So this is it. The last summer issue of Letters from CAMP Rehoboth for 2019. Starting in September we return to our monthly publishing schedule. Next season, this magazine and its parent organization CAMP Rehoboth turns 30. I don’t know details yet, but there will be a party—a big one! Speaking of big parties, this is the Sundance issue of Letters, and it celebrates the biggest party of the summer season, Sundance 2019: Rainbow XXXII—Ultraviolet Disco Day-Glo Sunrise. Tickets are going fast so don’t wait—especially for the Sundance Auction night. Please note that we are cutting back on the number of auction night tickets sold this year so that the event is not as crowded as it was in 2018.▽
Sundance depends on sponsors, supporters, hosts, auction donors, and volunteers to make it happen. As chair of the event, I depend heavily on an extraordinary group of volunteers known as the Sundance Team Captains. For Sundance Team Captains, the work is a year-round job, and I can’t imagine producing the event without them. Most of them will be onsite at the Convention Center for an entire week, and will have walked miles by the time load-out is complete on Labor Day Monday.▽
Sundance is not the only milestone tradition observed in Rehoboth Beach every Labor Day weekend. Drag Volleyball on Poodle Beach has been around for an equal number of years. There was just something about 1988! Fay Jacobs writes about that venerable (and outrageous!) tradition in this issue. Ann Aptaker’s Historical Headlines column features Oscar Wilde. My favorite quote: “I think that God, in creating man, somewhat overestimated his ability.” Michael Thomas Ford worries about how to inspire a young generation when the problems of the world seem insurmountable. “…if I were a young person right now,” he writes, “I’d be both very worried and very pissed off.”▽
Congratulations to new City Commissioners Edward Chrzanowski and Susan Gay, and to all the candidates who stepped up to make themselves available as community leaders. We thank all the candidates for participating in our recent Letters from CAMP Rehoboth Candidate Forum and the Rehoboth Beach Homeowners/CAMP Rehoboth Forum on July 26. Abundantly clear from all the candidates was their love for Rehoboth Beach and their desire to be a part of the future vision of the city. A word of thanks, as well, to Charlie Browne, President of the RB Homeowners’ Association, for his work organizing and moderating the Forum at CAMP Rehoboth.▽
CAMP Rehoboth welcomes all people; membership is not required to participate in any of our events, activities, or programs. The CAMP Rehoboth Membership program is a sustaining financial campaign. It supports everything from maintaining and operating the community center to training and supporting staff. By making an annual pledge to CAMP Rehoboth, members provide the financial foundation the organization needs to serve the community. Please consider becoming a member today, or if already a member, upgrade to a higher level.▽
The fall season in Rehoboth is spectacular! My favorite time of year—marred only by the occasional hurricane the Atlantic Ocean tries to toss our way. (I’m knocking on wood as I write those words, but also remembering that though hurricanes have come close enough to cause great damage in the past, one has never made direct landfall on Rehoboth Beach.) I digress. Fall is beautiful in Rehoboth Beach—filled with festivals, shows, and events. Looking past Sundance, we’ve got the Delaware AIDS Walk on September 21. September 27 and 28 the CAMP Rehoboth Chorus Ensemble performs “Bad Boys/Bad Girls,” their first full-scale concert. The Sweet Baby J’ai concert is October 11, and the CAMP Rehoboth Block Party is October 20. Catch It’s Complicated 3.0, a series of one-act plays, at CAMP Rehoboth, November 1-3. And don’t forget about Sea Witch, Halloween, Jazz Fest, the 2019 Rehoboth Beach Independent Film Festival, and World AIDS Day. Whew! Maybe the off-season is not so off after all!▽
My thanks to everyone who pitched in to make our summer “CAMPing” season a good one. Happy Labor Day—and happy Sundancing!▽