CROP Goes to the Farm!
In honor of Women’s FEST, a CROP team of 13 headed to the farm—aka, Southern Delaware Therapeutic Riding (SDTR) in Milton on Friday, April 8. SDTR was ready for them with chores that included pasture-picking, mopping, painting, power washing, and light fixture cleaning.
It was an enjoyable and rewarding day, as evidenced by several on the team who worked overtime to complete chores. (Thanks to all!!)
The folks at SDTR look forward to seeing CROP every year because they value CROP’s efforts a great deal. In fact, SDTR volunteer Tom Peet, head of maintenance, said, “An amazing amount of work was accomplished in just three hours. This helps our volunteers tremendously with keeping up with our workload. Thank you so much for the continued support.”
SDTR is always looking for volunteers, so please contact them at (302) 644-1920 if you would like a tour or more information about their program. ▼
Steve Elkins Memorial Fellowship Awarded
The Blade Foundation has announced the winner of the fourth Blade Foundation Steve Elkins Memorial Fellowship: Jack Walker, a junior at Brown University and senior editor of multimedia at the Brown Daily Herald. Walker also serves as president of Brown’s Queer Alliance.
Walker, who will spend 12 weeks reporting on LGBTQ issues while being mentored by Blade editors, will cover issues of interest to Delaware’s LGBTQ community.
“I am thankful and excited for the opportunity to work with the Washington Blade and the Blade Foundation through the Steve Elkins Memorial Fellowship,” Walker said. “I have so much to learn from Delaware’s queer community, and I feel very fortunate to be getting to know it better this summer.”
The fellowship is named in honor of Steve Elkins, a journalist and co-founder of the CAMP Rehoboth LGBTQ community center. Elkins served as editor of Letters from CAMP Rehoboth for many years as well as executive director of the center before his death in March of 2018.
The fellowship is funded by the Foundation’s annual Rehoboth Beach summer party, being held May 20 at The Pines and featuring remarks from US Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester. ▼
YouthUp’s LGBTQ History Guide
CAMP Rehoboth’s YouthUp program is excited to introduce its latest project: the LGBTQ History Guide, helmed by Julian Kay Harbaugh (they/them), Youth Peer Leader. During a brief interview with Letters, Harbaugh offered some insights into the project.
What precipitated the development of the LGBTQ History Guide?
We live in an age of information—but not all of that information is reliable, and information about queer history is no exception. Social media, being very accessible and entertaining, is a source of a lot of the misinformation I hear being parroted by the young people I work with. When I push back against that misinformation, I frequently get asked questions similar to those I receive when I’m discussing queer history with young LGBTQ+ people in general. Questions like, “Where do I start?” and “What sources can I trust?” This guide is the answer to those questions.
What was the process in creating the guide?
Two months in the making, this guide is full of sources for queer history. The non-fiction books, databases, and the podcasts are sources for the information and inspiration behind the YouthUp history podcast, The Altern. (For more about the podcast, see page 20.) With a focus on accessibility for those new to queer history and representing the diversity of perspectives and experiences in the LGBTQ+ community, the guide offers suggestions for podcasts, non-fiction books, biographies and memoirs, movies and documentaries, and websites, databases, and archives.
Who can use the guide?
This guide isn’t just for young adults—each source is labeled as appropriate for one of three age ranges: Y (youth, 10+), T (teens, 13+), and YA (young adults, 17+). (Of course, older folks are welcome to use the guide, too!) For some documentaries and most databases and websites, the rating NR (no rating) is given due to the diversity of materials provided.
Whether you’re interested in queer history for research, community building, or just for fun and personal edification, there’s sure to be media in there that piques your interest. And if you have suggestions for additions to a future version of this guide, feel free to email me at julian@camprehoboth.com. ▼