October 6-7 was Greyhound Weekend in the Rehoboth/Dewey area and despite
the rain and high winds that threatened to spoil the fun, the dogs were
out in force—and dressed for the occasion. By Sunday morning, however,
the storm had passed and the beautiful weather, the Rehoboth Sidewalk Sale
and, of course, the dogs provided a perfect excuse to stroll down the
Avenue to visit the beach, boardwalk, shops, and restaurants. The
Greyhound weekend is only the first of many shoulder season activities
that make this time of year a great time to come to the beach—still to
come: Halloween and the Sea Witch Festival; the Autumn Jazz Festival (see
page 14); and the Rehoboth Beach Independent Film Festival.
Speaking of the Film Festival—something I love to do,
of course—the ninth annual Rehoboth Beach Independent Film Festival is
scheduled for November 8-12. For many years now, CAMP Rehoboth has been a
sponsor of the Film Festival because it’s a great event, but even more
importantly because of the way it brings diverse members of our community
together to share in the experience. One of the best parts of the Festival
is listening to the people around you—in the big tent, in line for a
film, or sitting in a theater waiting for a film to start—talk about
what they’ve seen and how they felt about it. Our community is very
lucky to have a film festival in the first place, but especially one of
such high caliber. The best chance of getting a seat for the must-see
films of the festival is to become a member of the Film Society.
Membership levels come with varying degrees of benefits, including some
that provide an opportunity to purchase advance tickets. See page 24 for a
listing of films of special interest to the GLBT community.
On the national scene, the Mark Foley scandal has
everyone—gay, straight, Democrats and Republicans—feeling
uncomfortable and outraged by the hypocrisy of a man who would publicly
enact legislation to protect children from sexual predators and then in
private behave in such a questionable manner. Saddest of all, for the GLBT
community, is that the scandal plays right into the hands of our opponents
who like nothing better than to portray us as pedophiles, even though the
facts do not back up their assertions. The truth is that healthy, gay
people who are comfortable with themselves and their sexuality do not take
advantage of vulnerable young people. On page 26, the former editor of the
Washington Blade, Chris Crain—in "What was Foley’s fatal
flaw?"—explores the unhealthy distortion that comes from leading a
double life.
Back in Spring of 2001, following up on the work of the
CAMP Rehoboth Project Advisory Committee’s public workshops, a brochure
was created to kick-off the newly conceived Founders’ Circle of the CAMP
Rehoboth Community Center Project. At the time CAMP Rehoboth was occupying
a tiny 280 square foot space in the back corner of the CAMP Rehoboth
courtyard. On the opening page of that red brochure we were to use so
successfully for the next five years were the words: "Our dream is to
expand CAMP Rehoboth into a full-service community center in downtown
Rehoboth Beach. And that’s what The CAMP Rehoboth Community Center
Project will accomplish within the next five years." Thanks to the
enormous support of our very generous Founders’ Circle members that
expansion has become a reality and within a year will become an even
bigger reality. As the summer of 2007 comes to a close, construction will
begin on Phase Two of the Community Center, which includes the courtyard
redesign, kitchen, bathrooms and all important multipurpose room so
necessary for large meetings, conferences, workshops, exhibitions, and
intimate performances. The next 12 months will be very important and
exciting ones for CAMP Rehoboth as we prepare for that expansion. My
thanks to all the Founders’ Circle members who helped us meet and
surpass our goal. We look forward to seeing you at the Founders’ Circle
Workshop on October 21.
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