"Are You Ready To Ride?" is the name of the Rodney Cook painting
on the front cover of this issue of Letters from CAMP Rehoboth. In recent
years, much of Rod’s work has focused on familiar Rehoboth scenes—one
of the reasons his paintings make such good cover images for us. This
piece is from his new show, Fast Rides and Wild Skies!, opening at the
Back Porch Café on August 8 (reception, August 12 from 4-6 p.m.). To find
out about more art events and other activities happening in town, see the
CAMPdates page.
Usually at this time of the year, life around CAMP Rehoboth is all
Sundance all the time, and while this year is much the same where Sundance
is concerned, there is also the added element of the approaching
groundbreaking and construction for Phase Two of the CAMP Rehoboth
Community Center. The construction is scheduled to begin after the summer
season ends. The Groundbreaking Ceremony and Champagne Toast will take
place on August 18 at 5 p.m. at CAMP Rehoboth.
The big event for Labor Day Weekend is Sundance 2007, and this year—believe
it or not—we’re celebrating the 20th anniversary of Sundance. The
first Sundance, as we’ve said so many times over the years, was a 10th
anniversary party for Murray and me so next year we’ll be celebrating 30
years together—but I’m getting ahead of myself. On page 6 Murray looks
back to the first Sundance and remembers the people who made it possible
and the times that made it necessary. To buy tickets or to purchase
Sundance t-shirts or this year’s Sundance print—Heart Field in Motion—go
to sundancebenefit.com or call the CAMP office.
While I’m on the subject of Sundance, the 2007 Sundance team captains
gathered last week at the home of Arthur Dochterman and Keith Neale to get
everyone together for one big meeting before we all get to work on our
individual responsibilities. While we were all together we took a moment
to let everyone explain what they do. As the evening was ending, Maggie
Ottato, who has worked on Sundance for years, stopped me to say,
"That was fascinating. I’m always so busy doing my job, I had no
idea what everyone else was doing." Last year we had over 180
volunteers work on Sundance. Why? Because not only is it a good thing to
do, but the act of participating is a lot of fun as well. Starting on the
Tuesday before Labor Day weekend the "cast and crew" of this
year’s 20th anniversary Sundance 2007: The Fantastic Voyage of the
Starship Rainbow will begin the set-up process at the Convention Center.
Anyone wishing to join in the fun can just stop by the Convention Center,
find one of the Team Captains and say, "beam me up, Scotty."
Welcome aboard!
As a member of the Delaware Human Relations Commission, I was given a
preview of some photos and information sent out to the press this week.
The photos showed the hateful graffiti painted on a bridge near South
Bowers Beach—the outline of a dead body, the "n-word," and a
swastika. The information also detailed an account by Marian Harris,
Executive Director of the Dover House of Pride, who went to look at the
graffiti in the House of Pride van with several of her residents, and was
then chased for six terrifying miles by a red SUV. One of the roles of the
Human Relations Commission is to promote understanding among the different
ethnic, racial and cultural groups in Delaware. Though hate crime
legislation—that includes sexual orientation, by the way—does exist in
Delaware, acts like this remind us that the fight is far from over. The
Human Relations Commission works to build bridges among those who are
different. The bridge with the graffiti is on Brokenbridge Road. Yes, we
still have a lot of bridges, of all sorts, that need mending.
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