the next two years. So far, we’ve worked hard to put our city on the right path — a path to being a safer City, strengthening our neighborhoods, a path to attracting business, with new jobs and vitally needed tax revenues, and a path, above all, of inclusion and shared prosperity. While we still face a number of challenges, we have much to be optimistic about. In our quest to make Wilmington a safer, cleaner, stronger, more caring and more efficient City, we are making great strides: • Clean, safe, and prosperous neighborhoods – From our West Center City Stabilization Project and Beautiful City initiative to the Purpose Built revitalization of Riverside and the South Wilmington Wetlands Project, we’re rebuilding and preserving communities all across Wilmington.

• A safer city – Police Chief Robert Tracy has implemented data driven policing, directed patrols, and much improved community engagement, which has resulted in more officers on the streets and a significant and dramatic decrease in crime, including homicides and shootings. Serious crime is down by double digits and our public safety improvements mean that Wilmington is safer now than it has been over the past decade.

• A strong economy, jobs – Not only are Downtown and the Riverfront thriving, welcoming new restaurants, hotels and residents at a remarkable clip, businesses such as Carvertise, Wilmington Brew Works, Campanella’s Auto & Tire Center, the Delaware Blue Coats, and Light Action Productions’ Film, TV and Movie Soundstage continue to move into the City while we look for new ways to help individuals find work and train our youth for the careers of the future.

• Clean parks, more beautiful public spaces – We continue to work with a variety of partners to revitalize and improve upon our many parks and open spaces, including the rehabilitation of Rodney Square, the City’s main park, as well as three West Side play grounds and improvements to east side parks, as well improvements to Barbara Hicks and Helen Chambers parks and a new Downtown Community Garden.

A SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT TO OUT & ABOUT MAGAZINE

• Recreation, education for youth and adults – Through the Mayor’s Scholarship Awards Program and our 2-year-old HBCU initiative, we have provided hundreds of thousands of dollars to help nearly a thousand high school students pay for college, while at the same time providing new initiatives like Play Streets, Tennis in the Streets, and scores of free sports camps. And this year I presented a plan to revitalize both the Eden Park and Baynard Stadium Sports Complexes which will open additional opportunities for citizens of all ages to enjoy these two great facilities.

• A city government that is fiscally sound and well run – While responsibly addressing looming budget deficits through more responsible spending, we’ve maintained a strong bond rating, and are making progress at improving government efficiency. Much improved customer service throughout the government is our 2019 goal.

• A diversity of cultural offerings – From popular annual events such as the Clifford Brown Jazz Festival and the Blues Festival to holiday traditions like Caroling on the Square to a revitalized Art Loop to all manner of events, festivals, competitions, and institutions, Wilmington has an abundance of cultural riches for a city our size.

• Better technology – By improving our social media presence, and launching initiatives like Parkmobile, the Southbridge Solar Park, and the new Wilmington Police Department Compstat online crime mapping program, we are making the most of new technology to improve communication and government operations in a variety of areas, even as we look ahead to new projects such a 311 Call Center and LED street lighting throughout the City.

• A city that cares – Whether recognizing and celebrating important collective and individual contributions to our City, or partnering with and supporting those who help our neighbors in need, Wilmington is a proud City that is passionate about its future.

I am honored to serve as Mayor and ask for your support over the next two years as were move forward on our goals. The new “It’s Time” image and promotional campaign we launched in 2018 gives for all citizens to share in our prosperity and tell their story to the world. I am very much looking forward to the next two years of working with you and for you.

JANUARY 2019 | OUTANDABOUTNOW.COM

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13. Justison Landing, Currie Hair, Skin & Nails, CURRIEDAYSPA.COM Veritas Wine & Spirits, VERITASWINESHOP.COM Starbucks on the Riverfront Riverfront Pets, RIVERFRONTPETS.COM 14. Del Pez Mexican Gastropub, DELPEZMEXICANPUB.COM Goju Training Center, GOJUROBICS.COM 15. Delaware Children’s Museum, DELAWARECHILDRENSMUSEUM.ORG Riverwalk Mini Golf, RIVERWALKMINIGOLF.COM 16. Joe’s Crab Shack, JOESCRABSHACK.COM 17. Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant, IRONHILLBREWERY.COM 18. Public Docks 19. Big Fish Grill, BIGFISHRIVERFRONT.COM

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28. Penn Cinema Riverfront IMAX, PENNCINEMARIVERFRONT.COM 29. CrossFit Riverfront, CFRIVERFRONT.COM 30. The Residences at Harlan Flats, HARLANFLATS.THERESIDENCES.NET 31. Altitude Trampoline Park, ALTITUDEWILMINGTON.COM 32. The Westin Wilmington, WESTINWILMINGTON.COM River Rock Kitchen, RIVERROCKKITCHEN.COM 33. Delaware Humane Association, DEHUMANE.ORG 34. Kalmar Nyckel Shipyard/Fort Christina Park, KALMARNYCKEL.ORG 35. Jack A Markell Bike Trail 36. Constitution Yards Beer Garden, CONSTITUTIONYARDS.COM Horizon Services Riverfront Rink, RIVERFRONTRINK.COM

presented by

January 4 5pm Start Complimentary Shuttle Service (see website)

cityfest A program of the Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs

The Delaware Contemporary

Cab Calloway School of the Arts

Wilmington Public Library

City of Wilmington

The Sold Firm

Delaware History Museum

RIVERFRONT The Delaware Contemporary 200 South Madison St. 656-6466 • decontemporary.org Artist: HALF : HALF: A Draper Experiment by Willie Yao. HALF : HALF debuts ten sitespecific pieces of paintings, video, and other media installations that explore Yao’s discovery of his own identity and lifestyle as an urban citizen. Figurative and deeply individualistic, Yao invites the observer to ask questions about their own dynamic identity, psychology, and life experiences.

DOWNTOWN Christina Cultural Arts Center 705- 707 N. Market St. 429-0101 • ccacde.org Artist: Joseph Repetti “”Music Icons”” Art is my religion, creating is every day, and I’m fortunate to work with young minds that will shape our world. This exhibit features a collection of some of Repetti’s favorite musicians throughout history.

City of Wilmington Louis L. Redding Gallery 800 N. French St. 576-2135 Artist: Timmy Graham Large-scale, mythological paintings

by Philadelphia-based artist Timmy Graham. Graham takes fourth dimensionalism on a color journey as he fuses math and science with art in his massive oil paintings. Inspired by the theory of relativity, color relates to measured distances on the electromagnetic spectrum as every brushstroke becomes an individual plane.

Delaware History Museum 505 N. Market Street 655-7161 Artists: “Delaware: One State, Many Stories” The exhibition introduces the state’s history through a number of important topics. Delaware’s immigrant history, its maritime heritage, deep roots in agriculture, Wilmington’s evolution from an industrial hub to a financial center, its role on the war front and at home, and the many cultural and artistic contributions envelope visitors in First State history.

Wilmington Public Library 10 East 10th Street 571-7400 Artists: “ Pacem In Terris - Traveling Peace Youth Art Exhibit The exhibit provides an opportunity for all of us to learn from our younger citizens what the world should be like. The art answers such questions as “what does a peaceful world look like,” and “what should us older citizens be working towards?”

The Sold Firm 800-B N. Tatnall Street 689-3237 • thesoldfirm.com Artist: Lvon Yoder “Micro Orcim“ The splatter abstract artist presents a solo show focused on his smallest artwork.

WEST END Cab Calloway School of the Arts 100 N. Dupont Rd. • 651-2700 cabcallowayschool.org Artist: Performances: the Brandywine Photo Collective Before he was a photographer, Ansel Adams (1902-1984) was a gifted pianist. As a photographer, Adams continued to think in musical terms, that each print made in the darkroom was a performance.

In this exhibit, nine of its members explore Adams’ idea. Here you will see how each photographer interpreted their own image and how it was interpreted by three other members.

Delaware Center for Horticulture 1810 N. Dupont Street 658-6262 Artist: “Abstracticus” by Hillary Pease Hillary Cissell Pease was born and raised on Florida’s space coast. She studied linguistics at the University of Florida and graduated with highest honors, while pursuing painting and photography in her spare time.

She became serious about abstract photography in the years following, exhibiting both locally and nationally while living in Richmond, Virginia.

After moving to Wilmington, Delaware she began to study painting under Eo Omwake. Since then, she has begun to exhibit her abstract paintings in local galleries and art shows.

Next Art Loop Wilmington: February 1, 2019

ArtLoopWilmington.org

TICKETS AS LOW A S

$25

FEBRUARY 6-24, 2019 A NEW ADAPTATION Group (10+) & student discounts available

by George Bernard Shaw adapated by Chelsea Marcantel directed by Bud Martin

A French country girl finds herself on trial for her life after the nation’s rulers become threatened by her influence and popularity. With mysterious visions of saints inspiring her to help recover France from English domination, she paves the way for victory. Starring Clare O’Malley from Hetty Feather and Something Wicked This Way Comes, this epic, transcendent story brings renewed life to one of history’s greatest heroines as she pushes the boundaries of a society dominated by political and religious forces.

200 WATER STREET / WILMINGTON, DE 19801 / 302.594.1100 / DELAWARETHEATRE.ORG This organization is supported, in part, by a grant from the Delaware Division of the Arts, a state agency, in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts. The Division promotes Delaware arts events on www.DelawareScene.com

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Photo Alessandra Nicole

WATCH

Delaware Art Museum Family Second Sundays offer activities for youth from newborn on up and their families.

WHAT’S WORTH TRYING IN THE NEW YEAR? Discover the Arts in 2019

By Michelle Kramer-Fitzgerald

A

s we make our New Year resolutions (of which I’m not really a fan, by the way), I’d like to offer a few items for consideration.

Why not make 2019 the year to discover the Arts in our community? The suggestions below should be more easily achieved than training for a marathon, and they’re certainly more fun than giving up sweets.

Have a happy New Year…by getting out and discovering Art Worth Trying!

Discover Visual Arts — Delaware Art Museum, The Delaware Contemporary & Art Loop Wilmington Last month, the Delaware Art Museum happily announced a $1 million gift from the DuPont Company that will underwrite the museum’s Free Sundays program. “Free Sundays Presented by DuPont” offers individuals and families the opportunity to experience the museum’s works as well as interactive arts experiences free of charge. So that more families can benefit, the museum is moving more programming to Sundays, such as its annual Chinese New Year celebration and Korean Festival. Beginning this month, on Jan. 13, “Family Second Sundays” will kick off, with activities for youth from newborn on up and their families. The Sunday schedule is a full day of programming with songs, story time, tours, a “lunch bunch” and plenty of art creation. The Museum is also free on Thursday evenings from 4 to 8. Find more information at delart.org.

Another free opportunity to soak in some incredible works— not only from continually rotating exhibitions but also 26 inhouse studio artists—is at The Delaware Contemporary, where admission is always free (although a suggested donation of $12 for adults and $6 for kids under 13 is appreciated). More information on visits and tours can be found at decontemporary.org For more than 30 years now, Wilmington’s Art Loop has channeled energy into our city and shined a light on the treasuretrove of visual artists in Wilmington and beyond. Whether you walk to downtown venues like Christina Cultural Arts Center, Chris White Gallery and DCAD; hit West End places like Howard Pyle Studio or the Bike Lane Café; or venture out of the city limits to Bellefonte Arts or Talleyville Frame Shoppe & Gallery, “The Loop” is a great way to discover new artists and maybe even get your feet wet as an art buyer.

Many venues also host complimentary artist receptions, where you can chat with the creators in person and enjoy a glass of wine (or punch) while you admire their work. Some of my favorite artists discovered during Art Loop travels include Yakime Akela Brown, Su Horty, Smashed Label, Terrence Vann, Rick Hidalgo, Wendy Mitchell and Lauren Peters.

Best of all, Art Loop Wilmington is free, family-friendly and happens regularly on the first Friday of every month. Information on dates and venues can be found at artloopwilmington.org. ► JANUARY 2019 | OUTANDABOUTNOW.COM

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WATCH

Photo courtesy Fearless Improv

WHAT’S WORTH TRYING IN THE NEW YEAR? continued from previous page

Fearless Improv performs monthly through April at The Grand Opera House.

Discover Comedy with Fearless Improv Live comedy is alive and well in downtown Wilmington, and no one serves it up better than City Theater Company’s own Fearless Improv. They begin the New Year with monthly shows running this month through April in the cozy Sarah Bernhardt Salon of The Grand Opera House. Grab a seat on a comfy couch and watch as Fearless performs short-form skits, made up on the fly, and interactive games where the audience can play a part. Their fast-paced hilarity is something you really should see. Every performance is different, and you never know how the subject (or the night) will end. For tickets and dates, visit thegrandwilmington.org.

Discover Theater — Delaware Theatre Company & Bootless Stageworks Delaware has a wealth of content for theater lovers to enjoy, but perhaps you’re not quite ready to commit to a full two-hour, music-costumes-and-lights production. There are still interesting options to discover in local theater houses presenting stage readings. A stage reading is a form of theater without sets or full costumes, often done to “try out” a new piece.

Actors, who read from scripts, may be seated or have minimal movements. Sometimes a narrator may accompany or read stage directions.

Delaware Theatre Company hosts a stage reading of playwright Jeff Cohen’s The Soap Myth on Thursday, Jan. 24. This play stars Ed Asner and Tovah Feldshuh, and follows a journalist trying to uncover the truth around Holocaust rumors—namely, did the Nazis make soap from corpses of their murdered Jewish victims? Tickets can be purchased at delawaretheatre.org.

Connecting with their audiences is the goal of Bootless Stageworks’ Community Conversations series—which began in December with Neil Bartlett’s Stella—scheduled to return in February and May. The events feature a reading followed by an open discussion with the cast, moderator and audience members. For details, visit bootless.org.

I’ve also heard that City Theater Company has a few planned readings of new works from regional playwrights to announce on its spring schedule. Check out those details later this month on city-theater.org.

50 JANUARY 2019 | OUTANDABOUTNOW.COM

Photo The Music School of Delaware

The Music School of Delaware offers classes for adults.

Discover Your Talent — Christina Cultural Arts Center & The Music School of Delaware Both of these longstanding Wilmington arts institutions are often thought of as catering only to the young. But in truth, they have plenty of opportunities for the young at heart. January marks new semesters for both organizations and with it, new classes and lessons to explore, a new talent to discover or a chance to re-ignite a long-forgotten passion.

And both offer private lessons for adults in a number of instruments, including piano, guitar and voice.

Christina offers adult dance classes in genres such as modern, jazz, praise and African dance, and all are available as a “drop-in” option for as little as $8 per class.

A variety of community-driven classes are open to adults as well, like Women’s Self Defense, a vocal improvisation class called Circle Songs led by local musician Noelle Picara (both available as a $10 “drop-in”) and an adult-focused Narrative Writing class. For a full schedule of programming, visit ccacde.org.

The Music School’s group classes for adults include an Adult Rock Band and Group Cello Class. In addition, the school presents a monthly $10 “drop-in” series called Classical Café, where music enthusiasts gather with faculty artists to discuss a range of musical subjects.

Scheduled January through April, Café topics include explorations of Irish/ Scottish folk music and the music of Bob Dylan. For details on these and other adult-oriented programs, visit musicschoolofdelaware.org.

JANUARY 2019 | OUTANDABOUTNOW.COM

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WATCH

18 MOVIES OF WORTH FROM 2018 Nine worth trying, three worth repeating, three worth waiting for and three worth avoiding

By Mark Fields

WORTH TRYING A Star is Born A well-traveled movie story gets new life with solid performances and terrific music from Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper (who also directed).

BlacKkKlansman The incredible true story of a black cop in 1970s Colorado Springs who successfully infiltrates the Klan. True to form for director Spike Lee: both clever and poignant.

Eighth Grade Startlingly genuine glimpse of middle school anguish through the eyes of a thoroughly awkward girl trying to fit in and get by.

Hearts Beat Loud Sweet-tempered comedy starring Nick Offerman and breakout star Kiersey Clemons as a father and daughter rock band in the midst of life changes.

Isle of Dogs Stop-motion animated tale of dogs struggling to survive in a futuristic fantasy version of Japan; only for those who have bravely acquired a taste for the offbeat filmmaking of Wes Anderson.

Leave No Trace Quiet but impactful drama about a single-dad veteran and his precocious daughter choosing to live off the grid in the Pacific Northwest. Written and directed by Debra Granik (Winter’s Bone).

Private Life Tamara Jenkins (The Savages) directs Kathryn Hahn and Paul Giamatti as a fortyish couple undergoing treatments for infertility, putting unexpected stress on their marriage. â–ş

JANUARY 2019 | OUTANDABOUTNOW.COM

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WATCH 18 MOVIES OF WORTH FROM 2018 continued from previous page

Sorry To Bother You A directionless young African-American man finds unexpected success and affluence as a telemarketer when he learns to use a “white voice” in his sales call. Gonzo satire with a wicked smile on its face.

Won’t You Be My Neighbor?

Refreshingly straightforward documentary on the career of Fred Rogers, whose long-running television show made him a teacher and idol to generations of American children.

WORTH REPEATING Black Panther, the most mature and satisfying superhero movie in memory, with compelling characters and an exhortation of black culture.

Incredibles 2, a Pixar sequel that blends superhero homage with a touch of commentary on gender roles.

Paddington 2, an animated comedy about a sweet-natured teddy bear that blends humor and adventure.

WORTH WAITING FOR (opening after deadline) The Favourite, an unconventional take on the reign of England’s Queen Anne with a trio of female stars: Olivia Colman, Rachel Weisz and Emma Stone.

Mary Poppins Returns, the eagerly-awaited sequel to the Disney classic, with Emily Blunt as the prim governess and Lin Manuel Miranda in support.

Recline ON THE

RIVERFRONT showtimes and tickets at

www.penncinema.com 54 JANUARY 2019 | OUTANDABOUTNOW.COM

If Beale Street Could Talk, the Barry Jenkins follow-up to his Oscar winner (Moonlight); a searing drama of a Harlem couple threatened by a false accusation.

WORTH AVOIDING Life Itself, multi-story drama with all-star cast makes fatal mistake of believing in its own profundity.

Peppermint, depraved revenge actioner starring Jennifer Garner. What was she thinking?!

The 15:17 to Paris, dramatization of heroic French train rescue using the real-life heroes who resoundingly prove they are not trained actors.

WORTH TRYING INDIE FILMS Soon-to-be released and released in late 2018

By Beverly Zimmermann Cold War – Written and directed by Pawel Pawlikowski (Ida, My Summer of Love), this story is set against the background of the Cold War in the 1950s in Poland, Berlin, Yugoslavia and Paris. The film depicts a passionate love story between two people of different backgrounds and temperaments who are fatefully mismatched. (in Polish, B & W) Roma – Written and directed by Alfonso Cuarón (Gravity, Children of Men, Y Tu Mamá También), this film chronicles a year in the life of a middle-class family in Mexico City in the early 1970s. A Netflix film, it was excluded from the Cannes Film Festival since it was made for a “streaming” platform. Cuarón and Netflix reluctantly agreed to show the film in theaters, so it can compete in film festivals. (in Spanish, B & W) All is True – Written by Kenneth Branagh, this was a limited release in late December.

Starring Branagh, Judi Dench and Ian McKellen, it’s a look at the final days in the life of William Shakespeare. (In iambic pentameter [just kidding]) The Heiresses (Jan. 16 limited release) – Chela and Chiquita are both descended from wealthy families in Asunción and have been together for more than 30 years. Recently their financial situation has worsened, and they begin selling off their inherited possessions. But when their debts lead to Chiquita being imprisoned on fraud charges, Chela is forced to face a new reality. Driving for the first time in years, she begins to provide a taxi service to a group of elderly wealthy ladies (from Paraguay).

Everybody Knows (Feb. 8 release) – From writer/director Asghar Farhadi (About Elly, The Salesman, A Separation), this film stars Penélope Cruz, Javier Bardem and Ricardo Darin.

Laura, a Spanish woman living in Buenos Aires, returns to her hometown outside Madrid with her two children to attend her sister's wedding. The trip is marred by unexpected events that bring secrets into the open. (in Spanish) Under the Eiffel Tower (Feb. 8 limited release) – Stuart is a having a mid-life crisis.

Desperate for something more in life, he tags along on his best friend's family vacation to Paris, then proposes to his friend's 24-year-old daughter, Rosalind, while standing under the Eiffel Tower.

Birds of Passage (Feb. 13 limited release) – This highly acclaimed film is a crime epic, spanning generations, like The Godfather or Scarface, and focusing on two rival gangs who get into the marijuana growing and exporting business. The two indigenous Colombian families begin a violent drug war that ends up destroying their lives and their culture. (from Columbia).

JANUARY 2019 | OUTANDABOUTNOW.COM

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NEW HOME FOR REVELATION BREWING

PIZZA PARTY AT PAINTED STAVE

P

ainted Stave Distilling in Smyrna is teaming up with Pizza By Elizabeths in Greenville on Saturday, Jan. 19, for Pizza and Cocktails. The event starts at 5 p.m., although guests are urged to show up 20 minutes early to sign in. There will be four kinds of pizza from Pizza by Elizabeths, and they will be paired with four cocktails provided by Painted Stave. The event is $27 and is only offered to guests ages 21 and over. Search on eventbrite.com for details and to purchase tickets.

S

ussex County-based Revelation Craft Brewing has acquired the former site of 16 Mile Brewing in Georgetown and will move its operations there in early 2019. Plans call for the location to open as a brewery with a tasting room in the spring.

Revelation also plans to offer meeting/ reception space for rent and will equip the facility with a kitchen. The new location will increase Revelation’s capacity as it eyes greater distribution in Kent and New Castle counties. Co-owner Frank Metcalfe said Revelation is also considering opening a brewpub in the Middletown area.

4TH OF JULY PAINTING AND GROWLER

D

ew Point Brewery and Delaware artist Larry Anderson are collaborating for the annual Hockessin Fourth of July celebration and parade. The brewery is creating a new brew in honor of the event, which has been around for more than 25 years. Anderson has painted an 8-by-10-inch image, on sale for $20, that also will appear on the growlers serving the brew. Dew Point and Barry’s Events, the Hockessin 4th of July producer, are planning a reveal event in early April. But certificates—good for a filled growler—are on sale now for $40 and can be redeemed when the brew goes on sale in April.

DOGFISH HEAD INTRODUCES A WHISKEY

F

or the first times in its 23 years, Dogfish Head Brewery is introducing a “full-proof experimental whiskey.”

Named Alternate Takes: Volume One, it’s described as a “medium-bodied malt whiskey, tawny amber in color with slight smoke, and has a green apple and sweet candied nut finish.” Alternate Takes: Volume One was brewed, distilled and aged in barrels previously used for Dogfish Heads’ Barrel Honey Rum.

POKER NIGHT(S) AT MIDNIGHT OIL BREWING COMPANY

P LAST BREATH

B

rimming Horn Meadery in Milton is partnering with the Chicagobased band Huntsmen to create a new drink based on the Huntsmen’s album American Scrap, which was released last year. The drink, named Last Breath, is “a tart cherry mead aged in smoked single malt whisky barrels for six months and then bottled in 375-milliliter moonshine bottles” to match the spirit of the Huntsmen’s album. This is the sixth collaboration Brimming Horn Meadery has done with different bands. To try the new mead, head over to Brimming Horn’s mead hall or buy online at brimminghornmeadery.com.

lay poker for free Wednesday, Jan. 2, and Wednesday, Jan. 9, at Midnight Oil Brewing (674 Pencader Dr., Newark). The games get underway at 6 p.m. and each player will start with complimentary chips, with bonus chips for those who arrive early and sample a Midnight Oil brew. The evenings are hosted by Resort Poker League and Bar Poker Open. For more information, visit MidnightOilBrewing.com.

WILMINGTON BREW WORKS: FAMILY-FRIENDLY

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ilmington Brew Works, the renovated chemical lab on Miller Road in Wilmington, offers a selection of non-alcoholic beverages along with a food truck every day of operation (Wednesday through Sunday). You can even bring the kids! Check the website at wilmingtonbrewworks.com to see which food truck is scheduled. Rob Pfeiffer, former head brewer at Twin Lakes, is now the head brewer at WBW. JANUARY 2019 | OUTANDABOUTNOW.COM

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58 JANUARY 2019 | OUTANDABOUTNOW.COM

302.482.3333 • ChelseaTavern.com 821 N. Market St., Wilmington, DE 19801

LISTEN

The Cocks – (L-R) Phil Young, Pete Romano and Mark Stallard– perform on the stage they built at the Jackson Inn.

StaginG a cOmEBAck The Jackson Inn was nearly sold. Then a local band stepped in to add a feature that has given it new life.

By Kevin Noonan Photos by Matt Urban

a

fter 50 years, two heart attacks, a case of diabetes and too many lean times, Fred Bourdan had had enough. He was finally ready to sell the historic and iconic Jackson Inn, which had been in his family for four generations.

“Then I got rejuvenated,” he says. “Then I got a new lease on life.”

That lease came courtesy of a local band, The Cocks, a New Castle-based group that used to play occasional gigs at the tavern at the corner of Lancaster Pike and DuPont Road. They loved playing there and one day approached Bourdan with an idea – let them build a stage and hold open mic nights once a week and see if live music could help boost business.

And Bourdan says it has – beyond his wildest dreams.

“I never imagined I would see something like this,” he says. “It’s

such an amazing feeling to see so many people here and see how much fun they’re having. But I certainly can’t take any of the credit.

It all goes to those guys.”

Those guys—The Cocks—consist of Mark Stallard (guitar), Phil Young (guitar and bass) and Pete Romano (drums). And not only did they come up with the idea for the corner stage, they actually built it themselves, with lumber that Bourdan purchased after a friend, Steve Ganzler, donated $500 to the project.

“It’s just such a great place and has so much atmosphere, we thought it would be perfect as a place where local musicians could get together and just play for the fun of it,” Romano says. “There just aren’t many places like that around here, and the response has been great, even better than we hoped.” ► JANUARY JUNE 2019 2017 | OUTANDABOUTNOW.COM

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State Line Liquors

STAGING A COMEBACK continued from previous page

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the local musical community, The Cocks (thecocksonline.com) even allow open mic musicians to use their gear, and different members of The Cocks will even grab their instruments and back up the musicians if they request it.

“Musicians have a special community, because we know how hard it is to find gigs and make some kind of a living off of it,” Stallard says. “There’s a bond we share and that’s been evident with this [open mic on the new stage].”

And everyone agrees that the Jackson Inn has a unique vibe that makes playing live music there special, even though that vibe is worn and faded.

“You can feel the history in this place and the acoustics are also great,” says Young, who also has a solo recording out (go to philyoungsongs.com for more information). “The fact that this place hasn’t changed in decades is great and gives it a special feeling that you just don’t get in most places that are kind of sterile.

It’s still basically a dive, and I mean that as a compliment.”

The history dates back to 1820, when the Jackson Inn was a stop-over for freight drivers on the road between Lancaster and Wilmington. They would pull over their Conestoga wagons for a bite to eat or a few libations. It was named after president Andrew Jackson, who stopped there in 1828 during his presidential campaign.

And how many bars in Wilmington can say that Andrew Jackson was a customer?

Razed and Rebuilt in ‘59 It stayed that way until 1959, when Lancaster Avenue and DuPont Road were widened to accommodate the growing traffic of post-World War II Wilmington.

The original building was razed and the new one erected on the old parking lot.

Little has changed since then— actually, nothing had changed until The Cocks approached Bourdan with the idea of building the stage. He liked the idea— after all, he had nothing to lose—and his only concern was losing booths where the stage would be erected. But when The Cocks told him they could simply move the booths to an empty wall space, the owner was convinced.

DO YOU HAVE THE

NOT WHAT I WANTED FOR

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Fred Bourdan has owned the Jackson Inn for 50 years.

302.510.9429

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“After that, I just left it in their hands,” says Bourdan, who is also a professional photographer (contact him at freddiebourdan1@ gmail.com). “I told them to do whatever they want, because I did what I could for 50 years and it just wasn’t enough. I thought the Jackson Inn had seen it all, but what these guys have done is amazing. It’s such a wonderful feeling to see this place packed again, and I know those people are here for the music.”

One of those people is Brian Gillespie, a 37-year-old from Newark. He heard about the open mic night from a friend and decided to check it out. And now he says he’ll be back.

“There’s just no place around here to hear good, live music like this, where the musicians are creating on the spot,” he says. “I used to go to the jam sessions at the Bottle and Cork [in Dewey Beach] when I was younger, and that was fun. But most of the people were there just to drink and party and the music was secondary.

Here, the music is the main attraction and the audience is much more attentive and respectful toward the musicians. I love it.”

Bartender Eva Hughes has worked at the Jackson Inn for, as she puts it, “forever,” and, like any good bartender, she knows all the regulars by name. The bigger crowds have forced her to learn a lot more names, not to mention work a lot harder, but she also loves it.

“This has been unbelievable,” she says. “And the best part is that so many of these new customers are younger. We’ve always had a loyal group of people who came here, but to see so many new faces is just amazing. And you have to give all the credit to The Cocks. They’re just regular guys who love music and helping other musicians, and that’s been the real key to this.

When people come here, whether it’s to play or just listen, they’re treated with respect.”

And that has given Bourdan—who was ready to close the book on the Jackson Inn—a new perspective on his family’s historic property.

“Now,” he says, “I want to see how the story ends.”

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The Stone Shakers – (L-R) Kevin Walsh, Ritchie Rubini, Pete Cogan, Samantha Poole and Tony Cappella.

SHAKIN’ IT UP

With a who’s who lineup of local musicians and a 'casual synergy,' the Stone Shakers have found a growing audience

By Kevin Francis Photos by Joe del Tufo

T

he local music scene is a living organism, with musicians and singers shifting between bands, forging new ideas and new sounds. And many of these troubadours hold positions in numerous bands simultaneously, thus deepening their pedigrees.

One such is the Stone Shakers, featuring the chanteuse Samantha Poole on vocals and “a bunch of grizzled old musical vets,” according to guitarist and mandolin player Kevin Walsh, who, like the rest of the band, has a few decades on Poole. Indeed, the band is a literal who’s who of the local music scene stretching back more than 40 years.

Alongside Poole and Walsh is Tony Cappella on bass, Ritchie Rubini on percussion and Pete Cogan on harmonica. With a collective resume that includes local legendary bands such as Montana Wildaxe, The Snap, Vinyl Shockley, and The Bullets, with

whom Cogan is a frequent guest performer, their musical chops are beyond reproach. Everyone sings, too, with the exception of Cogan, who says, “You don’t want to hear me sing.”

Their self-titled CD was released in October, with a cover shot by local photographer Joe del Tufo, who has a strong connection to the Delaware music scene. It was produced, recorded and mixed

by Ian Walsh, a producer and songwriter with Pulse Music Group, based in Los Angeles, who is also with the band Bel Heir (RCA Records). He also happens to be Kevin Walsh’s son.

“The new EP has done really well,” says the elder Walsh. “The single ‘All My Best Years’ has been added to maybe a dozen member playlists on Spotify. Last time I checked we had well over 4,000 monthly listeners from all over the U.S. and internationally.” ► JANUARY 2019 | OUTANDABOUTNOW.COM

63

JANUARY MUSIC at Kelly’s Logan House

LISTEN SHAKIN' IT UP continued from previous page

Look for these great bands upstairs!

FRIDAY, 1/04 Bad N Ruin - 10 p.m.

SATURDAY, 1/05

The Thieves - 10 p.m.

FRIDAY, 1/11 Click - 10 p.m.

SATURDAY, 1/12 The Way Outs - 10 p.m.

FRIDAY, 1/18 Reverse Giraffe - 10 p.m.

SATURDAY, 1/19 Chorduroy - 10 p.m.

FRIDAY, 1/25

Kris V and Richie D with drums - 10 p.m.

SATURDAY, 1/26 Cherry Crush Band - 10 p.m.

1701 Delaware Ave. Wilmington, DE 19806 (302) 652-9493

LOGANHOUSE.COM Bands and times subject to change.

64 JANUARY 2019 | OUTANDABOUTNOW.COM

The EP has done "really well," according to Kevin Walsh.

GREAT FEEDBACK ON EP

Adds Poole: “We have had great feedback on the EP so far.

We’ve had listeners from all over the country. We’ve even had a good amount of listeners in Canada, the Philippines and Australia.”

“I view the CD as being an extension of what the band does live,” says Rubini.

“Not bad for a little ol' band from Delaware,” adds Walsh. “But the best feedback comes from our friends and peers, all of whom are really digging the EP.” The band’s origin is a case of circumstance and familiarity.

“Tony, Ritchie and I always seem to find ourselves working together,” says Walsh. “We also like taking chances and prefer musical environments that are fun. And we actually enjoy hanging out with each other. So why not start a band?”

“We all seem to be in an incestuous relationship with each other as musicians,” Rubini says, “playing in different situations, but the same players.”

“We had met Samantha through Ben LeRoy when we sat in at one of Ben’s monthly gigs at Pizza By Elizabeths, where she was singing,” says Cappella. “Kevin and I discussed asking her if she had any interest in connecting with us.”

Says Walsh: “We did worry that, when faced with this offer from a bunch of grizzled old musical vets, if she would turn and run. But surprisingly, Sam said yes.”

“I was hesitant to say yes only due to timing,” says Poole, “but I didn’t want to pass up the opportunity to play with some of the best musicians in Delaware. Who could pass that up?”

At that point the band was a four-piece ensemble, playing gigs and posing for the requisite publicity photos. But even when this much talent and experience is brought together, it sometimes pays to get a little greedy on the instrumentation end. Enter Pete Cogan.

“I sat in with the band during a gig at Twin Lakes Brewery,” says Cogan. “Kevin came up to me and said, ‘You know, Pete, you’re welcome to stop by and sit in anytime you want,’ to which I responded, ‘You know, Kevin, I could hear myself playing in this band.’”

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Everyone in the band contributes the occasional vocal, except Pete Cogan (left). "You don't want to hear me sing," he says.

GROWTH AND VARIETY

“Pete was the icing on the cake and everyone said come on in,” says Walsh. “But then,” he laughs, “it took us a year to update the band picture.”

Musical performers, like other artists, run the risk of repeating themselves, of getting stale, so growth and variety help to keep things fresh. This is not lost on the band, which is why it’s not unusual at a Stone Shakers gig to hear interpretations of AC/DC, John Prine, KT Tunstall, Bob Dylan, Prince, The Rolling Stones, Nancy Sinatra and myriad other styles mixed in with original cuts.

Poole says she has been told her vocals “sound like a mix between Susan Tedeschi and Carol King with a little Miranda Lambert thrown in. I take that as a compliment.”

It’s the casual synergy of the band Cappella enjoys. “The approach to the songwriting and the total lack of ego in this band is pretty unique,” he says. “Either that or we all have such huge egos that they cancel each other out when we’re together.”

“When we formed the band we really tossed the playbook out the window,” says Walsh. “We've been in so many bands that are usually defined musically by their instrumentation.

We said, let's use an acoustic guitar and mandolin, an upright bass, a cajón (‘It's a wooden box you sit on and hit with your hands all night,’ says Rubini. ‘Ouch!’), and a harmonica and play every genre and style of music. No boundaries. No covers, just interpretations. We can play funk, country, soul, rock, pop, salsa etc.—and we make sure we work in some original music.”

Cogan has his typical impish assessment: “We take popular songs and play them with the wrong instruments and change the feel of everything.”

With 2018 in the books, the band looks forward to 2019 and beyond. “I would like to see our sound and live presentation continue to evolve,” says Walsh, while Cappella adds that he is looking forward to expanding their territory into new venues.

Writing new songs, with a possible new album on the horizon, is in their sights.

With an international listening audience, an encyclopedic song repertoire, and a well-received CD, the New Year is shaping up well for the Stone Shakers. Not bad for a little ol’ band from Delaware.

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www.KrestonWines.com JANUARY 2019 | OUTANDABOUTNOW.COM

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TUNED IN Not-to-be-missed music news 2019 DELAWARE VALLEY BLUEGRASS FESTIVAL LINEUP

The lineup for the 48th annual Delaware Valley Bluegrass Festival, set for Aug. 30 through Sept. 1 at the Salem County Fairgrounds in Woodstown, N.J., has been announced. Featured artists include: Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder; The Becky Buller Band; The Travelin’ McCourys; Darin & Brooke Aldridge; Danny Paisley & Southern Glass; Special Consensus; The Kathy Kallick Band, and more. To see the full lineup and get tickets, visit delawarevalleybluegrass.org.

Photo Elias Muhammad

DARCI COMES TO THE STATE FAIR

America’s Got Talent season 12 winner Darci Lynne Farmer will perform at the 2019 Delaware State Fair. Farmer is a 14-year-old from Oklahoma who is both a singer and a ventriloquist. She is the third child winner as well as the third female and third ventriloquist. Her performance at the annual fair in Harrington will be Wednesday, July 24, at 8 p.m. Tickets, ranging from $20-$30, can be purchased at delawarestatefair.com.

LEYLA MCCALLA TO VISIT ARDEN

Deeply influenced by Creole, Cajun and Haitian music, Leyla McCalla will play the Arden Gild Hall on Saturday, Jan. 12. She will appear with a full band and will perform many numbers from her upcoming album, Capitalist Blues. A Haitian-American who now calls New Orleans home, McCalla’s first album was named Album of the Year by The London Sunday Times and Songlines Magazine in 2014. She sings in French, Haitian, Creole and English and plays the cello, tenor banjo and guitar. Singer-songwriter Kipyn Martin opens for her. Showtime is 8 p.m. and tickets are $15 for Arden Gild Members, $20 nonmembers. Visit ArdenConcerts.com.

A VISIT BY THE DENTIST

1984 Arcade Bar in Wilmington will welcome the indie surf group Dentist, on Thursday, Jan. 17. The trio, who hail from Asbury Park, New Jersey, released their inaugural album, Night Swimming, in July of 2018. After recently wrapping up a U.S. tour, the band is performing regionally in January. With a cover charge of $5, the show begins at 8 p.m. For more information, visit dentistband.com.

66 JANUARY 2019 | OUTANDABOUTNOW.COM

LISTEN

Worth PICKS OF THE MUSIC VARIETY

MUSIC AT BELLEFONTE CAFE Listening to live music at the Bellefonte Cafe is a lot like inviting professional musicians into your living room. The cafe itself is in a renovated house in Bellefonte. When it was turned into a restaurant, no one knocked any walls down or changed the floor plan of the house, so they really are inviting musicians to play in a living room.

That turns the gig into a much more improvisational event. There's very little separating the musicians from their audience and the two will frequently interact in ways that are decidedly not heckling. It's more like the venue lets the musicians pull the audience deeper into the emotion of the music, but casually.

— Dillon McLaughlin, Contributing Writer

BEASTIE BOYS BOOK If you grew up in the late ‘80s and ‘90s listening to hip-hop, Beastie Boys Book is for you. It’s a trip down memory lane for one of the most iconic bands of the era, and it covers topics from Ron Artest to Zulu Nation. The literary quality won’t garner any sort of Pulitzer-worthy praise, but if you love the way Ad-Rock, MCA and Mike D spun rhymes with abandon, you’ll love this ill communication, too. ($18.50, Amazon) — Rob Kalesse, Contributing Writer

DELAWARE CHILDREN'S THEATRE Seussical is playing throughout the month of January, a perfect time to experience this historic city theater dedicated to classic children’s tales performed by children. Seussical is a musical by Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty based on the children's stories of Dr. Seuss.

— Julie Miro Wenger, Special Events

MUSIC IN KENNETT SQUARE Last January, I wrote about the improving music scene in Delaware. It’s a true blessing to see a similar trend in live music taking place right over the border in Kennett Square. For years, the Kennett Flash has brought a mix of local and touring acts to its intimate stage. Just this past month, the venue showcased Francis Dunnery and Jeffrey Gaines, among others. Similarly, just next door, La Verona has had a relatively long history of hosting bands in its often-crowded bar area.

More recently, the scene has been enhanced by Kennett Brewing Co., whose owners exude a love of music, hospitality and beer. Just down the street, Grain KSQ offers a selection of solo artists, duos and trios, for a more unplugged feel. And to the relief of its many fans, in November The Creamery reopened.

The venue will feature live music year-round—just another reason for Delaware music enthusiasts to make the drive.

— Jim Miller, Director of Publications

RADIO 104.5 FREE CONCERTS One of the coolest things about concerts is that there’s nothing going on except the genuine love of music and being surrounded by people who are just having fun and enjoying the experience with you. Unfortunately, concerts are not always in everyone’s budget. That’s why I love Radio 104.5 FM. The station sponsors free concerts every year, and it’s mind-blowing how easy it is to get tickets via timed ticket downloads or giveaways at events, as well as calling into the station at specific times. Every month, starting in May and going to August, the station hosts Summer Block Parties at Festival Pier in Philly, a full, free day of some awesome music. The Endless Summer Show closes out the season in September. Then, to break up the lull in between, there’s Winter Jawn, at Xfinity Live! which takes place in January. For years, my friends and I have been going to these concerts, and we always have a day to remember.

— Emily Stover, Intern SEPTEMBER JANUARY 2018 2019 | OUTANDABOUTNOW.COM

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PRESENTED BY

March 2, 2019 Don’t miss out on Light Up the Queen (LUQ) Foundation annual concert that brings over 50 local musicians together on one stage to benefit music education for children, young adults and the community. Come experience one night as if you were in the year 1969.

TH A NK YOU TO OU R S PONSORS !

lightupthequeen.org/shinealight

50 JULY 2017 | OUTANDABOUTNOW.COM

SAL0n1969_TicketsOnSale-OA-fullpg-Dec2018 v2.indd 1

12/21/18 11:00 AM

PLAY PLAY

Mike Little displays his muscial bonafides prior to sitting behind the microphone. Photo Anthony Santoro

MIKE GOES BEHIND THE MIC In the bowels of a building on the UD campus, our writer gets schooled in DJing by WVUD veteran Bill Barnett

By Mike Little

D

isk Jockey!

I’ve wanted to be a fast-talking radio jock since I saw American Graffiti as a kid. Wolfman Jack was the epitome of cool, sitting behind the microphone in that L.A. radio station, eating popsicles, making all those hot-rodding teens happy by playing the songs they wanted to hear.

But I never thought I’d make my fantasy a reality until I met Bill Barnett, who hosts a Saturday afternoon show at University of Delaware radio station WVUD. Unlike me, Barnett—a contemporary of mine—is living the disk jockey dream. Granted, he doesn’t get paid, but he loves it just the same, and he’s an inspiration to would-be John DeBellas the world over.

Barnett kindly invited me to join him as a guest on his “Permutations” radio show, which you can hear from 2-4 p.m. on WVUD (which, incidentally, celebrated its 50th anniversary last year) at 91.3 FM.

WVUD’s 6,800 watts of transmitting power doesn’t quite give it the transcontinental reach of legendary (and long defunct) Mexican radio station XERF-AM. According to Wolfman Jack, who made his name there, XERF-AM’s 25,000watt “border blaster” signal caused birds to “drop dead when they flew too near the tower.” I doubt WVUD’s signal could sprain a butterfly’s ankle.

The station’s format is as free-wheeling as radio gets. Tune in and you will hear classical, hillbilly, Eastern Bloc jazz-funk (Barnett dedicated an entire show to the stuff once), along with your usual news, UD sports, and community-oriented public affairs programming.

The all-volunteer DJs at WVUD are not beholden to the almighty playlist, and listening can be every bit as educational as sitting in on one of the university’s music courses—only more fun.

And no one is going to give you an F. ► JANUARY 2019 | OUTANDABOUTNOW.COM

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A NATURAL

Barnett, a 52-year-old Newark resident who works at UD as a systems and data analyst in the Office of Graduate and Professional Education, got his official start as a radio jock when he was an undergraduate at Johns Hopkins University in the 1980s.

He had been nursing the itch since age 8, when he received both his first LP and a portable cassette recorder as Christmas presents. “The album was Mississippi Gambler by Herbie Mann,” Barnett recalls. “I recorded it on to the cassette recorder and between tracks I introduced the songs.” The kid was a natural.

He was soon spending all his money on albums. And he developed the fervor of a missionary, showing up at every party with an armful of vinyl, eager to convert everyone in attendance to the music he loved.

As a 17-year-old freshman at Hopkins, Barnett quickly found his way to the campus radio station, secreted in a dorm basement, where a friendly DJ invited him in to watch and learn. Shortly thereafter he had his own show, which he punningly called “Das Gift der Musik” (“Gift” is the German word for “poison”).

But life—including a stint at the University of Maryland, where he received an MBA in marketing, and subsequent professional and familial responsibilities here in Delaware (he’s married and a father of four)—took him away from his first love.

During these “lost years” Barnett dedicated his time to keeping abreast of new music on the internet and to scratching that messianic itch by writing a musical blog. But listening to new music “was a solitary endeavor,” he says, and writing wasn’t really what he wanted to do. He wanted to create “musical collages” for others to hear, and it was his wife who finally asked, “Why don’t you get your own radio show?”

MIKE GOES BEHIND THE MIC continued from previous page

ESOTERIC GENRE-BENDERS

Six years have passed since Barnett found his way to WVUD and he’s doing exactly what he wants to do—putting together eclectic radio shows. Asked if he has a mission statement, Barnett replies, “I want to introduce people to music they’ve never heard before—to music they don’t know but might like.”

And he means what he says. I write about music and pretend to know a thing or two about the subject, but most of the disks he spins are Greek (in some cases, literally) to me. Barnett’s tastes run toward esoteric genre-benders; he has put the spotlight on Afrojazz, space disco, and Gothic funk (his favorite sub-genre).

Can German trucker anthems be far behind?

And talk about dedication: He spins more than a thousand records every year (I’m speaking metaphorically here; mostly he plays MP3 files, which he burns onto audio CDs and also copies to a USB drive in advance of the show) and never plays the same song twice. That requires both a lot of time and a serious commitment to seeking out new sounds. I wish I were as zealous, or as adventurous.

As for me, I intended to take full advantage of my big radio debut by playing songs by my favorite “singers who don’t sing real good,” and punctuating them with the kind of witty radio patter that would have listeners calling in to tell me how how funny I was.

It didn’t exactly pan out that way. I certainly got the opportunity to play some great “unbearable vocalists,” including Biz Markie, Professor Longhair and Michael Gerald of Killdozer. Talking about them, on the other hand, was a thornier matter.

70 JANUARY 2019 | OUTANDABOUTNOW.COM

NEW

NEW

Photo Anthony Santoro

YEAR

0

$ His mentor by his side, Mike prepares to utter profundities as he stares down the microphone.

Staring down that very expensive-looking microphone in WVUD’s studio in the basement of the Perkins Student Center on UD’s campus was like staring down the barrel of a gun, and I found myself stage-struck on a nonexistent stage . . . and making such insightful comments as “uh . . . great record!”

But Barnett came to the rescue. The radio veteran proved adept at initiating conversations about the music we were playing, and with his gentle prodding I was soon regaling listeners with stories about my interviews with the likes of Ian Hunter and “Handsome Dick” Manitoba of the Dictators. And we both had a lot to say about Grand Funk’s “We’re an American Band,” which we agreed was a hilarious (but still great) landmark in rock history.

I also got the opportunity to vent my disgust with the band Chicago, only to turn around and concede that I love “Only the Beginning.” “But you’ll never hear me admit it on the radio,” I added.

“Except I just did.” And to deliver a lengthy paean to the “shirtless” vocals of Black Oak Arkansas’ Jim “Dandy” Mangrum, who sings the way the legendary (and almost legally blind) Major League fastballer Ryne Duren pitched—namely with no control whatsoever.

I had an ill-founded expectation of heavy caller response, but listener feedback consisted of two base-touchers from Barnett’s mom, who is an avid listener, and a call from a guy requesting Roxy Music. Things got so bad I resorted to blatant bribery, offering to pay five bucks to anybody who would call in. There were no takers.

Perhaps listeners thought I was joking. I wasn’t.

Watching Barnett taught me that being a DJ isn’t all music and merrymaking. There are both FCC and station-mandated responsibilities to be met. The former include, among other things, playing the station’s ID, making transmittal power readings, and initiating tests of the Emergency Broadcasting System. The latter include both playing and reading public service announcements and logging every song played into Spinitron, which sounds like a futuristic form of time-space travel but is actually a subscription service that provides real-time playlisting.

To be honest, I found the detail stuff a bit intimidating, and fortunately I didn’t have to do any of it. But if you’re not a complete mechanical dunce and don’t have a proclivity for dropping f-bombs (WVUD requires that both DJs and songs be G-rated), you too can be a DJ at the station.

As for Barnett, he loves what he’s doing and intends to keep doing it. “I realize that I have exactly the hobby I want and I’m savoring it for as long as it lasts,” he says. Check out his radio show some Saturday, and give him a call. His mother could use some relief.

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UGLY SWEATER CRAWL Photos by Anthony Santoro

1. Alexandria Linanchuk, Robert Swagger, Paul Renaud, Anastasia Likanchuk and Uki Ostretson at Kelly’s Logan House. Bartender Britney Clymer is the photo bomber.

4. Layla Marsten, Mindie Stevenson & Julia Hill are a spirited trio.

2. Melanie Campbell & Adrika Venkatanorayanan in Trolley Square.

6. Ryan Berger and Charlotte Berg at Catherine Rooney’s.

3. Kristen Dennis, Quentina Judon and Lawren Hertzenberg at Kelly’s Logan House.

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5. Corey Olsen, Johnny Sclesky and Ryan Macliegh at Trolley Oyster House.

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