LETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth |
CAMPsafe Summer 2000: Hello Rehoboth Beach |
by Salvatore Seeley |
Tick-tock goes the clock as we count down to the upcoming 2000 beach season. You can count me in as one of the millions who wished for exciting changes in the new millennium and , man, did I get them: a new home, a new family, and a new job! I would like to introduce myself as the new CAMPsafe Director. I am originally from the Connecticut area, but recently moved to Georgetown, DE (you guessed It... for love..). And I quickly fell in love with Rehoboth. It reminded me of the beach at home and kept me from being homesick. When I visited to roller blade around town, I would see Bill Sievert making his rounds and passing out the CAMPsafe postcards (I still have my favorite on the fridge!). Little did I realize then, that I would be handing them out myself this season. I am so excited to be continuing all the exciting and important work that Bill Sievert has done. As I read through the articles that Bill wrote for Letters, I could not help but be impressed by the way all the businesses, organizations and volunteers supported CAMPsafe 1999 and helped to make it one of the best years yet. All of you helped to serve the HIV prevention needs of over 9,000 gay men visiting the Rehoboth area. I am looking forward to personally meeting all those who have contributed so much to make CAMPsafe a successful program. And I know I can count on the continuing support of this community. One of the ways that you can help is to continue to fill out the CAMPsafe surveys. We will continue the survey both in paper and online format. We are adding a space for comments this year and a follow-up survey for those who filled out the original survey in the last two years. This will enable us to better understand current trends, and see if any of the information and services that we provided helped you achieve your HIV prevention goals. If we need to change something or add something to better serve youtell us! I am counting on your help this year to help make CAMPsafe effective and fun! And fun is why we come to the beach, eh? Well... fun and eye-candy! I think that the new CAMPsafe postcards will provide both! Hot men, a laugh, and some really good advice. They will be available at local businesses and organizations in the next couple of weeks. I am very excited about these cards because they are inclusive of different ethnic, age and cultural groups. I hope that when you see them you will remember to find out about the other activities that CAMPsafe is working on: A volleyball tournament or two in July or August. So, start planning your teams now! CAMP Safe-Tea dances ( a LOT of fun last year, I'm told!) We will announce them as soon as we work out the details. Our LIFEGUARDS (nudge, nudge, wink, wink) will be making the rounds to the dances to hand out information and answer questions. And of course on busy weekends, CAMPsafe will be hanging out under the CAMPsafe banner at the beach. (Tough job, but someone's gotta do it, right?) Two workshops by Whitman-Walker on methods for avoiding HIV and safely embracing and celebrating gay sexuality. (These went over so well last year that we had to do them again.) And, perhaps (with the help of a little private funding), we will be able to bring a representative from Body Electric to the Rehoboth area for a one or two day workshop during the summer. I have attended Body Electric workshops and they are incredibly fun and educational. And who could forget the Rehoboth Independent Film Festival! We will be sponsoring some of the gay oriented films again this year. Last year, we sponsored two gay-youth centered films, Defying Gravity and 24 Nights. Phew! We have quite an agenda this year! Maybe it's my youthful enthusiasm, but I am very excited about working with CAMPsafe this year. I look forward to meeting and working with all the incredible people that make Rehoboth such a special place. I also ask that if anyone has any suggestions about making CAMPsafe better and/or would like to volunteer at CAMPsafe (I am looking for LIFEGUARDS look at the job description above). I would love to hear from anyone with ideas! I can be reached at SalvatoreSeeley@aol.com or at the CAMP Rehoboth office. Otherwise, you can just tackle me on the sand! See you at the beach. Salvatore Seeley will keep you up-to-date on CAMPsafe all summer long. You can reach him at SalvatoreSeeley@aol.com or through CAMP Rehoboth. |
LETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth, Vol. 10, No. 4, May 5, 2000. |