LETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth |
The Way I See It |
| by Steve Elkins, Editor |
| Here we go againwelcome to Memorial Day Weekend, summer 2008, and the fifth issue in the eighteenth season of Letters and CAMP Rehoboth. To visitors finding your way to Rehoboth Beach for the first time this season, forgive our mess, pleaseand the silly grins on our faces. Though the new Community Center construction will continue well into the summer months, we are thrilled by the progress. Though we may not be "pretty" yet, both the CAMP Rehoboth Community Center and the CAMP Rehoboth courtyard are open for business so "come on down."
The weekend after Memorial Day, the annual Black and White Beach Ball will take place at the Atlantic Sands Hotel Ballroom on Baltimore Avenue and the Boardwalk. The Black and White Ball is not only a good time, but also a gathering of some of the most generous and visionary people in our community. Without them we would not have a Community Center or be building its new wing. The Black and White Ball is a celebration for all those who have helped us get to this point, but it is also a reminder that we still have some money to be raised before the end of this summer season. Please don't miss this event. Now is the time for all of us to come together for a last big push over the top. Tickets to the Black and White Beach Ball are $70 and usually sell out fast. One last notetickets come with certain Founders' Circle levels, but reservations must be made in order to use them. Living Color is the theme of this year's HEART of the Community art auction. All the work will be auctionedsome live, some silentat this year's Black and White Beach Ball. On the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend all the art will be previewed at the HEART Preview Party at CAMP Rehoboth. Congratulations and our "heartfelt" thanks to all the artists who have generously given of their time and talents to help the CAMP Rehoboth Community Center. See page 28 for more on Living Color and the 2008 HEART of the Community project. Since the early 90s, I've conducted sensitivity training for the Rehoboth Beach summer police, and this year was no exception. The big difference in now and way back then, of course, is a much more relaxed attitude that allows GLBT people to be accepted throughout our community. Back in "those" days the bumper sticker read, "Keep Rehoboth a Family Town." All we did was broaden the meaning of the word "family." Thanks goes to Chief Banks and the police for continuing to make Rehoboth a safe place for all of us. As a reminder, sensitivity trained cops still give out speeding tickets and make arrests for breaking the lawthey're just nicer when they do it. CAMP Rehoboth's very successful AIDS prevention program CAMPsafe is in its eleventh year and CAMPsafe Director Sal Seeley recently unveiled the new CAMPsafe web site www.campsafereho.com. Visit the site for information, to blog, or to look at all the CAMPsafe promotional materials developed over the years. A new CAMP Rehoboth web site is being developed and should be up and running by mid-summer. One of the major purposes of the new site will be to promote tourism and encourage the use of the new Community Center for workshops, retreats, and conferences. Looking over this issue I'm reminded of the many events that will make this summer season a memorable oneLove Weekend (July 4th weekend), The CAMP Rehoboth Follies (July 26), and the 21st Sundance (Labor Day Weekend). On June 28 the popular Washington Gay Men's Chorus returns to the beach for a benefit concert for SCAC and their first performance here in several years. From Bingo-a-go-go to Clear Space Productions; from the new Rehoboth Beach art gallery collective Mosaic to the many house and beach parties happening all over town, another summer season has begun. |
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LETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth, Vol. 18, No. 05 May 16, 2008 |