





















Letter from the Editor:
Welcome to the Fall/Winter edition of Middletown Life
In this issue, we take a look at how the ChristianaCare Health Center at Middletown offers a great response to the planned growth and the increased health care needs in the growing community. Scheduled to open in early 2027, the Health Center at Middletown is part of ChristianaCare’s continuing commitment to provide Delawareans with high-quality health care.
As a mother of three with a career as a physician’s assistant in cardiac surgery in New Jersey, Middletown resident Lynn Luu has still found time in her busy life to give back to other women entrepreneurs like her. Recently, Middletown Life met with Lynn to talk about The Ambitious Rebel, a company she founded in 2020 that provides strategic and personal coaching.
When Middletown’s signature event, the Olde-Tyme Peach Festival, takes place on Saturday, August 16, it will be much more than a celebration of an important chapter in the town’s history. The festival also showcases Middletown’s lively present and the bright promise of its future. A story about the town’s history looks at a few of the many facets to the Middletown community.
Samantha Klein, an Appoquinimink High School student, was among the many Delaware students who delivered extraordinary performances at the 2025 Educators Rising National Conference, which took place in Orlando, Fla. from June 26 to June 29. Klein won first place in a lesson plan competition.
The Middletown area has a growing filmmaking community. Peter Hoopes, a film studies teacher at St. Andrew’s School and the director of the Everett Community Filmmaking Program, began development of the program back in 2020. The program participants finished their first short film, The Prompt, last year, and they are just getting started.
The Historic Odessa Brewfest returns for its 12th year on Saturday, Sept. 6, bringing with it the perfect mix of past and present. The event offers an afternoon of tasting, music, food, and fun. Hosted by the Historic Odessa Foundation in partnership with Cantwell’s Tavern, the event has grown into one of the region’s premier craft beer festivals — and a signature fundraiser for one of Delaware’s most important historic preservation organizations.
The subject of the photo essay is t. a. hahn, an abstract artist and sculptor from Middletown.
We hope you enjoy the stories and photos in this edition of Middletown Life, and we’re already hard at work planning the next issue, which will arrive in the spring of 2026.
Sincerely,
Avery Lieberman Eaton averyl@chestercounty.com
Stone Lieberman stone@chestercounty.com
Steve Hoffman, Editor editor@chestercounty.com
Cover Photo: Jim Coarse Cover Design: Tricia Hoadley
As part of its’ continuing commitment to provide Delawareans Center at Middletown, scheduled to open in early 2027, will ChristianaCare Health A response to planned growth,
As part of its’ continuing commitment to provide Delawareans Center at Middletown, scheduled to open in early 2027, will ChristianaCare Health
Delawareans with the highest form of health care, ChristianaCare’s Health will become the latest addition to its’ widening canopy of care
to its’ widening canopy of care
By Richard L. Gaw Staff Writer
Following a three-year period in which ChristianaCare invested more than $375 million in Delaware, the health care system is now planning more than $865 million in new investments in the First State over the next three years.
The addition of a full health care facility in Middletown compliments ChristianaCare’s continuing strategy of growth and investment in the state of Delaware, which currently includes 36 practices - most of them in the state – that support preventive care, sick care and chronic disease management for approximately 200,000 patients. Together, it forms a symbiotic connection that links technology and infrastructure with high-quality care and the development of strong relationships with caregivers and their patients. Delawareans with the highest form of health care, ChristianaCare’s Health will become the latest addition
The first of these new investments to break ground will be the 87,000-square-foot ChristianaCare Health Center at Middletown, which is scheduled to begin construction in 2025 and open in early 2027. The new hospital will be ChistianaCare’s newest addition to its Middletown presence, and will join its freestanding Middletown Emergency Department, which saw more than 32,000 vis-
its in 2024 and provides an emergency helicopter helipad. Planned services at the new hospital will include primary care, women’s health, behavioral health, oncology, cardiovascular care, imaging and laboratory services.
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‘The best care in the best place at the best time’
Janice E. Nevin, the president and CEO of ChristianaCare, said that the healthcare leader’s vision is guided by a community health needs assessment conducted every three years, using input from local communities and key stakeholders; and a commitment to value-based care for the entire population.
“Since our founding in Wilmington in 1888, ChristianaCare has always existed to serve our community with high-quality, compassionate care,” Nevin said. “Our commitment to double our investment in our Delaware neighbors over the next three years is guided by the belief that providing care close to home — or even in the home — is how we improve health and make care affordable. When a higher level of care is needed, we are there providing the best care in the best place at the best time.”
“Back in 2009, our executive team recognized that Middletown was growing quickly, which led to the purchase of 108 acres, so that we knew that in the future, we would have a location that would be easily accessible to
meet the needs of the Middletown, Odessa and Townsend communities,” said Pauline Corso, ChristianaCare’s president of network continuity and growth. “We recognized the highest gap in service was in the area of emergency medicine care, so we opened the Emergency Department, and it became apparent within that first year, the need for emergency services was recognized, and it was growing by leaps and bounds.
“Given the growing population of the community – which is projected to grow an additional eight percent by 2029, which is double the growth rate of the entire state - our services in Middletown have not kept up with demand, so it was time for us to develop a comprehensive outpatient solution by creating a multidisciplinary local hub of care.”
In addition to providing added service to residents in the Middletown-Odessa-Townsend communities, ChristianaCare’s continuing investment in Middletown is expected to create significant economic impact in the form of new jobs and construction.
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“ChristianaCare has been a great partner to the Middletown community, and we are excited to see the expansion of this campus in support of our growing population,” Middletown Mayor Ken Branner said. “The expansion is also projected to create a positive impact to the community with the expected addition of more than 70 full-time jobs.”
Often – even in smaller states like Delaware – patient accessibility to health care involves lengthy travel that is sometimes exacerbated by some patients having to rely on public transportation to get them to their appointments. With the addition of the new ChristianaCare Health Center at Middletown, patients who have had to travel from Kent and Sussex counties to ChristianaCare’s Newark location will see their road time cut in half.
“When we did our market assessment, we saw this new health center as an innovative and holistic approach to
patient care that we know will improve quality of life, not only for southern New Castle County but also Kent and Sussex counties, with the goal being to deliver care closer to home,” Corso said. “This comprehensive outpatient hub will serve as a closer solution, and not only help the MOT community to receive care, it will also help with health equity and accessibility, because we often find that travel restricts many from receiving health care.
“If we can bring our care closer to where people live, it improves our ability to connect with at-risk populations –and a broader community beyond the MOT area.”
While ChristianaCare’s investment in Middletown will be significant, it is part of a larger goal to establish a
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The hospital will serve patients not only in the Middletown-OdessaTownsend communities, but residents who live in Kent and Sussex counties.
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firm footprint of care across the entire state, as part of its commitment to provide additional primary care, behavioral health, cancer care and specialty/surgical care:
• In 2020, ChristianaCare partnered with GoHealth to build a new network of urgent care centers in Delaware which is today known as ChristianaCareGoHealth Urgent Care . The network includes 16 locations in New Castle and Kent counties. These centers provide convenient, fast access to medical care for non-life-threatening conditions.
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• ChristianaCare’s Select Specialty Hospital in Wilmington, opened in 2022, is part of Select Medical’s nationwide network of more than 100 specialty hospitals. This 33-bed, all-private-room “hospital within a hospital” accepts referrals from short-term acute care hospitals with critically ill patients who require more healing and recovery time.
• Opened in 2022, ChristianaCare’s Pediatric Care Center at the Center for Women’s & Children’s Health at the Newark campus offers a calm, familyfriendly environment for emergency and short-term inpatient care, and serves more than 9,000 patients per year.
• ChristianaCare’s Sleep Center, opened in 2023 on the Newark campus focuses on diagnosing and treating sleep disorders, aiming to improve patients’ overall health and quality of life.
• Opened in 2024, ChristianaCare’s MRI Guided Focused Ultrasound’s noninvasive technology uses soundwaves to treat movement disorders like essential tremors and Parkinson’s tremors, and can provide life-changing results for patients, enabling them to regain their ability to perform simple daily tasks like writing and eating.
• ChristianaCare also began a partnership in 2024 with Atlas Healthcare Partners to create an ambulatory surgery center network in Delaware and across the mid-Atlantic region. Together, these and other projects will create new access to care for thousands of Delawareans.
• In addition, ChristianaCare’s Hospital Care at Home program provides patients with hospital-level care in the comfort of the patient’s own home.
“We want Delawareans to know that our commitment to their health is unwavering,” Christiana Care’s Chief Strategy Officer Jennifer Schwartz, Esq., said. “We recognize that as we grow across the region, it’s vital that we never lose sight of our commitment to our home state. In fact, our growth across the region is an important way that we ensure our ability to continue to invest in the community and meet our neighbors’ needs.”
To learn more about ChristianaCare’s current locations, visit https://christianacare.org/us/en/facilities.
To contact Staff Writer Richard L. Gaw, email rgaw@chestecounty.com.
As a mother of three with a career as a physician’s assistant in cardiac surgery in New Jersey, Middletown resident Lynn Luu has still found time in her busy life to give back to other women entrepreneurs like her. Recently, Middletown Life met with Lynn to talk about The Ambitious Rebel, a company she founded in 2020 that provides strategic and personal coaching.
Middletown Life: You call your company The Ambitious Rebel. I imagine that the name is inspired by the company’s founder and the life she has led, yes?
Lynn: I have always been a rebel all of my life, and I don’t always conform to what everybody wants me to do all of the time. When I was a youngster, I did what I wanted to do, and there was a familiar chorus around me that said
that whenever something went wrong, it was always Lynn’s fault. As a teenager, I would hear the same chatter, that “Lynn isn’t doing this, she’s not doing that.” I wasn’t the perfect child, but I did what I wanted to do, and I did what I thought was aligned to who I was, and I didn’t care what others thought. That is the foundation of what eventually became The Ambitious Rebel.
For anyone who grows up with an independent spirit, there is a freedom and strength and a certain recklessness to it, but I think for those who grow up according to that compass, they are driven to succeed in spite of what people perceive them to be. How did you imagine you would leverage that independence, in terms of a future career?
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When I was younger and growing up in Middletown, I was just living my life. My parents came to America from Vietnam; my mom was a chef in Wilmington and worked seven days a week and my father worked many shifts at oil refineries in Delaware City. They didn’t know how to guide me in terms of what my dreams were and how I could possibly achieve them. My friends told me that I should become a fashion designer, so I signed up for fashion design school but never went to it. At one point, I thought I wanted to try architecture, but nothing ever materialized. Then, I realized that I liked to help people, so I entered the medical field and eventually, I thought about becoming a physician’s assistant. I entered that path on my own. I applied to and entered Drexel University, and I moved in that energy of direction of knowing what I wanted to do.
You have been a physician’s assistant in cardiac surgery since 2008. When did you begin The Ambitious Rebel, and what was the need you saw that inspired the start of the company?
As I continued to work in cardiac surgery and saw the hierarchy of the surgeons I worked with, I saw that I was misaligned with them. I really wanted to do my own thing. I don’t like having a boss. I don’t like to listen to others but do things on my own terms, in terms of advocating for others.
Sensing the difficulty I was having in communicating with the surgeons, I left one hospital and joined another, and I began to experience a lot of anxiety – and that’s when I realized even though I had a great title as a physician’s assistant, that I had a beautiful family and a supportive husband and a lovely home here in Middletown, I was not feeling fulfilled. I began to look into getting a life coach, and once I started to work with her, that is when everything began to shift for me.
I saw endless possibilities. I saw myself expanding my identity and realized that I am not just a cardiac surgery physician’s assistant and the mother of three children. I always saw myself as something more than that – as an entrepreneur – but I self-sabotaged myself out of manifesting it because I was stuck in my current identity. When the pandemic arrived in 2020, I was also in the process of transforming myself on a journey of spiritualism and at the same time, I received my certification in life coaching and began The Ambitious Rebel that same year.
In sessions with her clients, Luu encourages them to “recalibrate on an energetic level, a nervous system level and on a subconscious level.”
The audience for The Ambitious Rebel is women, specifically those who have an entrepreneurial spirit like you. In serving as their business and wealth manifestation coach, you see their aspirations and goals, but you also see their hesitancy, their trepidation.
There are the masculine and the feminine energies. Masculine energy is about doing, accomplishing and taking action. Feminine energy is led through intuition and trusting one’s self, and when a woman is comfortable enough to learn from that lens, it leads to a kind of clarity.
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The problem is that most women are accomplishing in a hustle-and-grind way. We are led by the decisions we make in the moment, but when we try to expand ourselves in ways that are out of our comfort zone, our subconscious mind and our body are both geared toward protecting us from any harm.
When you’re trying to do something new, that’s when your lack of self-worth and your doubts and your fears arise. You can learn about how to eat better or go to the gym or how to start a business, but you’re not going to be able to accomplish it if your subconscious rewiring is still stuck at, “I am not good enough. I am not worthy of this growth. The last time I tried this, I failed.”
This is where my work in energetic and subconscious rewiring with my clients comes in. I encourage them to recalibrate on an energetic level, a nervous system level and on a subconscious level in order to align them energetically and get to a place where they can accomplish their personal growth and goals.
There is not an entrepreneur alive who has not experienced some degree of failure – an idea that did not have financial backing for instance, or a partnership that did not imagine the same goals. I am assuming that some of your clients arrive at your door with great aspirations and a few war stories, as well. How do you guide your clients through the process of redefinition and reinvention?
It’s about powerful listening – to be able to hear what they are saying and being able to connect the dots that connect back to the root cause of what they believe is blocking them. As an example, one of my clients has all of these beautiful ideas and is very independent, but she would try something and it wouldn’t work out. She would try something again and it wouldn’t work out. It became a start-and-stop motion. She told me, “My life is hard. I have to take care of my mother. My sister had
Luu said, “Unless
you have that awareness about your true self, you don’t have alignment, or self-trust, or clarity, or intention, or boundaries, and you are not able to embody to be who you ultimately want to be.”
cancer and I have to take care of her kids. My brother is going through a divorce, and I have to spend time listening to his relationship problems.”
I told her, “When you think about putting time into your business, you’d rather sit and watch Netflix. This is a form of being a rebel against yourself and your aspirations.” For five years, she never understood why she could not work toward her vision. I told her that it’s not about being overwhelmed. It’s about self-sabotage because she was resenting having to be the person to take care of everyone else in her life, but not herself. Hearing that was a huge breakthrough for her. This work is crucial to identifying the root cause of that which holds one back, then bringing awareness to your conscious mind, and once you reach that, you are able to make changes in your life.
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As the founder of The Ambitious Rebel, if you could choose only one gift to give each of your clients, what is that gift?
It goes back to opening my clients up to the gift of awareness. Unless you have that awareness about your true self, you don’t have alignment, or self-trust, or clarity, or intention, or boundaries, you are not able to embody who you ultimately want to be.
What is your favorite place to visit in Middletown?
I am really enjoying Mango Mango. They have incredible Asian desserts there, and my kids and I love to visit.
You host a dinner party and can invite anyone – living or not, famous or not. Who would you like to see around that table?
I would definitely invite my best friends and my family, because they are my village and they support me. The truth is that I get to have this dinner party all the time, which I am so grateful for.
What item can always be found in your refrigerator?
Pistachio ice cream.
To learn more about Lynn Luu and The Ambitious Rebel, visit https://msha.ke/theambitiousrebel.com.
~ Richard L. Gaw
A group of talented visionaries known as the Everett Community Filmmaking Program have already produced one film and aspire to keep their stories coming and their cameras rolling
By Gabbie Burton Contributing Writer
When it comes to major filmmaking hubs, Middletown is probably not cracking the list.
It does have one major film on its IMDB page – the 1989 film Dead Poets Society, which was filmed at St. Andrew’s and at the Everett Theatre, among other locales in Delaware –but even though it is short on major film credits, there is no shortage of local interest or talent in the filmmaking arts – something a local filmmaking program is looking to grow upon.
Enter Peter Hoopes, a film studies teacher at St. Andrew’s and the director of the Everett Community Filmmaking Program, who began its development in 2020.
Last year, the program finished their first short film, The Prompt.
Hoopes explained that after being a member of the Everett board since 2017, he was impressed by the volume of interest in stage productions and saw an opportunity to expand into film production.
“I was amazed by how many people were involved in our stage program, our stage musicals at all different ages and levels and from a wide geographic area,” he said. “I thought, if we can do community stage theater, why not try community filmmaking?”
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We have a lot of talent in the area - people who know how to do certain things such as knowing know how to shoot, how to direct, how to act and how to edit. By combining all of those elements together, we can create our own work just by working together as a community program.
~ Peter Hoopes, director of the Everett Community Filmmaking Program
By combining the Everett’s success in mounting stage productions with its long history as an artistic hub, Hoopes sees the potential of the Everett to continue growing its legacy.
Founded in 1863, The Everett, originally known as the Town Hall and Opera House, served as a center for arts and community for over a century, enduring two fires and rebuilding the ground up. The theatre hosts film screenings, stage productions, art exhibits, classes, workshops and now film production thanks to Hoopes.
“We have a lot of talent in the area - people who know how to do certain things such as knowing know how to shoot, how to direct, how to act and how to edit,” Hoopes said. “By combining all of those elements together, we can create our own work just by working together as a community program.”
According to the program’s website, its’ goals are “to foster the creation of original material stories and scripts; to create a filmmaking educational program focusing on the basics of storytelling, cinematography, production, and editing; and to create short films of the highest quality possible each year, with the goal of submission to festivals.”
The volunteer-based program is open to people of all ages and skill levels emphasizing collaboration and learning, which are essential tenets for Hoopes.
“The goal is to sort of bring the community members together who are interested in either doing or learning,” he said. “It’s about giving the opportunity to learn and to do just like it is for our stage program or for our visual arts program.
“It’s still a bit of a bold experiment. Not every aspect of what we’ve tried has gone perfectly, but most of it has been reasonably successful so we’re hoping to continue to grow and sort of provide more opportunities for people to get involved in different ways.”
The Prompt follows its main character Megan as she “tries to balance her career and social life while grappling with the voice in her head that has taken on a life of its own.”
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Hoopes created the concept of the film and directed it, in partnership with Everett community member Lisa Moore, who wrote the script. Produced in 2024, the film took nine months to complete, but Hoopes said he is looking forward to seeing the Everett program create more films – one to two a year – moving forward.
“I wouldn’t say that it actually takes nine months to make a film, but sometimes, because this is all volunteering, we do it as we have the available time,” Hoopes explained. “I’m hoping to cut that down now to maybe closer to three to four months, so we’ll see.”
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Hoopes is already working on the next film for the program and just completed the first meeting to begin the process all over again.
“We literally just had our first meeting to get this one off the ground, and it involves a much darker, sort of sci-fi story about two passengers in a car and the melding of self-driving cars and AI and sort of all these things,” he said. “I can’t give too much more about it, because we were literally still working on the script, but it has very much of a Twilight Zone or Black Mirror feel to it.”
Hoopes explained that once the script is near finished, pre-production can begin, including casting, location scouting, equipment, wardrobe and nearly every other fine detail that is necessary for filming. After filming comes the final steps of editing and postproduction that put all the pieces together into the completed film.
For Hoopes, the filmmaking program is about more than just the film but about connecting a community of passionate artists and film lovers who have previously never had a community to come to.
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‘I want the Everett to become the center for filmmaking in Delaware’
“The problem isn’t that the talent doesn’t exist,” he said. “The problem is that there’s not a lot of coordination and communication. In other states they will have directories of creative professionals available and you can look up in an area who does hair, makeup, who does set design, and who does camera. You actually have a giant directory, and Delaware is not there yet.”
Hoopes – who has worked in many roles in film production, including directing and producing his own film The Weak Force - has high ambitions for the Everett Theatre in solving that issue as he sees it.
“I want the Everett to become the center of filmmaking in Delaware,” he said.
The ambitious goal is not only one Hoopes himself believes in, but it’s goal he sees with a larger purpose beyond the Everett Theatre and Middletown community.
“I think there are lots of people who are interested in filmmaking but for our area here, in the middle of Delaware, there are no real avenues for exploring that with someone who knows how to teach it or has an experience,” he said. “Creating a center where we are building a connection and a directory and relationships –that’s what I find the biggest benefit.”
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So, although Middletown isn’t Hollywood, for Hoopes and the Everett Theatre community, celebrating the local talent and eventually building to support the surrounding artistic communities of the state is purpose enough.
“My goal is to sort of continue to reach out and connect and make connections, so that when project ideas come up, or when project funding comes up and we want to get something off the ground, we’ve got a solid network of people living in and around Delaware who are able and interested to participate,” Hoopes said. “It’s not that we don’t have people in the area. It’s that we just don’t know who each other is yet.”
To learn more about the Everett Community Filmmaking Program, visit www.theeverett.org/filmmaking, or email info@everetttheatre.com.
To contact Contributing Writer Gabbie Burton, email gburton@chestercounty.com.
Through the narrative of his work as an abstract artist and sculptor, Middletown artist
t. a. hahn is a storyteller using paint and driftwood
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One day, in the middle of his four-decade career as an art and design director in the marketing and advertising industry, the Middletown abstract artist and sculptor t. a. hahn looked beyond the immediacy of the work in front of him and asked himself what he was going to do next as an artist.
It was then that a Cedar Waxwing landed on the windowsill outside of his thirdfloor office, and as hahn watched the bird tap on the window with its beak, it was as if the bird was silently reiterating what the artist had known all along: that oil painting and sculpture inspired him and brought him peace and harmony. That moment – the bird tapping on the window – inspired hahn’s series “Peace Taking Flight.”
“I am enamored by the flight of birds and their motion and the colors of them in motion,” he said. “I am also the son of a fighter pilot, so watching birds allows me to appreciate our avian friends. My art is also about using observation and concept development that allows me to interpret what I am able to see in their flight and then present them in a slightly different perspective.”
Combining oil painting with sculpted wood – such as driftwood from the Chesapeake Bay shoreline and floor beams from a 200-year-old home in Middletown – hahn creates a narrative statement empowered by the power of observation.
To me, my art is personal, and if someone enjoys it, that’s one of the niceties in life that comes around every once in a while. t.a. hahn
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“What I love about driftwood is its story – that it is something that had an existence and by force of nature or not is no longer a part of its origin,” he said. “The influences of winter and water and snow and ice and heat and time have shaped this wood. From the time it was part of a tree to the time I take it from the Chesapeake Bay shoreline to the moment it becomes a work of art, it slowly evolves into another story.”
Influenced by abstract modernists such as Jasper Johns and Mark Rothko – as well as his wife, the photographer Barb Scalzi – hahn’s works have been widely exhibited in over 60 solo and group
shows at scores of venues through his affiliation with the Delaware Contemporary, Philadelphia Sculptors, Noyes Museum of Art at Stockton University, the International Sculpture Center, and the Gilbert W. Perry, Jr. Center for the Arts in Middletown.
There is no artist in the history of humankind who does not approach his or her art without the twin applications of discipline and persistence – skills hahn learned over his long career as an art director.
“Because I enjoy building and analyzing, creating my art becomes about problem solving, combining a discipline and a visual system to make one unit out of two mediums,” he said. “As an art and design director, I can easily answer the question, ‘What is my purpose?’ As an
artist, however, my purpose is harder to define, but ultimately, it comes down to creating the work and hopefully, having someone see it and spark a conversation about it.”
To learn more about the artist t. a. hahn – and his wife, the photographer Barb Scalzi – visit www.ta-design.com.
By Adam Waxman Contributing Writer
Each September, the quiet, colonial village of Odessa is transformed by an event that celebrates far more than just beer. Odessa becomes a gathering place for friends, families, and beer lovers from all over the region, all converging on the historic grounds of the Wilson-Warner House for an afternoon of tasting, music, food, and fun.
Now in its 12th year, the Historic Odessa Brewfest returns on Saturday, Sept. 6, bringing with it the perfect mix of past and present. Hosted by the Historic Odessa Foundation in partnership with Cantwell’s Tavern, the event has grown into one of the region’s premier craft beer festivals — and a signature fundraiser for one of Delaware’s most important historic preservation organizations.
Set on the scenic grounds of the 256-year-old Wilson-Warner House, the festival serves as a vital fundraiser for the Historic Odessa Foundation. The foundation manages a 72-acre enclave of historic buildings and collections, working to preserve and promote Odessa’s unique role in America’s colonial and commercial history.
Taking place from noon to 5:30 p.m., the festival offers more than just a wide variety of drinks. It’s an immersive, sensory experience steeped in both flavor and tradition. The backdrop — lush gardens, brick walkways, and 18thcentury architecture — offers a picturesque setting that sets the Brewfest apart from any other beer event in the region.
Originally known as Cantwell’s Bridge, the town of Odessa flourished as a shipping hub in the 18th century and has since retained much of its early charm.
Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the town is also home to a National Historic Landmark and two National Park Service Network to Freedom sites, all maintained, in part, by proceeds from the annual Brewfest.
The 2025 Brewfest will feature offerings from more than 50 breweries, with at least 15 based in Delaware, creating an impressive lineup of local favorites and nationally
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recognized names. From citrusy IPAs and smooth lagers to complex stouts and creative seasonal brews, there’s something for every palate.
Festival-goers receive a souvenir two-ounce tasting mug upon arrival, allowing for unlimited sampling throughout the day. VIP ticket holders can enter an hour earlier — at 12 p.m. — and gain access to limited-quantity beers and a glass tasting mug.
The list of participating breweries is continually updated on the festival’s website, giving attendees the chance to plan their tastings in advance. The emphasis on variety, quality, and regional representation ensures the Brewfest maintains its reputation as one of the best of its kind.
The event offers much more than just great beer. This year’s festival includes live performances on two stages. The main stage will feature Lester’s Pearl kicking things off at 12 p.m., followed by a set from Spokey Speaky at 2:45 p.m., bringing reggae-inspired energy to the crowd. On the garden stage, guests can enjoy laid-back, acoustic sets by Bruce Anthony and The Sheehan Brothers, also playing at noon and 2:45 p.m., respectively.
For those interested in the historical roots of brewing, a colonial brewing demonstration will be held throughout the afternoon. Led by Michael Carver, a historical reenactor and journeyman brewer known as the Regimental Brewmeister, the demonstration shows how beer was made in 18th-century America — offering a fascinating, hands-on lesson in history and craftsmanship.
Adding to the atmosphere of friendly competition and community spirit are the popular stein-holding competitions for men and women. These feats of strength are crowd favorites, drawing cheers as participants attempt to hold a full beer stein at arm’s length for as long as possible.
Guests can also take part in classic lawn games or test their endurance in the Fusion Beer Mile, a fun and slightly challenging beer race that’s as entertaining for spectators as it is for runners.
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Nicole J. Bright, D.O.
Howard L. Brooks, MD
Gina Caputo, D.O.
Shannon Husebo, PA-C
Drew Venables, PA-C
Michele Kassien, NP
Accepting New Patients
While the beer is the headliner, the food and vendors bring essential flavor and character to the event. Gourmet food trucks and local chefs will offer everything from savory handheld bites to sweet treats, perfectly complementing the variety of brews. Guests can pair a tangy barbecue sandwich with a bold porter, or sample tacos alongside a crisp summer ale.
An array of artisan vendors will also be on hand, offering handcrafted jewelry, locally made soaps, cigars, and other unique, locally sourced goods. The vendor area invites browsing, conversation, and discovery — an ideal break between tastings.
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Tickets for the Historic Odessa Brewfest went on sale June 1 and are available online at www. odessabrewfest.com. General admission tickets are priced at $60 in advance or $70 at the gate, while VIP tickets are available for $75. A limited number of designated driver tickets can be purchased for $15 at the gate to promote responsible enjoyment and ensure all guests have a safe and enjoyable experience.
For those looking to get involved beyond attendance, volunteer opportunities are available. Not all breweries are able to send representatives to pour, so extra hands are needed to help with pouring, maintaining cleanliness, and supporting event logistics. Volunteers not only help the event run smoothly — they also become part of a cherished local tradition.
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In many ways, the Historic Odessa Brewfest embodies what makes the town of Odessa so special: a deep respect for history, a strong sense of community, and an ability to bring people together in meaningful and memorable ways. Whether it’s the echo of music across the lawn, the clinking of mugs under century-old trees, or the laughter shared
between friends new and old, the festival is a celebration of life in its most spirited form.
More than just a beer festival, the Brewfest is a bridge between eras — a moment where Delaware’s colonial past meets the best of its modern-day culture. And with every ticket sold, every beer poured, and every memory made, the event helps ensure that Odessa’s unique legacy will be preserved for generations to come.
What: 12th Annual Historic Odessa Brewfest
When: Saturday, September 6, 2025 from 12–5:30 p.m.
Where: Historic Odessa – 202 Main Street, Odessa, DE 19730
Tickets: VIP – $75 | General Admission –
$60 in advance, $70 at gate |
Designated Driver – $15 (gate only)
Info & Tickets: www.odessabrewfest.com
Social: Facebook | Instagram
Odessa becomes a gathering place for friends, families, and beer lovers from all over the region, all converging on the historic grounds of the WilsonWarner House for an afternoon of tasting, music, food, and fun.
Appoquinimink
Samantha Klein won first place in a lesson plan competition at the Educators Rising National Conference. The organization is looking to inspire and grow current and rising educators
An Appoquinimink High School student was among the many Delaware students who delivered extraordinary performances at the 2025 Educators Rising National Conference, which took place in Orlando, Fla. from June 26 to June 29.
Samantha Klein earned first place in the Lesson Plan & Delivery – Arts competition.
More than 3,000 middle school, high school, and collegiate students from throughout the U.S. attended the event, which is considered a premier gathering for future educators nationwide. Under the theme “Empowering Tomorrow’s Leaders,” the Delaware team had many standout achievements—39 percent of the Delaware participants finished in the top 10 in their categories, 26 students placed nationally, and there were three national champions, three second-place finishers, and three more third-place finishers.
Educators Rising aims to eliminate the teacher shortage by reimagining educator pathways, and working to inspire and grow current and rising educators to become community leaders and advocates for high quality education.
“I got involved with Educators Rising and its competitions in my freshman year,” she said. “I wanted to join the Appoquinimink High chapter because of my desire to get involved with education and inspire the young minds of tomorrow, and I thought that this would be a good way to do this, alongside being in the Education and Leadership Pathway.”
As part of the competition, Klein created a lesson plan and delivered it completely from scratch to a class of fifth-grade students.
“I think that getting first place at both states and nationals really shows my skills and ability to work and teach at a professional level,” she explained. “I hope to use this accomplishment to demonstrate my future performance as an actual teacher to different universities and opportunities that come my way. I hope that creating a lesson and delivering it successfully will allow me to gain a profession as an elementary school teacher in the near future, and be able to inspire generations to come.”
Klein credited the work of several teachers, as well as the education program offered by Appoquinimink School District, for helping to prepare her for the Educators Rising competition.
After her success at the national conference, Klein shared with her home school district some thoughts about what she gained by participating in the Educators Rising programs.
“My experience being in the chapter at the school, state, and national levels was always extremely positive due to the amazing staff members and funding from the Appoquinimink
School District,” she said. “My two chapter advisers from Appoquinimink High, Mrs. Lindsay Myers and Dr. Elizabeth Koch, always helped and inspired me to pursue my competition and work as hard as I could. I truly couldn’t have done it without their help throughout the school year. I would also like to acknowledge and thank Mrs. Emily Miller of Odessa High School, Mrs. Janice Nelson of Middletown High School, and Mr. Mike Trego at the District Office.
“Educators Rising Nationals would not have been the same without them, and I doubt I would be in the position I am now without the countless practices and feedback they gave me to help me grow throughout the conference. I am thankful for everyone who has helped me stay involved with the chapter and ultimately led me to become a national champion.”
Klein also talked about how participating in Educators Rising has helped inspire her work as she prepares for a career as an educator.
“The recognition from this win is something that I certainly didn’t expect when I heard my name called in the Educators Rising conference, but nevertheless, it is greatly appreciated,” she said. “However, with my win in a visual art-based category, it truly does mean a lot to me because creativity and art have always been a passion of mine ever since I was little, so it feels like both a tribute to my younger self as well as all the young creative minds in fifth-grade class I taught at Old State Elementary.
“I believe that it shows that if you have the passion and love for something, that small spark can turn into a roaring flame faster than you could ever imagine.”
Chicken BBQ Legs and Thighs are grilled over a charcoal pit. A selection of Sandwiches, Dinners, Quarts, Pints, and Party trays are available to go for the Pig Roast. Legs & Thighs available to purchase for the Chicken BBQ.
When Middletown’s signature event, the Olde-Tyme Peach Festival, takes place on Saturday, August 16, it will be much more than a celebration of an important chapter in the town’s history. The festival also showcases Middletown’s lively present and the bright promise of its future.
Thousands of people from all over the region now consider the festival a tradition, and there are a wide variety of activities and attractions centered on Main Street for everyone to enjoy, but the festival also offers an opportunity to learn a little about Middletown’s history.
Middletown, as its name suggests, has always been in the middle of things—even before it became a large peach producer.
The history of Middletown can be traced all the way back to 1675, when Adam Peterson took on warrants for the land which later became the town of Middletown. The first survey of the area was completed by 1678. Peterson passed away and his widow later married David Witherspoon, a native of Londonderry, Ireland, who established the Witherspoon Tavern that was built sometime around 1761 or 1762. A small village grew up around the tavern over the next few decades.
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Middletown was one of the old Delaware towns that is not on a navigable waterway. Situated just 24 miles south of Wilmington, Middletown was an early crossroads town, a tavern stop about halfway along a cart road that extended across the peninsula between the Appoquinimink Creek in Odessa, Delaware and Bohemia Landing in Maryland.
The arrival of the railroad, in the middle of the 19th century, changed the course of the town’s history dramatically—it became much easier to ship agricultural products throughout the region. By 1861, the town of Middletown was officially incorporated. The first town council decided that Middletown should be one square mile, starting at one corner of the crossroads and extending one-half mile in each direction. This gave early Middletown a diamond shape, and it was known as the “Diamond Town of the Diamond State.”
There are many facets to the Diamond Town of the Diamond State. One facet is the fruit industry that brought great prosperity to the area for several decades in the last half of the 19th century. It would be hard to overstate the importance of peaches to the history of Middletown.
The Middletown Historical Society maintains a virtual exhibition titled “People and Peaches: The Peach Industry in Middletown” on its website at middletowndehistory. com. The Middletown Historical Society was founded in 1985, born from the grassroots effort to save an historic
structure called Greenlawn. Greenlawn was built in 1810 by Outten Davis, a founder of the Middletown Academy. William Brady later changed the outside of the home to reflect the style of the Victorian period. Greenlawn was demolished in 1985, but its farm manager’s house was saved through relocation. Since its founding in 1985, the Middletown Historical Society has hosted house tours as well as lectures on the history of Middletown.
The Delaware Archives’ image of the historical marker for the
Academy, which traces its roots to 1824, when area residents petitioned the Delaware General Assembly for a lottery to erect a building for education and public worship.
Peaches, the virtual exhibition notes, were a cash crop that brought both work and wealth to residents of the Middletown area. The fruit had to be picked, packed and shipped so there was a need for a lot of workers. When the railroad came to Middletown, the local farmers could ship their produce to large markets like New York City and Boston.
Some of the most prominent families in the history of Middletown were involved in the peach industry.
The virtual exhibition explains that prominent Middletown families like the Claytons, the Cochrans, and the Shallcrosses showcased their peach wealth through homes, buildings and personal items. Their grand houses tell the story of the peach industry and its impact on Middletown.
The Cochran name is well known in the Middletown area. John Price Cochran, a governor of the state of Delaware, built the Cochran Grange in the 1830s. In the 1850s, the Cochran family grew 10,000 peach trees across three farms. The Cochran Grange is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is still there today.
Benjamin Biggs, also a governor of Delaware, owned farms in Delaware and neighboring Maryland with approximately 67,000 peach trees by the 1880s. His home, the Biggs Town Home, is also still there today.
Peaches also offered a path to prosperity for some local workers who started out with very little. “People and Peaches: The Peach Industry in Middletown” explains that one example of a person who used peaches to improve their life is Samuel Jones, a self-educated African-American
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farmer. He was born in 1841 and in the early 1860s he started working for Serek Shallcross, one of the largest peach growers in Middletown. Peaches enabled Samuel Jones to raise his family up from tenant farmers to land owners and respected members of the local community. Jones started renting a farm in 1869, which would turn out to be one of the biggest years for peaches. Over the next three decades, Jones came to own three farms of his own.
The prosperity of the peach industry was profound— but also short-lived. By the late 19th century, Delaware peach trees were attacked by diseases known as “the yellows” and “Little Peach,” the virtual exhibition explains.
The thriving peach industry declined rapidly, and peach orchard owners and workers alike had to adapt to the changing landscape. It’s been a long time since peaches were a leading industry in the area, but the signs of the positive impact that the industry had on the town can still be seen today.
In 1960, the town of Middletown acquired Middletown Academy, certainly one of the most historically significant buildings in the town’s history. The building has served many purposes during its life. The Middletown Academy traces its roots to 1824, when area residents petitioned the Delaware General Assembly for a lottery to erect a building for education and public worship. Construction of the Academy began in 1826 and was completed the next year.
According to the Delaware archives, the Middletown Academy served as the center of community activities for many years. It was a building for private education, and in 1840, there were 33 students who were taking classes there. It became a part of the public school system in 1876, and it was utilized as a public school until 1929. Eventually, in 1945, the building was deeded to the St. Georges Hundred Historical Society, an organization formed to ensure its preservation.
A key development in ensuring that the Middletown Academy continues to serve a positive purpose was the acquisition by the town of Middletown. The facility has been utilized by the town and a number of community organizations in the decades since—it has been the town hall and the home to the Middletown Chamber of Commerce, Middletown Main Street, Inc., and the Middletown Historical Society at various times throughout its history. It was officially listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972.
Middletown steps into the spotlight
The Everett Theatre debuted on November 9, 1922, continuing the town’s long history of having a performing arts center of its own.
The St. Andrew’s School was founded by A. Felix du Pont, a member of the famed du Pont family, in 1929. The school was founded to provide a top education for boys of all socio-economic backgrounds, regardless of their families’ ability to pay. St. Andrew’s School was originally a boys’ school, but became coeducational in 1973.
Six decades after the Everett Theatre and the St. Andrew’s School made their debut, these two important Middletown institutions played a pivotal role when Middletown stepped into the Hollywood spotlight.
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Dead Poets Society is an acclaimed 1989 comingof-age drama that was directed by Peter Weir. Robin Williams, Ethan Hawke, and Robert Sean Leonard starred in the movie. It was filmed almost entirely at the St. Andrew’s School, which served as the prestigious Welton Academy in the movie. The cinematic theatre scene in the movie was filmed at the Everett Theatre on Main Street in downtown Middletown. St. Andrew’s School also served as the filming location for the young Josiah “Jed” Bartlet’s boarding school in the highly respected “Two Cathedrals” episode of The West Wing.
The Olde-Tyme Peach Festival is the perfect opportunity to enjoy a few of the many facets of the town. From the peaches to the Middletown Academy to the Everett Theatre to the nearby St. Andrew’s School, there is a lot of history intersecting in Middletown.
More information about the Middletown Historical Society can be found at www.middletowndehistory. com.
For updates about the 32nd annual Olde-Tyme Peach Festival, including the most up-to-date information about events and activities, visit the event’s website at middletownpeachfestival. com.
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