If it’s springtime in Rehoboth Beach, it's time for CAMP Rehoboth Women’s FEST. It may not have always been known by the same name, but make no mistake, Women’s FEST under one guise or another is now in its 17th year—and going strong thanks to a passionate and seemingly tireless committee. That list is long, and can be found in the FEST booklet, but the FEST committee would not be the same without its co-chairs and leaders Dottie Cirelli, Nancy Hewish, and Fay Jacobs, who have been meeting since shortly after Women’s FEST ended last year. Every year, the first rate entertainment seems to get better and better. This year the FEST team has put together a fantastic double header featuring the critically acclaimed singer/songwriter Sweet Baby J’ai and the hilarious comic Karen Williams—plus additional shows by Gina Yashere, Tret Fure, Julie Wheeler, Regina Sayles, and many more. Though FEST Passes are sold out, individual tickets are still available to shows and special events, and are available on the CAMP Rehoboth website or by calling the CAMP Rehoboth office.
I was really pleased that the Women’s FEST team invited Sarah Mcbride to be the Keynote Speaker at the 2017 CAMP Rehoboth Women’s FEST. Sarah is the National Press Secretary for the Human Rights Campaign and the first openly transgender person to address a major party political convention. Sarah has been a friend for a long time, and we worked together on the Board of Equality Delaware during the fight for marriage equality and in our successful efforts to add gender identity and expression to Delaware’s nondiscrimination and hate-crime laws. Sarah’s Keynote Address is scheduled for Saturday morning, April 8, at 10 a.m. at the Atlantic Sands.
As editor of Letters from CAMP Rehoboth, obituaries come across my desk all the time. As our community continues to age those obits seem to come at an ever increasing rate. Much of the time they are for members of our community who have lived long and productive lives. The hardest ones are the sudden deaths or those whose lives have been cut short at an early age. Our whole Rehoboth family was saddened last week by the death of Kevin Bauer—or Isabella Frost as he was known in the Rehoboth entertainment world. He was 34, and will be missed.
Attorney John Brady has served the people of CAMP Rehoboth and our state in many ways over the years—and has donated countless hours of pro bono work to us. Serving in various capacities as an elected official in the state, and especially as Clerk of the Peace right after marriage equality passed in Delaware, John was a familiar sight at wedding ceremonies all over the county. In recent months, John has been hospitalized and is dealing with a variety of health issues. On Sunday, June 4, from 1-3 p.m., friends of John Brady will host a fundraiser at CAMP Rehoboth to help John retire some of his campaign debt. I’ve turned to John on the behalf of many folks in our community over the years. Though this is not a CAMP Rehoboth sponsored event, Murray and I will be there, and we encourage everyone who has benefitted from John’s tireless service to join us.
Not long ago, murray and I, along with Rehoboth Beach Commissioner (and member of the CAMP Rehoboth Board of Directors) Kathy McGuiness, sat down with members of the Rehoboth Beach Volunteer Fire Department at CAMP Rehoboth to talk about ways we could work together to focus attention on the needs of the Fire Department. The results of that conversation will be seen in the pages of this magazine during the coming months. In the meantime, I wanted to remind everyone that the Rehoboth Beach Volunteer Fire Department is just exactly that—volunteers—and they need community support, both in donations and from volunteers, to do the work we depend on them to do.