This is the fourth issue in the 26th season of Letters from CAMP Rehoboth, and with its release, we return to our biweekly publishing schedule. Look for the latest issue every other Friday throughout the summer season. As a reminder, the deadline for advertising is Thursday, one week before the publication date. For advertising information contact Tricia Massella.
Murray and I were both sickened by the recent news out of Oxford, Alabama, that their city council had created the most cruel anti-transgender bathroom ordinance to date. The ordinance was passed by the City Council a week after Target (which has a store in Oxford) announced it would allow transgender people to use the bathroom of their identifying gender. Violators of the Oxford ordinance may be punished by six months in jail or a $500 fine. In his CAMPmatters column, Murray writes about how fear is manipulated to scapegoat this very vulnerable part of our community. (Correction: After this issue was printed, the Oxford City Council rescinded the anti-transgender bathroom ordinance.)
On April 23 of this year, I joined members of the Rehoboth Beach summer police for our annual diversity training session. Fittingly, with all the misinformation in the news lately, transgender issues were part of the discussion. I was very pleased that Marc Messner, leader of our CAMP Rehoboth transgender discussion group, was able to join me for the training. Our discussion at the training session was well received—and I’m always appreciative that Chief Banks makes this session possible every year. I’m impressed by the way the acceptance of LGBT people with our young officers has grown over the years that I have been conducting this event.
CAMP Rehoboth will host our annual volunteer appreciation party at the CAMP Rehoboth Community Center on May 7. For an organization our size, we have a remarkably small paid staff—and everything else is done by volunteers! In fact, it took 475 volunteers to accomplish the work of CAMP Rehoboth last year. Amazing! Our talented volunteers provide: additional office support and greeters (CAMPcierges); CAMP Courtyard watering and maintenance (Rainbow Thumb Club); all aspects of event planning, implementation, and production; Board and committee members; grant writing; community volunteers (CAMP Rehoboth Outreach Program); thrift shop, and library volunteers; Letters from CAMP Rehoboth production, mailing, and delivery; wedding witnesses; and much more. Our volunteers are the best!
On June 24-26, the second annual CAMP Rehoboth Family Pride Camp will take place in Rehoboth Beach. With family friendly activities, the weekend features two beach events (Gordon’s Pond Pavilion and Poodle Beach), a welcome party at CAMP Rehoboth, a bounce party, Sunday brunch for the whole family, a Funland excursion, and much more! Admission is $30 for adults and $15 for children—with a $90 max per family. CAMP Family Pride t-shirts are included with the ticket price. For information or to purchase tickets, go to the CAMP Rehoboth website, or call 302-227-5620.
As can be seen by the many photos in CAMPshots, the CAMP Rehoboth Women’s FEST 2016 was a big success, and that would not have been possible without the dedication of our Women’s FEST Committee and our many event sponsors and volunteers. Already the FEST Committee is meeting to make plans for 2017. If you purchased tickets to any Women’s FEST events this year, please be on the lookout for a short survey to help us make next year’s event even better.
We’ve got an exciting year planned for CAMP Rehoboth, so watch for details about all our upcoming events. In addition to the CAMP Family Pride event I just mentioned, we’re already hard at work on Sundance 2016, including the Sundance Auction and Dance, and the Sundance Racing Festival—plus I’m thrilled to announce that the CAMP Rehoboth Block Party will return in October!