As this issue of Letters from CAMP Rehoboth hits the newsstands around town, the Rehoboth Beach Jazz Festival is already underway. Celebrating its 23rd season, the Jazz Fest has is one of the anchors in the Rehoboth festival season. The main events for this year’s Jazz Festival are taking place at Cape Henlopen High School, Epworth United Methodist Church, and the RB Convention Center. There’s a whole lot more to the festival than just the big events, of course, so check out CAMPdates in this issue. For more information on the Jazz Festival visit their website.
Another anchor in the festival season, the Rehoboth Beach Independent Film Festival, takes place November 7-11 at the Movies at Midway and in the Festival’s big tent just behind it. Festival producers expect to sell close to 20,000 tickets this year, so don’t wait, tickets go fast! As we have been for many years, CAMP Rehoboth is a big sponsor of the Film Festival. We support it for many reasons, primarily because it brings the community together—gay and straight—and its films challenge us to see the world from a different perspective. As has become our tradition, our gay-friendly guide to the 2012 RBIFF appears on pages 36-39 of this issue and features films of special interest to the LGBT community. By mid-October, the 2012 Film Fest Guide will be available on the Film Society website, and at a variety of locations around the area—including CAMP Rehoboth.
The CAMP Rehoboth fall lecture series continues Tuesday, October 23, at 7 p.m. with The Life and Legacy of Vincent van Gogh. Sandra Denny’s presentation will focus on “the artist’s life, the evolution of his style, and his relation to his contemporaries, especially Paul Gauguin and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec.” Presented by the CAMP Programs Committee, the Fall Lecture Series is provided to CAMP Rehoboth through the Delaware Humanities Forum. The lecture is free; doors open 6:30 p.m.
One of the most exciting new projects for us here at CAMP Rehoboth is CAMP-Mautner Cares, a joint program of CAMP Rehoboth and the Mautner Project. CAMP-Mautner Cares will offer client services such as transportation to doctor and chemotherapy appointments, grocery shopping, and some household tasks to LGBT individuals with cancer or other serious illnesses living in the Rehoboth/Lewes area. To find out how CAMP-Mautner Cares was developed or for more information about it, see the article in this issue. Also, plan on attending the CAMP-Mautner Cares launch party on Saturday, October 20 from 4-6 p.m. at the CAMP Rehoboth Community Center.
Looking ahead, World AIDS Day is December 1, and in Rehoboth Beach, observance of that day will, once again, center on the Candlelight Walk and Service of Remembrance and Hope. The Candlelight Walk will begin at 6:30 p.m. at the Rehoboth Beach Bandstand and will conclude at All Saints’ Episcopal Church on Olive Avenue. To volunteer or to add the name of a loved one who has died of AIDS to the list of names read at the service, call CAMP Rehoboth at 302-227-5620. A light supper will follow the service.
Also coming up, December 31, Starburst Gayla will ring in the New Year at the Rehoboth Convention Center. Though primarily a women’s event, all are invited to this sensational dinner and dance featuring DJ Peggy Castle, Viki Dee, Food by Design, and desserts by Wendy Adams of the Charcoal Grill. Dinner and dance tickets are $100 and are only available in advance; dance only tickets are $55 and may be purchased in advance or at the door. Starburst Gayla will benefit the new CAMP-Mautner Cares and the CAMP Rehoboth Community Center.