LETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth |
The Way I See It |
by Steve Elkins, Editor |
Some people may think of Rehoboth as only a summer place, but this time of year is always one of my favorites. Around town, the restaurants, bars and stores are still open (and I finally have time to enjoy them), the weather is beautiful, and between the Autumn Jazz Festival, The Rehoboth Beach Independent Film Festival, and Halloween, there is something for everyone to enjoy. If you missed the first Rehoboth beach independent film festival last year, you don't want to make that mistake again. It was great fun, and I know that this year's festival will be even better. By the time this magazine hits the streets, this year's festival program should be available around town. If you can't find it anywhere else, stop in and pick one up at CAMP Rehoboth. I know that last year, part of the fun was pouring over the program with our house guests and trying to figure out our schedule and what each of us wanted to see. This year CAMP Rehoboth is again taking an active part in the festival. Not only are we a sponsor of the event, our AIDS awareness program CAMPsafe along with AIDS Delaware is sponsoring two coming out and coming of age films aimed at young peopleDefying Gravity on Saturday, November 13 at 3 p.m. and 24 Nights on Sunday, November 14 at 2 p.m. For more details on those two films, see Bill Sievert's CAMPsafe column on page 46. Also, don't miss Film Festival Director Barry Becker's overview of the festival on page 6. If you have questions about the festival check out their website at www.rehobothfilm.com or call 302-645-9095. Speaking of coming out, October 11 was National Coming Out Day. In the October 8 issue of The Washington Blade, Aongus Burke has some interesting things to say about coming out. "Being comfortable enough," he says, "with oneself to come out tends to be a gradual process, not the kind of thing that can be resolved in a single day." He's right, I think, in many ways coming out is a lifelong process. We are always meeting new people and being thrust into new situations. For many of us there are little pockets in our lives where the closet lingersor where we are not quite as open as we could belike a drawer in the back of a closet that we neglected to open and that has now grown rusty and inflexible with age. Perhaps it is good for us to reopen our closets every once in a while and look way back in the corners and see what parts of ourselves we've forgotten or abandoned. Whether we are sixteen and dealing with gay issues for the first time, or seventy and seeking new ways to grow, National Coming Out Day issues a challenge to us all. Watching our community rise to meet the various challenges that it faces is always interesting to me. Our response to the AIDS epidemic over the past two decades is a prime example. On September 25, the Beach House Restaurant, with the help of CAMP Rehoboth, raised over $5,500 for the fight against breast cancer. A special thanks goes to CAMP Rehoboth's Tricia Massella and Kathy Weir who joined The Beach House owners Lynn Foraker and Dawn Lester to make the event a success. I've said it before, it's time for our community to reach into other areas besides AIDS. Women's health issues, retirement issues, and those facing gay and lesbian young people have all been a part of our discussions this summer. One more note of thanks, our production intern for the past three summers, Peter Butcavage, has completed his schooling and has now accepted a position in Florida. I think that I'm safe in saying that no matter where his career takes him, he will never find a place quite like CAMP Rehoboth. I'm not sure if that's good or bad...but we all wish him well. Thanks Peter! |
LETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth, Vol. 9, No. 14, Oct. 15, 1999 |