LETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth |
The Way I See It |
by Steve Elkins, Editor |
This issue is the last one of the 1998 season and brings to a close the end of our eighth season here at CAMP Rehoboth. Weve always called this our "Holiday issue" because it spans the time between Thanksgiving and Valentines Day. It also gives us a chance to look back and remember a little bit about the past yearwhere weve been, where we are going, where we have succeeded and where we have failed. CAMP Rehoboth was created to serve the communityin the words of our mission statement, "to promote community well being on all levels." As I look back over the past year, I try to gage where we have done thatand where we havent. Along with the gray in my hair has come an understanding that all things take time. Real change is slow, and the process can be full of mistakesbut it can also be full of hope and promise and excitement. Speaking of excitement, were all still basking in the glow of the first Rehoboth Beach Independent Film Festival. I loved seeing all the films, but I also loved seeing how this event brought the community together. At the closing party, Rehoboth Commissioner and local artist Patty Shreeve commented to me that the community involvement was "exactly like what CAMP Rehoboth has always been about." And shes right. Were all in this togetherthe festival helped us to see that. Congratulations to all the staff and volunteers of the Film Festivaland especially to Barry Becker and Rob Rector. We cant wait for next year! We spend a lot of time in these pages talking about community. CAMP Rehoboth has always stressed the importance of being a part of the community. That doesnt mean that we all have to be alike. If fact, we have always tried to celebrate the diverse richness that each of us bringsgay, straight, young, old, black, white, male, female, transgendered and all points in between. On Sunday, December 6 from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. is the Community Unity Dinner at Convention Center. CAMP Rehoboth has taken part in this Main Street Event for several years nowI hope to see you there. Be a force for change is the theme for the 1998 World AIDS Day activities, Tuesday, December 1. In Rehoboth, those activities are focused on the annual Candlelight Walk followed by a service of remembrance and hope at Epworth United Methodist Church on Baltimore Avenue. Anyone who would like to participate should gather at the Rehoboth Bandstand at 6:00 p.m. After the service, Joyce Felton and the Blue Moon will provide a light supper in the Church basement. More info on World AIDS Day, and the activities planned throughout the area, is found on page 12. For those of us involved with CAMP Rehoboth it has been a busy year. 1998 saw the creation of CAMPsafe, our HIV/AIDS prevention program aimed at gay men. We are trying to determine what worked and what didnt, and were still analyzing the results from the CAMPsafe surveys and planning our strategy for the coming year. In 1998 we broke our SUNDANCE record raising more than $120,000. And, with the Labor Day issue of LETTERS at 88 pages, and an average issue of 56 to 64 pages, we have stopped calling this magazine a newsletter. I wish I could say thank you to each one of the countless people who pitched in to make this a successful year for CAMP Rehoboth, but there are too many. Thank you for sharing our journey. I hope your holidays are filled with gentle hugs, good laughs, and the occasional coquettish smile of a stranger. See you next year! |
LETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth, Vol. 8, No. 15, November 20, 1998. |