Out & About Magazine - May 2018

Wilmington Grand Prix is May 18-20

A Village in the City?

When Seniors Save the Day

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

REIMAGINING

MEXICAN

CUISINE Area restaurants create a spin on the traditional

MAY 2018 COMPLIMENTARY

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MAY 18-20 Pro Races • Gran Fondo Street Festival • Kids Attractions Live Music • Craft Beer Governor’s Ride

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Out & About Magazine Vol. 31 | No. 3

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

Mailing & business address: 307 A Street, Wilmington, DE 19801 Publisher Gerald duPhily • jduphily@tsnpub.com

43

Director of Publications Jim Hunter Miller • jmiller@tsnpub.com Contributing Editor Bob Yearick • ryearick@comcast.net Senior Editor & Media Manager Krista Connor • kconnor@tsnpub.com Creative Director & Production Manager Matthew Loeb, Catalyst Visuals, LLC. matt@catvis.biz Graphic Designer Tyler Mitchell, Catalyst Visuals, LLC. tyler@catvis.biz Contributing Designer Ryan Alexander, Catalyst Visuals, LLC Contributing Writers Adriana Camacho-Church, Mark Fields, Pam George, Rob Kalesse, Michelle Kramer-Fitzgerald, Dan Linehan, Mike Little, Dillon McLaughlin, John Murray, Kevin Francis, Larry Nagengast, Kevin Noonan, Scott Pruden, Leeann Wallett

Contributing Photographers Jim Coarse, Rebecca Parsons and Joe del Tufo/Moonloop Photography, Tim Hawk, Anthony Santoro, Matt Urban Distribution David Hallberg

67 START

WILMINGTON

9 The War on Words 11 F.Y.I. 12 Worth Recognizing 14 By the Numbers 15 What Readers Are Saying 17 Point-to-Point 19 From SoHo to Trolley 21 A Village in the City 27 Sensational Seniors

50 In the City 52 On the Riverfront

WATCH 57 A House of Madness 63 Reviews

DRINK

10 The Craft of Beer

67 Farewell to a Stanley’s Staple 70 Spirited 71 Sips

FOCUS

LISTEN

31 Wilmington Grand Prix 35 Modern Mexican Cuisine

73 The Lyricist 76 Tuned In

EAT

PLAY

40 Mexican Food Worth Trying 43 Crabbin’ with Captain Wiso 49 Bites

79 Snapshots

LEARN

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21 A Village in the City Involved residents have infused Trinity Vicinity with a unique sense of community for nearly 150 years.

By Dillon McLaughlin

31 Wilmington Grand Prix One of the premier criterium- style bike races in the U.S., the Grand Prix will celebrate its 12th anniversary May 18-20.

35 A More Modern Mix Restaurateurs are taking Mexican and Latin American cuisine up a notch.

By Pam George

43 Crabbin’ with Captain Wiso On the cover: some of the offerings at Mexican Post.

Photo Jim Coarse

Special Projects Sarah Green, John Holton Interns Mathew Brown-Watson

FEATURES

Delaware City’s purveyor of all things crustacean reflects on his legacy.

By Leeann Wallett

Editorial & advertising info: 302.655.6483 • Fax 302.654.0569 outandaboutnow.com • contact@tsnpub.com

MAY 2018 | 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

Department of Redundancies Dept.

Reader Mary Kate McKenna reports that in Matthew Frankel’s “The Motley Fool,” which appears in The News Journal, he discussed saving for college thusly: “As a parent of children myself, . . .” Mary Kate’s take: “I am a proud parent of both humans and a canine, so I understand the need for the distinction at times—however, NOT when discussing college savings!”

And then there’s Today host Savannah Guthrie, who claimed the NCAA Basketball Tournament “got underway with a surprise upset.”

Media Watch USA Today scored a dubious double in covering the tournament. Columnist Dan Wolken wrote this: “. . . Villanova honed in on a second national championship in three years, . . .”

As we have pointed out many times, people (and teams) home in on targets. “Hone” means to sharpen.

A nearby box related to Wolken’s column contained this: “5 of the last 30 NCAA Division I men’s basketball championship games have been decided by three points or less.” For plurals, use fewer (a word that seems to be disappearing from the language).

The Pesky Comma Commas present a nagging problem for some people. Many writers don’t use them enough. Others, too often. Examples of the latter occurred in two recent letters to The News Journal.

One began, “But, the gun lobby is so powerful . . .” The second contained this sentence: “Perhaps, we should stop talking and start taking action.” In both cases, kill the comma. We suspect that the writers, if they spoke those words, would pause after “but” and “perhaps,” so they assumed a comma is needed. The careful writer knows that the rhythm of our speech doesn’t always translate to the written word.

Note: “And” is another word that is often followed by an incorrect comma when it begins a sentence.

How Long, Oh Lord, How Long?

(In which we discuss the continuing abuse of that most misused punctuation mark, the apostrophe) In this case, it’s not an incorrect apostrophe but a missing one. Actress Emma Watson got a “Time’s Up” tattoo that has no apostrophe—and she’s an Ivy League graduate (Brown University).

By Bob Yearick

Errant Words Some TV talking heads (and others, of course) mispronounce climactic, the adjective corresponding to climax, by dropping the second c and making it “climatic” (which means “relating to climate”). The problem crops up even more often when they use the antonym of climactic, which is anticlimactic, pronouncing it “anticlimatic” (not a word).

Grisly, grizzly and gristly: Grisly means ghastly, horrible.

E.g., “It was a grisly murder scene.” Grizzly means grayish, or of, relating to, or involving the large brown bear of western North America. E.g., “They were attacked by a grizzly bear.”

Grizzly is often misused for grisly: “The grizzly remains were found last night.” Gristly, on the other hand, means consisting of or full of gristle. E.g., “The meat was gristly, almost inedible.”

Hurdle, hurtle: Hurdle is both a verb and a noun. As a verb, it means to jump over (an obstacle) while running, or to overcome (difficulties, etc.) with some deft politicking. As a noun, hurdle denotes an obstacle or barrier. Hurtle is a verb meaning to move or make something else move with great velocity, especially in a reckless or uncontrolled manner and often with a resultant collision. E.g., “The car hurtled down the street and collided with a truck.”

And finally, reader Charlene McGrady calls out people who use the word “incidences” to mean instances or incidents (of, for example, traffic accidents). Writes Charlene: “The actual plural of ‘incidence’ (a term that I believe should only apply to the spread of disease) is ‘incidents,’ not ‘incidences.’” Grammarist tends to agree: “. . . incidence is usually a singular mass noun (meaning it can’t be plural), and incidents is a plural noun. So, for example, where we would say the incidence of theft in the neighborhood has increased this year, we might instead say the incidents of theft in the neighborhood have become more numerous this year.”

Follow me on Twitter: @thewaronwords

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

Word of the Month

morphean Pronounced mor-FEE-uhn, it’s an adjective meaning sleep-inducing and of or related to sleep or drowsiness.

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.

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LEARN

Beer • noun | \bir\ |

1. An alcoholic beverage made by the fermentation of grain.

2. Basis of a $530 billion global market.

3. Centerpiece of innumerable social events around the world.

4. Focus of a highly informative and entertaining course at Wilmington University.

THE CRAFT OF BEER Aspiring Brewers and Beer Connoisseurs: This Course Is for You!

Throughout the ages, as cities have been built and destroyed, as rulers have gained and lost power, and as monuments have been erected and then fallen to dust, people have been brewing and drinking beer. During moments of victory, defeat, and plain old every day life, there’s been beer. Whether in ancient clay vessels, pewter tankards, or glass bottles—beer has been at hand.

In fact, scholars tell us that beer has been around for 7,000 years, making its appearance soon after barley was sown into the ground. And our affinity for beer in all its styles, hues, and flavors grows to this day.

Matt Barth, former U.S. Coast Guard petty officer, and now the Dogfish Head Craft Brewery’s “off-centered experience ambassador” for the past seven years, loves craft beer, so much so that he put together a highly interactive course on the topic, which is offered through Wilmington University.

The Craft of Beer explores the history of beer, its ingredients, brewing processes, beer styles, the business of beer, proper tasting methods, and more. “It’s action-packed and rich with content,” Barth says.

The program was initially offered solely in a face-to-face format. Then, Barth worked closely with WilmU’s Director of Educational Technology and Multimedia Russ Lichterman and his team at the College of Online and Experiential Learning to bring his ideas for an online version of the course to life. Filming took place at two Delaware locations: the Dogfish Head Craft Brewery in Milton, and at Revelation Craft Brewing in Rehoboth.

“The videos that Russ and his crew and I were able to make have made me so excited for the future of this course,” says Barth.

“We met at the brewery and I told them what I had in my mind and all my crazy daydreams about it.” He says the video style is very much “Bill Nye meets Dirty Jobs.”

“It’s more accessible now and not limited at all like the face-toface class was in certain ways,” says Barth. “And the students have loved it! It’s been a blast.”

Demand for both versions of the course continues to grow, with sections filling quickly.

Want to learn more about the third most popular beverage consumed worldwide? For a taste of the course, check out some video highlights at wilmu.mediaspace.kaltura.com/craftofbeer.

For more information about Wilmington University, visit wilmu.edu.

Graduate Studies Fair June 7

Apply for FREE at this event.

Learn how you can advance your career on your time and budget. wilmu.edu/GradFair 10 MAY 2018 | OUTANDABOUTNOW.COM

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AND THE WINNERS ARE…

F.Y.I.

L

Things worth knowing

Compiled by Mathew Brown-Watson

TAVERN TALKS IS MAY 17

T

10TH ANNUAL BELLEFONTE ARTS FESTIVAL

AIR QUALITY AWARENESS WEEK

he 10th Annual Bellefonte Arts Festival will take place Saturday, May 19, on Brandywine Boulevard in Bellefonte.

Join the celebration of local art and music while visiting local shops and the Bellefonte Cafe. The festival features unique artisan items like pottery, photography, paintings, up-cycled art for home and garden, jewelry, glass, textiles, candles and mixed media. There will also be booths for kids and pet lovers. A food truck will be on hand, and musical talent will be featured throughout the day.

Kids: Bring your favorite stuffed teddy bear and participate in the teddy bear tea party, also ongoing through the day.

Rain date is May 20. For more information, visit bellefontearts.com or email bellefontearts@gmail.com.

avern Talks is an experience designed to educate adults over the age 21 about some of the more unexplored aspects of early American history and culture. The monthly event takes place at the Chadds Ford Historical Society’s Barns Brinton House, a historic 1714 tavern, located next to the Chaddsford Winery at 630 Baltimore Pike.

Titled “To Market, To Market,” the May talk will focus on the essentials of marketplace trading in the 18th century colonies. Several local artisans who are proficient in making authentic 18th century-inspired crafts will be at the talk.

The event is set for Thursday, May 17, from 7-9 p.m. Admission is $20 for non-members and $15 for members. Attendees must be 21 and older. For more info on the CFHS or to purchase tickets, call (610) 388-7376, or visit the website: chaddsfordhistory.org.

“

T

ry It Day Delaware” will be one of the features of Air Quality Awareness Week, sponsored by the Air Quality Partnership of Delaware from April 30 through May 4.

“Try It Day” asks the community to participate in greener, more sustainable modes of transportation, like walking, biking or carpooling, for one day during the week. Participants can post selfies using the hashtag #TryItDayDE, making them eligible to win a $25 gift card.

Businesses committed to air quality awareness by having employees make greener transportation choices or who advocate for improvement of air quality will be considered for the Air-Friendly Business awards as well.

To learn more about Delaware Air Quality Awareness Week, visit wilmapco.com or Air Quality Partnership of Delaware's Facebook page.

T

MT. CUBA CELEBRATES NATIONAL PUBLIC GARDENS DAY

O

n Friday, May 11—National Public Gardens Day—the Mt. Cuba Center, 3120 Barley Mill Rd., Hockessin, will celebrate with an activityfilled day at the center.

Attendees can relax in Mt. Cuba’s gardens, enjoy a picnic or lunch, or take a leisurely stroll among spring wildflowers.

There will also be guided walks from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. as well as familyfriendly programs. Guests will receive a complimentary native plant to take home while supplies last.

For more information on this event and to find out more about the Mt. Cuba Center, visit mtcubacenter.org.

ast month, we slipped a fake ad into the magazine (pg. 26, “FU FOO”) with just a brief, subtle warning about it here in FYI. Our readers are astute. More than 100 of you caught it, emailed us and were automatically included in the running for restaurant gift cards.

We randomly selected three winners from the pool of submissions. Congratulations to Jill Marcus, Monica Parisi and Bruce Fox! You each win a gift certificate to El Diablo Burritos.

Since we love good fun and you love a good challenge, we’re back this month with a new contest. Put your sleuthing skills to use by finding the answer to the following questions scattered in articles throughout this issue: 1) We can have a clear idea of what life in the Trinity neighborhood looked like in the 1930s-40s, thanks to this from Marjorie Devlin.

2) As a young crabber, what specific daily approach did Bob Wisowaty use that differed from most commercial crabbers?

3) What does this year’s Musikarmageddon Solo winner do fulltime during the spring, fall and winter?

Email answers to contact@tsnpub.com with the subject line “Contest” by May 20 for a chance to win prizes.

ESCAPE BRANDYWINE NOW OPEN SATURDAYS

T

he Chadds Ford Historical Society’s popular historic escape room experience, Escape Brandywine, is now open every Saturday until Sept. 1 at 1736 Creek Rd. in Chadds Ford, Pa. Escape Brandywine is designed like other escape room experiences with the added intrigue of immersing players in the roles of spies on the eve of the Battle of Brandywine. Players are tasked with finding General Howe’s battle plans that have been hidden in the historic John Chads House and then escape the house to bring the plans to General Washington. This unique experience is authentic in that it utilizes the same kind of techniques and tools used by real Revolutionary War spies. It’s a fun way to learn about how covert ops worked during the American Revolution.

Tickets are $28 per person and are on sale at the Chadds Ford Historical Society’s website, chaddsfordhistory.org.

Availability is limited.

MAY 2018 | OUTANDABOUTNOW.COM

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WORTH RECOGNIZING

Community Members Who Go Above & Beyond

ISMAEL MEDINA:

W

THIRTY EVENTS

FOR THIRTY YEARS!

OutAndAboutNow.com

hen Ismael Medina was a 17-year-old high school student, his father teasingly asked him, “Are you going to college or the mushroom fields?”

Farm work is a respectable job, says Medina, 24, but unlike his father, he is not one for waking up at 4 a.m.

So the Newark resident began paving a path to be the first in his family to pursue higher education. A native of Guanajuato, Mexico, he learned to speak English at age 7, took English honors classes at Christiana High School, then figured out how to pay for college.

Today, the University of Delaware graduate—who was among UD’s National Society of Collegiate Scholars and was twice named a UD Office of the Provost Student of Distinction —works as an HIV/AIDS early intervention specialist at the Latin American Community Center in Wilmington.

In the last five years, on average, about 114 new cases of HIV or AIDS have been diagnosed annually in Delaware, according to a report by the Delaware Division of Public Health. The LACC is currently the only bilingual non-profit in New Castle County to offer confidential free HIV testing and counseling, says Medina. He has tested and counseled more than 500 people, including those as young as 15, since he started working there a year-and-a-half ago.

He also makes care and treatment referrals, and conducts workshops and events to educate the community about HIV/AIDS facts and myths.

Medina started volunteering during high school, preparing meals for seniors at the Little Sisters of the Poor. In college, he volunteered at the Newark Senior Center to keep seniors physically and mentally active through exercise and various mind activities.

“I have seen that the elderly and people living with HIV may feel a sense of isolation and fear of death,” he says. “But by taking responsibility, getting treatment and the right care, your age or living with HIV should not stop you from doing what you like to do. A 75-year-old man sat next to me on graduation day – that’s proof.”

For the past four years, Medina has spread a similar message to high school seniors. As a volunteer for ASPIRA of Delaware he talks at local schools. He tells students not to give in to fears and doubts. Instead they should speak up about their concerns. “Don’t give up,” he says “Try your best even when things are hard.”

ASPIRA is a non-profit that helps Latino students move beyond a high school education to college. In Spanish, aspira means to aspire. Just as ASPIRA helped him and his parents with the college application process and with information about college financial aid, Medina assists students with the same process.

Anika Turner, Social Service director at the Newark Senior Center, says it’s clear Medina cares about helping people. “I have no doubt that he will continue to bless the community he works with. I think as a social worker there is no bigger praise than to be thought of as respectful, loving, and thorough.”

Medina hopes to pursue a master’s degree in clinical social work and eventually open his own non-profit.

On Wednesday, June 27, he will hold a free and confidential HIV testing and community health fair from 2-5 p.m. at the LACC, 301 N. Harrison St., in Wilmington.

For more information on HIV/AIDS contact: Ismael Medina, HIV/AIDS Early Intervention Specialist, at 655-7338 ext. 7740, or Medina@thelatincenter.org.

Photo Fernando Alcayaga

The native of Mexico offers aid and counseling to the Latin community

— Adriana Camacho-Church 12 MAY 2018 | OUTANDABOUTNOW.COM

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by the numbers ĉPıÃŊî æí ç íĉ NEW SPRING MENU!

!ıPØÃPçįGÃæ į Ãææ ğ THURSDAY MAY 17th $65 a person (gratuity included)

A few facts about the Mexican restaurant industry

9 The percentage of U.S. restaurants that are considered Mexican.

9ð įíçįıÀ į7PıÃî MONDAY JUNE 4TH

Benifits Kids Runway for Research $35 a person

302-571-1492

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

59,800 The number of Mexican restaurants currently open for business in the U.S.

41 The number, in billions of dollars, generated by the Mexican restaurant industry last year.

2.8 905,761

The percentage by which the Mexican restaurant industry has grown since 2012.

The number of people employed by Mexican style restaurants.

14 MAY 2018 | OUTANDABOUTNOW.COM

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WHAT READERS ARE SAYING About our fake ad in the April 2018 issue (pg. 26) Even tho the good citizens of Haighfalutin, DE love a good pretentious restaurant the faux FU restaurant ad on page 26 is a bit much for even them!! This has got to be a joke (I hope)!

— Kat Chidester

Build Your Own

Poké Bowl High-quality, sushi-grade fish and fresh veggies in an authentic Hawaiian-style poké bowl

About Worth Recognizing Ana Yevonishon runs a fashion show that benefits Big Brothers Big Sisters and empowers teen models

By Adriana Camacho-Church, April 2018

Follow Us!

Attended the first fashion show last year and it was worth every penny. Watching those young ladies truly enjoy themselves outside their typical day-to-day experience, filled my heart with admiration for their courage and good humor. The show's organizer, Ana Yevonishon, did a fabulous job and deserves all the recognition she received! Best of luck with this year's fundraiser!

— Linda Bennett Stern

@eatpokebros

eatpokebros.com

This is so wonderful Ana Jean. It doesn't surprise me that you would do something great like this.

— Mary Honeyford Incredible idea from one extraordinary woman. We need more people like you.

— Dori Myers What a great event!! Sounds like a fantastic time and a great way to give back to the community!

— Natalie Wendig About Spirited Drink recipes from area pros, featuring Home Grown Café

By Home Grown Beverage Director Joe Renaud, April 2018 Sounds delicious.

Do they deliver?

— Carla Quinn Rawheiser — Marie Graham

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

newark

wilmington

230 E MAIN ST #614 NEWARK, DE 19711

4571 KIRKWOOD HIGHWAY WILMINGTON, DE 19808

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MAY 2018 | OUTANDABOUTNOW.COM

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This year’s Annual Meeting will mark the beginning of WRC’s 25th Anniversary celebration.

Featured speakers will include WRC Board Chair Mr. Glenn Moore, WRC Managing Director Dr. Carrie W. Gray, and a keynote address from Wilmington Mayor Michael Purzycki.

Their remarks will highlight the importance of establishing strong pa partnerships between government and organizations working in the city on economic development and neighborhood revitalization — themes that are integral to WRC’s work and mission.

A message from the Mayor addressing the state of the city and his vision for the future...

See Summer in a New Shade Explore summer gardens bursting into color, grow your knowledge in our classes, or join us for special events.

mtcubacenter.org/out 3120 Barley Mill Rd. Hockessin, Delaware

16 MAY 2018 | OUTANDABOUTNOW.COM

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Point-to-Point Celebrates 40 Years Bethany Baumgardner (5) riding Courella (IRE) and Garet Winants riding Class Classic clear a jump in The Vicmead race at Point-to-Point, 2014. Photo Tim Hawk

Steeplechase races and elegant tailgating highlight the May 6 family event For 40 years, the Point-to-Point race on the grounds of Winterthur Museum has evolved into an elegant family-friendly affair with all the pomp and pageantry of an elite horse racing event.

It began in 1979, created in part by the late Greta Layton, who became known as “Lady Point-to-Point.” A member of Winterthur’s board of directors for more than 40 years, Layton combined her love of horses and passion for communicating the museum’s mission to a broad audience through the annual event.

“Point-to-Point is as strong as ever because we have been able to change with the times and needs of the guests, while still keeping our Winterthur mission: benefitting the continued maintenance and preservation of Winterthur Museum, Garden and Estate,” says Jill Abbott, who has been at the center of the evolution of Point-to-Point for 20 years and this past January became the vice president of Race Directors.

“One historical change occurred 13 years ago when we became a sanctioned race,” Abbott says. “Since then, we have been under the governing body of the National Steeplechase Association, which officiates jump racing in North America.”

The change means the race is officially sanctioned, allowing prize purses to be awarded to race winners. Efforts to attain that status were led by then Race Chairman Duncan Patterson.

“When I was riding in the event 40 years ago, we were racing for silver cups worth maybe $75,” says Patterson, who is president

of Patterson-Woods & Associates. “We have grown to where horses and jockeys are racing for almost $75,000.”

The success of Point-to-Point is also due in large part to the beautiful grounds of the Winterthur Estate.

“Winterthur is a 1,000-acre preserve of rolling meadows and woodlands,” says Josh Taylor, managing partner of Mid Atlantic Inc. and current race chairman of Point-to-Point. “Its 60-acre naturalistic garden is among America’s best, and the races are held over a racecourse that winds through these enchanting and magical grounds.”

Adds Anne Jones, chair of the Executive Committee: “Pointto-Point is now firmly established as an annual destination for our loyal patrons and always draws a capacity crowd. Winterthur is delighted to share its beautiful property with the community.”

The event includes numerous activities and unique displays throughout the day, including antique automobiles, an antique carriage parade, and an agility dog competition, as well as pony rides and face painting for the kids. Food is available at hospitality tents, or patrons can bring their food and compete in the Best Tailgate Competition.

The Point-to-Point event takes place Sunday, May 6, with gates opening at 10:30 a.m. at Winterthur Museum, Garden and Library, 5105 Kennett Pike, Wilmington. For information on the various ticket prices and admission options, visit winterthur.org.

—Mathew Brown-Watson AUGUST MAY 2018 2017 | OUTANDABOUTNOW.COM

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EYE ON NATURE ANDREW WYETH AND JOHN RUSKIN MARCH 10 – MAY 27, 2018 This exhibition was organized by the Delaware Art Museum with assistance from the Ruskin Foundation (Ruskin Library, Lancaster University, UK) and The Andrew and Betsy Wyeth Collection (Chadds Ford, PA and Rockland, ME). Support was provided by the Johannes R. and Betty P. Krahmer American Art Exhibition Fund, M&T Bank, Wilmington Trust, and the Hallie Tybout Exhibition Fund. Additional support provided, 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. Image: Sycamore Tree, Study for Pennsylvania Landscape, 1941. Andrew Wyeth (1917–2009). Ink and watercolor, 29 3/4 x 39 3/8 inches.Delaware Art Museum, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. William E. Phelps, 1964. © 2018 Andrew Wyeth/ArtistsRights Society (ARS), NEW YORK.

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

18 MAY 2018 | OUTANDABOUTNOW.COM

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Fragomele says she wants to test the Wilmington scene with “fashion forward pieces.”

Wilmington native Liza Fragomele returned home from New York City to open fashion boutique Trudy

By Krista Connor Photos by Rebecca Parsons, Moonloop Photography

I

t’s not easy being a 28-year-old female entrepreneur, but Liza Fragomele is fortunate. With support from her parents and immediate family, a lifelong dream is taking shape in the form of her new clothing boutique, Trudy, located at 1801 Delaware Ave. in Trolley Square at the site of a former consignment shop, Déjà Vu. The Wilmington native and Tatnall School graduate got her start in the fashion world in New York City’s SoHo, where for six years she interned and then worked at Beth Buccini's luxury women’s boutique, Kirna Zabête. She eventually became a buyer, which gave her the privilege of curating the store’s selection and traveling to Paris and Milan every year.

Despite her love for New York, Fragomele missed the slowerpaced, “small town” feel of Wilmington—and most of all, she missed her family. She moved back home to Trolley Square two years ago and shortly thereafter she and her parents began brainstorming.

When they heard that the Déjà Vu space was going to be available, it gave them an idea.

“This space here at the shop is what started the whole project,” says Fragomele. “My parents were working on this very closely with me and said, ‘That would be a perfect place for a boutique.’ I didn’t really see the vision for it at first because of all the work that would have to go into it. But I was like, ‘All right, I’m going to do this.’”

Flash forward to March 15, and a small group of friends and family—including her parents, two sisters and a brother— are gathered in the open, naturally-lit space for a ribboncutting helmed by Fragomele’s uncle, Mayor Mike Purzycki.

Guests mingle amid clothing pieces from brands like Mother, GRLFRND, Ganni and Misa.

As a tribute to “the amazing figure in my life,” Fragomele says, Trudy was named after her mother.

Challenges of running the shop have come in many forms, and one of the biggest is Fragomele’s transition from buying for the high-end luxury designer to shifting gears to a different demographic, she says.

MAY 2018 | OUTANDABOUTNOW.COM

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Brands like Mother, GRLFRND, Ganni and Misa are available at Trudy.

“It’s a learning curve in terms of price point and size, and the kind of style the client will wear,” she says. “Here it’s a lot of mainstream denim, a lot of t-shirts and sweaters, because that’s the reality of the women in this town.”

Fragomele’s current selection includes some dresses for a night out and smaller niche brands that she says may be unfamiliar to shoppers.

“I wanted to give people things that they’re comfortable with but also test the water a little bit with more fashionforward pieces,” she says. “I realized quickly that there are a lot of women here that aren’t afraid to take a risk.”

Connections from Fragomele’s last job have been helpful as she segues into her new role.

“It was amazing because brands I was interested in buying were totally opened to selling to me,” she says. “They trusted my background and that was really exciting.”

She anticipates buying will require up to four annual trips to New York City, where she does most of her selecting. She and her mother will make the journey, then she’ll come back to Wilmington where she can walk half a block from home to her store and fill it with things she loves, she says.

And for now, this routine thrills her.

“I lived my entire life focused too much on what’s next, and I’m trying so hard to focus on every day here, making sure the clients are happy. I’m trying to totally live in the moment,” Fragomele says. “To me, that’s how I’m going to be successful—just focus on today and what the customer wants.”

For more, visit Trudy’s Facebook @TrudyDE or Instagram @trudy_de.

20 MAY 2018 | OUTANDABOUTNOW.COM

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A Village in the City Involved residents have infused Trinity Vicinity with a unique sense of community for nearly 150 years DeLorme Smith is treasurer of the Trinity Vicinity Neighborhood Association. Photo Rebecca Parsons, Moonloop Photography

By Dillon McLaughlin

R

unning from North Adams Street to North Madison, and from 11th Street to 8th, Trinity Vicinity is a small neighborhood that derives its name from Trinity Episcopal Church, on the corner of North Adams and Delaware Avenue. Like Wilmington as a whole, it has weathered several highs and lows, but today it is thriving, the residents of its nine square blocks exuding enthusiasm and neighborly good will.

DeLorme Smith, treasurer of the Trinity Vicinity Neighborhood Association (TVNA), sums up the atmosphere this way: “In the summer, I come home after work and everybody's going to come by and drink wine with you. There are times I get out of the car and it's an hour before I get in the house.”

This sunny outlook has not always prevailed. It’s a far cry from the 1960s and early ‘70s, when urban strife hit Wilmington —and much of the country—with crippling blows. Locally, the construction of I-95 in the early 1960s split the city into two distinct sections, displacing many residents and disconnecting others from former neighbors.

That was a comparative love tap compared to 1968, when a riot following the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., resulted in injuries, arrests, and buildings burned, deepened the racial divide already present in the city, and sent middle-class families searching for homes in the emerging suburbs. Many properties were abandoned, causing a dramatic increase in

vacant houses and urban blight, and more than a few of those houses were in Trinity Vicinity.

Those who didn't leave immediately following the riot experienced the longest federal occupation of an American city since the Civil War, as National Guard troops patrolled the streets for nine months. That gave Wilmington a reputation for unrest, violence, and crime. From a high of 112,504 residents in 1940, the population dropped to 70,195 by 1980. (The most recent estimate, in 2014, was 71,817).

The drastic increase in urban blight all over the United States prompted municipal, state, and federal legislators to begin exploring options to reverse the trend. One solution— urban homesteading, originated by Wilmington Mayor Thomas Maloney—was instrumental in saving Trinity Vicinity. It enabled prospective homeowners to obtain abandoned or tax-delinquent properties at little or no cost if they agreed to rehabilitate, maintain and inhabit the houses for an extended period.

In 1973, Daniel Frawley, who would become mayor of Wilmington from 1985 to 1993, and his wife, Bonnie, were the first to take advantage of the program—not only in Delaware, but in the United States. The couple bought the house on the corner of 10th and Monroe streets—in Trinity Vicinity—for $1. The Frawleys moved in (Bonnie Frawley called the architecture “beautiful”), and Maloney’s idea quickly expanded into a national program, in the form of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974. ► MAY 2018 | OUTANDABOUTNOW.COM

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Photo provided by Deborah Kraak

A VILLAGE IN THE CITY continued from previous page

Daniel Frawley in 1973 on the porch of his house on 10th & Monroe Street, which he and his wife bought for $1.

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Deborah Kraak, vice president of the TVNA, calls 1973 “the year of heroes. They were giants. That was really homesteading, people moving in who shared a real vision.”

As a result, Wilmington and the Frawleys garnered immediate national attention. In a New York Times article, Dan (who suffered a fatal heart attack in 1994) cited walkability as a major factor in his and his wife's decision to purchase the house, a sentiment modern Trinity Vicinity residents echo.

According to Kraak, the homesteaders brought life back to the boarded-up homes of the neighborhood. And their vision extended beyond the houses themselves. For instance, along with renovating house after house, residents stripped the asphalt paving from Monroe Street to find, restore, and re-lay the original street paving bricks.

Dramatic Drop in Crime

Trinity has come a long way from the urban crises that plagued the city in the late ‘60s and early ’70s. Crime, for instance, has dropped dramatically. The TVNA, which meets monthly in the Sacred Heart Oratory, begins each meeting with a status update from the Wilmington Police Department. At the February meeting, police representatives reported that in District 16, which runs from the Brandywine River to the Riverfront and includes Trinity Vicinity, overall crime was down 29 percent compared to the same time last year. Shootings had dropped a whopping 67 percent. Robberies and vehicle thefts were also down, by 50 percent and 67 percent, respectively.

The good news can be attributed in large part to a focus on community policing. A pair of officers on foot patrol have become a fixture in Trinity and surrounding neighborhoods.

It's the same pair of officers every time and this consistency helps them get to know the residents, and vice versa.

But it is the ambiance and neighborliness that are the major selling points for many residents.

Susan Jacobs, originally from outside London, England, is fairly typical. She had difficulty finding a place to settle down when she first came to America in 2001. She spent four years in Florida before coming to Delaware. It took her seven months of commuting from the suburbs of North Wilmington to her job at AstraZeneca in the city to find Trinity Vicinity. She saw a house for sale on Monroe Street, and she knew she had to have it, so she bid more than the asking price to guarantee she would.

Jacobs says she is living “in a village in a city,” and her family echoes those feelings.

“Everyone that visits me falls in love with the neighborhood, especially my family from England and my grandkids,” Jacobs says. “My grandson calls it Grandmaland and gets really upset at any thought of me moving house.”

The houses in Trinity were constructed by many builders in waves between 1871 and the very early 1900s, and each one is unique. “The cool thing about Trinity Vicinity is the houses are all slightly different and over the years have been adapted and fixed and changed,” says DeLorme Smith.

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Photo Rebecca Parsons, Moonloop Photography

"My grandson calls it Grandmaland," says Susan Jacobs.

Her house is an example of the original construction. There are four relatively small rooms on the first floor and four on the second, with hallways that run the length of both. The house has the original molding around the doors and windows, a curved wall in the living room, and a bumped-out section of her dining room, which brings in natural light during the day.

Each house's flooring is a good example of changes over time, as few houses have exactly the same style. For Smith's house, the changes came in the 1960s. “Some Czechoslovakian woodworkers were staying here, and they put one-inch oak slats throughout [both stories],” Smith says. The one feature she laments not having is the house's original doors, which were thin but solid pieces of wood and included protruding metal locks and doorknobs, a sight anyone familiar with historic homes would know well.

The first floor of Jacobs' home on Monroe Street is more open, with a larger living room and no long hallways. She's made her own modifications, installing stained-glass in a few of her windows.

Deborah Kraak and her husband, David Rickman, live on the corner of Monroe and 10th streets, in a house that “appropriately, for someone who's in historic textiles,” as Kraak puts it, “used to be a dress goods shop.” The outside of the home retains the large windows of a shop and the outside wall shows the brick pattern disruption of an old doorway, long since filled in. Their interior features a sunken living room, which would have been the old shop room, a moderately sized dining room, and updated kitchen.

A Café and Linchpin

A linchpin for the neighborhood is Treehouse Cafe and Training Center, located on the corner of Monroe and West 11th streets. It's owned by Diane Moss, who was a Delaware State Trooper for 20 years. She also was the first School Resource Officer in Delaware, and the first African-American female sergeant to retire from the force. In 1999, she became a licensed Mental Health Counselor. ► MAY 2018 | OUTANDABOUTNOW.COM

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The cafe stood derelict for decades before Moss bought it in August of 2006. She started renovation immediately and continued until 2014. “It took nine years for this baby to come into the world,” she says. Today, the cafe acts as the neighborhood's breakfast and coffee shop, meeting place, and music venue. Moss also provides mental health counseling and massage therapy in her second-floor offices.

The tight-knit community modern residents describe is not a new phenomenon. Take Marjorie Devlin, for instance. Devlin was born in 1932 and lived in Trinity Vicinity until the late 1940s. In a letter to Deborah Kraak, dated June 27, 2004, Devlin describes her life in Trinity Vicinity in 16 handwritten pages that give a sense of community that has prevailed throughout the years.

In the letter, Devlin recalls the weekly routine of the entire street, rituals that connected nearly every house and family. Mondays were for washing, Tuesdays for ironing, and Wednesdays for mending. Thursday and Friday were full-house cleanings, with the upstairs the first day and downstairs the second. Saturday was for shopping at local stores, clothing shops, or services, and Sunday was church.

Devlin also remembers neighbors—the Tuckers—who were connected to a Delaware celebrity who attained international influence. In her letter, Devlin wrote: “They were a young family with little kids and they were often visited by Father [Francis] Tucker, pastor of St. Anthony's Church [and presumably a relative].” Delawareans familiar with Little Italy or the annual St. Anthony's Italian Festival may know Tucker from the field and park behind St. Anthony's Church that are named after him. Others might recognize him as the priest who introduced Grace Kelly and the Prince of Monaco.

Other memories, like hucksters selling fruits, vegetables, milk, bread, and ice from horse drawn carriages, or in the 1940s, collecting bacon fat and old tires for the war effort, paint a picture of a neighborhood that made such an impression on young Margie Devlin that, even six decades later, she could rattle off the names and stories of her neighbors as if they were extended family.

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MAY 2018 | OUTANDABOUTNOW.COM

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Photo provided by Deborah Kraak

Homes along Trenton Place in the Trinity Vicinity neighborhood.

Buying and Selling

Trinity’s real estate has been resurgent in recent years, thanks in no small part to Susan Jacobs, the Londoner whose family can't stand the thought of their matriarch living anywhere else. She was the de facto leader of a recent, unofficial real estate push by residents, an effort in keeping with the longstanding goal of revitalizing the neighborhood as well as a reaction to the Great Recession's near destruction of the real estate market.

“Our goal when we first started was to understand why properties weren't selling,” says Jacobs. She began to contact realtors with properties in the area and was surprised at how little they knew of the neighborhood. For the most part, they were painting urban areas with a broad and inaccurate brush, and not bothering to distinguish Trinity Vicinity from other neighborhoods with higher crime rates or more vacant properties.

Fortunately, once residents convinced realtors that their lack of knowledge was affecting sales, the problem was rectified. Realtors began to work with residents and gained an accurate picture of the neighborhood and its history. Says Jacobs: “Realtors who came [to the neighborhood] to learn sold their properties in next to no time.”

One of them is Kevin Melloy, with ReMax of Wilmington.

Someone working with Melloy looking for a house in Trinity Vicinity’s historic district (which follows irregular borders from the corner of Adams Street and Delaware Avenue, down to 9th Street, and across to Wollaston between Jefferson and Washington streets) should expect to pay between $150,000 and $200,000, though some properties sell for more. As of early April, the highest recent purchase was $230,000— for a house on the 1000 block of Monroe Street.

Outside the historic district, home buyers can find property selling for much less. At 8th and Monroe, a home recently sold for $99,000, and on the 800 block of 9th Street, a bank-owned home went for $86,900 as a short sale (a property that sells for less than the homeowner still owes on the home). According to Melloy, prices in and out of the historic district are indicators of a healthy neighborhood and a healthy real estate market.

Realtors like Melloy have spurred the revitalization effort by turning themselves into advocates for the neighborhood. On his off-time, Melloy works with the Land Bank to identify vacant or blighted properties. He then contacts those owners, asking them what their plans are for their property and looking to persuade them to sell the houses to someone who will turn them into livable space.

“Neighborhoods like Trinity are stabilizing because people are really active,” says Melloy. ►

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City officials have also taken an interest in Trinity Vicinity. Mayor Mike Purzycki and his police chief, Robert Tracy, attended a neighborhood association meeting early in their tenure and toured the neighborhood.

And Trinity Vicinity efforts helped shape a bill sponsored by City Councilman Bud Freel that would make major changes to Chapter 34 of the city ordinance, taking housing code violations from criminal court to civil court in hopes of expediting cases. Right now, cases can last for months, sometimes even taking a year, while vacant or blighted properties continue to cause problems for neighbors and drag down property values. Of the bill, Freel says, “This will give the city the teeth it needs to focus on blighted properties.”

In addition to combating urban blight, residents attempt to bring in neighbors who may feel they're not included in revitalization efforts, especially those on 8th and 9th streets. Smith, who lives on West 10th Street, makes a point of interacting with residents down those streets to show them they're as much a part of the neighborhood as anyone living on her street or Monroe Street. She brings new residents to neighborhood association meetings and even organized an impromptu clothing drive to help one resident and her husband.

Says Smith: “If a community can get together and do that for people, that's where my heart really is.”

Smith is the quintessential Trinity story.

So is Jillian Argue, who lives on the 100 block of Monroe Street. She struggled to find a home, but once she discovered Trinity Vicinity, she knew it was somewhere she could build a life and be part of a community.

Argue’s contribution to the community was to open her home for musical gatherings.

Frequency varies, but a gathering is always in the works and each one is different.

Some nights are solo acts that border on professional shows, while others feature local children showing off what they learned in a recent lesson. Whatever the act, Argue welcomes it, knowing how nights like this can strengthen a community. “It hearkens back to a time when people got together on porches or families gathered around the piano,” Argue says. “It's a wonderful opportunity to be a part of creating something.”

In Trinity Vicinity, that something is a tight-knit community that continues to thrive after nearly 150 years of 12 12 12creating something.”

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SENSATIONAL SENIORS Through the state’s 50+ program, volunteers are using their retirement years to support nearly 200 community organizations

When it comes to charitable contributions, many people find that a gift of time is more meaningful and can have a greater impact than a cash contribution. In the coming months, Out & About will continue to profile some of these volunteers, along with the programs in which they serve. The series is being developed in cooperation with the state Office of Volunteerism, and we hope it will show readers how they can improve their communities by volunteering their time and talents. For information about volunteering opportunities throughout the state, visit VolunteerDelaware.org. For the 50+ program, there’s a special page on the website, volunteerdelaware.org/volunteer-delaware50.

By Larry Nagengast

A

fter a career in the National Guard, Al Grimminger now works nearly full time—and earns not a penny—helping homeless veterans get back on their feet.

After years as a geriatric nurse, Gloria Holland now uses her love of music to bring cheerful notes into nursing homes and senior centers.

After first serving as a Big Brother while still in college, Don Lanspery is back where he started a half-century ago, mentoring a 9-year-old and helping kids learn to read.

Whether it’s showing peers how to keep their balance, guiding theatergoers to their seats at The Grand or helping with kids’ activities at Hagley Museum, Olga Crowther seems to be volunteering everywhere.

All four are senior volunteers, performing their labors of love through the Volunteer Delaware 50+ program.

“They’re not looking for anything in return. They just want to give,” says Susan Fox, the 50+ coordinator for New Castle County.

The 50+ program operates through the state Office of Volunteer Services. It’s a special program of the office, geared to promote volunteer service within the 50 and older demographic. Operating in New Castle and Sussex counties, the program has about 2,500 volunteers who offer their support to nearly 200 community organizations. (A similar but separate program, financed largely through federal funds, operates in Kent County out of the Modern Maturity Center in Dover.)

It’s easy to get started. Go to the 50+ link on the Volunteer Delaware website (volunteerdelaware.org/volunteer-delaware50), fill out the enrollment form, then contact the office closest to your home. You can search for volunteer opportunities on the website or a volunteer specialist will help you find opportunities that match your interests.

That’s how Crowther, a 67-year-old from Wilmington, immersed herself in community service. A volunteer usher at the Grand since 1999, she retired 10 years later from AstraZeneca, where she had worked as a microbiologist and a quality control manager. ► MAY 2018 | OUTANDABOUTNOW.COM

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“I always believed that nonprofit institutions needed help. The more you can do for them, the better our SENSATIONAL SENIORS community is,” she says. She had heard about 50+ (then continued from previous page known as RSVP), so she signed up and started getting regular notices about volunteer opportunities.

“I trust them,” she says. “I know that I will get to help in reliable, safe places.”

First came a stint working in the office of Habitat for Humanity of New Castle County.

Other gigs followed, including some time at the Delaware Art Museum. Now she pitches in at the Grand, at Hagley, with the Bootless Theater of St. Stephen’s Lutheran Church, and the Friends of Brandywine Park. She’s also an instructor in A Matter of Balance classes, a fall-prevention program that 50+ offers at hospitals and community centers. (By the way, Crowther is still working—holding down a part-time job as an advocate for Spanishspeaking individuals involved in domestic violence cases in Family Court.)

No matter what the assignment, Crowther says, “I get a feeling of euphoria knowing I’m doing something good.”

Using the website isn’t the only way to find a place to volunteer.

In the fall of 2015, Grimminger, a 77-year-old Middletown-area resident, saw an article in a weekly newspaper about a shelter that was being planned for homeless veterans. A week or so later, after going to church on Sunday, he and his wife drove by the new Victory Village, on Port Penn Road outside of Middletown, to see what was going on.

100 HOURS A MONTH

“The next thing I know, I’m out there with my mower cutting grass,” he says. “When I started out, the grass was knee-high. It took a week or so to get it down.”

Grimminger’s involvement grew from there. Soon he was doing all sorts of projects to get the facility in shape before it opened in August 2016. “Now I’m the facilities manager,” he says, noting that he has cut down his workload from 120 to 140 hours a month to a mere 100 or so. “It’s almost like a fulltime job,” he says.

Grimminger, who spent 43 years in both military and civilian roles with the Delaware National Guard, has a natural empathy for servicemen and recognizes the importance of Victory Village’s mission: to get homeless veterans off the street and into a transitional environment where they can stay for up to two years as they rebuild their lives.

Victory Village can house up to 24 men, and there’s talk of refurbishing a bungalow on the property to provide housing for homeless female veterans.

Victory Village isn’t Grimminger’s first venture into volunteering, but it’s definitely the most intense. “My wife and I have volunteered in other places,” he says, “doing mailings for the March of Dimes, the Red Cross, things like that.”

For Gloria Holland, the route to volunteering came through her senior center, the Sussex CHEER Center in Georgetown. Ten years ago, she joined the center’s glee club, the CHEERful Notes. Three years ago, she became its director.

“Many of the signers are much older than me,” says Holland, 72, who lives in Magnolia.

“To them, I’m the new kid on the block.”

Having spent much of her adult life as a geriatric nurse, Holland developed an appreciation for the needs of senior citizens, and she savors the opportunity not only to lead other seniors in song but also to take their show on the road, performing at nursing homes and senior centers throughout Sussex County.

The glee club has a roster of 25 members, and they keep their Tuesdays open for rehearsals and performances. Depending on the date and location, anywhere between nine and 20 members will turn out, she says.

Performances run 30 to 45 minutes, and include a mix of singalongs and both secular and gospel music, she says.

“At nursing homes, a lot of the people don’t have visitors. Some can’t tell you where they are, and they can’t remember what they had for breakfast. But when the music starts, they know every word,” she says. “For a few minutes, they remember where they used to be. That’s the joy of it.”

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In addition, Holland, who has been playing piano since she was 12, leads another music ministry, an open mic night of gospel music every other Friday at the Petersburg Little Grand Ole Opry in Willow Grove, near Camden.

“I love music,” she says. “My son [ Jeffrey] teases me. He’s says, ‘you’re out now more than when you were nursing, and you’re not getting paid.”

28 MAY 2018 | OUTANDABOUTNOW.COM

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Music ministry is Gloria Holland's way of giving back. She is director of the glee club at Sussex CHEER Center in Georgetown.

But Holland is pleased that she’s able to get out and spread joy through music, and, like many other senior volunteers, build new friendships in the process. “I lost my husband nine years ago, but I keep busy,” she says. “I may be alone, but I’m not lonely.”

Much like Holland, Don Lanspery experienced a personal loss that pointed him toward volunteering. Lanspery’s father died when he was 17, but he overcame that loss and went on to college. As a senior, en route to a career as a social worker, he began mentoring a child through the Big Brothers/Big Sisters program.

After moving from Maryland to Harrington in 2010, Lanspery, now 75, got into volunteering big time.

In 1999, he contracted septicemia, and the bacterial infection in his bloodstream resulted in the amputation of his fingers and toes. Then, after moving to Delaware, he volunteered to make a presentation at a disability awareness program at a school in Milford.

“I went to the school, I saw other people volunteering, I saw them giving back,” he says, “and I realized I’d rather do this than go to a senior center.”

Well, Lanspery does spend some of his leisure time at a senior center, but he and his wife Laura have been volunteering for seven years with Read Aloud Delaware, reading to pre-kindergarten children at the Morris Early Childhood Center in Lincoln. And for the last three years he has mentored a student at Lula Ross Elementary School in Milford through the Big Brothers/Big Sisters program. “Kids need more friends,” he says.

Doing volunteer work with children “is a very rewarding, selfsatisfying experience,” he says. “You can see that you’re making a difference. You can see change in a positive light.”

50+ volunteers “are looking for something meaningful for themselves and want to use their skills to benefit the community,” says Fox. While many volunteers wish to continue using the skills they developed over decades in the workplace, she says others see volunteering as a learning experience, a chance to do something totally different from their business careers. “Most important, they want to give,” she says.

Ann Gorrin, 50+ coordinator in Sussex County, suggests that volunteers start slowly. “A lot of times, people want to jump in and help with everything. It’s better to take on one thing at a time, see how you like it, and switch to something else if it doesn’t work out,” she says. “Start slowly and find your niche.”

Lanspery invited newbies to watch him work. “Sometimes people are fearful of what they’re getting into. I encourage them to come along with me, sit by me while I’m reading to children or talking to my little brother,” he says.

If they like what they’re doing, they might turn out like Olga Crowther, putting the pedal to the metal and volunteering practically non-stop. “I get full of euphoria when I do something good,” she says.

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FOCUS

A MORE MODERN MIX Restaurateurs are taking Mexican and Latin American cuisine up a notch

By Pam George

I

f you want to know about the cuisine at Del Pez, then consider the restaurant’s full name: Del Pez Mexican Gastropub. “We try to be creative about the flavors and the plating,” says Javier Acuna, owner of the restaurant on the Wilmington Riverfront. “It’s all about being innovative.”

Del Pez isn’t the only restaurant with a fresh take on the traditional. Agave Mexican Cuisine opened last year in Chadds Ford. “People have been describing us as upscale Mexican cuisine,” says General Manager Rory Hirst.

La Pina Valley Cantina, which features a cowboy ribeye with mintjalapeno sauce, debuted on Route 202 in Glen Mills earlier this year.

Expect more modern Mexican restaurants to come, say those in the industry. But to succeed, they must find diners with an adventurous palate and an open mind.

At the same time, established Mexican eateries are thriving —and evolving. Take Mexican Post on Naamans Road, for instance. A North Wilmington staple since 2001, the bar and restaurant added a Sunday brunch (10 a.m.-2 p.m.) last November, featuring chorizo hash burger, churro pancakes, eggchiladas and chilaquiles. Meanwhile, its margaritas continue to be among the best in Delaware. ►

Mexican Post offers all the culinary staples, along with award-winning margaritas. Photo Jim Coarse MAY 2018 | OUTANDABOUTNOW.COM

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In many respects, Mexican fare is following in the footsteps of Italian cuisine, which now covers a broad spectrum. For instance, you could spend $14.95 for chicken parmesan at Mrs. Robino’s Restaurant in Wilmington’s Little Italy one week and $23 for breaded chicken with tomato cream and pecorino at Capers & Lemons the next.

You won’t find chicken parm at Panorama in Philadelphia.

But you will see free-range Lancaster chicken, which comes with cauliflower, parmesan, dates and a classic Sicilian sauce.

American diners have accepted this evolution that began in the early-to-mid-20th century, when Italian dishes were found mostly in the kitchens of Italian immigrants or in restaurants in Italian-American neighborhoods. Back then, cooks made do with ingredients they could find in the United States.

Because many consumers couldn’t afford pricier items, the food was inexpensive. As the cuisine developed a broader audience and imported ingredients became more widely available, diners demanded more sophisticated—and some say more authentic— Italian dishes along with Italian-American favorites.

“Mexican cuisine is going through the same stages,” maintains Acuna, who also owns Santa Fe Mexican Grill in Newark and La Taqueria in the Riverfront Market. This spring, he will open Pachamama Peruvian Rotisserie in Del Pez’s old Newark location.

Workers and migrants wanting versions of their homeland’s cuisine led to what Americans now consider Mexican dishes, he says. Think enchiladas, tacos, rice and refried beans.

36 MAY 2018 | OUTANDABOUTNOW.COM

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Photo Pam George

MORE THAN TACOS AND BEANS

Spicy shrimp tacos at La Piña Valley Cantina in Glen Mills.

The cuisine caught on. Once hard to find in the 1980s and into the ‘90s, Mexican restaurants have become increasingly plentiful.

Quick-casual chains like Qdoba and Chipotle Grill are easy to find.

Restaurants at many price points have some version of the fish taco, whether they identify it as Mexican or not.

Locally, El Toro in Wilmington, a popular takeout on Union Street, opened El Toro Cantina nearby on West Sixth Street. The restaurant, which has a devoted customer base, covers all the expected dishes. Like many ethnic eateries, El Toro promises an authentic experience. But there are other authentic dishes that have yet to make it into the mainstream.

Miriam Peregrina is fully aware of the diversity of Mexican cuisine. She grew up in Mexico City. Her mother was from Michoacán. “They cook like angels,” she says of the Mexican state’s residents. Her father was from Veracruz, where seafood is plentiful.

Peregrina’s dinner guests are often surprised when they taste her cooking. “I’ve never had this before,” they tell her. “I love it.”

She spotted an untapped niche, and if all goes as planned, she will open Nal Restaurant in Hockessin this month. (Nal is the god of corn, she says.)

Peregrina and her husband have lived in Brazil, and the menu also features dishes from that country as well as Argentina and Peru.

Incorporating multiple Latin-American countries’ cuisines is not unusual, even if a restaurant appears in a dining guide’s Mexican category. Yolanda Pineda, the owner of Mariachi in Rehoboth Beach, is from El Salvador, and dishes from her home country are on the menu.

Drawing inspiration from Tex-Mex fare or Baja flair is also common. El Diablo, which has three locations in New Castle County, specializes in Mission burritos, which originated in San Francisco’s Mission District in the 1960s. Packed with vegetables, a protein, rice and beans, the bulging burritos take two hands to hold.

One clear example of American-style fusion is Cromwell’s Tavern & Taqueria in Greenville, which six years ago began offering a Mexican menu alongside its tavern menu. The idea was in response to the popularity of the restaurant’s Mexican night. ►

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FOCUS A MORE MODERN MIX continued from previous page

“We said if we can serve this many people one night a week, we can serve this many more people seven nights a week,” says owner Pat Nilon. Cromwell’s offers an advantage: you can enjoy a taco with all the traditional trimmings while your dinner companion tucks into a Philly cheesesteak or Guinness beef stew.

Nilon says most people who order off the Mexican menu gravitate toward the familiar: carnitas, chicken mole, tamales and tacos. He emphasizes the freshness of the ingredients.

While those dishes are available in most restaurants with a Latin-American influence, the more adventurous kitchens are pushing the envelope.

THE NEXT LEVEL

Del Pez, for instance, has featured Brussels sprouts with applewood-smoked bacon and a Mexican Coca-Cola-raisin reduction. There are fries with chile de arbol-infused truffle oil, cotija cheese and a chipotle aioli. You can have salmon in your tacos and mango and pomegranate in your guacamole.

Del Pez’s Riverfront site benefits from travelers staying in the nearby Westin and newly relocated residents who’ve had modern Mexican cuisine in more urban areas, such as Philadelphia. Still, Acuna says, he’s had a few customers balk at the kitchen’s creative touch.

In Wilmington’s conservative legal district, Cocina Lolo, which bills itself as Mexicali concept, has had challenges with dishes that stray left of center. “When we try to do adventurous things, they don’t sell very well,” says Andrea Sikora, who owns the King Street restaurant with her husband, Bryan. “At the end of the day, we’re doing tostadas and enchiladas.”

David and Fay Steiger are giving it a go just over the Pennsylvania state line in Glen Mills. They opened La Pina Valley Cantina earlier this year.

“A lot of what’s out there is the traditional rice and beans on a plate,” says David Steiger, who was director of operations for Harvest Seasonal Grill & Wine Bar. “Our menu comes from the northern Mexico City area, where there are a lot of influences from a lot of different cuisines.”

You’d be hard-pressed to find the roast suckling pig— layered and cooked in its own fat—anywhere else in the area, he says. “I’ve only seen it at backyard barbecues in Mexico.”

The restaurant sells grilled octopus and shrimp with grilled pineapple. Avoiding gluten or corn? Ask for your taco filling to be wrapped in lettuce.

At Agave in Chadds Ford, which is unrelated to the Agave in Lewes, vegetarians can get tacos with cauliflower and chick peas. Hirst, the general manager, says Agave mostly strives for authenticity—but only to a point. He cautions: “Authentic cooking like your grandmother would make isn’t always pretty on a plate.”

For those modern Mexican restaurants charging more than a taqueria, the presentation is part of the experience. “Our dishes have more color, vibrancy and flavor,” Hirst says. “We cut our own meat and fish and make our own tortillas.”

He agrees that Mexican—like Italian—is an ethnic cuisine that is undergoing a transformation. “It’s permeating our culture,” he says. “It’s catching people’s attention.”

Modern Mexican is just the next phase. As Nilon puts it: “Give it time.”

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FEBRUARY 2018 | OUTANDABOUTNOW.COM

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EAT

Worth MEXICAN RESTAURANTS

LA PINA Here's a hidden gem of a Mexican restaurant. It sits at the front of an unremarkable strip mall just over the line in Pennsylvania on Route 202 (95 Wilmington-West Chester Pike), but its menu is anything but unremarkable.

Guacamole prepared tableside and tuna ceviche and grilled octopus appetizers are mouthwatering, as are the spicy shrimp tacos and short rib enchiladas rojo.

Bonus is the freshly made margaritas with a bevy of tequila choices to keep you coming back.

— Michelle Kramer-Fitzgerald, Contributing Writer

TASTE OF PUEBLA'S SALSA FRESCA Kennett Square’s Taste of Puebla may have closed its doors in 2016, but the former Mexican restaurant’s flavors live on through the products they supply to local produce shops and farmers markets. Among the best of these is the Salsa Fresca, a chip dip that’s spicy, refreshing and highly addictive—so much so you may find yourself completing a solo mission through a whole container in one sitting. Wilmington area residents can discover this green gold at Honey Bee Market in Trolley Square, where fresh deliveries arrive every Thursday.

EL TORO Good Mexican—no bull. In a hurry for a quick, authentic Mexican lunch, or would you rather take some time and chill with a margarita? El Toro offers both, now with a new, fullscale restaurant at the corner of 6th & Union streets to complement a smaller spot just up the road at 624 N. Union.

Both offer some of the biggest and best burritos Wilmington has to offer, and the new spot—at the site of the former Blue Parrot—has some shaded seating as well.

— Rob Kalesse, Contributing Writer

— Jim Miller, Director of Publications

TAQUERIA LOS PRIMOS When I crave good, authentic Mexican tacos I head to this restaurant on the corner of Newport Gap Pike and Old Capitol Trail. The delicious hand-made tortillas are perfect for creating a soft taco packed with small pieces of chorizo, steak, pork or, if you like, tongue or tripe.

Taco toppings include green or red salsa, fresh cut cilantro, red or white onions and limes. The small, unassuming restaurant also serves tamales, quesadillas, and menudo. The steak tacos are my favorite. I top the flavorful, small pieces of steak with onions, cilantro, and a dash of lime and green salsa, making one of the best tasting tacos in the area. Most items are under $10.

— Adriana Camacho-Church, Contributing Writer

40 MAY 2018 | OUTANDABOUTNOW.COM

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AUREA'S MEXICAN RESTAURANT LA POBLANITA You want authentic? Check out this establishment in an unprepossessing strip mall just outside Wilmington—3804 Lancaster Pike. There’s a large and varied menu, including outrageously low-priced tacos (three for $7; your choice of chicken, beef or goat). Quick service. Continuous Spanish-language TV adds to the verisimilitude.

— Bob Yearick, Contributing Editor

This hole-in-the-wall Mexican joint is tucked behind the Food Lion on Philadelphia Pike, which is good for me, but bad for those looking for truly authentic Mexican food. Of all the dishes on the menu, the quesadillas are hands-down the best darn thing I've ever tasted. For starters, the fact that you can choose a corn versus flour tortilla speaks volumes of the flavorful journey you're about to embark on. I'm partial to the quesadilla al pastor, which is pork and pineapple, a sweet and savory combination that's enhanced by the small, spicy green salsa you receive on the side. For more information, visit aureasmexicanrestaurant.com.

— Leeann Wallett, Contributing Writer

TAQUERIA MOROLEON Although I don't typically travel to get my Mexican food fix, I make it a point to get to Taqueria Moroleon at least once a year. Just over the Pennsylvania border on Route 41, its traditional cuisine and friendly atmosphere make it worth the 20-minute drive. I always get the same thing: chicken enchiladas with spicy tomatillo sauce. taqueriamoroleon.com — Matt Loeb, Creative Director and Production Manager

AGAVE MEXICAN RESTAURANT For me, a trip to the beach is never complete without a visit to this Lewes eatery offering renditions of chicken mole, enchiladas, tamales, quesadillas and more. A shareable go-to is the aptly-titled “super nachos”—a heaping mess of tortilla chips, guacamole and chili. The restaurant space is small but polished, though it’s so popular with locals that you’ll probably have to wait to be seated, but it’s worth it. Here’s a tip: If the weather’s nice, ask to be seated upstairs or on the rooftop patio for appetizers and drinks (and they’ve got options: more than 70 varieties of tequila are available). agavelewes.com — Krista Connor, Senior Editor & Media Manager

EL DIABLO BURRITOS OK, so the burrito isn’t exactly "authentic" Mexican food, but its origins and ingredients are. And El Diablo knocks it out of the park when it comes to a fast meal on the go that's packed full of authentic flavor.

With virtually endless flavor combinations, picking out ingredients in their assembly line can be a daunting task, but have no fear, they have suggestions for every protein. I suggest starting with the chipotle BBQ sauce, and definitely don't pass up the pickled peppers— they're amazing.

— Tyler Mitchell, Graphic Designer

MAY 2018 | OUTANDABOUTNOW.COM

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EAT

Joanne and Bob Wisowaty, ready to greet customers at Wiso's on Route 9.

crabbin’ with captain wiso Delaware City’s purveyor of all things crustacean reflects on his legacy

By Leeann Wallett Photos by Anthony Santoro

c

atching crabs for a living takes long hours, discipline, instinct, and sweat equity. And it helps to pick up a few tricks of the trade.

Just ask Bob “Captain Wiso” Wisowaty. Over more than four decades of crabbing, he learned to add a bar of zinc to his wire crab pots, so that they last longer in saltwater, and he discovered that bait doesn't hold up in the saltier water near the southern edge of Delaware Bay. Now retired from his forays into the bay, the owner of Wiso’s Crabs & Seafood Market on Route 9 in Delaware City has experienced it all.

Wisowaty is a second-generation captain. “My father was a waterman his entire life,” he says. “He used to captain a shuttle boat that went across the Delaware Bay to Fort Delaware (on Pea Patch Island) back in the 1950s. This was a time when there was

no Delaware Coast Guard and very few boat operators, so in case of a sea emergency, my father went out for the call.”

Across the street from Wiso’s Market is the Delaware City library, which has dedicated a space for a small group of panels that pay homage to Wisowaty’s father, a legacy that is well known throughout the area. This mini-traveling exhibition resides at the library in the winter months and returns to the market during crab season.

It’s no surprise that Wisowaty followed in his father’s footsteps.

As a child, he grew up in the building that’s now occupied by Crabby Dick’s, another Delaware City crab restaurant, now owned by John Buchheit III and Dale Slotter. He learned to crab by working as a deckhand on his father’s boat. And during his spare time, he says, “I would crab right out front there,” pointing toward what is now Fort Delaware State Park. ► MAY 2018 | OUTANDABOUTNOW.COM

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EAT CRABBIN’ WITH CAPTAIN WISO continued from page 43

A bushel of fresh crabs from Wiso's.

It was apparent from an early age that he had inherited the crustacean-catching gene. With just a few hand lines, he was able to catch enough to sell to neighbors and friends. By the time he reached college, he was using his father’s boat to tend 40-50 crab pots. And before he graduated from the University of Delaware with a business degree, he had a custom boat, Wiso II, built to grow his crabbing enterprise.

Wisowaty's mother didn’t approve. As a liquor store owner, she worked 15 hours a day, six days a week, so she was adamant that he “not get into business.” To appease his mother, he tried working at a temp agency with “vacation days and benefits,” but that lasted only a couple of days.

Like most young adults, he didn’t want to do what his parents told him. “You don’t get that kind of wisdom when you’re young,” he says.

a crabber’s life

Early on in his career, Wisowaty admits that “he wasn’t the best crabber.” So what does it take to be great? “You’ve got to sense where they’re moving,” he says. “They don’t tend to congregate all in one area; they like to hang out in pockets. Crabbers must be smart, aggressive and constantly move equipment to find those pockets.”

As a young crabber straight out of college, he took a different approach than most commercial crabbers. Instead of “super harvesting” (which, he says, means catching as many crabs as possible until late afternoon), he used his business acumen and would get off the boat around 2 p.m. to sell his morning catch.

This allowed him to sell most, if not all, of the day’s catch, rather than spend the entire day on the boat.

As his knowledge and experience grew over the next 18 years, he picked up other insights, like keeping his crab pots clean. “You have to keep shifting the crab pot,” he says. “They tend to get dirty and grow ‘hair’ from the salt water. Crabs like a clean pot, so you have to continuously bring them in and out of the water to clean them.”

His hard work and dedication got him a seat on the state’s Advisory Council of Shell Fisheries in the 1990s, where he served four three-year terms. The council is appointed by the governor and advises the state’s Director of Fish and Wildlife on all matters relating to the “control and direction of the shellfish industry and the protection, conservation and propagation of shellfish in [the] State.”

full-time business

In 2007, Wisowaty retired from the water due to hearing damage from prolonged exposure to sustained loud noises on his various boats, allowing him to focus on Wiso’s Crabs. ► MAY 2018 | OUTANDABOUTNOW.COM

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EAT 302.654.8001 CRABBIN’ WITH CAPTAIN WISO continued from previous page

PiccolinaToscana.com 1412 n. dupont st., wilmington

Wiso's Crabs & Seafood Market is full of odds and ends from the Wisowatys' travels.

He emphasizes that his is a carry-out and not a sit-down business, though there are some picnic tables and a counter where customers can eat. In addition to selling and steaming crabs, Wiso’s offers an abundance of seafood dishes, including seafood po’boys and fish tacos, an item added last season.

He says most customers live within 30 miles of Delaware City, though Wisowaty’s wife, Joanne, says they have a couple of regulars who come from as far away as New York City.

“Our customers and staff are our friends; we treat ‘em like family,” says Joanne. “Some of our customers’ kids have grown up with us. They’re 12-years-old one day, and now they’re 22.” She treats the children with a free Twizzler Licorice.

Wisowaty also briefly owned Wiso’s Crab House, the restaurant that lies less than 100 feet from the market. It’s now owned by his ex-wife, Kathy, and is named, appropriately, Kathy’s Crab House & Family Restaurant.

Fresh.

SPRING.

love at first click

“Captain Wiso” and Joanne are a match made on eHarmony.

“After answering those initial 250 questions, we were meant to be together,” she says. “We had so much in common, from little things like our love of country music to our favorite pastime— rock and fossil hunting.”

After meeting online, the two were married a year later at the Chapel of Flowers in Las Vegas. Says Wisowaty: “Our ceremony was filmed on closed-circuit television (streamed live) so that our family and friends could tune in to watch.”

Their love for each other and for their business is strong.

Together they work hard to keep Wiso’s Crabs running smoothly.

Wisowaty works the back-of-house, while Joanne works the front.

They live directly across from the Wiso’s Crabs, which is filled to the gills with odds and ends collected from their travels across the U.S. Each year, they go out west to escape winter in Delaware, “find adventure,” and discover new rocks to add to their collection.

Next year they hope to pan for gold, but those plans are on the back burner as they prepare for the 2018 crab season, which started last month and runs through October.

Wisowaty hopes that Robert, his son with ex-wife Kathy, will take over the business, but he knows that may not be in the cards.

As he puts it, “this generation has a different mentality,” which he understands and appreciates.

Says Joanne: “The kids these days want to forge their own path and make new ways and traditions.”

That’s fine with the Wisowatys, who have taken steps like hiring additional help to lessen the burden. Captain Wiso doesn’t want the business to stagnate, so while he’s still at the helm, he says “we are trying out new ideas, improving ourselves, so that we can keep evolving.”

Menu. wilmington’s favoRIte

neighborhood italian ReStauRaNt

MAY 2018 | OUTANDABOUTNOW.COM

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bigfishrestaurantgroup.com

sunday celebration menu

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302.475.3000 • WWW.HARRYS-SAVOY.COM • #HHGROUPIE 48 MAY 2018 | OUTANDABOUTNOW.COM

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EAT

GREENE TURTLE OPENS LOCATION IN WILMINGTON

BITES T Tasty things worth knowing Compiled by Mathew Brown-Watson

SHOPRITE RELEASES MEAL KIT SOLUTIONS

A

new line of innovative meal kit solutions was introduced by ShopRite in March. Gourmet in style, they are designed for customers seeking affordable meal solutions that are creative, easy to make and made with nutritious ingredients.

The new offerings include Thai Coconut Chicken, Chicken Marsala, Korean Beef Stir Fry, Moroccan Chicken and Pork Scaloppini.

Each of the new dishes was created by a professional gourmet chef and will serve two to four people.

The meal kits meet the dietary guidelines of the USDA and have also been approved by ShopRite’s dietitians.

To find your nearest ShopRite location, visit shoprite.com.

BRIO’S SPRING SEAFOOD CELEBRATION

B

RIO Tuscan Grille, 305 Mall Rd., Newark, will be celebrating spring by offering some new seafood features through June 17.

New dishes include Strawberry Balsamic Salmon Salad, Grilled Salmon Fresca, Shrimp Mediterranean, as well as Lobster and Shrimp Ravioli. There are also seasonal cocktails to complement the dishes, including Blackberry Fizz, Blackberry Cooler and Blackberry Infused Cosmo.

The spring celebration at BRIO will also feature a gift card promotion where a purchase of $100 in gift cards will result in a $25 bonus gift card.

For more information, visit brioitalian.com.

he Greene Turtle Sports Bar & Grille has just opened a seventh location in Delaware, at 307 Rocky Run Parkway, Wilmington.

The latest addition to the franchise is 6,300 square feet, with seating for approximately 230 people both inside and outside on the patio. There will be 26 beers on tap. The location will create more than 85 jobs for the local community.

The Greene Turtle Sports Bar is a familyfriendly establishment serving great food and drinks in an atmosphere built on sports entertainment. Active as well as retired military personnel will receive a 15 percent discount on all food. Greene Turtle is also committed to helping the local community by hosting special events, supporting local teams with sponsorships, and spearheading fundraising opportunities through programs like Tips for Tots and Funds for Friends.

More information is available at thegreeneturtle.com and on The Greene Turtle Sports Bar & Grille’s Facebook page.

TWO PANDA EXPRESSES UNDERWAY

T

he fast and casual Panda Express chain has been hiring employees for two new locations under construction in Milltown and New Castle.

Panda already has locations in Middletown, Bear and Dover. At the national level, Panda has grown to more than 2,000 restaurants and has become the largest family-owned "American Chinese" food chain in the country.

The Panda Express experience provides customers with the ability to create their dishes by choosing entrees such as Honey Walnut Shrimp, Eggplant Tofu, Kung Pao Chicken and Beijing Beef, along with sides such as steamed or fried rice, noodles and vegetables. The signature dish of the franchise is orange chicken, inspired by the flavors of Hunan Province and featuring crispy chicken bites in a sweet and spicy orange sauce.

Construction is ongoing at both the New Castle location, 113 S. DuPont Highway (U.S. 13) at Christiana Road, and the Milltown location at 4704 Kirkwood Highway. Both are expected to open before the end of spring.

DINO’S ICE CREAM MOVES TO UNION STREET

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fter five successful years of owning and operating Dino's Ice Cream & Italian Water Ice Truck, Dino Thompson has opened a permanent location at 6 S. Union St. in Wilmington.

Dino’s serves a variety of gourmet ice cream, ice cream bars and Thompson’s own home-made small batch gourmet Italian water ice. Thompson opened his brick and mortar enterprise on April 20— just in time for the warm weather.

For more information, visit dinosicecreamtruck.com or go to facebook.com/dinosicecreamtruck.

GRILLED CHEESE MELTDOWN MAY 10

A

fter seven years of success with Delaware Burger Battles, founder JulieAnne Cross has challenged chefs with a new competition: a battle for the best grilled cheese.

It’s set for Thursday, May 10, at 6:30 p.m. at Delaware Park. Ten chefs will be charged with the task of creating the best grilled cheese sandwich. Advance tickets are $35 and $50 at the door. A ticket includes samples from all the competitors and two beverages of wine or beer. The winner, as determined by votes from the guests, will receive the coveted People’s Choice trophy.

The Food Bank of Delaware will receive a portion of the proceeds.

Any restaurant interested in entering should contact JulieAnne Cross at ketchup@deburgerbattle.com. For more information, visit deburgerbattle.com or facebook.com/deburgerbattle.

MAY 2018 | OUTANDABOUTNOW.COM

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THE CITY

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT...

Matthew McMenamy, president of the Caesar Rodney Rotary Club; Parks & Recreation Director Kevin Kelley; City Council President Dr. Hanifa Shabazz; Mayor Mike Purzycki; Brittany Salen of the University of Delaware; Barbara Hicks; and Southbridge Civic Association president Marie Reed.

‘BOOK TREES’ INSTALLED AT BARBARA HICKS PARK IN SOUTHBRIDGE

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n Saturday, April 14, Mayor Purzycki and Parks & Recreation Director Kevin Kelley joined Matthew McMenamy, president of the Caesar Rodney Rotary Club, to commemorate the installation of two “Book Trees” in Barbara Hicks Park in the Southbridge section of the city. Also present were City Council President Dr. Hanifa Shabazz, Southbridge Civic Association president Marie Reed, and Barbara Hicks.

The book trees, modeled after the book-sharing boxes popularized by Little Free Library, were donated by the Rotary Club and installed by Parks workers. The boxes will be stocked and maintained by the Rotary Club with help from community partners such as the Neighborhood House. The two book trees sit side-by-side and contain books for both older and younger children. One of the trees is handicapped-accessible. The initial supply of books was donated by individual Rotary members.

The book trees will serve as a pilot project that, if successful, will be expanded to other City parks.

A SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT TO OUT & ABOUT MAGAZINE

4/24/18 3:51 PM

NATIONAL PUBLIC WORKS WEEK: MAY 21-24 The American Public Works Association and the Wilmington Department of Public Works celebrate National Public Works Week, May 21-24, 2018. This year’s theme is The Power of Public Works: Celebrating Every Day Heroes. A division of Public Works will be represented each day during the week in the lobby of the City/County Building.

Residents and employees are encouraged to visit the building and talk with Public Works staff and learn more about the Department and what we do.

There will be games, prizes and giveaways as well.

DOWNTOWN FARMERS MARKET The 2018 season of the Downtown Wilmington Farmers Market at Rodney Square will begin May 2nd and operate every Wednesday, rain or shine, through October 31st from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m., except for May 23rd (Public Works demo) & June 20th ( Jazz Fest).

The Downtown Wilmington Farmers Market opens for business every Wednesday in beautiful Rodney Square, between 10th & 11th Streets and Market & King Streets. Centrally located, Rodney Square has been the center of great events such as the annual Clifford Brown Jazz Festival and First Night Wilmington and is the perfect setting for the Farmers Market. The Square comes to life each Wednesday beneath the statue of Caesar Rodney, for whom the park is named.

The Farmers Market offers an array of the freshest local produce, plants, herbs and cut flowers. http://downtownwilmingtonde.com/ initiatives-blog/2015/8/4/farmers-market.

A SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT TO OUT & ABOUT MAGAZINE

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NEWS YOU CAN USE! NATIONAL DRINKING WATER WEEK To commemorate National Drinking Water Week (May 6-12), sponsored by the American Water Works Association, Wilmington’s Department of Public Works is having a water tasting in the lobby of the City/County Building on Wednesday, May 9 to encourage residents to drink city treated water as well as provide information about the city’s state-of-the-art treatment process.

PAY YOUR BILLS ONLINE The City of Wilmington Department of Finance reminds citizens that they can use the online Customer Service Portal with improved bill payment and bill presentment options powered by PAYMENTUS®. For more info., visit: www.wilmingtonde.gov/residents/view-and-pay-bills-online.

CIVIC ASSOCIATIONS Looking for a community organization or civic association in your area? Visit: www.wilmingtonde.gov/government/city-offices/ constituent-services/civic-and-neighborhood-organizations.

MARK YOUR CALENDAR MAY 1

WILMINGTON ETHICS COMMISSION MEETING

MAY 3

WILMINGTON BICYCLE ADVISORY COMMISSION

MAY 4

WILMINGTON ART LOOP

MAY 9

WATER TASTING IN LOBBY OF CITY/COUNTY BUILDING (NATIONAL DRINKING WATER WEEK)

MAY 17 ACCESS WILMINGTON MEETING MAY 21-24

NATIONAL PUBLIC WORKS WEEK

MAY 28 CITY HOLIDAY – MEMORIAL DAY

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1. Amtrak Station 2. Opera Delaware Studios/City Theater Co. 3. Wilmington Youth Rowing Assn., WYRA.ORG 4. Tubman-Garrett Riverfront Park 5. Residences at Christina Landing 6. Bank’s Seafood Kitchen & Raw Bar / Riverfront Market, BANKSSEAFOODKITCHEN.COM 7. Delaware Theatre Co., DELAWARETHEATRE.ORG 8. Docklands Riverfront, DOCKLANDSRIVERFRONT.COM 9. Cosi at the Barclays Crescent Building, GETCOSI.COM 10. Hare Pavilion/Riverwalk 11. AAA Mid-Atlantic Travel Center, AAAMIDATLANTIC.COM 12. The Delaware Contemporary, DECONTEMPORARY.ORG

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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

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DuPont Environmental Education Center, DUPONTEEC.ORG 27 Riverfront Commuter Lot, RIVERFRONTWILM.COM/PARKING 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 Photo by Joe del Tufo

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FUN ON THE R RI E M VE M U

RIV

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MINI G LF

CRUISES START

FIRST TEE TIME

CATCH THE TAXI

MAY 13TH

MAY 19TH

STARTING MAY 4TH

THURSDAY DINNER CRUISES

MONDAY – THURSDAY 10AM – 9PM

DAILY SHUTTLE SERVICE

FRIDAY & SATURDAY 10AM – 11PM

WEDNESDAYS ON THE WATER

SUNDAY BRUNCHES PRIVATE CHARTERS

FAMILY NIGHTS

SUNDAY 12PM – 8PM

RiverboatQueenWilm.com

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W i l m i n g t o n R i v e r Ta x i . c o m

For all events and venues ~ RiverfrontWilm.com

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4/17/18 12:10 PM 4/24/18 9:14 AM

Separation Day

IN HISTORIC NEW CASTLE

FRIDAY & SATURDAY

JUNE 8&9

Join us in celebrating one of delaware’s oldest traditions!

Colonial BBQ Competition Six Bands Big Package | Special Delivery | Element K Federal Street | 330 Hemi | Blues Cat Blues

Kids Rides & Attractions Food, Drink & Vendors Fireworks at dusk!

SeparationDayDE.com MAY 2018 | OUTANDABOUTNOW.COM

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“

PAYNE IS NOTHING SHORT OF MARVELOUS

“

–DC Theatre Scene

SHINES AND SHIMMERS AND SOARS! –MD Theatre Guide

Freda Payne. Photo by Matt Urban, Mobius New Media.

REGIONAL PREMIERE

NOW PLAYING THROUGH MAY 13 TICKETS SELLING FAST Group (10+) & student discounts available

The astonishing virtuosa FREDA PAYNE brings to life the First Lady of Song with a transcendent voice and elegance that captures the immortal ELLA FITZGERALD. Enjoy a selection of timeless tunes from the era, including “It Don’t Mean a Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing),” A-Tisket, A-Tasket,” “Sweet Georgia Brown,” and more. Join Ella as she rises to become one of the most beloved jazz artists of all time.

GET YOUR TICKETS TODAY!

200 WATER STREET / WILMINGTON, DE 19801 / 302.594.1100 / DELAWARETHEATRE.ORG SHOW SPONSOR:

SEASON SPONSOR:

This program is supported, in part, by a grant from the Delaware Division of the Arts, a state agency, in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts.

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

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Photo J. Winfield Heckert

WATCH

Emma D. Orrd stars as Alice in the homage to horror films of the '80s.

A ‘HOUSE OF MADNESS’ OPENS IN WILMINGTON J. Winfield Heckert and friends celebrate their first feature film, premiering at Theatre N

By Michelle Kramer-Fitzgerald

S

nacking on chips and salsa at a Mexican restaurant, J. Winfield “Win” Heckert doesn’t initially strike me as an artist on the verge of his first feature-length film debut.

He’s relaxed, low-key, but clearly a guy who loves creating good art. In his case, that means film.

Heckert, 38, grew up near Arden (he’s even filmed scenes in nearby Sherwood Forest). In 2002, he won “best student short” for his film, Technically Deceased, at the Wilmington Independent Film Festival.

Now, In the House of Madness—the movie Heckert produced and directed as well as co-wrote with Nate Farrar—premieres on Thursday, May 10, at Wilmington’s Theatre N. Is he feeling overwhelmed? “At times, yes,” he laughs. “That’s why it took me two years to finish.” But ultimately, he concedes, “This was really just a great reason to get together and hang out with this group [of artists].” The group he refers to is the looselybased, all-volunteer collective known as the Wilmington Film Mob, of which Heckert and Farrar are founding members (See Out & About, February 2016).

Together, the two have produced a number of short films.

The first was Rockabilly High School in 2015, which was screened

at Fringe Wilmington and the Wilmington Film Fest, followed

by Dead & Waiting, directed by Farrar. They frequently cast and write for other members and “friends” of the Mob. But back to In the House of Madness … The plot: Struggling art student Alice returns to her family's sprawling estate after a difficult semester. Soon after, she has visions of monsters lurking in the shadows; her aunt is dragged into the basement by unknown forces; her cousins are killed. And a curse upon the family and her return has somehow triggered it all. Now Alice, her uncle and two overzealous police detectives must fight evil forces and close the portal to hell.

In the House of Madness—the title is a play on the 1994 John Carpenter flick In the Mouth of Madness—is an homage to horror movies of the 1980s. Heckert grew up a fan of Carpenter and of movies like Evil Dead and The Hidden (“It’s flawless,” he says of the latter), and he wanted his first feature to reflect the feel of the films he loved.

“We wanted to make it seem like it was shot in the ‘80s,” Heckert says, “so why not make the title sound like it could have actually been released during that time as well?”

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Norman David and the Eleventet An exhilarating jazz big band with breathtaking playing and monster solos THURSDAY, MAY 17 | 8 PM

2018 PERFORMANCE SERIES STEP AFRIKA! EIGHTH BLACKBIRD NORMAN DAVID AND THE ELEVENTET MARC BAMUTHI JOSEPH OKWUI OKPAKWASILI JONAH BOKAER CARTOON CHRISTMAS TRIO KENDRICK SCOTT TRIO PYXIS

2301 Kentmere Pkwy | Wilmington, DE | 302.571.9590

PURCHASE TICKETS AT DELART.ORG

58 MAY 2018 | OUTANDABOUTNOW.COM

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WATCH

Photo Kristin Iacobucci

A ‘HOUSE OF MADNESS’ OPENS IN WILMINGTON continued from previous page

Heckert shot the film at several local locations, including the Jackson Inn and Tri-State Mall.

‘80s Horror Rises Anew

Staying true to 1980s cinema, Heckert shot entirely on film. He credits friends at Wilmington’s video production company, the Kitchen, for help. Zack Phillips and company supplied Heckert with extra film stock they didn’t need, providing a tremendous unforeseen bonus.

Shooting for Madness began in March 2016 and wrapped in December of that year.

Locations included Chester, Wilmington and Lehighton, Pa. While Heckert wouldn’t reveal the film’s exact overall budget, he quips, “…you could buy a decent used Honda for the budget of this movie.”

The most challenging aspect of the film was the sound. “It was definitely labor-intensive,” Heckert says, “to get the right sound effects for this level [of a project].” (Heckert handled all of the post-production work in his home studio.)

Wilmington audiences will be able to easily ID some familiar haunts in the film like the Jackson Inn, Jimmy John’s Hot Dogs, 1984 and Tri-State Mall, as well as some well-known Wilmington-area faces.

Emma D. Orr stars in the role of Alice. Other members of the cast include Bethany Bullington (Aunt Marie); Kevin Francis (Father Vicar); Ted Bond (Heckart); Dan Murphy (Humbart); and several others. Cameos are made by Farrar as Bill Haley and Mo Russ as Frankie Smith (of Double Dutch Bus fame).

Orr was all-in when Heckert and Farrar approached her for the role; she’d appeared in Heckert’s short films but never a feature.

“I saw it as a great way to get the gang together for more than a day or two and make some weird art—in a good way—along the way,” she says. “After I saw the script and especially after the first read-through, I thought, ‘Yup…this is absolutely bonkers, and I am totally in!’”

Orr describes her character as a combination of many “stereotypical horror-movie girls.

She’s privileged, shallow, has no idea what she’s doing most of the time…but gets by either with dumb luck or because she is protected by some supernatural force,” she says. “But in the end, you’re still rooting for her.”

Orr says the film is an homage to everything this crew loves about campy, B-movie horror.

“The humor is madcap and random. The movie makes fun of itself every step of the way.”

Heckert hopes audiences will appreciate the tribute to past horror classics and laugh along with them. They even added intentional continuity errors (a la B movie slips), “…because we think it’s funny.”

What are Heckert’s goals for the movie going forward? “Our goal was to make a movie,” he laughs. “We didn’t plan much beyond that — like, ‘Now what do I do with it?’” In truth, he hopes to submit to film festivals in Colorado and “horror-con” type festivals in the fall.

As part of the Theatre N red carpet extravaganza (I did suggest to Heckert that he invest in a step-and-repeat banner for photos ops), audiences can enjoy a pre-show cocktail hour with the cast, In the House of Madness screening at 7 p.m., and a bonus screening of Farrar’s The Hat Man following. Tickets are $12 in advance at ticketleap.com.

Orr sums it up for potential fans: “If you like zombies, haunted mansions and car chases, all backed by a sweet synth soundtrack—you’re in for a treat, my friends.”

LaFate’s Art Honors Love and the Art of Caregiving

Delaware folk artist Eunice LaFate invites art lovers to a very special exhibit on Friday, May 4, from 6 to 9 p.m. at her downtown LaFate Gallery. The exhibit, entitled “The Heart of Caregiving,” lovingly honors the memory of LaFate’s late husband, Robert, and supports the local organization that cared for him before he passed.

BBC

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MAY 2018 | OUTANDABOUTNOW.COM

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WATCH

In November 2014, LaFate’s husband entered Regency Healthcare A ‘HOUSE OF MADNESS’ & Rehabilitation Center, on Broom OPENS IN WILMINGTON Street in Wilmington’s Cool Spring/ continued from previous page Tilton Park neighborhood, during his longtime battle with cancer. Sadly, he lost the fight in May 2015.

“I visited him daily [at Regency], not missing a day in four months,” LaFate recalls. “I created my series of paintings at his bedside.” Since his passing, LaFate has adopted and championed the causes of caregiving and cancer awareness.

The works that she created during her husband’s fight will be offered for sale during the May 4 event. A portion of the proceeds will benefit Regency Healthcare. LaFate’s new focus is creating art that highlights caregiving, a healthy lifestyle and cancer awareness.

“I chose Regency as my beneficiary because they took excellent care of my loved one,” says LaFate. “My gallery was born out of my sorrow. It has helped me to rebound from grief to growth and has strengthened my resolve to continue helping my community.”

The event, at 227 N. Market St. in the LoMa (Lower Market) district, will include refreshments and live music.

Nomad’s Monthly Jam “the BASSment” Undergoes Facelift

Regulars of Wilmington’s jazz/R&B/soul live music hotspot The Nomad have long been enjoying the Wednesday jam sessions known as “the BASSment.” The evening is hosted by local band The Souldaires— Darnell Miller, guitar/vocals; Tom Minor, guitar; Rich Minor, bass; Mike McKenzie, keys; Wayne Browne, drums, and featured vocalist Nihkee Bleu. Miller himself is an R&B/soul/rock powerhouse on the local music scene as well as a teaching artist at Christina Cultural Arts Center. He recently released his own EP, Jesus & Jameson.

Miller and The Souldaires started the BASSment to pay homage to the neo-soul movement that happened a few years ago at places like the 5-Spot in Philadelphia and the Apache Cafe in Atlanta.

“Those places birthed a slew of young hot artists that truly changed music,” Miller says.

The Souldaires are now looking to expand their jam to include featured guests on the first Wednesday of every month.

Miller notes that both singers and musicians are welcome, and they accept guest submissions from anywhere.

“We started features to expose people to up-and-coming local, regional and even national artists,” he says. “We also curate a monthly Spotify playlist that features great throwback tunes and hot new cutting-edge R&B/soul artists.”

The BASSment’s first special guest set is Wednesday, May 2, at 9 p.m., and will feature Briz & the Revival. This Phillybased ensemble fuses R&B, jazz, rock and funk. In July of 2017, they played the Groove Stage at the Wawa Welcome America Celebration in Philadelphia.

On their website, lead singer Briz notes: “…we know music causes an awakening to life. It's why our name is ‘The Revival.’ We want to make you feel alive and connected to us and to each other.”

Does Miller have a “dream” guest for the BASSment roster? “I think that would be someone like Emily King or, more locally, an artist named Donn T from Philadelphia,” he says.

Check out the next installment of the BASSment at The Nomad on Orange Street in downtown Wilmington. As always, there is no cover, and there are new drink specials each month as well as The Souldaires’ own signature drinks.

To submit an act for consideration in the BASSment roster, connect with hiddenpalaceentertainment@gmail.com.

MAY 2018 | OUTANDABOUTNOW.COM

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Y 25 A M S OPEN

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48 JANUARY 2018 | OUTANDABOUTNOW.COM

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WATCH

I Feel Pretty

3

STARS µµµµµ Amy Schumer stars as Renee in I Feel Pretty. Photo Mark Schäfer / Courtesy of STX Entertainment

SCHUMER’S NEW FILM IS ‘PRETTY’ GOOD Outlandish comedy draws on her brash persona

By Mark Fields

A

s a stand-up comic and TV series star, Amy Schumer has created a unique and compelling persona as a woman who embraces herself as she is. She successfully translated her brash, more-than-slightly-naughty image to the movie screen with the 2015 hit Trainwreck. After a disappointing sophomore effort in Snatched (in what seemed like a dream pairing with Goldie Hawn), she’s now back in a contemporary romantic comedy, I Feel Pretty. The question for many of her fans (and her critics) is: Can Schumer find film vehicles that capitalize on her comedic strengths without the movies becoming overwhelmed by her personality or repetitive attempts to showcase what works?

In some ways, Amy Schumer reminds me of Robin Williams, an audacious stage performer whose cinematic performances were often hit-or-miss, as directors and screenwriters struggled

to capture his manic essence in a way that didn’t overpower or derail the movie. Schumer doesn’t have the same over-the-top energy as Williams, but she does have an appealing stage presence that can be difficult to wedge into a conventional movie story.

I Feel Pretty, for the most part, plays to Schumer’s strengths.

Where it misses is in a screenplay that wants to have it both ways.

Schumer plays Renee Bennett, a schlubby, lonely web technician for a high fashion magazine who is completely demoralized by her less-than-stellar physical appearance. The opening credits sequence smartly if painfully captures the daily put-downs and slights that overweight, unattractive people face during the average day. Even her attempts at self-improvement (in the form of a SoulCycle class) end in humiliation. At the end of the day, Renee retreats to the solace of her girlfriends, Vivian (SNL’s Aidy Bryant) and Jane (Busy Philipps). ► MAY 2018 | OUTANDABOUTNOW.COM

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WATCH

P L AYI N G THIS MONTH

Photo Mark Schäfer / Courtesy of STX Entertainment

SCHUMER'S NEW FILM IS ‘PRETTY’ GOOD continued from previous page

Nemours Building 1007 N. Orange Street

May 4 - 6

Borg vs McEnroe

Isle of Dogs

Fri 5:30 | Sat 12:45, 8:15 Sun 2:30, 7:45

Fri 8:30 | Sat 3:30, 6 Sun 12, 5:15

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May 11 - 13

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Hitler vs Picasso

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Pulp Fiction Sat 10am

May 18 - 20

King of the Belgians Fri 5:30 Sat 4 | Sun 12

Chappaquiddick AFI Top 100 Films #93 The French Fri 8:30 Connection Sat 1, 7:30 | Sun 3, 6

Sat 10am

May 25 - 28

Flower Fri 8:30 Sat 1:30, 9:30 | Sun 3

The Leisure Seeker

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Fri 5:30 | Sat 3:45, 6:45 Sun 12, 6 | Mon 7

Goodfellas Sat 10am

Special Screenings

Macbeth

Rocky Horror Picture Show

Wed April 16 • 6pm

Sat May 5 & 19 • 11pm

For more information and tickets, visit

Thanks to a gym accident, Renee develops a confidence that she previously lacked.

TheatreN.com

A freak accident at her next SoulCycle class results in a concussion for the hapless Miss Bennett, but when she awakes, some inexplicably crossed wiring in her brain convinces her that she is a drop-dead knock-out and svelte…which, of course, she is not. Buoyed by this miracle, Renee develops (or perhaps taps into) the confidence that she has previously lacked and becomes the take-charge woman she has always aspired to be. She finds a boyfriend, wins a job she really wanted as receptionist for her magazine employer, and even becomes an informal adviser to the flighty magazine editor played by Michelle Williams. Of course, in moviedom, this can’t last, and the rest of the movie deals with how Renee copes when her delusion goes away.

Schumer, who freely admits to being an outlier in imageconscious Hollywood, adopts the confident Renee with gusto, showing some of the same devil-may-care attitude of the actress’ own life. Unfortunately for the film, the screenplay, by Abby Kohn and Marc Silverstein (who also co-direct), can’t decide what it thinks about its characters. At times, it makes fun of the unattractive people and then switches and bashes the beautiful.

We revel in Renee’s new confidence, but we also groan when she drops her friends and becomes a shallow stereotype of the gorgeous. The ping-ponging perspectives make it hard to truly admire the lead character.

Schumer manages both aspects of Renee with her typical acerbic charm, and carries the viewer even when the screenplay lets her down. Michelle Williams is both funny and endearing as a fashion magazine editor and model with an incredibly high-pitched and annoying voice. Newcomer Rory Scovel plays Renee’s boyfriend affably. Lauren Hutton makes a brief appearance as the magazine’s founder. Sadly, with the focus so tight on Schumer’s Renee, the rest of the cast, though game, suffers from underdeveloped, clichéd roles.

Although entertaining, I Feel Pretty still disappoints in the end.

Perhaps the only way for Schumer to truly shine in the movies is for her to write her own material, as she did with Trainwreck. She, and the audience, deserve better.

Coming in May: Overboard—Anna Faris in a remake spin of the Goldie Hawn film, May 4; Terminal—a neo-noir thriller starring Margot Robbie and Mike Myers (yes, that Mike Myers), May 11; Deadpool Sequel (still untitled at press time)—the return of Marvel’s snarkiest superhero with Ryan Reynolds, May 18, and Solo: A Stars Wars Story, Han’s origin story, May 25.

64 MAY 2018 | OUTANDABOUTNOW.COM

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AT THEATRE N ISLE OF DOGS, MAY 4-6

The works of Wes Anderson are undoubtedly an acquired cinematic taste, and in fact, it took me a long while to warm to his offbeat camerawork and self-consciously opaque dialogue. But his unconventional stories and directorial approach have always drawn top Hollywood talent. And his latest, a stop-motion animated film called Isle of Dogs, is no exception. The voice acting cast includes Bryan Cranston, Scarlett Johansson and Greta Gerwig, as well as Anderson’s numerous repertory players: Edward Norton, Frances McDormand, Bill Murray and Bob Balaban.

This fanciful comedy tells of a makebelieve Japanese city that, when overrun by dogs, exiles them all to an island garbage dump to fend for themselves.

One boy, the mayor’s adopted son, decides to defy the authorities and rescue his stranded dog. The story is straightforward enough, but Anderson gives it his signature touches with wildly imaginative visuals and mordant humor.

Also playing at Theatre N in May: Foxtrot, Israeli film that was one of the most acclaimed movies of 2017, May 1113; a quirky Belgian comedy, The King of the Belgians, May 18-20; angst-y teen drama Flower, May 25-27, and the ongoing countdown of AFI’s Top 100 films of all time (including Do The Right Thing and Pulp Fiction), every Saturday. Theatren.com.

MAY 2018 | OUTANDABOUTNOW.COM

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presents the

Special Discount Code On Your Loop Wristband!

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OUTANDABOUTNOW.COM • 302.655.6483

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DRINK

Linda Marshall, center, with two of her fans: owner Steve Torpey and fellow employee Sue Lilly. Photo Matt Loeb

saying goodbye to a staple at stanley’s

After 46 years, bartender Linda Marshall will serve her last customer on May 24

By Rob Kalesse

l

inda Marshall isn’t big on numbers.

Her wedding anniversary? Couldn’t tell you the year without really thinking about it. The date of her first day on the job at Stanley’s Tavern on Foulk Road? No idea. The biggest tip she’s ever received while tending bar at the legendary establishment? Not a clue.

But even Marshall, a self-described people person, can’t ignore one big number coming up at the end of May. When the Wilmington native clocks out after her last shift on Thursday, the 24th, she will have completed an astounding 46 years at Stanley’s.

For her co-workers, family, employer, and especially her regulars, it will be the end of an era. For Marshall, it will be more than the conclusion of a chapter of her life; it will mark a bittersweet end to some of the biggest laughs and fondest memories in her 66 years.

an early start

Marshall started work at Stanley’s Tavern so long ago that she couldn’t even step foot in the main bar area. She wasn’t of legal drinking age at the time, and so she would post up in the secondfloor kitchen area, making sandwiches for the lunchtime rush with three other women.

“I remember I couldn’t even walk into the actual tavern to report for work, so I would walk up the back steps and we would send orders down to the tavern on a dumbwaiter,” says Marshall.

“Once I was old enough, I started waitressing and then bartending.

From the first day, I loved it, loved the people.”

Steve Torpey was the general manager of Stanley’s Tavern in the early ‘80s, and eventually part of an ownership group that bought the restaurant in 1982. He’d known Marshall since their days as classmates at Mt. Pleasant High School, but he didn’t realize how much of a force she’d become with the locals who flocked to her bar. ► MAY 2018 | OUTANDABOUTNOW.COM

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DRINK

Photo courtesy of Steve Torpey

SAYING GOODBYE TO A STAPLE AT STANLEY’S continued from previous page

Yep, that's a Budweiser Clydesdale behind Linda Marshall at the bar, in 1998.

“She’s a great person, but she also has that matriarchal nature to her that brings people in,” says Torpey. “And she loves to laugh. She tells jokes, gets the customers engaged with each other.

Her lunch shifts these days are more of an event than anything, and it’s not something you see most places.”

Watch All The Pro Baseball Games, Basketball and Hockey Playoffs with Us!

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MONDAYS

½ Price Appetizers All Day

Marshall said she never took or kept her bartending gig at Stanley’s for the money or the flexible hours or the attention one gets from being behind the bar. Rather, she says, she has remained at Stanley’s because she loves people and can’t imagine not being with those she refers to as “friends” almost every day.

“I don’t know what it’ll be like when I leave here for the last time, but I’m really going to miss these people,” she says, fighting back tears. “But I’ve been preparing for this for a while now, even lowering my number of shifts each week, so I think I’ll be ready when the time comes.”

Torpey says that, even though Marshall has scaled back on her number of shifts over the past few years, it’s difficult to find someone with her loyalty and longevity.

Each year he sees a third of his primarily young staff leave to go back to college or head to the beach for the summer.

“Turnover is huge in this industry, as most people know,” he says. “We’re always rotating schedules and trying to keep a quality staff that can connect with the customers. Linda is that saving grace that connects one staff to the next.

She’s touched thousands of lives over the years, and we’ll be sad to see her go.”

Corona Buckets $17.50 | Bud and Bud Light 16oz Can Buckets $15.00 $4 Captain Morgan Drinks | $2.75 Bud and Bud Light Drafts | $4 Vodka Mixes TUESDAYS

½ Price Burgers All Day

$1.50 Domestic Drafts after 7pm

WEDNESDAYS

All You Can Eat Wings $12.99 after 5pm

$1 Off Craft Draft Beers 7pm-Close

108 Peoples Plaza (Corner of Rtes. 40 & 896) | Newark, DE | 302-834-6661 8 Polly Drummond Shopping Center | Newark, DE | 302-738-7814 800 North State Street | Dover, DE | 302-674-0144

THURSDAYS

All You Can Eat Shrimp $13.99 after 5pm Prime Rib $18.99 after 5pm

FRIDAYS

Prime Rib $22.99 after 5pm

$3 Taylor’s Grog 7pm-close

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SATURDAYS

SUNDAYS

$1 Off Craft Bottles Beef and Beer $9.99 All Day Steak Night $13.99 Prime Rib $22.99 after 5pm

www.mcglynnspub.com

68 MAY 2018 | OUTANDABOUTNOW.COM

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Photo Matt Loeb

Marshall draws one of her last drafts.

connections to last a lifetime

Marshall has put in more than 80,000 hours at Stanley’s, which is known as both a family restaurant and a sports bar.

As a result, she has waited on her fair share of sports celebrities and media personalities.

“Let’s see: Arnold Palmer, Julius Erving, Ukee Washington … oh, and of course Bill Bergey,” says Marshall, chuckling and rolling her eyes when mentioning the retired Philadelphia Eagles linebacker. “Then again, he’s been in here so many times over the years, I’d hardly call him famous. He’s a regular just like the rest of ‘em.”

One of those regulars is Gary Gooden, a Wilmington native whose membership at the Kirkwood Fitness Club and work in the North Wilmington area finds him at Marshall’s bar most weekdays. The 62-year-old says he’s probably been served lunch by Marshall more than a thousand times over 12 years.

“She’s a wonderful person, really, and so caring,” says Gooden. “But she also has a great sense of humor, and I think you need that from a bartender. Sometimes it’s a great joke or a story she’ll tell, and sometimes she’s just the perfect listener.”

Sue Lilly, who became close with Marshall when she started at Stanley’s in 1988, says Marshall is as famous as the wings the restaurant serves. “Some people come for the food and the atmosphere,” says Lilly, “but a lot of people come to see Linda.

She always has people laughing and is a good-hearted person.”

Marshall met her future husband, Will (a former employee), at the restaurant, and has seen her daughter, Meghan, work there. She’s been surrounded by blood relatives and adopted family members like Gooden and Lilly. It’s no surprise, then, when Torpey says that her departure will be marked by an appropriate event.

“I don’t want to spoil what we’re planning that day, but let’s just say it’s gonna be a party; she’s earned it,” he says.

No matter what the festivities may be, long-time customer Gooden is sure of three things: “a lot laughs, a lot of stories, and definitely some tears.”

Regulars can catch Marshall for just a handful of shifts in May—every Tuesday and Thursday for lunch until the 24th.

MAY 2018

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| OUTANDABOUTNOW.COM

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Celebrating

80 Years! Spirited DRINK

Our recommendation from an area pro

From Joe Renaud, Beverage Director, Home Grown Café

Enjoy these daily specials

ALL MONTH LONG! s Mondays: 15% OFF Craft Beer 6-Pack $50 Tuesdays: 15% OFF Whiskeys over

ne Wednesdays: 15% OFF 750mls of Wi Thursdays: $2 OFF Growler Fills

Huge Selection Mix Your Own 6-Pack Friendly Staff

STOP by for food truck friday!

Friday, May 25th wilmington 522 Philadelphia pike -

uors.com 302.764.0377 - pecosliq

PINEAPPLE GRAPEFRUIT PALOMA

Who doesn't love spring? Warmer days with cooler nights, cold drinks, and BBQs with your friends. When I think of spring, I think of palomas, the refreshing tequila-based cocktail complemented by fresh grapefruit and lime. But I also love pineapple and how sweet, yet tart, it is. I wanted to marry the two and make something refreshing and delicious. While I know the go-to tequila cocktail is the margarita, I encourage you to give this one a try.

INGREDIENTS (for two beverages): • 3 ounces Don Julio Blanco • 6 ounces fresh grapefruit juice (or a whole grapefruit) • 6 ounces fresh pineapple juice (or a whole pineapple) • 1 ounce lime juice (or a whole lime) Prep: • Pineapple: Cut the crown off. This will give you an even surface for cutting. Cut a one-inch-wide cross section below where the crown was. Remove the skin. If you have a juicer or press, juice the slice you just cut. If you don’t, use a muddler or buy pineapple juice.

• Grapefruit: Cut the grapefruit in half. Using a hand press, juice one half of the grapefruit.

• Build the cocktail in the shaker (See below) Building the cocktail • Combine above in a large shaker, seal the shaker and shake hard.

• Strain and pour your paloma into two glasses of fresh ice.

Garnish (optional) • Take the crown of the pineapple and cut a leaf off for each glass.

• Cut a pineapple wedge and place it on each glass.

Drink, enjoy, repeat!

70 MAY 2018 | OUTANDABOUTNOW.COM

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DRINK

DOGFISH HEAD IS SECOND IN USA TODAY VOTE

D

SIPS

Here's what's pouring Compiled by Mathew Brown-Watson

YUENGLING INTRODUCES YEAR-ROUND BEER

D

.G. Yuengling & Son Brewery of Pottsville, Pa., a long-time bestseller in the First State, has added its first year-round brew in 17 years: Golden Pilsner.

The new beer is Yuengling’s unique take on the refreshing pilsner, a concoction that harmonizes with Yuengling’s core portfolio of iconic beers, including Traditional Lager, Light Lager, and Black & Tan. The Pilsner, which was in development for 18 months, is for the beer-drinker who prefers lighter offerings and is an excellent choice for outdoor, social and active occasions.

For more information, visit yuengling.com.

ogfish Head Craft Brewery in Milton was named the second-best brewery tour in America in the third annual USA Today 10 Best Readers’ Choice awards.

The charm of the Dogfish Head brewery begins with the Steampunk Treehouse, outdoor fermenters, food truck and bocce courts, all of which sets the tone for the off-centered experience that awaits tourists. Once inside, visitors get a laid-back journey through the working brewery’s cellars and bottling lines, as they get a feel for a day in the life at Dogfish Head.

For the seasoned beer aficionado, there are also the grain-to-glass tours that provide access to parts of the brewery that are usually off limits, like the cold storage area, the grain holding room, the Palo & Oak Wood-Aging room, and much more. In the tasting area, there is a robust selection of off-centered beer freshly tapped and ready to pour.

The brewery, at 6 Cannery Village Center, Milton, is open seven days a week. For more information about tours and tastings, visit dogfish.com.

CALAGIONES RECEIVE HISTORY MAKERS AWARD

L

ast month, Sam and Mariah Calagione of Dogfish Head received the prestigious History Makers Award at The Queen theater for their work in creating one of the nation’s finest craft breweries.

The Calagiones co-founded Dogfish Head Brewery in 1995 and have since grown the business into the nation’s 12th largest craft brewer and one of the 25 largest U.S. brewers. They also own two restaurants in Rehoboth Beach and an inn in Lewes.

The Delaware History Makers Award began in 2007 and supports the Delaware Historical Society’s award-winning education programs. Past recipients include former Vice President Joe Biden and former Delaware Gov. Pete du Pont.

IRON HILL EXPANDS TO REHOBOTH

I

ron Hill is heading south to Rehoboth Beach with the soft opening of restaurant number 14 on Friday, May 25, at 19791 Coastal Highway.

The award-winning brewpub’s owners had been eyeing a move to the southern part of the First State for 15 years, and it now joins Sussex County craft beer champions such as Dogfish Head, Crooked Hammock, and Big Oyster.

The new Iron Hill location will have the charm and features patrons of the franchise have come to expect, adhering to their promise that all menu items—food and beer—are made on site. For more information, visit ironhillbrewery.com.

CROOKED HAMMOCK RELEASES HAND OF BUDDHA PALE ALE

C

rooked Hammock Brewery has ushered in the warmer months with the second annual spring release of Hand of Buddha Cream Ale. Last year, the first release of this ale sold out at the Crooked Hammock Brewpub in just 10 days.

Hand of Buddha is a traditional cream ale, blending the distinct flavors of Madagascar vanilla bean with a generous amount of Buddha’s hand fruit, creating a refreshing citrus flavor coupled with a delightful vanilla undertone. This seasonal brew appropriately welcomes the warmer weather to the midAtlantic shores it calls home.

Kegs were tapped and six packs were cracked open at Crooked Hammock’s Brewpub release party in March, and Hand of Buddha beer is now available on tap and in liquor stores throughout the state of Delaware.

For more information, visit crookedhammockbrewery.com.

MAY 2018 | OUTANDABOUTNOW.COM

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Day!

w

MAY

Entertainment Schedule

EVERY MONDAY: Showtime Trivia EVERY TUESDAY: Jefe & DJ Andrew Hugh EVERY THURSDAY: DJ Willoughby EVERY FRIDAY: EDM DJ Dance Party

LIVE BANDS!

THURSDAY: 5/10-Tweed 5/3-Tweed

EVERY SUNDAY FUNDAY BRUNCH 9AM-2PM! $4 Make-Your-Own Bloody Mary Bar

5/24-Hot Bed

FRIDAY: 5/4-Phillip Micheal Parsons 5/11-AS IF 5/18-Cherry Crush 5/25-Wave Runners

SATURDAY: 5/5-Chorduroy 5/12-Photoshop Hotties 5/19-The Loop!

5/26-5:55

Check Out Our Great Drink Specials $4 Vodka Mixes | $2.75 Bud & Bud Light Drafts | $4 Captain Morgan Mixes MONDAYS ½ Price Appetizers ALL DAY!

TUESDAYS ½ Price Burgers ALL DAY! $4 Double LIT’s

WEDNESDAYS - MEXICAN NIGHT! ½ Price Nachos & Quesadillas ALL DAY! $3 Coronas & Margaritas • $2 Tacos $15.99 9oz NY Strip Steak All Day

THURSDAYS ALL-YOU-CAN-EAT Wings (5pm-Close) ½ Price Burgers (11:30am-3pm) • $3 Rail Drinks

Next time you stop in, don’t forget to sign up for our Ashby Hospitality Groups VIP Loyalty Program!

302.369.9414 | 108 West Main Street, Newark | www.deerparktavern.com

Be our friend on Facebook!

As we celebrate our 83rd anniversary, We say goodbye to one of our favorite bartenders after 46 years.

Farewell and Many Thanks to

Linda Marshal.

Stop in and say goodbye and good luck to Linda!

Stanley’s Tavern 2038 Foulk Road | Wilmington, DE 19810

302.475.1887 | Stanleys-Tavern.com

72 MAY 2018 | OUTANDABOUTNOW.COM

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LISTEN

From left: Kerry Kristine and event creator/host Joe Trainor; Lischele Knight, judge; Pamelyn Manocchio, The Grand; Jim Miller, Out & About, judge; Marielle Kraft, 2018 Champion; Amanda Nolan, runner-up; Reece Ratliff, Audience Choice; and judges Kaloni Baylor, 2017 Champion; Rob Matera, Arden Concert Gild; Jim Smith, Metropolis Records. Photo courtesy of The Grand

The Lyricist Meet Marielle Kraft, new Musikarmageddon Solo champ

W

hile sheer talent won 22-year-old Marielle Kraft the championship of this year’s Musikarmageddon Solo singer-songwriter competition, it was her strategy of connecting with the audience that carried her to that point.

The April 7 competition at the baby grand drew 15 of the area’s top singer-songwriters. Each performed four original songs, competing in head-to-head battles to determine the outcome.

Runner-up was Amanda Nolan from West Grove, Pa. This year’s competition had five judges: Jim Smith of Metropolis Records, Rob Matera of Arden Concert Gild, Jim Miller of Out & About Magazine, Lischele Knight from The Grand’s Board of Directors, and last year’s Musikarmageddon Solo winner, Kaloni Baylor.

Pop artist Kraft says she intentionally started out strong with her catchiest crowd favorite, “Hey You,” which contrasted with the slower, emotional trend of the first round. Next, she focused

her energy on sharing herself as a solid lyricist and storyteller with “How Far You Feel,” a significant move because she considers herself a songwriter first, musician second. In the song she explores the paradox of a long-distance relationship, and how the feeling of distance shifts back and forth from physical to emotional.

“The hook of the song is ‘How far you are but I can’t tell how far you feel,’” says Kraft.

Later, she shifted tones with a dramatic “scathing” song that she describes as angsty and beat-driven with tongue-in-cheek lyrics like “I was the test ride of my ex and now she’s his joyride.”

“That’s always a fun one and it gets the audience going,” says Kraft. “I ended it in the finals with the song called ‘Box,’ my newest and most vulnerable song, where my emotion is still very raw. I was confident that hopefully I really connected with the audience at that point and gained their trust enough.”

Obviously, she did. ► MAY 2018 | OUTANDABOUTNOW.COM

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LISTEN THE LYRICIST continued from previous page

998 Mantua Pike, Woodbury Heights NJ 08097

WVUD.ORG

Something For Everyone.

Says Joe Trainor, founder of the competition and local music mainstay: “Marielle showed a clever intensity in her material that, when coupled with her wonderful voice, pulled the listener into her story. And that’s how you win competitions.”

The crowd and fellow musicians left a huge imprint on Kraft.

“In that room, most of them had never heard of me and these songs, but I felt so appreciated because of the silence while artists played and of the inclusive Focusing on F Gabriel’s ocusing post-Genesis career on Gabriel Fbecause ocusing ’s post-Ge on applause of all genres,” says Kraft. “Even this showthis presents a cross-section show of his presents this a across-s show p if people came to support specific songwriter, I feelstudio like peopleproduct understood studio albums. studio TRO’s production includes albums.

TRO’s albu it was a night of appreciating music—a many of Gabriel’s many hits, but alsoof highlightsGabriel ’smany hits, but of Gab al celebration, rather than a competitive contest. The other songwriters were some live fan some favorites and deeper live cuts. fan sof avorites some live and f d supportive of one another, waiting backstage with high fives and smiles.”

Originally from Rhode Island, Kraft is a self-taught guitarist and vocalist, with a list of influences topped by Taylor Swift.

“She writes every single song she puts out, at the top of the charts with full control over her lyrics,” says Kraft. “That’s something I admire so much about her.”

Kraft, who has been playing guitar since age 16, has a handful of EPs under her belt, including Today Tomorrow Someday and Gibraltar Sessions. Last year she launched her performing career. “It built the act of me, rather than me in my bedroom strumming a couple chords,” she says. “I’ll be doing music fulltime this summer.”

And for now, her plate is full. The recent University of Delaware graduate is Have you heard about our a fulltime middle school English teacher newest location on in Charles County, Md., and after school she coaches high school lacrosse.

KIRKWOOD HIGHWAY? “I teach during the day, coach at night, and almost every single weekend I’m Bring this coupon in for traveling for shows,” says Kraft. “It’s three things I love so much.”

20% OFF STOREWIDE The Musikarmageddon winner’s (one per customer - valid at package consists of a recording session Kirkwood location before 5/31/18) with Ray Gagliardino/Studio 825, a cash award, gift cards and more. For more, visit mariellekraft.com.

(302) 502-3415 2604 Kirkwood Hwy, Wilmington DE 19805

(302)475-3209 2200 Marsh Rd, Wilmington DE 19810 —O&A (856)202-5122

@JupiterRecords 74 MAY 2018 | OUTANDABOUTNOW.COM

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Plastic bags damage recycling processing machines.Recycle them at the store instead.Learn ways to recycle right at RecycleRightDE.org.

DNREC25275_RecyclingCampaign_PrintAd_8x10.5_v2.indd 4 05_Listen.indd 17

4/13/18 3:27 PM 4/24/18 10:12 AM

MAY MUSIC

at Kelly’s Logan House Now featuring early shows from 7-10 p.m. every Friday night with original local music. #livemusicforearlybirds

LISTEN

TUNED IN Not-to-be-missed music news

5/04 – Songwriter Showcase: Jea Street Jr., Sarah Koon, Joe Trainor, and Gina Degnars 5/11 – The GoAround and Genesis Z & the Black Mambas 5/18 – Reverse Giraffe and Pygmy Hippo

Look for these great bands upstairs!

FRIDAY, 5/04

Bad N Ruin - 10:30 p.m.

SATURDAY, 5/05

Waverunners - 10 p.m.

Photo Elias Muhammad

SUNDAY, 5/06

Point-to-Point After Party with Chorduroy - 4 - 7 p.m.

FRIDAY, 5/11

Back to Blonde - 10:30 p.m.

SATURDAY, 5/12

Cherry Crush - 10 p.m.

FRIDAY, 5/18

88mph - 10:30 p.m.

SATURDAY, 5/19

The Way Outs - 10 p.m.

FRIDAY, 5/25

Element K - 10:30 p.m.

SATURDAY, 5/26 DJ - 10 p.m.

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

LOGANHOUSE.COM Bands and times subject to change.

INAUGURAL EP FOR THE SUSQUEHANNA FLOODS

The Susquehanna Floods’ first EP is now available on most streaming services, including Apple Music, Spotify and Amazon Music. The EP, Vol. 1, consists of five polished, stylistically-different songs that “speak to our influences” of blues, rock and folk, says vocalist and lead guitarist Zach Crouch.

“This EP doesn’t really relegate itself to a specific theme,” Crouch says. “Vol. 1 was recorded with our core four members, Trevor Biggers, Brett Pearson, me, and Eric Picard, to show our abilities and to set a framework moving forward.”

The plan is to release the first three albums in an EP-length format featuring five to six songs each. Crouch hopes Vol. 2 will be out by the end of the year, with recordings starting this summer.

Keep an eye out for an auditory transition between EPs: The band has recruited two new members, who will be featured heavily in Vol 2. Jared Obstfeld is on saxophone and Kevin Marshall plays piano and organ.

“They really add that extra layer of sound I think we’d all been hoping or looking for,” says Crouch.

The Perryville, Md.-based band got its start in playing original music in 2016 when it won that year’s Wilmington battle of the bands, Musikarmageddon, and since has garnered local and regional attention.

Here’s the band’s May and June schedule: May 5: History Heritage and Hops Fest, Dover May 11: 1984, Wilmington May 12: Blue Earl Three-Year Anniversary, Smyrna June 1: Stitch House Brewery, Wilmington

For more, find them on Facebook.

76 MAY 2018 | OUTANDABOUTNOW.COM

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AMPING UP BATTERY PARK

Photo courtesy of The Queen

Separation Day, the annual celebration hosted by Historic New Castle to commemorate Delaware’s independence from Pennsylvania and the British Crown, is beefing up its live music component. Six area bands will be featured at Blue Cat Blues will perform at 3 p.m. the Saturday, June 9, event in Battery Park, beginning with a noon performance by Federal Street. At l:30 p.m., 330 Hemi performs; Blue Cat Blues at 3 p.m.; Element K from 5-7:30 p.m., and Special Delivery from 8-9:30 p.m. A fireworks display follows the Special Delivery performance. For more info, visit SeparationDayDe.com.

See Welles at The Queen May 9.

‘SEVENTEEN’ AT THE QUEEN

Hailing from Ozark, Ark., Welles—aka artist Jeh Sea Wells—is playing with Rival Sons at The Queen on Wednesday, May 9. Wells just released his new slow-burning grunge track, “Seventeen.”

The artist began his career in 2014 with the song “Summer,” and by 2015 he was on his way to success—though growing up he struggled simply to make ends meet financially. He barely left Ozark for 22 years, until he spontaneously moved to Nashville and had the opportunity to record with acclaimed producers. He now travels and plays festivals like Bonnaroo, opens for big artists like Greta Van Fleet and others, and does tours in Europe.

In early 2017, Wells decided to rebrand his music as Welles. He has released one single with his band, Are You Feeling Like Me, along with its B-side, Into Ashes.

CONNECTING COMMUNITY

Mark your calendars: Oxford, Pa.’s Landhope Farms is hosting its First Annual Connective Art and Music Festival on Saturday, Aug. 4, from 10 a.m.-10 p.m.

This family-friendly event is aimed at bringing the community together through a day of arts and music. Stages at various locations throughout downtown Oxford will feature music all day, including headliner EVE6 on the main stage. There also will be creative competition, including a battle of the bands. The winner will open later that evening for EVE6.

On the visual side of things, Gallery Row will feature 20 artisans with sculptures, printmaking, fine arts, pottery, fiber art, jewelry and much more. Interactive options like demonstrations will encourage engagement. For more, go to connectivefestival.org.

MAY 2018 | OUTANDABOUTNOW.COM

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HAVE YOU HEARD OF SOMETHING?

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4/24/18 10:18 AM

next to anthony’s pizza formerly famous mike’s

HOME OF THE

BEING ALONE

CHEWING SHOES

“EVERY DAY” $

BARKING AT BIRDS

BELLY RUBS

DOGTOPIA DAY

EXCITEMENT

3 DRINKS!

Pike Creek Cinco de Mayo!

SAFE, OPEN-PLAY DAYCARE EXERCISE & EDUCATION FUN FILLED DAYS WITH THEIR BFFF™

(BEST FURRY FRIENDS FOREVER)

LIVE PLAYROOM WEBCAMS

Saturday, May 5 $3 Corona & Modello, $5 Margaritas & Giveaways

Where every day is

Refreshing large Orange Crush $5 5-7pm daily Watch the Phillies on 13 TVs! $3 Drinks, Drafts and Domestic Bottles

EVERY DAY!

4809 Limestone Rd, Wilmington, DE 19808 (next to Anthony’s Pizza)

facebook.com/PikeCreekPub

Complimentarybathwithyour first boarding stay.Expires6/30/18

Daycare•Boarding •Spa

Dogtopia Elsmere www.Dogtopia.com/Elsmere|(302)998-7877

PRESENTS:

Join Us for the Cinco de Mayo Loop Saturday, May 5 • 8pm Start LATIN NIGHT EVERY THURSDAY! MAY 5 - CINCO DE MAYO PARTY Free T-Shirts, DJ Nicky & Fuego, and Food Trucks!

OPENING AT NOON!

3 & $4

$

MAY 12 - LGBT NIGHT

ALL DAY EVERY DAY

MAY 19 - COUNTRY NIGHT

Drinks!!!

Book Your Graduation Party Today!

WITH PHILLIP MICHEAL PARSONS!

Half-Price Burgers 11am-8pm

Live Jazz Series

Happy Hour

MONDAY FRIDAYS

(Behind The Applebee's)

THURSDAYS

8-11pm

FREE POOL! 4305 Kirkwood Hwy Wilmington, DE

1709 Lovering Ave Wilmington (302) 655-3689 Gallucios-de.com

Monday- Friday 2pm-6pm $ 4 Craft Drafts $ 5 App and Munchie Menu

CELEBRATE WITH US

Mother’s Day Brunch 10am - 2pm

78 MAY 2018 | OUTANDABOUTNOW.COM

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PLAY

SNAPSHOTS 2.

1.

3.

4.

5.

6.

DCAD@20 ART PARTY

Photos by Anthony Santoro

raised funds for scholarships and more.

4. Artist Rachael Thomas hard at work; DCAD celebrates its 20th anniversary this month.

2. Ron Brignac and Megan Johnson enjoying creatively-presented appetizers.

5. Ambrose Carr, Elizabeth Carr and Cindy Wilkinson.

3. Sarah Graff, Angel Hall and Midori Morrow.

6. Sannon Tattersall, Marti Buccini and Kathleen Strauss.

1. Jeff James, Timo Weymouth and Tad Hershey at the event, which

MAY 2018 | OUTANDABOUTNOW.COM

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4/24/18 4:00 PM

“Tipsy” takes on a whole new meaning when you drink and drive.

And after you’re busted, you’ll get a suspended driver’s license, pay thousands of dollars in fines and receive possible jail time.

A DUI will always cost you. It’s not worth it.

Don’t let a DUI redefine you.

Find a safe ride home.

ArriveAliveDE.com/DriveSober

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t e po

Unleash

the

within

May 2018 • #inWilm

Twin Poets

Motown the Musical May 1-6

Downtown Cinco de Mayo

Tax Free Comedy Festival

Bootless: Next to Normal

Winterthur’s Point-to-Point

Grilled Cheese Battle May 10

Wilmington Flower Market May 10 - 12

Pinot Envy May 11

Champagne and Chopin

Rock Orchestra: Peter Gabriel

Wilmington Grand Prix May 18-20

Richard Raw’s Album Release

Wilmo A Go-Go

Fitz and The Tantrums

Basil Restaurant

DSO Classics Series Concert 5 2 for specials May 18

82 APRIL 2016 | OUTANDABOUTNOW.COM

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Nnamdi Chukwuocha & Albert Mills

May 4

May 4 & 5

May 19

May 5 - 19

May 12

May 27

May 6

May 12

May 27

inWilmDE.com 4/24/18 3:19 PM

60 JANUARY 2018 | OUTANDABOUTNOW.COM

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