LETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth |
CAMPTalk: Rehoboth Rife with Rumors - and Predictions |
by Bill Sievert |
The slower season at the beach allows those of us who live here year-round more time to stop one another on the street for a little chat. Although relatively few of us will admit that we personally engage in the spreading of rumors, many of our casual conversations quickly turn to some good old-fashioned gossip. Lately, the autumn air has been particularly thick with unsubstantiated reports. For example, there has been talk around town that CAMP Rehoboth executive director Steve Elkins plans to run for a seat on the City Commission next year. Although "really reliable sources" have been cited as the origin of the story, Steve himself has no idea how it all began. Even when he denies the rumor, some people shake their heads in disbelief. After all, politicians rarely state their true intent until they're good and ready. Perhaps the gossip began because, like Hillary Clinton in New York, Steve has been seen strolling through our community listening to what the rest of us are talking about. Well, let me set the record straight (so to speak) about Steve's plans for the year 2000. As fine a City Commissioner as he would no doubt make, it's not at all likely that he would run. Steve simply does not have the time to campaign for, much less serve in office. He has more than enough to do coordinating CAMP's programs and putting together this fast growing publication. Then there's his ever so important job of editing my columns. Okay, that's one rumor squelched. Here's another. The owners of Cloud 9 have been asked more than once in recent weeks why they are closing their popular restaurant and dance bar permanently in January. Partner John Berdini's response: "Sure, I am planning to get out of the businessjust as soon as my winning lottery check shows up in the mail." Now that we have killed off two major falsehoods, here's some gossip I can comfortably spread. Mano's Restaurant will not be back in the year 2000. I take comfort in reporting this kind of rumor because there's not much chance I will be proven wrong. You see, Mano's already has shuttered its doors, citing a major rent increase as the culprit. Of course, with my luck as a gossip, the owners will suddenly reopen the bistro in a new location just to prove my report wrong. Our town can be such a hotbed of misinformation that the owners of the fur hair salon recently took out a rather sizeable advertisement in a local magazine urging restraint. The ad copy stated: "Brilliant people talk about the galaxy Intelligent people talk about the world Ignorant people talk about other people. Help fight ignorance." Your point is well taken, guys, but can you really imagine a salon at which neither the stylists nor customers gossip? I'm afraid that could lead to some rather hairy moments of silence in the chairs. While rumor mongering can be cruel, making predictions is another matter entirely. Rather than stating something as fact, a seer can report a sense or a vision that it will become fact. As we approach a change in centuries, the press is full of such prognoses for what will happen in the ten decades to come. That gives me visions of what Rehoboth will be like 100 years from now. I predict that the City Commission in the year 2100 will be considering the pros and cons of building a parking garagefor all the personal hovercraft people are flying to the beach. Visitors will complain that, while it's quick and easy to get here from all over the planet, there's no place to land downtown. Of course, there will be plenty of space out in the dead zone once known as Route One. There, the extinction of the road-anchored automobile and the demise of all those quaint old outlet centers will have left behind enough asphalt to park and lock the self-propelled vehicles of tens of thousands of tourists. I also predict that the Blue Moon, currently located on the second block of Baltimore Avenue, will be directly on the beach. No, the restaurant won't have moved to the Boardwalk. Another century of erosion caused by incessant global warming will have brought the beach directly to the Moon's door. The fashion in men's swimwear will be the bubble body stocking, as designed by NASA engineers to prevent the sun's searing rays from burning a beach boy's flesh in the first few seconds of exposure. Many a traditionalist gay male will accessorize his stocking with a colorful bikini, worn to enhance his bulge and "cute little butt." And, yes, I predict that there will still be a CAMP Rehoboth in another 100 years. Okay, maybe the organization will have taken another name by then, something more appropriate to the planet's delicate state. Something like VAMP (Verdant Area Maritime Preserve) Rehoboth. CAMP will no doubt change its mission with the concerns of the times. In fact, its goals are evolving even as you read these words. At a recent meeting, the board of directors decided to begin actively seeking new projects to launch from the CAMP pad. The idea is to address more of our community's needs, of which there is no shortage. Depending on what interests members of the community choose to focus on, we foresee new initiatives in such areas as women's health, outreach to gay and lesbian youthand seniors. Plus new projects to support artistic expression. I predict you will be hearing and reading a lot more about these topics during the year 2000, as CAMP volunteers canvass the community to learn more about your priorities and, equally important, what issues you personally are willing to work on. After all, Steve can't do it all. A really reliable source tells me that he and Murray are going to have their hands full well into the next century. Meanwhile, here's predicting peaceful and happy holidays for all of us followed by a hyperactive new year. Bill Sievert, Director of CAMPsafe, our AIDS prevention program, is co-owner of Splash on Baltimore Avenue in Rehoboth Beach. |
LETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth, Vol. 9, No. 15, Nov. 24, 1999 |