Somehow I can’t shake the feeling that we are living in extraordinary times and that someday we will look back on this summer as one of those pivotal time periods when life as we have known it was suddenly changed. According to the Clerk of the Peace in Sussex County, John Brady, the pace of weddings here has doubled since July 1 when the Delaware Marriage Equality law went into effect. On a recent day, he performed nine weddings! John officiated last week at the wedding for CAMP Rehoboth Board member Steve Hoult and his partner Rick Bane, and did a beautiful job. On our way home from that wedding, Murray and I talked about how we continue to be surprised at how moving it is to witness these ceremonies—because they really mean something! Most of the same-sex couples getting married, John told me, are long term partners—the longest he said was 55 years. Speaking of changes to life as we know it, several members of Steve and Rick’s family couldn’t make it to the wedding, so technology came to the rescue: lined up along a counter, four carefully placed iPads provided perfect viewing for the missing relatives, and nobody missed the big “I do, I do” moment. Congratulations Rick and Steve and all the other couples who have been married in the last few weeks. To have a marriage photo included in an issue of Letters, send a high resolution photo to me.
As we start the second half of the summer (hard to believe, isn’t it?), our attention here at CAMP Rehoboth is more and more focused on Sundance 2013 on Labor Day weekend. During the last week of July, we will be finalizing our Host, Supporter, and Sponsor list for Sundance, so please sign-up today. All the levels of support, as well as tickets to the event, are available on the CAMP Rehoboth website or by calling the CAMP Rehoboth office at 302-227-5620. Our apologies to CAMP Rehoboth members whose Sundance forms were late being mailed this year; we had a little glitch in the mailing process. Thanks to our outstanding volunteers, that matter was quickly corrected, however, it does mean that we need a swift response from those of you interested in signing up.
Beginning this summer, CAMP Rehoboth is partnering with Unfinished Business Thrift Shop: we provide donations and some volunteers and the shop raises money for CAMP Rehoboth. Unfinished Business is looking for all kinds of donations, from clothes to furniture. Just tell them the donation is for CAMP Rehoboth. Unfinished Business is located at 18389 Olde Coach Road behind Panera Bread on Route 1. For information about volunteering or donations, call Lynne or Paulette at 302-752-6225.
This issue of Letters from CAMP Rehoboth hits the streets the day before the big Abbamania show at the Rehoboth Beach Convention Center, so by the time many of our readers see this, the show will be over. (If reading this before the curtain goes up on Saturday night, tickets, as long as they last, will be available at the door.) Our heartfelt thanks, of course, go out to Bruce Pfeufer and Jeffrey Kiley, the producers of Abbamania, and to the many volunteers who worked to make the event a fun evening for all.
While I'm saying thank you, I certainly don’t want to leave out the hosts of this year’s 6 Futcher Drive Pool Party. The party raised over $10,000 for CAMP Rehoboth, and we are thrilled to have such incredible support from this event and from the community supporting it. Thanks, once again, to all the CAMP Rehoboth volunteers who pitched in to help out in the kitchen and at the door of the party. We are always grateful for the extraordinary support we receive from this amazing community.
Join us at Aqua on Saturday, August 3 from 4-6 for the 2013 Bachelor Auction, and for the preview party at Universal Gear on Friday, August 2.