In Brief

Christina’s trademark is focusing on a single image, often with nothing surrounding it. In this way, she allows the viewer to fill in the background and put the painting in whatever context they wish.

Macro photography is undoubtedly Pamela’s favorite way of capturing images. She feels that shooting in this method enables the viewer to challenge their sight. Pamela has chosen to print the Sights of Sound collection on Mylar, due to it’s translucent property, and has placed sheet music behind each of the Mylar images.

Both exhibits will hang through the month of June. An artist reception is scheduled for Saturday, June 21 from 3 - 7 p.m. Refreshments will be served throughout the afternoon and during the reception. For more information, please call Pam at 302-227-8897.

Bingo-A-Go-Go Saturday June 21
The next Bingo-A-Go-Go, a joint fundraiser of Delaware Pride, AIDS Delaware, Rainbow Chorale, and the Metropolitan Community Church, will be held at the Rehoboth Beach Convention Center, 229 Rehoboth Avenue. Doors open at 6 p.m.

You must be 18 or over to attend. Tickets are $12 in advance and $15 at the door. Tickets are available by calling (302) 652-6776. Wilmington events will be held at the Millcreek Firehall. Summer and February events will be held at the Rehoboth Convention Center. Food and beverages are available during the games.

Friday Yoga at CAMP Rehoboth
Feeling stressed? Need to learn some relaxation techniques? Join CAMP Rehoboth and Susan Hamadock for yoga Fridays.

Susan Hamadock of Rehoboth Beach will be leading yoga every Friday at CAMP Rehoboth from 7-8 a.m. CAMP Rehoboth is located at 39 Baltimore Avenue, Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. Class is limited to 10 students. Suggested donation is $5 per student. All donations go to CAMP Rehoboth.

For more information or to sign-up, please call CAMP Rehoboth at 302-227-5620.

Liberty Fund’s Summer Party
Join the Delaware Liberty Fund on Sunday, June 15, from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. for brunch at Nassau Valley Vineyard in Lewes, DE.

Peggy Raley, owner of Nassau Valley Vineyard will host this free summer membership party which will be catered by Our Place Restaurant of Rehoboth Beach. All members and friends of the DLF are invited.

Rep. Peter Schwartzkopf-D and Rep. Deborah Hudson-R will join us and answer questions regarding the status of HB99. Come and meet old and new friends and find out more about the Delaware Liberty Fund.

Diva Martha Wash at Love Retro Ball
Get ready to line dance, hustle and even moon walk your way back in time to a place where the likes of Donna, Barbra, Gloria, Thelma, Sissy, Grace and Martha held court with their subjects and ruled the dance floors from thrones beneath mirrored disco balls in royal palaces like Studio 54, Limelight, The Saint, and Palladium.

As part of the ninth annual Love Weekend charity dance events Independence Holiday Weekend in Rehoboth Beach, the Love Benefit Committee has added a new Friday night dance event to the schedule. The Love Groove Retro Ball featuring none other than the legendary dance diva herself, Martha "It’s Raining Men," Wash live on the Retro Ball stage, will kickoff at 8 p.m. Friday night July 4th at the Rehoboth Beach Convention Center!

Billed as a return to disco’s gilded age, Love Groove Retro Ball will recreate the classic club sounds from the 70s, 80s and 90s with six hours of magical music featuring maestro DJ Mark Thomas, from the original and legendary Saint / NYC, in control of the turntables, and the live performance from Ms Wash.

Event organizers say the Retro Ball will not be a typical "circuit," event. The main event on Saturday night, the Ultimate Love, Ultimate Summer Dance Party! will feature the more traditional dance party fare.

"The Retro Ball will be a more relaxed, fun and even kind of crazy night at the convention center, " said LOVE Committee chair Bill Alldredge. "We are really expecting a lot of great things from this event, and an entire group of people that may not go to a typical organized dance party." Dance and costume contests are on tap to add to a more "club" atmosphere.

For tickets or for more information about Love 2003, stop by CAMP Rehoboth, 39 Baltimore Ave., or call 302-227-5620, or visit LOVE2003.org.

Noise violations May Lead to Review of City Ordinance
Twenty four concerned people, representing eleven local restaurants, the Chamber of Commerce, Rehoboth Beach Main Street, CAMP Rehoboth and the City of Rehoboth got together Tuesday, June 10 at Sydney’s Restaurant to talk about noise.

Specifically, the group compared notes on increased noise monitoring at their establishments by City Police, and of the violations many establishments had received recently. The overriding concern was the serious threat to their businesses by enforcement of the current noise ordinance.

The business people, committed to obeying City laws, but finding it almost impossible to achieve noise compliance, sought a way of making their voices heard at City Hall and getting the City to re-visit the noise ordinance.

Based on research done by one restaurant owner, the current after-dark decibel limit of 55 is almost impossible to comply with—even in a restaurant playing dinner music, let alone dance music or entertainment. One restaurant measured 62 decibels of noise when it was virtually empty. In addition, some restaurants found that the decibel readings at their front doors, where there were a few people gathered out front smoking or waiting to get in, acceded the ordinance levels.

Commissioner Patti Shreeve, who attended the meeting noted that she had asked the Mayor to put the issue on the Commission agenda. Commissioner Mark Aguirre, also in attendance, noted he had spoken to other Commissioners and with many restaurant owners over the previous weekend. Commissioner Kathy McGuiness was unable to attend, but had expressed support for a re-examination of the ordinance.

At the meeting at Sydney’s, the restaurant owners stressed their strong working relationships with the Rehoboth Police department and local residents, and reiterated that the problem lies basically within the ordinance itself. One business owner purchased a decibel meter, and made certain it matched the meters used by the police. In his research, he discovered that a daytime reading on the boardwalk, with a very sparse crowd, was 90 decibels—20 more than the daytime decibel limit.

The group agreed that several issues need to be addressed by the Rehoboth Commissioners. First, there needs to be a review of the decibel limits to make certain that they are realistic and achievable.

Second, there needs to be a discussion of where the decibel readings are taken. One business owner suggested that rather than being taken at the business front or back door, they should be taken a reasonable distance away, or from where any complaint is emanating. There were concerns about ambiguous property lines, noise from adjacent exhaust fans, and many more issues that cloud the decibel monitoring.

A third concern was the unintended consequence of Delaware’s new non-smoking law. Since patrons can no longer light up inside an establishment, many slip outside to have a smoke in front of the building. This may have created a new form of noise pollution—and many of the decibel readings taken by police include the loud talking and laughing of persons standing, on public property, outside a bar or restaurant.

All of these issues, plus a compilation of research and specific experiences of local establishments will be put together to present to the Commissioners.

Overall, the restaurant owners and staff concerned about this issue want to make sure that, after a winter and spring with miserable weather, the disruption of the streetscape construction and the faltering economy in general, their summer season is not unduly disrupted by noise problems.

The meeting was held at noon and by 5 p.m. television reporters were in town trying to stir up a big story about noise. But the restaurants, the police and the commissioners want to be able to work together to make sense of the ordinance and achieve a workable solution for businesses, visitors and homeowners alike.