Here we are again, deep in the dog days of summer, with Labor Day weekend already looming on the horizon. I’m never sure how the summer season goes by so fast! Out of curiosity, I stopped writing for a moment and went back to the earliest volume of Letters from CAMP Rehoboth available online. We started publishing in 1991, but it was not until 1997 that the first issue went online. Those early online issues are not in the best of shape, but they did answer a question about what I wrote about almost twenty years ago: the swiftly passing summer; an article in that issue of Letters by author Patricia Nell Warren on the Southern Baptist boycott of Disney; election day in Rehoboth, and the fact that Bitsy Cochran was the only candidate who solicited CAMP Rehoboth for support; Sundance 97 (the 9th Sundance); and some personal notes about anniversaries and deaths in the community—plus an additional article about the need for hate crimes legislation (passed in Delaware that same year). Some of it, I could have written today, other parts were vastly different from the world we know today—especially in regard to much improved LGBT rights and protections in our country, and our relationship with the City of Rehoboth Beach.
Of course, after all this time, I'm still writing about Sundance, now in its 29th year! Once again, Sundance will take place because of the amazing generosity of over 400 individuals who provide financial support as Sponsors, Supporters, and Hosts of the event. There is a list of all those Sundance “angels” on the Sundance page of this website—many of them longtime supporters of Sundance, and others brand new. Though the invitations and posters are already being printed, it is never too late to sign up to support the event. Tickets to both the Sundance Auction and Dance nights are $45 per night, or $80 for both. Tickets and ticket packages, as well as all Host and Sponsor level tickets are available on the CAMP Rehoboth website.
CAMP Rehoboth has been a big supporter of the Rehoboth Beach Film Society from its earliest days, especially because the Rehoboth Beach Film Festival has always included a number of films of interest to the LGBT community. For the first time, and as a warm-up for the Festival in November, the Film Society and CAMP Rehoboth are partnering to present Delaware LGBT CINE-brations on September 22-25 at the Cinema Art Theater. Information about films and schedule is availablein this issue (see CINE-brations - New LGBT Film Festival), or go to rehobothfilm.com.
On Sunday, August 28, Sundance week kicks off with the land and sea Racing Festival, with enough options to satisfy everyone from true athletes to couch potatoes. The event includes a 5k run, a one mile walk, a half mile swim, or a biathlon (5k and a half mile swim)—or register as a Sleepwalker by making a donation to CAMP Rehoboth. Though early bird registration and the prices that go with it ended earlier in the summer, pre-registration prices continue through August 15. The race begins at 8 a.m., with registration beginning at 7 a.m., at the Rehoboth Bandstand. Registration and information is available on the Seashore Striders website at seashorestriders.com.
All summer long, Murray and I find ourselves using the phrase, “we’re on deadline,” and every other week we are. We both love the summertime, but do appreciate the off-season when Letters comes out only once a month. We are always grateful to all the CAMP Rehoboth volunteers and to the staff members who work with us to help with deadlines. I would like to say a special word of thanks to Ward Ellinger and Kathy Fitzpatrick for their faithful kindness. At the beginning of every deadline Ward stops by the office with a bag of chocolate and nuts and other assorted snacks, and on the last and longest day and night of deadline, Kathy always appears with some outrageously decadent desserts to celebrate the completion of another issue.