This is the Memorial Day issue of Letters from CAMP Rehoboth and with its publication we celebrate the traditional kick-off of the summer season—even though summer doesn’t actually arrive until June 21. No matter. Get out those summer whites and get ready for all that makes Rehoboth Beach famous.▽
On April 27, Fay Jacobs and I made our way to the Rehoboth Beach City Hall to conduct the annual LGBTQ diversity training session for the 2019 Rehoboth Beach Summer Police Officers. For two and a half decades, and right up until his death last year, Steve Elkins, my husband, and the co-founder and Executive Director of CAMP Rehoboth, led these exercises. Steve was instrumental in developing and maintaining the great relationship we have with the police department. He was still very much with us in the hour we spent with the young officers keeping an eye on Rehoboth Beach this summer. We continue to be thankful to Chief Banks and his staff for making us feel welcome, and for honoring this long-standing effort to ensure equal treatment for all people, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. Every year from the very beginning, Steve would always ask the officers how many of them knew someone LGBTQ. In the early years, almost no hands went up. This time, they all did. ▽
On Saturday, May 4, the City of Rehoboth Beach honored Steve at the dedication of Steve Elkins Way. In speaking to the crowd gathered for that occasion, I observed that Steve Elkins Way is a connector—that it bridges the gap between two places. “In the early years of CAMP Rehoboth,” I said to the crowd, “Steve and I quickly grew to understand that one of the roles of CAMP Rehoboth was to be a connector between all parts of our community. In preaching the gospel of ‘room for all’ it seemed obvious to us that without making connections to the community around us, we would only be talking to ourselves.” I will say that even though I knew what the signs would look like in advance, the first morning I saw them shining in the sunlight, I cried—and laughed, because I knew Steve would love it. He finally got his way! ▽
The arrival of Memorial Day weekend means that Sundance is only three months away. That may seem like a long time to those just arriving for the summer season, but for an event the size of Sundance, it is never enough. Sundance is our biggest fundraiser of the year—and the most fun! In the coming weeks, Sundance 2019 Host and Sponsor letters and forms will reach our members and supporters. Please sign-up to be a Host, Supporter, or Sponsor of Sundance 2019 by returning the forms as soon as possible, or go to camprehoboth.com to purchase all Host, Supporter, Sponsor, and ticket packages online. ▽
Last week the search for a permanent CAMP Rehoboth Executive Director officially got underway. I am extremely proud of the work that the staff, Board of Directors, and community members have accomplished since Steve passed away a little more than a year ago. We have done as thorough a job as can be done to prepare CAMP Rehoboth for the future and to ensure that it continues to play a vital and relevant role in our community. I have been asked recently if I am comfortable with what is happening, and I assure those who are worried that I am, and that I continue to be a part of the process. My number one goal throughout this long year has always been to provide this organization with the best foundation possible for what comes next. I will always be co-founder of CAMP Rehoboth, but my role will change as we move through this transition. I am not going away, but I do look forward to the day when I have time to write and create art to help me express the powerful emotions of recent years.▽