LETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth |
The Way I See It |
| by Steve Elkins, Editor |
| Last week as we packed away all the "stuff" that it takes to produce Sundance, I have to admit that I breathed a little sigh of relief that the summer was finally over. Though I love the excitement of summer in Rehoboth, September remains my favorite month of the year and I always look forward to it. Finally we can relax a little and have a chance to enjoy our town and remember the reasons why we moved here all those many years ago.
One of the reasons we moved here was Rehoboth's unique combination of small town charm and big city sophistication, and finding a way to keep both was, in a way, the subject of much discussion this summer and played a big part in the 2005 city election. On September 10, the electorate in Rehoboth returned to the polls to either affirm or reject the city commissioner's decision to change the floor to area ratio (FAR) in the building code of the city, and at the end of the day, the changes were accepted by a majority of the voters (651 to 465). The city commissioners have promised to reopen discussions about the inclusion of porches and decks in the FAR. These discussions and others, no doubt, will be with us for a long time to come as our city continues to face growth issues and deal with the immense changes that come with rising population and escalating property values. Change is, of course, most of the time not an easy thing. Many of us were saddened by the news last year that Epworth United Methodist Church was going to leave its downtown location to move out on to Route 1. And now comes the news that Rehoboth Pharmacy is closing its doors. Though it will certainly be a big loss to downtown, Chris Sauls, the owner and pharmacist, will not be too far away and is moving to the CVS just outside of town. Our thanks to Chris for his support of the community, and for taking such good care of his customers. I'm sure that Fay Jacobs (wearing her Main Street Director's cap) would join me in encouraging everyone to support the downtown businesses whenever you can. That unique charm I wrote about above, is in part dependent upon a vibrant downtown area. None of us, I think, want to lose that. I mentioned Sundance a moment ago, and I must take a moment to say thank you to the amazing group of people who make that event possible. Sundance depends on the generous support of our many Sponsors, Supporters, Hosts, auction donors and volunteersall of whom can be seen on pages 38-40 of this issue. Though we will not set a new record this year, the $172,000 that we will clear from the event is still amazing, and will be crucial to the budgets of both CAMP Rehoboth and Sussex County AIDS Council in the coming months. As was announced on the night of the auction, 10% of the live auction (almost $7,000), will be donated to hurricane relief efforts in New Orleans and on the Gulf Coast. Anyone wishing to make an additional contribution to the hurricane money raised at Sundance can call the CAMP Rehoboth office. For days now, we've all watched in horror the great tragedy in New Orleans and along the Gulf Coast. In the aftermath of that terrible storm we've seen what can happen when all our resources, as the saying goes, have been put into one basket. With so much effort going to Homeland Security and the Iraq war, apparently FEMA has been allowed to fall by the wayside. Since 9/11 it seems our government has been operating out of fear. What else, we must ask, has been sacrificed in the name of "security?" If there is any good that comes from this disaster perhaps it will be a new way of looking for solutions to the problems faced by all of usboth Democrat and Republican. Perhaps we all need to get more involved and stop taking for granted that everything is under control. |
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LETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth, Vol. 15, No. 13 September 16, 2005 |