This is, if you remember, the last issue of the 2005 season of Letters—the Holiday Issue, we call it—and it will be on the stands through December and January as we take a short publishing break before the start of next season. Next year will be the 16th year for CAMP Rehoboth and for Letters and we will be back in time for Valentine’s Day and a "sweet 16" celebration of our own. Though Letters may be on hiatus, the Community Center will be open for regular business hours and for scheduled events on weekends and evenings, all winter long. And speaking of next season and the Community Center—on page 10 of this issue Murray’s CAMPmatters column covers a number of points of interest regarding CAMP Rehoboth, the Community Center, the Founders’ Circle, volunteer opportunities, and other plans for the coming year.

Congratulations are in order for the RB Film Society staff, directors, and volunteers for this year’s Rehoboth Beach Independent Film Festival. Over and over in conversations in the "big tent" behind the Movies at Midway, I heard people comment on "how lucky we are" to have a cultural event of this magnitude. One long-time Sussex County local just stood in the tent shaking his head in disbelief. "I never thought I’d see the day that we would have something like this here," he said. As it has done in the past the Festival brought our community together—gay and straight, young and old—with an enormous variety of feature films, documentaries and shorts. CAMP Rehoboth has been a sponsor of the festival for many years because of the way it brings us together as a community. As a bonus for independent film lovers, an announcement was made at the festival that the Movies at Midway will soon begin setting aside one theater all year long for films programmed by the Film Society. For a listing of this year’s Film Festival winners see the "In Brief" page.

Since 1993 the Rehoboth community has observed World AIDS Day on December 1, with a candlelight walk through the streets of Rehoboth, and though the Streetscape project (and the lack of a Bandstand) has changed our plans slightly, this year will be no exception. Please note that this year’s walk will begin in the CAMP Rehoboth courtyard at 37 Baltimore Avenue. Though the walk route will be shorter this year, it will involve some new elements—including sound and a stop along the way—that will serve as powerful reminders that we still have a long way to go before we defeat this terrible disease. For more about World AIDS Day see "World AIDS Day 2005" page.

As the year comes to a close there are two other events that should be noted—the Community Unity Dinner on December 4 at the Convention Center, and the Starburst Gayla on New Year’s Eve, also at the Convention Center. The Community Unity Dinner is fun because it brings a diverse cross section of the community together for a spaghetti dinner—and CAMP Rehoboth will be providing the desserts once again. The fourth annual women’s New Year’s Eve event, the Starburst Gayla, will kick off the new year by raising money for Tau House, WomenHeart, and the CAMP Rehoboth Community Center. For information about the Gayla see page 111 of this issue.