May 22, 2009 - CAMP Matters

LETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth

CAMP Matters

All last year the sounds of construction were an everyday part of life on the CAMP Rehoboth CAMPus. Heading into the '08 summer season, in fact, the CAMP Courtyard was only partially bricked and the main room still open to the elements. Though the new wing has been open and operating for the last three months, our official Grand Opening and Dedication will take place on Saturday, May 30 from 5-7 pm.

Over the months leading up to this point, there has been much discussion about what the format for the evening should be. Some thought it should be a formal, sit-down, invited-guest-list kind of affair, others that it should be an all-day celebration with various levels of activities and invitations. In the end, we settled for something simple and open to alldrinks, a little food, and a short list of speakersthat would give us the opportunity to dedicate the space and say "thank you" to everyone who has participated in this amazing project.

Though the evening itself will be relatively low key, the accomplishment it celebrates is not, and its completion is standing on the broad shoulders of many dedicated individuals who through the gifts of their time, talent, and resources have made the CAMP Rehoboth Community Center a reality.

In a few months time, CAMP Rehoboth will celebrate its 20th anniversary. At first glance, comparing the tiny little office and nave enthusiasm that launched CAMP Rehoboth all those many years ago with the new and "grown-up" Community Center of today, we seem miles apart. And yet that's not really true. We still hold tight to the core mission and purpose that was developed long ago. Just read the second paragraph of the mission statementthe one that has appeared in every issue of Letters for all of its 19 years.

"We seek to promote community well-being on all levels; to foster the development of community groups; to develop community space; to promote human and civil rights; to work against prejudice and discrimination; to lessen tensions among the community at large; and to help foster the economic growth of the area..."

For all these years we've sought to live by that mission, a part of which clearly calls us to "develop community space"something that we have accomplished with the CAMP Rehoboth Community Center.

As we prepare for the dedication of the new building, it is very important that we remember that even way back in the early years, when our budding organization was struggling just to survive each year, we were working toward the same goals and with the same mission in mind, as we do today. The new building, while a wonderful milestone, is only a step along the long continuum that is the life of CAMP Rehoboth. The way we use the space, the way we develop its programs and the groups that use it, will provide the answer to the question of whether we continue to live up to the mission laid out for us a long time ago.

As I consider the agenda of our upcoming Dedication and Grand Opening, it occurs to me that it is really more about the dedication of the people who built it than it is about the dedication of the building itself. No organization can survive without dedicated individuals working to make it succeed. The recent demise of one of our long time local organizations, Sussex County AIDS Council (SCAC), reminds us that we should never take our organizations or the dedicated volunteers, staff, donors and leaders it takes to run them, for granted.

From my perspective as someone who has been a part of the CAMP experience from the start, I think we have much to celebrate, not just in our new building but in the spirit and vision that made it possible. Please join us on May 30 as we celebrate this next step in the life of CAMP Rehoboth, as we dedicate the new building, and honor the dedication of the people who built it.

Murray Archibald, Founder and President of the Board of Directors of CAMP Rehoboth, is an artist in Rehoboth Beach.

Thank you to all the CAMP Rehoboth Community Center Volunteers for the period of May 7-May 21:

Carl Armideo Tony Burns Harvey Chasser Sandra Clark Corky Fitzpatrick Kathy Fitzpatrick Chuck Flanagan Tony Ghigi Susan Hamadock Allen Jarmon Maureen Keenan Grant Kingswell Spencer Kingswell Paula Kovarcik Charlie Lee Raymond Miller Sally Packard Anthony Perkins Joie Rake Barb Ralph Caitlyn Ruffers Chris Sampson Rich Snell Al Trapani Jack Warren Linda Yingst

Rainbow Thumb Club*

Matt Carey Ward Ellinger Rob Freeman Tony Ghigi Steve Hoult Bill Jones Bud Palmer Stephen Palmer Ken Reilly Tom White

*CAMP Caretakers

LETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth, Vol. 19, No. 05 May 22, 2009