LETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth |
SUNDANCE 2001- Dancing on the Wings of the Cosmic Rainbow |
by Murray Archibald |
"For many of us, Labor Day weekend in Rehoboth Beach has become synonymous with the SunDance Benefit, and this year marks the seventh annual event." (Steve Elkins, Letters, 1994)
"The fifth annual Labor Day fundraiser, SunDance is set for the weekend of September 5 and 6...the theme for this year is The Color of Light." (Barry Price, Letters, 1992) "For many of us, Labor Day weekend in Rehoboth Beach has become synonymous with the SUNDANCE Benefit, and this year's ninth annual event is no exception." (Letters, 1996) "It's Labor Day Weekend. It's SUNDANCE. So, it must be AUCTION time once again! As most of you know by now, the first night of SUNDANCE 98 is the silent and live auction..." (Letters, 1998) "Every summer at this time of the year the CAMP Rehoboth office takes on an especially frenzied atmosphere as the always hectic pace of the season crashes into all the deadlines, plans, ticket sales, and general confusion that we know and love as SUNDANCE." (Murray Archibald, Letters, 1997) "It's SUNDANCE time again! As I sit down and begin to write about what that means, I am reminded suddenly of all the many years that I have been writing and designing and painting and planning and dreaming about SUNDANCE. Surely I think to myself, I've said all there is to saytwice! But then again, perhaps your memory is no better than mine and we all need a little reminder." (Murray Archibald, Letters, 1999) "For many years as we approach the Labor Day weekend, I've taken a little time to sit down and write about the upcoming SUNDANCE eventand this year is no exception." (Murray Archibald, Letters, 2000) As can be seen by the above quotes, we've been writing about Sundance for many years. This year we celebrate the fourteenth Sundance, and I thought I would take a look back to see what we had written in years past. In 2001, I wrote, "Sundance, as surely everyone knows by now, was begun as a tenth anniversary celebration for my partner Steve Elkins and me. It was begun as a celebration of love and it remains a celebration of lovenot just for us, but for everyone involved." In 1999 I said "SUNDANCE, for those of you who have never been to our area before, is the big, two night event that caps off the summer season in Rehoboth. The first night is a huge cocktail party, buffet and live and silent auction. The next night is THE DANCE." Both of those statements are, of course, still true, and a very good description of what Sundance is. Looking back over the various articles, briefs and press releases from previous years, I felt a continuity and a transformation. We've been doing this for a long time, and over the years it has grown from little more than a beach house party to an event that provides major funding for Sussex County AIDS Committee (SCAC), and CAMP Rehoboth. The first year of Sundance, we were "joined by a group of eighteen friends, the hosts paid for the party, and guests were asked to contribute to what became the first AIDS benefit in Rehoboth." (Letters,1994) That year we cleared $6,400. This year, over 450 Sponsors, Supporters and Hosts will make Sundance possible, and will help us to try and top last year's extraordinary net of $150,000. This year's total will push the net amount raised during the last fourteen years over the one million dollar mark. I've been donating paintings to the Sundance Auction for many years, and for the past five years those paintings have been made into prints and used for the event's graphics and theme. This year the Sundance painting is titled transFORMation, and uses butterfly imagery, as does this year's Sundance theme The Divine Order Of The Wings Of The Cosmic Rainbow. As I looked back over the words written for previous years of Sundance, I felt that transformation: in myself, in my relationship with Steve, in CAMP Rehoboth, in the way we deal with AIDS, in the community of Rehoboth, and in the world around us. The fourteen years of Sundance have had a profound effect upon me, and I think, upon this community. Fourteen years ago, Rehoboth was a very different place. There was no CAMP Rehoboth, and AIDS was starting to take a terrible toll among our friends here and everywhere. Rehoboth was beginning to change by 1991 when Jim Bahr recounted a previous Sundance in Letters: "Sundance 89," he wrote," raised money for The Names Project, to bring The Quilt to Washington. Perhaps the biggest difference from previous years is that two local organizationsSussex County AIDS Committee and CAMP Rehobothhave been selected as beneficiaries. Previous recipients have been from outside the local area." Even the way we write the word Sundance has been transformed over the years. You can see it in the quotes at the beginning of this article. In the beginning it was SunDance, then SUNDANCE for many years, and now it's just Sundance. From early on, Sundance became "the rainbow party." As I looked backward I remembered, The Super Duper Ultra Iridescent Rainbow Revolution (2000), Rainbow Renaissance (1999), Rainbow XI: Colors of Life (1998), Rainbow Revival: Jump, Shout, Hallelujah, Jubilation In The House (1997), Rainbow Rites: Invocation To Dance (1995), Hearts In The Sun, The Rainbow Party (1994), The Color Of Light (1992), and Rainbow In The Sun (1991). For years now, DJ Mark Thomas has searched out new and different versions of Somewhere Over The Rainbow, and the lights have been designed using a full spectrum of color. Sundance is a party. It is a time to celebrate our lives together, not just an anniversary for Steve and me, but for all of us who share a wonderful Rehoboth connection. It is a time when we can revel in the diversity that the rainbow represents. It is a time for us to care for our community, and to raise the money needed to keep much needed services available in our area. There is a transforming power that comes when we are all together, when we work together, play together, and share our lives together. That's why the wings of the butterfly, and what they represent, are important to me this year. In the course of assembling all the quotes for this article, it became quite obvious that we've said it all beforeand will undoubtedly say it again next year. As I wrote a couple of years ago: "Sundance is a celebration and a gathering, a ritual passage of summer, and just a great party. See you on the dance floor." |
LETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth, Vol. 11, No. 12, August 24, 2001. |