World AIDS Day - December 1
Join us for a service of hope and remembrance for World AIDS Day at All Saints’ Church in Rehoboth Beach. Attendees will meet at CAMP Rehoboth and will walk together as a group to All Saints’ Church on Olive Avenue. The event will be from 4:00 till 6:00 p.m.
World AIDS Day was first observed in 1988. Each year, organizations and individuals across the world bring attention to the HIV epidemic, work to increase HIV awareness and knowledge, speak out against HIV stigma, and call for an increased effort to end the HIV epidemic. The theme for the 2022 observance is “Equalize.”
To have a name of a family member or friend who died from AIDS added to the list of names to be read at the service, please email amber@camprehoboth.com or call the CAMP Rehoboth office at 302-227-5620. For more information, visit the website at camprehoboth.com. ▼
Photo: Dhananjaya Beminwaththa on Unsplash.com
Love In the Pumpkin Patch
On October 29, CAMP Rehoboth participated in the Sea Witch Parade for the first time in the parade’s history. CAMP’s float theme was “Love in the Pumpkin Patch,” and featured the day’s largest inflatable pumpkin, sparkling letters to spell out L-O-V-E, and volunteer walkers and float wavers decked out in orange. CAMP Rehoboth’s YouthUp program got involved as walkers, distributing 50 pounds of candy to eager trick-or-treaters. ▼
Giving Tuesday at CAMP Rehoboth
Save the Date! Giving Tuesday is November 29, 2022. CAMP Rehoboth will again participate in Giving Tuesday, a global generosity movement unleashing the power of radical generosity. (Read more about the movement on page 34.) Stay tuned to CAMP Rehoboth’s social media and camprehoboth.com to see how you can get involved. ▼
Community Toy/Hat/Glove Drive
Through mid-December, CAMP Rehoboth Community Center will be a drop-off site for the annual Rehoboth Beach Toy Drive. This is the 16th year that CAMP Rehoboth is participating in a community collection of toys, hats, gloves, and coats for community members in need. Help make this year’s holidays brighter for families in need, in partnership with the Rehoboth Beach Bears and other groups and individuals, by signing up to manage and sort the items for the drive at camprehoboth.com/volunteers.
On Saturday, December 3, the drive will rally support with community partners, including the Rehoboth Beach Bears, at the Purple Parrot (12:00-3:00 p.m.) and Diego’s Bar & Nightclub (4:00-8:00 p.m.). Visit camprehoboth.com for more details.
Donated items will be provided to ACE Peer Resources Center, Christiana Care HIV Wellness Center, and other community organizations that serve those in need. ▼
Transgender Day of Remembrance
Stay tuned to CAMP Rehoboth social media to read testimonials and stories honoring transgender community members both past and present for Transgender Day of Remembrance.
Celebrated on November 20 each year, Transgender Day of Remembrance was created in 1999 to commemorate transgender woman Rita Hester, who was murdered. This day honors the lives of transgender people lost to acts of transphobic violence.
CAMP Rehoboth will also be holding a Candlelight Vigil on November 20 over Zoom, where testimonials and stories will be shared from the community. To share a story, please email julian@camprehoboth.com.▼
Save the Date!
Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington Presents Judy!
On Saturday, January 14, 2023, the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington (GMCW) will return to the CAMP Rehoboth Elkins-Archibald Atrium for two performances of their new show, Judy!
The cabaret show will celebrate the music of one of the original legends—Judy Garland. The GMCW will look back at the music of vaudeville and the silver screen that illuminated the great Garland’s career.
This intimate evening will feature 14 soloists from the GMCW, who will share stories as they sing their favorite Judy tunes. Shows are at 4:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. Seating is limited and past shows have quickly sold out. So, purchase your tickets now! ▼
Block Party—Finally Back!
On October 16, CAMP Rehoboth’s Block Party returned to the second block of Baltimore Avenue. The day offered great weather, over 90 vendors, renowned local performers, and good spirits. After three long years of delay due to the pandemic and lousy weather, the event’s return brought together community members for the first time in years. Special thanks to presenting sponsor Brandywine SPCA, which held its “Bark On the Boards” event the day prior at the Rehoboth Beach bandstand.
Co-chairs Chris Beagle and Michelle Manfredi, along with over 50 volunteers, made Block Party possible. CAMP Rehoboth extends its gratitude to Beagle, Manfredi, the entire planning committee, and all who made CAMP Rehoboth’s largest outreach event of the year a triumph. ▼
ACLU Launches Resource for LGBTQ+ Students
On Tuesday, November 1, ACLU launched its new Know Your Rights resource with an event at the Lewes Public Library. The resource aims to educate youth on the First Amendment rights that protect LGBTQ+ expression in schools. Two panels presented at the event. The first panel featured representatives from Parents of Trans Kids (PTK) Delaware, CAMP Rehoboth, ACLU Delaware, and PFLAG Delaware, who discussed how the resource will be valuable to the work they do in the community.
CAMP Rehoboth Board member David Garrett moderated the second panel, which featured authors Margaret Nash and Karen Graves, whose new book, Mad River, Marjorie Rowland, and the Quest for LGBTQ Teachers’ Rights, spoke to the vital US Supreme Court case in which the court’s dissent laid out the First and Fourteenth Amendment rights entitled to LGBTQ+ people. The panel was a great reminder that to address solutions to current issues, history must be properly understood.
Tara Sheldon, CAMP Rehoboth Board member and launch event organizer, reflected on the importance of this effort. “The event at Lewes Library was a coming together of service providers rising to meet the challenges, the struggles—in fact, the burdens—of advocating for and supporting LGBTQ+ students and their families. We are blessed to have support groups such as PTK and PFLAG, core organizations such as NASW-DE [National Association of Social Workers, Delaware chapter], CAMP Rehoboth, and ACLU-DE, and compassionate lawyers ready to represent us. But if all students were treated with respect and kindness and provided the same opportunities as their peers for an education free from harassment, intimidation, and harm, maybe we wouldn’t need them. Until then, tonight was validation that the safety net is there should ever an LGBTQ+ youth (and their family) need a supportive ear and a helping hand. The ACLU-DE Know Your Rights guide for LGBTQ+ students will ensure this is so.” ▼
⊳ Travels with Letters ⊲
Olivia Mediterranean Cruise to Greece and Israel
(L-R) Babs Pennay, Sarah Reznick, Lisa DeStefano, Fay Jacobs, Bonnie Quesenberry, Kate McQueen, Gloria Francavilla, Shay Taylor, Sally Taylor