LETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth

The Way I See It

by Steve Elkins, Editor

This is the fourth of July issue of Letters from CAMP Rehoboth and I am reminded, once again, that though Memorial Day Weekend is the official start of the summer season, now is the time when it really gets busy. Though, come to think of it, I probably shouldn’t say that to the CAMP Rehoboth staff and volunteers because they’re already working just about as hard as they can to make this a great summer for everyone—and at the same time, continue to get us settled in our new home. Recently some of those volunteers took the first steps toward really uniting the CAMP Rehoboth Community Center properties at 37-39 Baltimore Avenue by taking down several sections of the rainbow fence that have for 15 years helped to define the CAMP courtyard. Though part of the fence still stands—for the time being anyway—and the removed sections are still visible, I somehow can’t help but see it as the end of an era—and the beginning of a new one. As we look to the future of CAMP Rehoboth I hope that we will continue to be an organization that helps to take down the fences that divide us from one another.

Another organization that helps to break down fences in the community is the Rehoboth Beach Film Society. Its Independent Film Festival in November has become one of the great highlights of the year—and it unites the whole community as we laugh and cry together over a wide variety of films. If you only come to Rehoboth in the summertime and have missed the festival, don’t hesitate, put it on your calendar now (November 10-13). Better yet, call the Film Society and become a member. Though November is still far away, you can get a little taste of the Festival on the evenings of July 14-16, when CAMP Rehoboth and the Film Society team up for the Another Take semi-annual film series. Better Than Chocolate and Big Eden will be screened at the Movies at Midway on Thursday and Friday respectively (at 7 p.m.), and the hilarious Sordid Lives will be shown in the back courtyard of the CAMP Rehoboth Community Center at 9 p.m. (In case of rain, it will be shown at 7 p.m. at Midway.) Admission for each is $5 and tickets can be purchased by calling CAMP Rehoboth, 302-227-5620, or the RB Film Society, 302-645-9095.

One of the most outrageous events of the summer is the CAMP Rehoboth Follies. This year the Follies Production Team has created some new troupe guidelines to make it an even more entertaining evening—including strict enforcement of time limits. Ticket prices are by seating area with Gold Sponsor ($100) seats in the first rows, Sponsor ($75) seats following, and then Host ($50) and general admission ($25) after that. Christopher Peterson will host this year’s event. For more details about Follies 2005 see page 8 (which also includes a seating chart). This event usually sells out fast, so make your reservations now.

June 28 marked the anniversary of the 1969 stonewall riot in New York City, which is the reason that so many pride celebrations around the country take place in the month of June. Stonewall was a turning point for the GLBT movement but I would guess that very few of us really spend much time thinking about what life was like in the years prior to it. Though now we may have some very vocal and outspoken opponents, at least the subject is also out in the open. Murray’s mother, who was a psychology major at Agnes Scott College in Atlanta during the 1950s, talks about how the subject of homosexuality was never even discussed. Visibility means confrontation at times, but it also is an acknowledgment of our very existence. When the drag queens and other patrons of the Stonewall Inn stood up to the New York police on June 28, 1969, they became visible to the world—and their bravery continues to give each one of us the courage to do the same.

LETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth, Vol. 15, No. 8 July 1, 2005