With construction of the new wing of the CAMP Rehoboth Community Center in
full swing, I find it hard to talk about anything else. Last week the
steel arrived and suddenly there it was—the shape of the new building
rising out of the newly poured concrete slab. Since most of the
construction is behind the building that houses our offices, it’s hard
to see from the street. Anyone interested in a better view is welcome to
stop by the office anytime for a quick “hard hat” tour—though
we’re all so excited about the project it might be hard to shut us up
once we get started talking about it.
We’ve had many questions with regard to
the construction schedule and especially as it concerns the CAMP Rehoboth
courtyard and the businesses that depend on it. I’m delighted to say
that the inner courtyard (minus the landscaping) will be open the first
week of April—just in time for the reopening of Lori’s Café on April
4. I’m sure Lori will be offering a number of “construction
specials” over the next few weeks, and her café will surely be the best
place on the street to sit back and watch the construction progress. Both
Community Pride Financial and Lambda Rising have remained open throughout
the construction process, and the new Ward Ellinger Gallery—located next
to Lori’s Café—will be opening mid-May. As to the main building,
construction will continue into the early summer months and we have not as
yet set a grand opening date though we are guessing perhaps in early
August 2008.
One of the issues facing the Board of
Directors of CAMP Rehoboth in recent months has been the promotion of the
new community center building and Rehoboth Beach as a conference and
retreat center for the many nearby, mid-Atlantic metropolitan areas. As a
means of better communicating what we have available we are having our web
site redesigned by Inclind, Inc., a Georgetown Internet company. Funding
for the new web site has been provided by Deb Qualey and Karen Gustafson
and we are grateful for their generous donation. Watch for details in the
coming weeks about when the new web site will debut.
With so much construction in progress,
funding continues to be an important issue to all of us involved in the
work of the CAMP Rehoboth Community Center, especially in these days of
economic uncertainty. Please take time to look over the information about
the Wish List and GEM Club on pages 8 and 9 of this issue. We are all
working as hard as we can to raise an additional $300,000 in the coming
months—even your loose change will help. There are many ways to help,
and we are open to suggestions from everyone. Please help us “raise the
roof,” so to speak.
Every year as a part of the CAMP Rehoboth
Women’s Weekend there is some amazing entertainment to be seen—and
it’s not just for women. Michele Balan was one of the four finalists on
NBC’s Last Comic Standing in 2006 and I can’t wait to see her on the
Convention Center stage. She’s a very funny lady and I hope the men in
the community come out to enjoy her concert as well as the women. Lisa
Koch is described as a “deliciously twisted mix of comedy, theater, and
demented songs,” and “the triangulated love child of Bette Midler,
Lily Tomlin, and Karen Carpenter.” Who could pass up that combination?
Tickets for the concerts are available at CAMP Rehoboth, as is information
about the CAMP Rehoboth Women’s Weekend—or visit beachwomensweek.com.
We just mailed out our 2008 “Save the
Date” card for upcoming CAMP Rehoboth events. The card, if you haven’t
seen it yet, reads “big days, big year for CAMP Rehoboth.” And it is.
We are building something amazing and it’s not just the building rising
all around us. It’s a community, a family, a home. Please, come by for a
visit.
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