Letters from CAMP Rehoboth, Vol. 30, No. 5

In This Issue

A Covid Love Letter?

CAMP Houses Premier Remembering Larry Kramer

C R E A T I N G

A

M O R E

P O S I T I V E

R E H O B O T H

June 19, 2020 Volume 30, Number 5 camprehoboth.com

inside 4 In Brief

News & Notes

6 CAMP Matters United In Love

MURRAY ARCHIBALD

8 CAMP Out

This story makes us Proud all the time!

FAY JACOBS

THIS ISSUE

VOLUME 30, NUMBER 5 • JUNE 19, 2020

58 CAMP Arts

22 Intentionally Inclusive

DOUG YETTER

Becoming Allies: What Our History Teaches Us WES COMBS

24 Health & Wellness Summertime, and the Living Is — ­ Precarious?

MARJ SHANNON

10 CAMP News

60 Booked Solid

12 Zooming Ahead With Sundance SONDRA N. ARKIN

Confessions of a Gay Priest TERRI SCHLICHENMEYER

See page 64

14 It’s My Life

28 COVID-19, a Love Story…

CAROLE RAMOS

34 Straight Talk

42 CAMP Houses

16 Community News

32 Q Puzzle

DAVID GARRETT

RICH BARNETT

MICHAEL THOMAS FORD

18 Pop the Question

Remembering Lynn

How are you spending Pride month 2020?

20 LGBTQ+ YA Column

Signs of the Times

36 Historical Headliners

Behind the Words: Langston Hughes & Patricia Highsmith ANN APTAKER

Finding a Community

64 CAMP Shots

A Slow Start to Summer

Kit House Cool

46 The Real Dirt

Gardening for Wellness ERIC W.WAHL

52 Out & About Remembering Larry Kramer

ON THE COVER PRIDE

ERIC PETERSON

RUBY DILLARD

56 Celebrity Interview

Janelle Monáe Doesn’t Know Time Either CHRIS AZZOPARDI

Letters from CAMP Rehoboth welcomes submissions. Email editor@camprehoboth.com.

Photographs must be high resolution (300 dpi).

Documents should be sent as attachments in Microsoft Word®. Deadline for submissions is two weeks prior to the issue release date.

Letters 2 JUNE 19, 2020

PUBLISHER David Mariner EDITOR Fay Jacobs COPY EDITOR Marj Shannon DESIGN AND LAYOUT Mary Beth Ramsey ADVERTISING SALES MANAGER Tricia Massella ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT Barb Ralph DISTRIBUTION Corky Fitzpatrick, Mark Wolf CONTRIBUTORS Ann Aptaker, Murray Archibald, Sondra N. Arkin, Chris Azzopardi, Rich Barnett, Tony Burns, Wes Combs, Ruby Dillard, Michael Thomas Ford, David Garrett, Fay Jacobs, Tricia Massella, Eric Peterson, Carole Ramos, Mary Beth Ramsey, Terri Schlichenmeyer, Marj Shannon, Eric W. Wahl, Doug Yetter

Letters from CAMP Rehoboth is published 15 times per year, between February and Thanksgiving, as a program of CAMP Rehoboth Inc., a non-profit community service organization.

CAMP Rehoboth seeks to create a more positive environment of cooperation and understanding among all people. Revenue generated by advertisements supports CAMP Rehoboth’s purpose as outlined in our mission statement.

The inclusion or mention of any person, group, or business in Letters from CAMP Rehoboth does not, nor is it intended to in any way, indicate sexual orientation. The content of the columns are the views and opinions of the writers and may not indicate the position of CAMP Rehoboth, Inc. © 2020 by CAMP Rehoboth, Inc. All rights reserved by CAMP Rehoboth. No portion of this publication may be reproduced in any form without the prior written permission of the editor.

CAMP REHOBOTH

MISSION STATEMENT AND PURPOSE CAMP Rehoboth is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit community service organization dedicated to creating a positive environment inclusive of all sexual orientations and gender identities in Rehoboth Beach and its related communities. We seek to promote cooperation and understanding among all people as we work to build a safer community with room for all.

We seek to promote community well-being on all levels; to foster the development of community groups; to develop community space; to promote human and civil rights; to work against prejudice and discrimination; to lessen tensions among the community at large; and to help foster the economic growth of the area. We work toward these ends through activities such as the following:

Fundraising for other organizations,

such as AIDS service organizations, gay and lesbian community organizations, recycling programs, environmental projects, literacy training, and other ventures for the general betterment of the community.

Networking resources and information

by publishing a newsletter, and functioning as an alternative tourist bureau and information center.

Promoting artistic expressions and creative thinking,

and giving aid to artists and craftspeople with an emphasis on the works of lesbians and gay men.

Education and outreach to the larger community,

including sensitivity training seminars, and printed materials to promote positive images of gay and lesbian people and others.

Promoting political awareness to build safe and inclusive community

through voter information, education, and registration; and analysis of issues and candidates.

PRESIDENT Chris Beagle VICE PRESIDENT Leslie Sinclair SECRETARY Glen Pruitt TREASURER Natalie Moss, CPA AT-LARGE DIRECTORS Jane Blue, Wesley Combs, Mike DeFlavia, Max Dick, Linda Gregory Jack Morrison, Mark Purpura, Tara Sheldon, Kathy Wiz EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR David Mariner HEALTH & WELLNESS PROGRAM DIRECTOR Salvatore Seeley

CAMP REHOBOTH 37 Baltimore Avenue, Rehoboth Beach, DE 19971 tel 302-227-5620 | fax 302-227-5604 email editor@camprehoboth.com | www.camprehoboth.com

The Way I See It

by David Mariner

IT STARTED HAPPENING ALMOST AS SOON AS FOLKS HERE IN REHOBOTH WENT INTO quarantine. Bev Peltz and countless others started sewing face masks at home, some of which made their way to CAMP Rehoboth staff members. Worried about the economic impact of COVID in our community, CROP volunteers here at CAMP Rehoboth organized food drives to shore up our local food banks. Many of our valued volunteers, like Ann Evans and David Carder, figured out how to do crucial work from home. And of course, our amazing CAMP Rehoboth staff stepped up, quickly moving programs online and continuing crucial services like HIV testing.

All this during a global pandemic.

But it wasn’t just here at CAMP Rehoboth. Our town of Rehoboth found a million wonderful ways to stay connected even during a challenging time. Darin Henderson and Carl Cox’s son, Timothy, got an amazing parade from neighbors to celebrate his 9th birthday. Pam Stanley and the Pines teamed up to raise money for Beebe Healthcare. And, as Fay writes about in this issue, cars also lined up outside the home of Joe and Darryl Ciarlante-Zuber to welcome Darryl home from a long battle with COVID-19.

There is still a lot of uncertainty about our future. Of course, it is not just COVID-19 on our minds these days. The unjust killing of George Floyd and the wave of protests it inspired around the country have given new meaning to the now overly-used expression, “these unprecedented times.” Uncertainty appears to be the new normal.

Nevertheless, I am confident that this amazing community my husband and I are lucky to be a part of will continue to find ways to support and care for each other.

As I write this, our Sundance team is hard at work re-envisioning Sundance 2020 for this new era. As many AIDS activists have pointed out, this is not our first pandemic.

The creativity and beauty of Sundance was originally born in the midst of a very different, but troubling pandemic for our community. As we plan a unique Sundance experience in this time of COVID, I have no doubt our team will use their creativity once again to re-invent an amazing Sundance Experience this coming Labor Day weekend.

The Sundance theme this year is “United in Love,” and as far as I’m concerned, it’s a perfect theme not just for Sundance, but for the rest of this year. Through the challenges and uncertainties we’ve faced, it’s those acts of love and kindness that have given me strength to keep going.

I hope you will make plans to join us for the unique experience Sundance will be this year, and I hope you also draw strength from seeing the many ways our community is standing United in Love. ▼

CAMP Rehoboth, Inc. is tax-exempt under section 501(c)(3) of the United States Internal Revenue Code. Contributions to CAMP Rehoboth are considered charitable contributions for federal income tax purposes and may be deducted to the fullest extent of the law.

A copy of our exemption document is available for public inspection.

JUNE 19, 2020

3 Letters

We Stand in Solidarity Responding to the end of May-early June protests in outrage over the George Floyd killing by police in Minneapolis, CAMP Rehoboth released a statement on June 2. This statement joined other LGBTQ organizations country-wide standing in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement.

To Our Community, CAMP Rehoboth stands in solidarity with those in Minneapolis, here in Rehoboth, and around the country who are outraged at the unjust killing of George Floyd. As an organization committed to creating a more positive Rehoboth for everyone, we commit to being allies to all those affected by injustice, inequality, violence, and systemic racism.

As Audre Lorde taught us, “There is no such thing as a single-issue struggle because we do not live single-issue lives.” We understand that the path to LGBTQ equality, and the path to racial justice, are inextricably connected.

Reflecting on the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and countless others; and witnessing the pain and suffering that is pouring out on the streets all across America, we are all called to action. We are called to be not just non-racist, but actively anti-racist, and we know that this work begins with us.

David Mariner Executive Director, CAMP Rehoboth

SUNDANCE LIVES!

Get Ready for the Sundance Experience See page 10 and page 12 for the first look at how we will celebrate Sundance 2020, engaging the whole community in a re-invented, virtually fantastic Sundance experience. It will be clever, creative, and will bring our community together United in Love.▼

MARK YOUR CALENDARS! August 30-September 5 Letters 4 JUNE 19, 2020

Food Glorious Food!

O

ver 750 pounds(!) of non-perishable food was collected by CAMP Rehoboth volunteers stationed at the Iron Hill Restaurant and Brewery on May 29. The donations go to the Food Bank of Delaware.

Not only did Iron Hill donate use of the parking lot, but they provided $5-off coupons to all people who came by to donate food. And, 20 percent of the day’s sales for Iron Hill also went to the Food Bank.

Donated food was delivered to the Food Bank’s Milford facility to be distributed in backpacks to YMCAs in Kent and Sussex counties for children in need.

Way to go volunteers and donors! ▼

Photos (left to right), volunteers Amy Lyons and Sandra Skidmore; volunteer Leslie Sinclair and donors Dan Slagle and Gerry Filbin; volunteer Debbie Woods and donor Kit Ryan.

THRIVE Youth Program Appreciates Sussex Health Coalition

C

AMP Rehoboth LGBTQA+ youth circle would like to give a shout-out to the Sussex County Health Coalition (SCHC) for all their generous donations and support. Peggy Geisler, SCHC Executive Director, said, “The old adage, ‘it takes a village to raise a child,’ is as true today as it was years ago. CAMP Rehoboth is an excellent example of an organization that absolutely embraces this notion. CAMP Rehoboth understands the importance of youth-led programming and uses it to develop strong support networks for LGBTQIA+ youth in Delaware. Creating a safe, judgment-free environment allows youth the chance to explore, learn, and problem solve in a healthy and productive way. SCHC is proud to partner with CAMP Rehoboth to support this critical work in the community.”

Support and donations such as this make it possible for CAMP Rehoboth LGBTQA+ youth programs, such as the youth circles, to continue.

Sincere gratitude to Peggy and Crystal (and many partners) for their support. ▼

SPEAKOut

- Looking Back This is the first in a new series with snippets from CAMP Rehoboth’s 30-year history.

JUNE 1998

The Way I See It

by Executive Director Steve Elkins Last week, both Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott and House Majority Leader Dick Armey made disparaging and inflammatory comments about gay Americans.

Human Rights Campaign Political Director Winnie Stachelberg speaks for us all when she says: “These comments are out of step with the American people and prevailing medical and mental health opinion, and in-step with James Dobson and his extreme right-wing rhetoric. Poll after poll shows that Americans reject discrimination, and a wide range of respected medical organizations, from the American Psychiatric Association to the American Medical Association, reject the type of ill-informed assertions made by Lott.”

One day we will reach the point where comments such as these are simply not tolerated.

Editor’s note: June 19, 2020— Sadly, comments like these are still tolerated, but fortunately, less and less. Happily, marriage equality and other affirming legislation has taken place since 1998.

Dear Editor,

Editor,

In so many ways restaurants are the cornerstones of our community.

They are the places people come to celebrate, to mourn, to break bread together, or just have a meal at the end of a busy day. They are the places people come to feel like they are a part of the community, part of something bigger. A place to see neighbors and friends and enjoy time with loved ones. A place where everyone is welcome.

Restaurants are long-time survivors and adapters. They change when it is needed, and now will be no different.

As we navigate through some of the most uncertain times in our collective history, you can be sure that restaurants will still serve the purpose they always have. They will be a place of relief and refuge. As an industry we will be better and stronger than ever before.

Recently we opened our doors for the first time in months and welcomed people into our restaurants. We followed all current temporary guidelines, and our guests did as well, understanding that these guidelines are temporary, and because of that easy to follow. The response was positive and the overwhelming feeling was relief and good will.

We understand that there are a lot of people that may not be ready to return, and we will continue to accommodate those people in other ways until they are ready. And at that time, we will be here. Hospitality is alive and well in Delaware, and when you are ready, we will be here.

Are you a resident or homeowner in the City of Rehoboth Beach? Are you eligible or registered to vote in the City election this year? This year’s election is Saturday, August 8, at the Convention Center, 229 Rehoboth Avenue. Please take the opportunity to access the City website at www. cityofrehoboth.com to see if you may qualify. The voter registration deadline is the close of business on Thursday, July 9. During the current pandemic, City Hall remains closed to the public until further notice. If you meet the qualifications and wish to register to vote, please call City Hall at 302-2276181 ext. 159 to speak with election staff officials.

If you are already registered, please note that absentee ballots will be available on Wednesday, June 24. Ballots will be mailed to everyone who has a request for an absentee ballot form on file. You can request an absentee ballot form by calling 302-227-6181 ext. 159, or by visiting “REQUEST FOR ABSENTEE BALLOT” on the City’s website. The City is encouraging voters to vote by absentee ballot. Once you receive an absentee ballot application, please examine the form. Due to the current pandemic and concerns about social distancing protocol and based upon the Governor’s State of Emergency declaration, if you are unable or choose not to appear at the polling place due to COVID-19, please check “I am sick or physically disabled.”

Democracy is your privilege. It is time for you, the citizens of Rehoboth Beach, to exercise your privilege.

Please take the time to register and to vote.

– Scott Kammerer Chairman of the Board, Delaware Restaurant Association President, SoDel Concepts

– Paul Kuhns Mayor, City of Rehoboth Beach

Send letters to the editor to editor@camprehoboth.com JUNE 19, 2020

5 Letters

CAMP Matters

BY MURRAY ARCHIBALD

UNITED IN LOVE I can’t breathe.

Slow motion words suspended in the rarified clarity of revelation. Historic the moment they became the dying words of George Floyd.

I can’t breathe.

The abrupt catalyst for a pregnant revolution so long overdue it burst forth in a massive collective gasp of horror, pain, frustration, and anger.

In a land divided by politics and goaded to the brink of despair by incendiary tweets designed to do nothing more. In a land already reeling from pandemic shutdown and staggering economic hardship. In a land where the number of dead exceeds 110,000— with people of color bearing the heaviest loss. In a land where the divide between rich and poor grows greater with each passing day. In a land where skin color still determines safety on the street.

We can’t breathe.

In the famed “land of the free and home of the brave” we are suffocating. Gasping for leadership—for truth, for justice, for inspiration.

I can’t breathe.

Very likely the last words spoken by critically ill COVID-19 patients before being placed on a respirator.

Not even half over, 2020 has already become one of those defining moments in human history. Like Pearl Harbor, 9/11, HIV/AIDS, the great depression—nothing will be the same in its aftermath.

Please God, let that be the case now! We are desperate for change. Desperate for healing—from the disease that threatens our bodies, the division wounding our hearts, and the systemic racism that tears at the soul of our country.

June is Gay Pride month—even when the president refuses to declare it as such. In normal times the world would be festooned in rainbow colors and celebrating Pride Parades.

The modern LGBTQ rights movement had its own defining moment at the Stonewall Inn in 1969. Then in 1980, that youthful revolution had to grow up fast to deal with the AIDS epidemic and shatter the silence surrounding it.

Larry Kramer died on May 27, 2020. American playwright, author. Co-founder of Gay Men’s Health Crisis. Instrumental to the founding of ACT UP (AIDS Coalition To Unleash Power).

Larry inspired and offended in equal parts.

Though not the creators of the iconic “Silence=Death” Letters 6 JUNE 19, 2020

poster, ACT-UP used it (with permission), and it is still associated with the organization.

We founded CAMP Rehoboth in 1991, not to mimic the in-your-face tactics of ACT-UP, but to end the silence of the closet—to put ourselves out in the open and joyfully model for the world a healthy, vibrant, LGBTQ community.

As George Floyd’s death ignited a movement around the world, the idea of silence continued to haunt my thoughts. To remain silent in the face of injustice is not a neutral act. It stands as an affirmation of injustice.

As the week progressed, I made a new Facebook cover for myself. “Silence=Injustice; Silence=Racism; Silence=Hate; Silence=Indifference; Silence= Discrimination; Silence=Inequality; Silence=Intolerance; Silence=Acceptance; Silence=Approval.” The words repeated over and over again.

As a white man, I cannot claim to fully understand the weight of centuries of oppression heaped upon our black brothers and sisters. As a gay man, I know the destructive power of silence—the power of the closet to distort the way life should be. I know I cannot remain silent until all are free—all equal to share in the promise of our American founders.

Because there have been fewer issues of Letters from CAMP Rehoboth during the time of the pandemic, this Pride issue is also the July 4th issue. But I confess, I find myself struggling with the red, white, and blue.

I am ashamed of the bitter division in our country.

Ashamed of the divisive wedge our president uses to further his own self-interest. I am horrified by the extent of hate language on display every day—and the subtle way racism is manipulated in an attempt to make us fearful of one another.

With the publication of this issue of Letters, the official press announcement has now been made that Sundance 2020 will be a virtual experience this year. For the first time in 33 years we will not physically dance together at the end of the summer. The decision was a painful one, but not actually a hard one to make. The density and crowd size of Sundance makes it a social distancing impossibility.

The work of producing an event the size of Sundance is year-round. Early in the winter of 2020, I completed the theme and prepared the Host, Supporter, and Sponsor forms, as usual.

We founded CAMP Rehoboth in 1991, not to mimic the in-your-face tactics of ACT-UP, but to end the silence of the closet—to put ourselves out in the open and joyfully model for the world a healthy, vibrant, LGBTQ community.

Then the pandemic changed everything.

As we tried to get a handle on exactly what a virtual event would look like, I redesigned the theme. Instead of the original Solar Powered Neon Rainbow Love-in, 2020 will simply be, United in Love.

United in Love was meant to be a statement about being together even when forced to be physically apart.

Then politics and pandemic met in a health vs. economy clash and mask wearing became a political statement.

Then George Floyd died, and the gut punch that followed knocked the breath out of us all. Two and a half months of isolation. Economic loss. Death and dying. Racism.

“Get your knee off our necks!” the Rev. Al Sharpton proclaimed at George Floyd’s memorial service.

Has there ever been a time when we needed to unite more than this? Has there ever been a time when we needed to love one another more than this? Has there ever been a time in recent years when we needed steady, inspiring leadership more than this?

Hidden behind our masks; standing six feet apart; unable to hug one another; worried about our loved ones; worried about jobs, and school, and finances, and health. We are off balance, and life is not normal.

We can do better than normal!

This Pride, this Independence Day, this Sundance, this summer—we can do better than normal. We can come out of this crisis united in our efforts to transform the world. We can rise from this crisis united in our determination that equality is a fundamental right for all people. United in our belief that Black Lives Matter and systemic racism must stop right now. United in our efforts to care for one another in the midst of an ongoing pandemic.

Most of all, united in love for one another.

United—so we can breathe.

And vote. ▼ Murray Archibald is an artist and CAMP Rehoboth co-founder. Email Murray at murray@camprehoboth.com

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS! CAMP REHOBOTH PREMIER SPONSORS

CAMP REHOBOTH SPONSOR

For information on how to become a CAMP Rehoboth Annual Sponsor, email info@camprehoboth.com, or contact David Mariner at 302-227-5620.

JUNE 19, 2020

7 Letters

CAMP Out Fay’s Rehoboth Journal

by Fay Jacobs

June Is for Pride, but This Story Makes Us Year-round Proud

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ften, many of us from Rehoboth, Lewes, and our ‘burbs can’t quite verbalize what makes this community so special. LGBTQ welcoming, for sure. Also, the sophisticated culinary scene, the work of CAMP Rehoboth, our dedication to the arts, and a million little ways in which thousands of people, LGBTQ and straight alike, feel safe and supported as they live, work, and visit here.

But if there’s one story exemplifying our culture of supporting each other, it’s the story of Joe Zuber and Darryl Ciarlante, long-time Rehoboth business and homeowners, currently owners of Diego’s. They tangled with COVID-19 over the past three months, and without any intention of doing so, showed all the reasons why we have such tremendous pride in our community.

The public saga started with a three-word Facebook post on March 29: “Please PRAY today.”

But the story started days before as Joe learned that Darryl, back home in Rehoboth, was sick, probably with COVID-19. They spoke several times daily, about Darryl’s symptoms, doctor’s advice, and finally, when things got really bad, with Joe staying on the phone as Darryl drove himself to Beebe Healthcare on March 29.

From the emergency room, Darryl told Joe they’d probably take his phone, so they said their goodbyes. Darryl said, “I’ll talk to you as soon as I can.”

That turned out to be 40 days later.

Still in Mexico, Joe talked to Darryl’s doctor, who asked what the two men’s relationship was—married? Boyfriends?

Friends? “He wanted to be sure to address us properly,” Joe said, and told the doctor that Darryl was his husband.

Then, the doctor asked Joe’s permission to put Darryl on a ventilator.

“When I hesitated, the doctor said ‘Mr. Zuber, you husband is in very critical

Letters 8 JUNE 19, 2020

condition. He may not be alive in 30 minutes unless we do something.’” The doctor also asked Joe if the hospital could call clergy if last rites were needed.

Joe gave permission for both the ventilator and the clergy.

And as his flight home from Mexico was ready to board, Joe posted those three words: “Please PRAY today.”

From the emergency room, Darryl told Joe they’d probably take his phone, so they said their goodbyes and Darryl said “I’ll talk to you as soon as I can.”

That turned out to be 40 days later.

By the time Joe landed in LA for his connection, there were 25 messages with prayers and hugs on his Facebook account; by Philly the number leapt to over 150. The two flights, with frustrating delays, were “the longest 13 hours I have ever spent,” Joe says. But while he was in airplane mode silence, Facebook exploded with family, friends, acquaintances, and customers, sending prayers, healing energy, positive vibes, and a whole litany of good wishes.

Darryl was in very critical condition, sedated, breathing with a ventilator, and connected to a network of tubes and monitors, as Joe spoke with Beebe doc-

tors, chaplains, and support staff.

“Darryl is such a private person,” Joe says, “I didn’t know what he’d think of my telling everyone what was going on, but so many people wanted to know.”

So many, that daily Facebook reactions, those little hearts, thumbs up, crying emojis, etc., approached 400, with another 160 daily comments. This was a massive neighborhood watch.

People sent Joe posts of hope, optimism, healing light, and a thousand warm, sincere messages of support.

There were added prayers on Good Friday and Passover, and then Easter, with hundreds of Facebook posts every single day, plus calls and texts and whatever else people could think of doing to help.

By two weeks into the nightmare, Joe wrote “I am continually honored and touched on the ongoing support we have—many BLESSINGS...Happy Easter” he told Facebookers, announcing he finally saw which room Darryl was in and could stand outside and look up at the window. A nurse put a speaker phone in the room so Joe’s comatose husband might be able to hear his voice.

One morning Joe wrote “Beebe is over the top with compassion and professionalism,” continuing, “And yes,” Joe said, responding to pleas that he take care of himself, “Yes, I do sleep and eat—I am good—know you are worried.

I AM OK!” He was also much more than merely okay with the hospital staff, with everyone from phone operators to nurses and doctors asking Joe how his husband was doing. Yes, using the word husband. This level of sensitivity at a place where 20 years ago, many of us, myself included, encountered rampant homophobia and disrespect as our partners received care. This wholesale change is a tangible sign of the success our community has achieved and

Darryl Ciarlante and Joe Zuber

the bridges we have built by working together for equality.

But then came a cascade of terrifying complications. As medical staff tried to wean Darryl from sedation and oxygen, he got pneumonia, and a temperature spike to an unimaginable 107 degrees, plus blood clots, a low platelet count, and the need for transfusions. Beebe staff was up to the horrific challenge.

It was a rollercoaster of good news, then frightening set-backs. A trach was placed in Darryl’s airway; his COVID-19 test was negative but other issues clouded that report. He remained critical but stable, sedated, and comatose. Joe began calling for a miracle.

The community hovered in unison, praying and waiting. Businesses donated to the Beebe COVID-19 relief, restaurants and CAMP Rehoboth fed the medical team at the hospital, continued thoughts, hugs, prayers, love, hearts, and rainbows came pouring in—now closing in on 500 daily Facebook reactions and hundreds more daily comments. The whole community, thousands of people, checked in daily to wait for better news.

Finally, it happened. Sedation reduced, Darryl was waking up and the

ventilator was doing less of his breathing. Nurses and therapists had him up in a chair, starting to assess his memory and cognitive function. They had him doing leg lifts, arm lifts, and exercise to regain his strength.

Virtual cheers by the thousands went up online when the team got Darryl up and walking. Joe posted “I CAN NOT THANK each of you for all the phone calls, text messages…PRAYERS from every religion and over and above all the LOVE and SUPPORT we are getting. We are SO BLESSED to have you with us.”

And on April 25, “One month...672 hours...40,320 minutes...” said Joe, there was Facetime contact. Darryl couldn’t talk, because of the trach, but he managed to communicate “Where are you?”

Joe told him he was at Diego’s, and Darryl cried.

He didn’t yet understand why Joe couldn’t visit, or exactly what had happened in the previous month, but things continued to improve, despite ongoing pneumonia, infections, and blood clots.

Joe wrote “After 34 days in ICU, Darryl was finally moved to a Step-Down room. I can never thank the ICU TEAM ENOUGH for saving my Darryl’s life so many times. All of you who sent mes-

sages, Your Prayers, Thoughts, Positive vibes all EMBRACED and supported both of us. YOU are...a HUGE part of our survival...BLESS YOU....“ Finally, Joe could visit Darryl on iPad Facetime, and plans came together to transfer the patient to Bayhealth for rehab. On day 40 of this COVID nightmare, as he left for rehab, Joe reported that Darryl was learning to speak with the trach, learning to swallow and eat food again, and anxious to do the work needed to come home. “The best news!” Joe heralded, “His brain is working!!!”

And that day’s good news was viewed by 637 people reacting with available emojis and another 357 people adding joyous comments. The daily Facebook check-ins were heading toward 1,000.

And in a marvelous, moving outpouring of well wishes and support, just before Memorial Day, when Darryl came home, neighbors organized a drive-by auto parade of honking, cheering, and applause for the couple who stood outside their home watching and waving.

The drive-by video was posted on Facebook. I pushed play and burst into tears—happiness for my friends Joe and Darryl, and a flood of emotion for our community.

In this pandemic, so many have been alone, but together, in love and support for those needing help—supporting our restaurants with carry-out, honoring our first responders, donating to feed and support medical staffs, doing Zoom support groups, and communicating online or by phone. Clearly, we cannot keep our community from gathering, socially distanced and masked or online, and supporting one another.

And we now have a big, happy story to help explain to outsiders our pride for Rehoboth, Lewes, and its ‘burbs. We are who we are, and it’s pretty great. ▼ Fay Jacobs is an author of five published memoirs. Her newest is Fried & Convicted: Rehoboth Beach Uncorked. As a humorist, she’s touring with her show Aging Gracelessly: 50 Shades of Fay. See www.fayjacobs.com JUNE 19, 2020

9 Letters

CAMPNews TOGETHER BUT STILL APART

Sundance 2020: United in Love

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ince 1988, the Rehoboth Beach community has gathered together on Labor Day Weekend to celebrate, dance, and raise much needed funds for the work of CAMP Rehoboth and other community organizations. This year, anticipated crowd density limits and safety during the time of COVID-19 mean Sundance 2020 will be a virtual event.

Sundance organizers plan to make this summer’s event about supporting the community and are especially sensitive to the fact that local businesses will need help in recovering from lockdown.

“Sundance has always had an amazing base of support,” says CAMP Rehoboth and Sundance co-founder Murray Archibald. “More than ever, we need our Sponsors, Supporters, and Hosts to continue to provide crucial funding for the event.”

CAMP Rehoboth provides community

programs, outreach, and advocacy, and for more than 30 years has worked to create a positive environment inclusive of all sexual orientations and gender identities in Rehoboth Beach and its related communities.

“CAMP Rehoboth’s goal from the beginning was to Create A More Positive community,” says David Mariner, CAMP Rehoboth’s Executive Director.

“Sundance, through the generosity of its hosts, supporters, and sponsors, has raised funds to support the work of CAMP Rehoboth and to establish Rehoboth as a widely recognized community with room for all.” Murray Archibald adds, “We have never felt the need more acutely to expand our activities to be as inclusive as possible, broaden the Sundance Experience, and take it to a new level.”

This year, the organization is responding to the unprecedented needs of the

Thanks to Women’s FEST Organizers

T

he 2020 Women’s FEST that never happened took a lot of prep work and passion.

CAMP Rehoboth thanks the committee and all the volunteers for the work

they did from June 2019 through that sad day in March 2020 when the FEST fell victim to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Thanks, ladies, for all your hard work.

On to 2021! ▼

WOMEN’S FEST 2020 COMMITTEE Dottie Cirelli Co-chair Nancy Hewish Co-chair Fay Jacobs Co-chair Kathy Carpenter Welcome Dance Denise Karas Sponsors/ Logistics Nancy Kennedy Sponsors Pam Kozey Volunteer Coordinator Carol Lazzara EXPO Chair, Secretary

Bonnie Quensenberry Stage Manager Lisa Rabigi Welcome Dance/Sponsors Leslie Sinclair CROP (CAMP Rehoboth Outreach Program) Coordinator; Art Show Chair Gail Tannenbaum Logistics Bea Vuocolo Welcome Dance/Sponsors

Margie Moore Speaker Liasion

Ruth Ann Winterhalter Technical Advisor/Stage Assistance

Anne Morillon Volunteers

Deb Woods CROP

Rebecca Mosocoso Health Fair Coordinator Letters 10 JUNE 19, 2020

VOLUNTEER COORDINATORS

Connie Fox Sports Chair Sandy Oropel Pickleball Tournament Coordinator Rina Pellegrini Cornhole Coordinator; Bike Ride Jean Boland Rehoboth Walking Tour Coordinator Joan Ridolfi Rehoboth Walking Tour Coordinator Evie Simmons Golf Tournament Coordinator Barb Thompson Golf Tournament Coordinator Karen Gifuniì Yoga Instructor

Kathy Wiz Broadwalk Organizer Geri Dibiase T-shirt Designer; art donation Linda Kemp Olivia Liaison Monica Parr Office Support; PR; Eventbrite Barb Ralph Office Support Natalie Moss Board Liaison

community by turning Sundance into a week-long, United in Love celebration, fundraiser, and community-building experience. The event will kick off on August 30 at 6 p.m. and culminate the evening of September 5.

Detailed information about the United in Love event will be announced in the upcoming weeks and will be posted at camprehoboth.com. To learn about hosting, partnership, and sponsorship opportunities, call Murray Archibald at 302-236-2931.

All proceeds from Sundance benefit CAMP Rehoboth (a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation) and support the activities and programs it provides to the Rehoboth community. Partnerships with other area non-profits and the business community as beneficiaries will also be announced throughout the summer. For more information, go to camprehoboth.com. ▼

Olivia Cruise Raffle?— Did We or Didn’t We?

Y

es, we did. By the time you are reading this we did pick a winner for the Olivia Travel Raffle that was supposed to be part of the cancelled Women’s FEST 2020. Unfortunately, the drawing was held on June 15, right after this issue was put to bed…so, no announcement here.

But we thank Olivia Travel for hanging in with us, donating the trip despite the circumstances of the FEST’s cancellation. We don’t know whether this luxury cruise to Greece and Israel will happen in October as planned, or if there will be a substitution, at a later date, for our winner. But we are so thankful that Olivia Travel and so many of our 2020 Women’s FEST donors kept their 2020 donations with CAMP Rehoboth despite the fact that the FEST didn’t happen this year. Donors, we cannot thank you enough. ▼

SUNDANCE2020 RAINBOWXXXIII

UNITED IN LOVE THE EXPERIENCE (STAY TUNED) PLEDGE TO BE A HOST, SUPPORTER OR SPONSOR CAMPREHOBOTH.COM

JUNE 19, 2020

11 Letters

SUNDANCE 2020

Zooming Ahead with Sundance

BY SONDRA N. ARKIN . . . and the team: Murray Archibald, Chris Beagle, Cathin Bishop, Pat Catanzariti, Rob Dick, Bob Dobbs, Ward Ellinger, Michael Fetchko, Allen Jarmon, Adam Linder, Jim Mease, Joe Mirabella, Jack Morrison, Natalie Moss, Keith Petrack, Mark Pipkin, Glen Pruitt, Mark Purpura, Mary Beth Ramsey, Sal Seeley, Laura Simon, Sandra Skidmore, and Karl Zoric

From the Sundance Archives. Sundance 2016 Team Captains gathered for a planning session at the vacant Rehoboth Mall.

We know that we will present The Sundance Experience to speak to the heart of our community.

Letters 12 JUNE 19, 2020

A

lthough it isn’t apparent to everyone, we start planning for the Labor Day Sundance weekend in January. We take the first two months of the year to set schedules, review plans, dream up the theme, and gather the troops. A lot of what we do is the same each year. Although we try to shift and reinvent some parts each year, it is easy to coast on autopilot.

Personally, I was pretty comfortable on autopilot. We’ve had a lot of change in the past two years, setting CAMP Rehoboth on a new course and a turbulent, fraught political climate, and all I wanted was for one thing that brings great joy to stay the same. Murray was leading the charge and our volunteer production crew all stood at the ready to make this 2020 celebration happen. Unfortunately, we were stopped in our tracks in March to assess what the coronavirus meant for an event that brings so many people together in one space.

While it is possible that by end of summer we could proceed with a crowded auction and packed dance, we made the difficult decision to embrace the virtual with an eye toward greater overall health next year. It is one more change in the journey of CAMP Rehoboth, in a time of change, and we hope that everyone who supports the mission—the outreach, advocacy, and programs—will travel this new road with us. We are plotting a new course.

So, while the format will change, the outcome remains the same. More than a fundraiser, Sundance has always been a time to come together, to work together, and to play together. It is a time to celebrate our chosen families, our actual families, our friends, our alliances, and the progress we have made since starting this journey so many years ago. What started as a call to action from a place of love remains essentially the same: come together to make an impact.

It is hard to set words down when it seems that every day brings new concern, new outrage, new grief. How do you plan for a situation you couldn’t imagine?

How do you examine how your every action affects your community?

Personally, I just figured out how to grocery shop for two weeks at one time when we started looking ahead to how we wanted to re-craft this Experience. I was just figuring out how I’d slip slowly out of quarantine. I was just out the door for a vigil when curfew was set. I’m tired of the virtual world already, but here I sit planning a virtual Experience still months away when we all might be fatigued of online whathaveyous.

I’m capitalizing Experience because we can’t say auction and dance, although there will be a different kind of auction and we hope to dance. We are putting all of our own biases against the virtual to the test to create something we’d want to attend. In creating this Experience, we pledge to support individuals, groups, organizations, and businesses with activities that can be enjoyed whether self-isolating, with a small group, or a larger group—depending on your comfort and the situation that we will find at the end of summer.

We know that we will present The Sundance Experience to speak to the heart of our community.

We know that we will be adding a lot more engagement with the business and nonprofit community that has supported CAMP Rehoboth so strongly over the years with ways for you to support those businesses through The Sundance Experience.

We know that there will be joy and love and celebration.

So, consider this is the world’s longest Save the Date invitation: The Sundance Experience will culminate Saturday, September 5 at 6 p.m.

The How, What, Where are still to be revealed, but the Why remains the same: United in Love, we are coming together to make change. ▼

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JUNE 19, 2020

13 Letters

It’s My Life

BY MICHAEL THOMAS FORD

Let’s Not Lessen the Impact of History Lessons

T

his week I’ve been reminded of how quickly we forget.

After the death of writer and activist Larry Kramer on May 27, my social media was flooded with eulogies from white, gay men praising him for his work bringing HIV/AIDS issues to the forefront of public discourse, often through inyour-face methods that forced a reluctant audience to acknowledge what was happening to a group of people they didn’t want to care about.

At the same time, I saw a lot of these same folks posting dismissive and angry things about the protests currently going on around the country surrounding the multitude of issues faced by black people in America. Specifically, they condemned any acts of violent resistance. “If you can’t get people to listen to your message by presenting it peacefully, maybe there’s something wrong with your message,” one wrote.

As we enter what is now widelyrecognized as Pride month all around the world, I would like to remind everyone— but particularly my white, gay brothers— that without some rock-throwing on the part of our queer family, many of whom were neither white nor male, we would not be where we are today.

Stonewall was not exactly a peaceful march involving some chanting and sign-waving. The 1979 White Night riots in San Francisco, following the lenient sentencing for Harvey Milk’s murderer, are called riots for a reason.

In both cases, the result was meaningful changes to the way LGBTQ people were treated. Most of us know that Stonewall ushered in the modern gay rights movement. Fewer are familiar with the White Night riots, which were the culmination of long-simmering tensions between the police and San Francisco’s gay community and which resulted in both the election of gay-supportive mayor Dianne Feinstein and immediate changes in the way law enforcement dealt with the queer community.

Yes, you might still be thinking, but the looting. This is something

Letters 14 JUNE 19, 2020

that comes up repeatedly in fingerwaving social media posts. But this is a distraction from the real point. For one thing, we don’t know exactly who is doing the looting. A growing amount of evidence suggests that it isn’t the protestors but those seeking to discredit them and their message. And no one is denying that there will always be people who take advantage of chaos to cause unrelated trouble.

I really want to hear from some of these people how long they think a group—any group—that has tried every way possible to get the world to listen to them and repeatedly been ignored should patiently wait for things to change.

Regardless of the who and the why of the looting, it pales in comparison to the frustration levels that need to be reached before a group of people explode. And that is what we need to be looking at.

The protests are not simply a tantrum like, say, the way mostly-white, mostlymale, mostly-straight groups have set cars on fire and looted local businesses simply because a favorite sports team lost a game. These are the result of every other peaceable means of trying to get people to pay attention being disregarded.

Black people are criticized when they march. They’re criticized when they kneel. They’re criticized when they use award acceptance speeches to remind us of their experiences and our failings as

a society. They’re repeatedly told to “let the system work,” even when that system fails them repeatedly and when the very organizations they’re told to trust to protect them are the ones responsible, again and again and again, for their deaths and continued oppression.

Exactly how long, I asked a couple of the people posting about how black people ought to go about demanding justice, should the black community keep getting knocked down, keep getting told to wait, keep watching one another die, before they started throwing things?

None of them answered me. I wish they had. I really want to hear from some of these people how long they think a group—any group—that has tried every way possible to get the world to listen to them and repeatedly been ignored should patiently wait for things to change.

Because the queer people involved in Stonewall stopped waiting and fought back, things changed. Because the queer people involved in the White Nights riots broke windows, set city hall on fire, and violently resisted the police when they retaliated, things changed.

Not because people heard their message and changed their minds, but because the protestors forced them to change. Black people in this country have been fighting much longer and much harder, with far less result. Is it any wonder they’ve had enough?

And yet, we keep telling them to be patient, to be peaceful, to hope that those of us who are responsible for what has happened and what continues to happen to them magically changes.

Why? Is it because we really believe that violence is never the answer? Or is it because we’re afraid that things really will change and we’ll have to change with them? ▼ Michael Thomas Ford is a much-published Lambda Literary award-winning author. Visit Michael at michaelthomasford.com

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JUNE 19, 2020

15 Letters

CommunityNews Browseabout to Host Author Ann Evans

SeanCorey Art Gallery Opens in CAMP Rehoboth Courtyard

AMP Rehoboth Volunteer Coordinator Ann Evans is a published author, with her memoir, These Fragile Wings, to be celebrated at a July 11 book signing at Browseabout Books on Rehoboth Avenue.

Evans, a member of the Rehoboth Beach Writers’ Guild, will be at the shop from 10 a.m. till noon on July 11 to sign copies of the memoir.

Explore with the author the question “how did we get here?”

If I’d turned right that day, if I’d rinsed the coffee pot out before I left, if I hadn’t made that remark…. There are so many questions in one’s life, multiplied by thousands across the lives we intersect. The book touches lightly on the current issues we face dealing with racism, poverty, women’s rights, and gay rights in a tender story spanning 60 years. ▼

eanCorey Art Gallery is a collaboration by two friends who met at the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore, Maryland. The gallery is now open in the CAMP Rehoboth courtyard.

Since 1990 the two artists have been making artwork together. Sean and Corey owned their first gallery in Baltimore from 2000 until 2005.

They recently moved to Rehoboth Beach, but coronavirus stopped them from opening in early Spring. However, the gallery is finally open and ready for patrons.

According to Sean and Corey, “no one really knows who we are yet, or our philosophy about art.” The artists believe art should be accessible to everyone of all walks of life, with artwork available at all different price points.

“You shouldn’t have to be wealthy to afford art; you should be able to have good, beautiful, inspiring art at affordable prices. That’s the philosophy of SeanCorey Gallery,” says Sean.

Sean and Corey want to be a part of the community and give back to the community. A portion of sales will go to Camp Rehoboth and AIDS Delaware. “We want to give back to the same community that has helped us over the last 16 years.”▼

C

Democratic Primary Information

C

oncerns about the safety of in-person voting in the face of the coronavirus pandemic prompted Delaware Governor John Carney and the state Department of Elections to delay the primary and school board elections dates and to make absentee ballots available to all eligible Delaware voters. ★ The presidential primary election is delayed until July 7. ★ The state primary elections are September 15. ★ The school board elections are set for July 21. ▼

Letters 16 JUNE 19, 2020

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17 Letters

[

Pop the Question

[

How are you spending Pride month 2020?

As a gay white cis man I will divert some of my Pride Month related energy/resources/privilege/time to combating racism. ... [ ...

BILL LEFFLER

My energy will be on anti-racism conversations, including anti-racism work to be done in the LGBTQ community.

PLACING RAINBOW FLAGS ON MY BROTHER’S GRAVE. HE DIED OF AIDS IN 1994.

... [ ...

... [ ...

CATHY AUSTIN

ILENE KLEIN

After years of marching in the New York City parade, this year we are going to be safe, smart, and stay home! ... [ ...

JEFF SCHUCK

Letters 18 JUNE 19, 2020

I’m going to reach out to at least two young people and see how they are doing and ask them what support they can use. ... [ ...

JOSEPH ANASTASIO

Mona will spend this month of Pride reaching up as I stand on the shoulders of those who came before me, who fought for the rights of all people to be equal. ... [ ...

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19 Letters

LGBTQ+ YA Column

BY RUBY DILLARD

Finding a Community For this month’s column we meet Ruby Dillard, an honors graduate from Cape Henlopen High School (CHHS). She is planning to attend Philadelphia’s Saint Joseph’s University.

Ruby was a very active board member at Cape’s GSA (Gender & Sexualities Alliance), playing a pivotal role in planning the first GSA Youth Gathering this past March. Rudy is considered to be a true leader and will be an amazing voice and advocate for our LGBTQ+ young community. Ms. Jayne Fetterman and Ms. Garnett are the GSA advisors at Cape.

Sherril Moon is the GSA mentor. There are an estimated 50 GSA members.

– Barbara Antlitz, CAMP Rehoboth Youth Coordinator

E

ntering high school was relatively easy for me in the realm of the LGBTQ+ community. My older sister was a junior and already in the Gender & Sexuality Alliance (GSA) at Cape Henlopen High School, two of my friends were in a lesbian relationship, and my bedroom walls were adorned with colors of the pansexual pride flag. Looking back, I was a heavily supported, but overly confident member of the homosexual community who wore her identity casually and underestimated how deeply the GSA would guide her through the next four years.

I had come out as pansexual to my family and friends before my freshman year with no difficulty, though I took for granted how blessed I was and am to live in such a safe environment. I spent nights before coming out trying to shape my identity into a heterosexual fantasy only to realize that the futile convincing was the behavior of someone separate from that binary.

After recognizing my internalized homophobia, though lacking awareness of this title, I journeyed through my first year of high school in what now only consists of vague memories. I do recall idealizing Letters 20 JUNE 19, 2020

the members of GSA and this admiration continued through my sophomore year as my older sister became GSA president.

In my second year of high school, whether it was a feeling of doubt, a need for change, or pressure to align myself with the most inclusive community, I began to identify as omnisexual. I was glad my bedroom walls were only adorned with construction paper, so I could create the new flag while ensuring my parents would one day get their security deposit back.

I remember reading the definition of omnisexual as an attraction to all genders that, unlike pansexuality, takes the gender of a person into account when looking for a partner. At the time, I felt secure in this identity because I knew I had an awareness of gender. But the label also came with constant need for explanation and defining that sometimes invaded my boundaries for sharing personal information. I felt lost between the guilt of abandoning another identity and the desire to find one that supported the most honest form of myself.

My appreciation for the GSA really developed in my junior year. With my older sister moving on to college, I thought it would make sense to run for the GSA’s board of officers which also coincided with my desire to lead and to expand my activism in the LGBTQ+ community. Lo and behold, I was voted onto the board along with four other students, and we agreed not to continue a board-hierarchy since the organization focuses on equality and community.

This agreement was the first of many, introducing me to new perspectives within the GSA and LGBTQ+ community, and I felt oddly comfortable facing disagreements and working with sensitive topics.

The first half of my high school career felt like I was putting a microscope to my own identity, but the GSA created an environment where I was able to find people similar to me.

It was also in my junior year that I began to identify as bisexual. I felt connected to that label and, for the first time in my life, felt no need to explain why. Today,

as a graduating senior, I fully identify as a bisexual, cisgender female with she/her pronouns. I do not believe I would have been able to say that without the support of the GSA. From having the privilege to host in-school meetings, to attending after-school discussions, to simply talking to my advisors and fellow members, the GSA has guided me to a new sense of community.

I felt lost between the guilt of abandoning another identity and the desire to find one that supported the most honest form of myself.

I am blessed to work with the local PFLAG and CAMP Rehoboth, especially with Barbara Antlitz who has been spreading the joy I’ve experienced within the GSA to schools across southern Delaware.

I know I will work to be an active member in Saint Joseph’s University’s GSA next year, and I am content moving forward knowing that young people in this area have the support they need as they journey through their identities and work to feel the most comfortable in themselves.

Barbara Antlitz, CAMP Rehoboth’s Youth Coordinator, is working with GSAs in middle and high schools in Sussex and Kent Counties, and with other groups supporting LGBTQ+ youth.

Barbara can be reached by email at bantlitz@ camprehoboth.com

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JUNE 19, 2020

21 Letters

Intentionally Inclusive

BY WESLEY COMBS

Becoming Allies: What Our History Teaches Us

I

don’t know about you, but I am struggling with how best to commemorate Pride this year. With no vaccine in site, sheltering in place became the only real line of defense against this invisible enemy. The mandating of social distance means business as usual is out of the question and has forced the cancellation of large gatherings including Pride parades.

Even after we have adapted to a new normal of using Zoom to mark milestone events like graduation, it is hard to wrap my head around what a virtual Pride festival would look like. Also, the public anguish on display across the world following the unjustified killing of George Floyd makes me wonder if this is a time for celebration.

Some Pride organizers decided to pivot and mark the occasion by marching in support of the Black Lives Matter movement as protests grew across the world drawing attention to police brutality and the systemic racism facing the black community.

Unfortunately, the LGBTQ community is not immune to unfair treatment by the police, especially those who are transgender people of color. In fact, a black transgender man, Tony McDade, was shot and killed by police in Florida two days after Floyd’s death.

While there are some parallels between the struggle for LGBTQ and racial equality, I will never truly know what it is like to walk in the shoes of George Floyd or Tony McDade. The same goes for our friends and loved ones who despite their best efforts cannot understand what it feels like to be denied a job or be subjected to discrimination because of our sexual orientation, gender identity, or expression.

Because many are aware of my work helping organizations achieve diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplaces, it is not uncommon for others to reach out to me when events like this occur.

They want to be part of the solution

Letters 22 JUNE 19, 2020

and ask questions like “Can you help me understand why people are so upset about what happened?” or “What should I say or do to be helpful?”

However, becoming an effective ally takes more than just posting support of Black Lives Matter on Facebook. It requires a deeper and a true understanding of the root cause of racism and the subsequent oppression African-Americans face every day. Over the years I have intentionally developed relationships with people different than me, getting to know who they were, what we had in common, and what challenges they faced just because of their skin color.

She shared that it was not uncommon for her husband to get stopped by the police on weekends when driving alone at night to his DJ job...

I recall one story in particular as a wake-up call that there is so much more for me to learn about racial issues.

A friend who is white had married an African-American man and they lived in a DC suburb. She shared that it was not uncommon for her husband to get stopped by the police on weekends when driving alone at night to his DJ job because he was a black man driving a decade old car, something that had never happened to me.

Last week it happened again during a Zoom call with an African-American colleague. Our conversation soon focused on the protests erupting all across the world but in particular the

clashes with police in DC. I could see she was visibly upset and I asked if she wanted to talk about it. The word she used to describe her mental state was despondent.

As the mother of a 21-year-old son she had always feared his safety was at risk every time he left the house, but now she was petrified. The graphic video footage of George Floyd’s arrest and subsequent death was an overwhelming reminder that her son would likely face the same inhumane treatment at some point in his life. I did my best to provide a supportive ear but felt helpless because nothing I could say would change this devastating fact.

If there was ever a time to take a stand against injustice, it is now. My advice to those wanting to make a difference is to do your own research on racial issues instead of asking an African-American friend or colleague to fill your knowledge gaps. A simple Google search will provide you with scores of resources to make you smarter. More importantly, reach out and ask what they need from you at this time. ▼ Wesley Combs, a CAMP Rehoboth Board member, is a diversity and inclusion expert, executive coach, and a passionate social justice advocate. He is the founding principal of Combs Advisory Services where he works with clients who share his values of enabling equity, equality, and opportunity in the workplace and the community.

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JUNE 19, 2020

23 Letters

health+wellness

By Marj Shannon

Summertime, and the Living Is — Precarious?

T

his should be a straightforward column about the typical joys— and risks—of summer: cook-outs with a chance of food poisoning; beach basking with a chance of sunburn; water sports with a chance of rip tides; sparklers and fireworks….

But nothing is straightforward about summer 2020. Despite the arrival of those lazy, hazy days we know and love, we can’t escape the ever-present risk of COVID-19.

As I’m writing this, Delaware is reopening. Restaurants can expand services beyond delivery and carry-out; non-essential workers can get haircuts; people—even out-of-state visitors!—can hit the beaches. Amidst it all, we wear our masks and try to keep a six-foot distance from folks who don’t live in our households.

By the time this issue is published, we’ll know a little more about how that reopening is working out. It will have been more than two weeks since restrictions were eased; COVID-19 has about a 14-day incubation period. So: are COVID-19 test-positivity rates beginning to rise? Are the hospitals sending up flares—not to celebrate a festive fourth, but to signal an uptick in virus-related ER visits or admissions? Stay tuned.

As we navigate through this summer

of our “next normal,” we need to know how we can most safely pursue some of summer’s usual delights. Because you know what? Most of us just are not going to forego every pleasure for the foreseeable future.

It’s reminiscent of advice once given to stop the transmission of HIV or prevent teen pregnancy: abstinence. We all know how well that worked out.

Not that there haven’t been efforts to encourage people to do exactly that—i.e., to just stay home. Abstain from contact. Indefinitely. Especially if one is age 65 or older, or has chronic medical conditions, or is immunocompromised.

It’s reminiscent of advice once given to stop the transmission of HIV or prevent teen pregnancy: abstinence. We all know how well that worked out. “Stay home” is not going to work forever for COVID-19, either.

Happily, a couple epidemiologists, Julia Marcus (Harvard) and Eleanor Murray (Boston University), have identified a middle ground between the dichotomy

of low risk/high safety (stay home) and high risk/low safety (densely-populated indoor gathering) options. They offer both a moderate risk option—outdoor activities—and a higher risk option— outdoor gatherings. Google “marcus covid risks chart” to see a nifty graphic outlining all four options.

Marcus and Murray also offer mitigation strategies for each level of risk.

Common to all levels are the familiar ones: wash our hands, don’t touch our faces, stay at least six feet away from people we don’t live with, and wear a mask.

For outdoor activities, they advise— in addition to those basics—that we stay away from shared surfaces like swings or benches. For outdoor gatherings, they add a few more: gather infrequently, and don’t share food or toys.

Even for large indoor gatherings (the highest risk/lowest safety scenario), they have some ideas that might help. First, avoid these as much as possible. And if we simply must join a crowd indoors, open the windows.

So, how might we explore those options that lie beyond our doors, yet keep ourselves relatively safe? Well, for outdoor activities, we might: • Pursue our chosen activities only with people who live in our household.

REDUCING RISK OF CORONAVIRUS TRANSMISSION HOME WITH YOUR FAMILY

Letters 24 JUNE 19, 2020

OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES WITH OTHERS

GROUP GATHERING OUTDOORS

GROUP GATHERING INDOORS

• Or, carefully select a few—v. a few dozen—folks to join us. And choose people whose risk behaviors (maskwearing, social distancing, etc.) align with ours.

• Keep our distance (from those we don’t live with) even within the group—no huddles.

• Choose individual activities, e.g., tennis or golf, v. team sports like volleyball or water polo. (The water isn’t the danger—the virus won’t survive in a properly maintained pool. It’s the players who are spluttering or coughing all over us we need to avoid.)

With some forethought, we can even host an outdoor gathering: let’s have a picnic!

• Keep the party small; think in terms of a household or two.

• Position each household’s table or blanket six feet away from each other household’s table or blanket.

(It’s OK for the host to supply the tables; each household needs to supply its own blanket.)

• Ask that each household bring its own food and utensils—and, no sharing across households. Forget pot-luck or shared chips-and-dips.

• Fire up the grill! One fun exception to not sharing—grilled food can be distributed across households. The cooking will destroy any virus. Serve grilled items directly onto each person’s plate.

• Set up a hand-washing station.

Provide hand sanitizer if we’ve found some. Position a bucket, some soap, and paper towels by an outdoor hose.

• Provide trash bins outdoors so each household can dispose of its own trash—and can do so without going into the house.

• By the way—we don’t need to disinfect the outdoor picnic tables or benches or Adirondack chairs: time and weather will take care of that.

Safe Hugs! What’s Not to Love?!

N

ow, here’s some really good news: There are people out there working to quantify the risk inherent in something we’ve been keenly missing: hugs. Linsey Marr, an aerosol scientist at Virginia Tech, is one of the world’s leading experts on airborne disease transmission. She’s been running the numbers and has concluded that the risk of exposure to the virus during a brief hug is actually pretty low. Especially if we don’t cough or talk during the hug.

Marr and other experts have come up with some hugging dos and don’ts: Don’t hug someone who is coughing or otherwise symptomatic.

Wear masks.

Avoid touching the other person’s clothing with our face or mask.

Hug outdoors.

Hug facing opposite directions—i.e., looking over one another’s shoulder— rather than face-to-face or cheek-to-cheek (facing the same direction). The idea is to avoid comingling our breath.

As we close in for the hug, don’t talk, and don’t face one another directly— look off over our intended’s shoulder.

If we really want to be careful—we should hold our breath. This is going to be a hug, not a lengthy embrace. We can do it.

Keep it short, then back off quickly. Don’t breathe in one another’s faces or speak as we step back.

Wash our hands.

Try not to cry, however joyful we feel: that just creates more fluids that may contain the virus, and increases risk as we reach to wipe away the tears.

Google “Marr hugging pandemic” to see more. ▼

Remember, it’s a picnic. Not a day of wild abandon: • No singing around the campfire.

Singing spreads droplets—and the virus—widely.

• Watch the alcohol intake: people become more convivial and less cautious under the influence. And they can become louder; more forceful speech can spread the virus farther than quiet speech.

• Circulate: longer conversations produce more droplets (and potential virus) than shorter ones. Want to have an extended heart-to-heart with someone you don’t live with?

Wear a mask. Talk across a six-foot distance. Don’t face one another directly.

• Avoid contact sports—and cheering too enthusiastically. Cheering sprays droplets very effectively; contact sports—well, because, “contact.”

Croquet, anyone? ▼ Marj is an epidemiologist and wordsmith who has devoted her life to minutiae. She reports that yes, the devils are in the details.

JUNE 19, 2020

25 Letters

health+wellness Classes and Events YOGA OF 12-STEP RECOVERY (Y12SR) PROGRAM ⊲ Sundays | 5:00 p.m.

Zoom Meeting: https://us02web.zoom. us/j/487294739?pwd=Z3dEMVNXNWRtR0xaUzV2Ni9NTXlPdz09 Meeting ID: 487 294 739 PW: 693539 Y12SR is open to anyone dealing with addiction, their own or the behaviors of others; all “As” are welcome. The model addresses addiction as a physical, mental, and spiritual disease: “the issues live in our tissues.” We’ll start with a 12 step-based discussion focused on recovery topics, then we’ll take it to the mat. The topic will be woven throughout a Hatha flow practice incorporating breathing techniques (pranayama), yoga poses (asana), and closing with a guided meditation. Modifications and props will be offered making the practice accessible for all levels from beginner to experienced.

AFTER DINNER CONVERSATION Tuesdays | 7:00 p.m.

June 22, July 6, 2020 Zoom Meeting: https://us02web.zoom. us/meeting/register/tZwucOqorTotH9FLjWjQyKasCYPyIz-Eh-p4 Go to camprehoboth.com for Meeting ID and Password.

Join us for after dinner conversation and connection with LGBTQ community members across Sussex County! This evening social program offers older adults and members of the LGBTQ community the opportunity to discuss current events and new ideas. This group will be facilitated by Salvatore Seeley, LCSW. CHAIR YOGA Tuesdays | 9:00 a.m.

Zoom Meeting: https://us02web.zoom. us/meeting/register/vJModOmvqDIo0M-V6vAINAQ6-xARGfogFQ Go to camprehoboth.com for Meeting ID and Password.

Letters 26 JUNE 19, 2020

Join us for Chair Yoga. Everyone can access the health benefits of yoga in this Chair Yoga class with Erin. She’ll guide participants to synchronize conscious breath and mindful movement. The sequence of poses is designed to energize and strengthen as well as relax and lengthen muscles. Reduce anxiety and stress, improve circulation, protect joints, build strength and balance, and support overall well-being. Yoga also can help reduce cravings and simply make us feel good.

WOMEN’S COFFEE TALK 1st and 3rd Saturdays | 10:00 a.m.

Zoom Meeting: Contact CAMP Rehoboth for Zoom meeting link.

Meeting ID: 530-930-560 PW: 083960 Coffee Talk is a positive topic group: A place where women (lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and feminine of center) can come together in a positive, non-judgmental atmosphere to share thoughts and perspectives on a topic. Coffee Talk is a great place to make new friends and become part of a community. Everyone is welcome in Coffee Talk; please come join us.

MEN’S DISCUSSION GROUP Wednesdays | June 24, July 8 Zoom Meeting: https://us02web.zoom. us/meeting/register/tZItd-GhqT8oEtLnNRbi1Q9U2_My_WQV7bw6 Go to camprehoboth.com for meeting time, Meeting ID, and Password.

The Men’s Discussion Group is a safe and nurturing space to start conversations important to our community. We celebrate who we are, we promote respect and understanding, and we accept each other’s differences with intention to build a more connected community. This discussion group is a safe space for gay, bisexual, transgender, and masculine of center men to talk issues, values, and matters that make up our life, free from stigma and judgments.

EAT SMART, MOVE MORE Wednesdays | 6:00 p.m.

July 8-August 12, 2020 Zoom Meeting: https://delaware.ca1. qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_9FbtABRE461Vitf Go to camprehoboth.com for Meeting ID and Password.

CAMP Rehoboth is partnering with the University of Delaware Cooperative Extension to bring you a six-week class on eating smart and moving more.

The class starts on July 8 and runs through August 12. You will learn about eating healthy and cooking for less, saving money at the grocery store, keeping food safe, being active, preparing tasty food, and planning meals.

LGBTQ BOOK CLUB June 25 | 5:30 p.m.

Zoom Meeting: https://us02web.zoom. us/meeting/register/tZYqdumgrDoqHNQwCcNGxZgmnWmlGFOZp2WA Go to camprehoboth.com for Meeting ID and Password.

Hope you can join us for the book club this month. This month’s selection is Paul Takes The Form of a Mortal Girl, by Andrea Lawlor. ▼

Some of these virtual meetings are made possible through the Delaware Division of Public Health’s Tobacco Prevention Community Contract. Funding for the contract is provided by the Delaware Health Fund and managed by the American Lung Association of Delaware.

HEALTH & WELLNESS PROGRAM DIRECTOR Salvatore Seeley HIV CTR COUNSELORS Jerry Filbin, Niki Nicholson, Alan Spiegelman THRIVE YOUTH COORDINATOR Barbara Antlitz

SMOKERS: YOU MAY BE AT GREATER RISK FOR COVID-19 Now is the time to quit.

Now more than ever, you need to keep your lungs strong. But smoking could increase

your risk for severe illness from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). And if you do get

COVID-19, you could have a harder time recovering. If you’re ready to quit, we have advice and free quit-aid products available to help.

Call the Delaware Quitline at 1-866-409-1858 or visit HealthyDelaware.org/Quit.

DELAWARE HEALTH AND SOCIAL SERVICES Division of Public Health Tobacco Prevention and Control Program

JUNE 19, 2020

27 Letters

COVID-19

BY CAROLE RAMOS

A Love Story…

T

oday is Monday, May 25, 2020. It is the first 24 hours in weeks when I have no fever, headache, vomiting, sweats, shakes, extreme fatigue, trouble breathing, and overwhelming pain...just to share some highlights of my recent experience with COVID-19. I vow never ever again to take for granted opening my eyes from sleep, moving my limbs, and being able to take a breath.

And I would like to thank all the amazing people in my world who have been there helping fight this relentless virus. Especially my wife, Patty. We have been together for 30 years and our love and devotion to each other has shown in all aspects of our lives. We have faced challenges most would find insurmountable, always pulling together to overcome adversity. We’ve built an amazing life together. I always knew that if I was ever This virus is relentless. threatened, my amazing, It feels like it rips you strong, tough, bold love open; turns you inside out, would battle even the challenging foe! and then tries to squeeze most It broke my heart the life out of you. watching such a virile woman bow to this virus.

Patty’s body went down first. When we were tested and our results came back COVID-19 positive, we were told, from our symptoms, we’d have mild cases. All we could do was try and keep each other as comfortable as possible and treat the symptoms with over-the-counter pain, cold, and flu medicine while staying hydrated and nourished.

Easier said than done.

It took ALL I had to help my wife through this invisible, potentially deadly virus. Some days, love and compassion were all that helped me put one foot in front of the other. Our doctors advised us to stay out of the hospital if at all possible and to keep fighting. However, there were still a few times we came close to dialing 911.

Then, a week later, I went down. All I could do was watch helplessly as Patty struggled to take each breath. This virus is relentless. It feels like it rips you open, turns you inside out, and then tries to squeeze the life out of you. And they called this a mild-moderate case! Yes, it sounds very dramatic, but it was extremely frightening. People need to share the anguish and suffering they went through to help others understand how devastating this illness is.

Hearing the one you love gasping in pain while Letters 28 JUNE 19, 2020

trying to get a breath is harrowing.

Then, amazingly, Patty tapped an even deeper level of strength not only to continue fighting for herself but to do so while caring for me. The only way I knew how to thank and honor her was to also try and find the strength to continue fighting.

I believe our love for each other helped make our recovery possible.

With every breath and step I take to get stronger and reclaim my life again, I will never again take for granted my wife, family, loved ones, and community.

Originally, I wrote this as a love letter to my wife. I wanted to try and express my gratitude and appreciation. However, here and now, I want to say you can help fight COVID-19. You are not helpless.

The greatest scientists and doctors in the world tell us COVID-19 is a real, devastating, incapacitating, and sometimes deadly virus. They recommend we adhere to a few safety precautions such as social distancing, hand washing, and wearing face masks to help keep ourselves and the world safer.

There are not yet any vaccines or medications that can prevent or cure this virus. We hope that by sharing our experience with others we can create awareness about the effects COVID-19 has on victims with mild-moderate cases. Also, it never hurts to occasionally be reminded how far a little compassion, integrity, honesty, and human decency go. We advocate for strong, intelligent leadership to focus our attention and better utilize our existing resources to defeat our common enemy.

Each of own personal constitutions, support systems, and tons of love and luck are what is making a difference in surviving COVID-19. So, please remember our story when putting on the mask, washing your hands again, or social distancing start to become a nuisance.

We cannot afford to become complacent or naïve; too many lives depend on us. We will only survive by taking turns breathing for each other when necessary and believing.

And this is still a love letter to my wife…. ▼ Carole Ramos is a local resident and CAMP Rehoboth member, who wants readers to know both the danger of COVID-19 and the support it takes to survive it.

Here’s the deal.

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Complete Financial Planning Services for our Community Alexander G. Yearley, CFP 72 Glade Circle East Rehoboth Beach, DE 19971

Jeanine O’Donnell, Agent 16583 Coastal Hwy Lewes, DE 19958 Bus: 302-644-3276 www.lewesinsurance.com

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JUNE 19, 2020

29 Letters

THANK YOU TO THOSE ON THE FRONT LINE

Healthcare workers and volunteers are placing themselves at risk to make our community safer, one patient at a time. We are grateful to these individuals who choose to step up, step out, and care for their neighbors in the fight against COVID-19.

The Next Generation of

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Letters 30 JUNE 19, 2020

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TO OUR COMMUNITY THANK YOU

When you choose to care for your neighbors, you are giving our community the chance it needs to defeat COVID-19. To those donating time, energy, and resources to your community and your healthcare workers; to the innovative small-business owners and those who support them; to the essential workers and those who choose to stay at home: Thank you for all that you do.

The Next Generation of

GRATITUDE

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JUNE 19, 2020

31 Letters

Q Puzzle Remembering Lynn

Solution on Page 75 ACROSS 1 Mark Bingham of 9/11 5 “I ___ Kick Out of You” 9 Desperate cry 13 Bird, to Brutus 14 Come together 16 Estimating words 17 Kerry, who plays Mia on 48-/64-Across 19 Animal that’s no breeder 20 Martin of Grace and Frankie et al.

21 Without pausing 23 Where to look, in “Misty” 25 Women on top, at times 26 Intelligence agent 29 Reese who plays Elena on 48-/64-Across 34 Word before kwon do 35 Guy into bottoms?

36 Così fan ___ 37 Series ender 39 Anne of Girls in Prison 42 The L.A. Sparks strip them 43 Cruising, maybe 45 Georgetown athlete 47 Eligible for soc. sec.

48 With 64-Across, Hulu series directed by Lynn Shelton (1965-2020) 51 Tax-collecting agcy.

52 Bear market order 53 Boats like Noah’s 55 Ax wielder

59 Trojan War hero killed by Achilles 63 “And another thing...”

64 See 48-Across 66 Taylor of Six Feet Under 67 Air Music composer Ned 68 Ethnic acronym 69 Tie it to become wife and wife 70 Straddled a stallion 71 Israeli author Oz DOWN 1 Hesitating sounds 2 Porter’s “Well, Did You ___” 3 Get out of bed 4 Actor Milo of Oz 5 Professional who helps you shoot off 6 W. H. Auden’s tongue 7 Jermaine and Michael’s brother 8 When sex addicts need it 9 Like Gomer’s humor 10 Plenty, informally 11 Lounge about 12 Chicken, to a chickenhawk 15 Penetrate 18 Bisected 22 Ellen, for one 24 Ending for Jean 26 Get to second base, perhaps

2 7 Evita portrayer on stage 28 It helps a baker get it up 30 Part of Saigon’s current name 31 Cheri of Scary Movie 32 Skinny bear 33 Egg holders 38 Cole Porter song from Paris 40 Time for Frida 41 “Bear” and “rear,” e.g.

44 Britten’s beers 46 Cockeyed 49 Recipient of Bugs’ kisses 50 Fruit, to Froot Loops 54 E with a queer orientation 55 Result of four balls 56 Brothers & Sisters producer Ken 57 Northern metropolis 58 Burning software 60 The Seattle Storm, for one 61 Roughly 62 Muscle Mary stat 65 Carpet color at the Oscars

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JUNE 19, 2020

33 Letters

Straight Talk

BY DAVID GARRETT

Signs of the Times

O

n display in a Rehoboth Beach front yard, this sign reads, “We Believe: Black Lives Matter; No Human is Illegal; Love is Love; Women’s Rights are Human Rights; Science is Real; Water is Life; Injustice Anywhere is a Threat to Justice Everywhere.” Quite a bit of territory is covered with one sign.

At this time of protests, many signs are found in cities across our country. “Black Lives Matter” and “I Can’t Breathe” are among the more popular ones. Naomi Osborne, great-niece of local businesswoman Gwen Osborne, a fourth-grade student in Columbia, Maryland, crafted her own sign reading, “All Lives Can’t Matter Until Black Lives Do.” Her sign includes a picture of George Floyd with the tagline, “#Justice for Floyd.”

There are many other signs of the times. As I write this, peaceful protests continue from Los Angeles to New York City, and many places in between; some signs are mundane, others philosophical. One sign reads “How Many More?” while another white man’s sign reads, “I’m not black, but I see you. I’m not black, but I hear you. I’m not black, but I will stand with you.”

Signs of protest amplify and magnify voices of protest. They are an extension of voices being lifted in all 50 states. One sign in Washington, DC lists the names of 16 black citizens who have been unjustly killed over the last few years. In Oxford, England, a challenging sign reads, “If you are not Anti-Racist, you are Complicit!” A sign in Sydney, Australia, reads, “We’re NOT trying to start a Race War, we are trying to END one!” These are signs of the times, reaching across the globe.

We must pay attention to other less literal signs of the times: the events and political nuances of actions taken by our leaders.

In what shape do we find ourselves today? There is such political unrest at the moment that changes will have to be made. Will real police reform happen? Will the winds of discontent sweep our nation, resulting in fewer deaths at the hands of those whose motto is “Protect and Serve?” Dare we demand that NO deaths take place in the performance of their enforcement of the law?

Over the past five or 10 years, there have been attempts by some in the LGBTQ community to reach out to the African-American community, attempting to co-opt their energies and participation in the common pursuit of equality. In many ways, the struggles of both groups to achieve an equal platform in our country overlap. It makes sense to double the efforts of both groups in joint work toward a common purpose.

Both are, in many ways, oppressed factions in our nation.

Would it not make sense to join hands and minds in common goals toward equality?

While this may sound like a worthwhile effort, there are many in the black community who reject the LGBTQ overtures toward unified work to benefit both. But the answer is not to insist that each group go its own way, never to be heard from again. Each group’s desire and longing for equality feeds into that of the other. In fact, one cannot so easily separate the two Letters 34 JUNE 19, 2020

groups into separate packages or demographics.

November 20 each year is the International Transgender Day of Remembrance. It is a somber time of honoring those transgender people around the world who have been killed simply for being transgender. In the United States, there are typically between 20 and 30 people killed each year. Most of those are women of color. It is a lamentable reality that many of these transgender women of color are in the sex business. Their sexual orientation and racial identity converge to put them in harm’s way, and they suffer the consequences with their lives. This sad fact explains why there was a sign in the recent Rehoboth Beach protest that read, “Black Trans Lives Matter.”

In his 2017 song, “Sign of the Times,” Harry Styles composed lyrics that seem to be eerily prophetic. “Just stop your crying, it’s a sign of the times. Welcome to the final show, hope you’re wearing your best clothes…. We never learn, we’ve been here before. Why are we always stuck and running from the bullets, the bullets?”

As we are all aware, most Pride Fests across the country are muted this year. The coronavirus still threatens us, and we cannot gather to celebrate the diversity of our communities the way we have in other years. Wear your masks, keep social distance, and envision a world where we are no longer defined by our color, our sexual orientation, or our gender identity. Do you see the signs? ▼ David Garrett is a straight advocate for equality and inclusion. He is also the proud father of an adult trans daughter. Email David Garrrett at dlgarrett4rb@gmail.com

JUNE 19, 2020

35 Letters

HISTORICAL HEADLINERS

BY ANN APTAKER

BEHIND THE WORDS

Langston Hughes and Patricia Highsmith

I

t’s Pride Month, the annual celebration of our culture, our struggles, our triumphs. For those of us who are authors, it’s a time to celebrate our freedom to write our LGBTQ stories without censorship, without fear of having our books and articles confiscated, even the fear of our arrest and imprisonment for writing our truths.

It was not always thus. For generations, LGBTQ authors have had to write about our experiences behind veils of shaded meanings or false names. For queer authors of the early to mid-twentieth century, writing stories of same-sex love and passion was still dangerous, resulting in professional ostracism and literary and societal condemnation, even by one’s literary peers.

Authors of novels and poems featuring same-sex desires had three choices: risk condemnations by writing under your own name; write under a name other than your own; or veil the LGBTQ substance in coded words or ambivalent meanings.

Poet and novelist Langston Hughes (1901-1967), a literary star of the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s, had two additional hurdles to face: racism in the white world generally and in the mainstream publishing world specifically; and the disapproval of homosexuality in the black community, especially the black church.

His short story, “Blessed Assurance,” tackles African-American cultural discomfort with queerness through the struggles of a father, John, with what he sees as his son Delly’s feminine nature. Though Hughes’ own homosexuality has finally been accepted by scholars, the argument continues over whether “Blessed Assurance” expresses Hughes’ own experiences when a younger man in the black church-going community.

Argument continues, too, though with less juice over time, regarding same-sex heartbreak in his “Poem (F.S.).” It is now believed that the F.S. in the dedication is Ferdinand Smith, a sailor with whom Hughes had a relationship.

Though the homosexual subtext of Hughes’ work is now acknowledged, during most of Hughes’ lifetime he remained closeted. A rare African-American writer and poet to achieve literary and financial success, to live openly risked losing that status.

Perhaps no author hid in plain sight better than Patricia Highsmith (1921-1995). Highsmith hid the reality of her life—the many lesbian affairs, the alcoholism and depression—behind Letters 36 JUNE 19, 2020

characters who expressed it for her in gender reverse.

The five Tom Ripley novels feature a physically attractive serial killer with a complex, quasi-sympathetic personality and homoerotic drives. Tom Ripley is the product of unmet aspirations; joys denied. In the first book, The Talented Mr. Ripley, we get to know Tom as someone who believes he’s entitled to those aspirations and joys.

Here’s where Highsmith snags us.

We agree with Tom; he is entitled to life’s pleasures because we all are. Through Tom, we see how unfair life can be, how someone as shallow as Dickie Greenleaf enjoys a life of moneyed leisure while talented classical musician Tom—and the rest of us—claw for the scraps.

In her masterwork, Strangers on a Train, the homoerotic core of the murder story once again features a shallow member of the upper crust, Bruno, and a handsome, athletic, social climbing naïf, Guy. The characters’ names are signposts of their personalities; Bruno’s psychopathy and Guy’s unclear identity.

Together, they are Highsmith peering at us from behind the words.

In her one lesbian novel, 1952’s The Price of Salt, a pathbreaking story of a lesbian relationship not ending in sorrow, death, or retreat into heterosexuality, Highsmith hid behind the penname Claire Morgan. For a life as difficult as Highsmith’s, The Price of Salt can be read as literary wish fulfillment but its acceptance stunted—like Tom Ripley’s aspirations—by the cultural demand to hide behind a false name, lest her career be destroyed. It was only in 1990 that Highsmith acknowledged authorship.

Now, in this year 2020, we can take pride in our LGBTQ literary heritage, pride in the authors who weathered the prejudice but wrote our truths in language perhaps only we could understand. For this Pride Month, when parades are restricted or cancelled in a world on pause, let your mind and soul do the celebrating: read a book; share the author’s pride.▼ Ann Aptaker’s series featuring dapper lesbian art thief and smuggler Cantor Gold has won Lambda Literary and Goldie Awards. In addition to writing crime fiction, Ann is an adjunct Professor of art and art history at New York Institute of Technology.

REALTY GROUP Allen Jarmon

317 Rehoboth Avenue, Rehoboth Beach, DE 19971 Cell: 302-745-5122 | Office: 302-227-4800 x3018 Fax: 302-227-2115 | Email: ajarmon@remax.net www.allenjarmon.com

OCEAN BLOCK

Rare opportunity to own a 3 BR ocean block one level Mariners Court unit! The location can’t be beat! Elevator building with pool, under building assigned parking, and just steps to the beach and boardwalk! These one level units rarely come on the market. Property has 2 full baths and a very large covered balcony. Condo fee includes exterior maintenance, trash, wifi, pool and more. While it currently is not a rental, it has a great past rental history getting up to $3K a week in peak season. 2 car under building parking. With some upgrading and remodeling it may be possible to get even higher rents. Best price for an ocean block 3 BR condo in Rehoboth! Call your agent today! $680,000

GRANDE AT CANAL POINTE

Want to be close to the beach, but don’t want to live in a “fish bowl”? Here’s your chance to own a 7 year young home approx. 2 miles to the beach and east of Rt One backing to protected woodlands! This perimeter home in Grande at Canal Pointe offers 3-4 BR, 2.5 baths all on one level! This well-kept home offers a contemporary open floor plan with 10 ft. ceilings, tiled floors, raised hearth stone gas fireplace and wooded views, not views of your neighbors in their yard! Split bedroom floor plan, with a spacious master BR that overlooks woods as well. Den/4th BR gives you flexibility, easy to add a closet! Unique to this home is half bath that sellers added, as well as “basement” potential w/ full height crawl space. Nice sized rear deck with room for expansion or a patio. Community offers 2 pools and work-out rooms, basketball and tennis. Reasonable HOA fee includes grass cutting, trash removal, snow plowing and common area maintenance. Act fast, homes backing to the woods don’t come on the market in this community very often! $690,000

WELCOME HOME!

NEW LISTING!

Affordable one level living just over a mile to the boardwalk and downtown Rehoboth Beach! This spacious 4 BR, 2 BA home offers an open floor plan living area, formal DR/LR, spacious master BR. Split BR floor for more privacy, and 4th BR can serve as a den. New central AC unit this year, and newer vinyl siding. Enjoy your evening on the screened porch!

Master bath features soaking tub and tiled shower. Single family home under condo regime, so all exterior maintenance is taken care of for you, all you need to do is relax and enjoy the community pool and tennis! Bus station is across the street if you don’t want to drive.

Currently not a rental but does have a good rental history. $420,000

JUNE 19, 2020

37 Letters

Letters 38 JUNE 19, 2020

JUNE 19, 2020

39 Letters

CAMP REHOBOTH BEACH GUIDE BEACH AREA LODGING

CALL IN ADVANCE

services may be disrupted by COVID-19

Visit the Business Partner Directory on the CAMP Rehoboth website to find links to these area businesses in BOLD. The Guide includes: Food and Wine, Shopping, Lodging, and Services—all at camprehoboth.com.

At Melissa’s B&B, 36 Delaware Ave...............................................302-227-7504 Atlantic Sands Hotel, Boardwalk & Baltimore Ave.........................302-227-2511 Atlantis Inn, 154 Rehoboth Ave.....................................................302-227-9446 Breakers Hotel, 105 2nd St & Baltimore Ave.................................302-227-6688 Canalside Inn, 34 6th St.................................................................866-412-2625 Rehoboth Guest House, 40 Maryland Ave.....................................302-227-4117 Sea ‘n Stars Guest Suites, 44 Delaware Ave.................................302-226-2742 Summer Place Hotel, 1st St & Olive Ave........................................302-226-0766 The Shore Inn, 37239 Rehoboth Ave Ext.......................................302-227-8487

LEWES FOOD & DRINK Go Brit, 18388 Coastal Hwy...........................................................302-644-2250 Matt’s Fish Camp, 34401 Tenley Ct...............................................302-644-2267

OTHER AREA FOOD & DRINK Bluecoast Seafood, 1111 Hwy One, Bethany................................302-539-7111 Catch 54, 54 Madison Ave, Fenwick..............................................302-436-8600 Matt’s Fish Camp, 28635 Coastal Hwy, Bethany...........................302-539-2267

SERVICES AT THE BEACH REHOBOTH RETAIL SHOPS Atlantic Jewelry, 313 S. Boardwalk...............................................302-226-0675 Browseabout Books, 133 Rehoboth Ave.......................................302-226-2665 Gallery 50, 50 Wilmington Ave......................................................302-227-2050 New Wave Spas, 20660 Coastal Hwy............................................302-227-8484 Ocean Boulevard Furniture, 19803 Hebron Rd.............................302-645-2626 One Day At A Time Gifts, 46-B Baltimore Ave................................302-212-5632 Shademakers, 33 Baltimore Ave....................................................302-226-2222 Unfinished Business, Rt. 1 behind Panera Bread..........................302-645-8700

REHOBOTH FOOD & DRINK 1776 Steakhouse, Midway Shopping Center................................302-645-9355 Back Porch Café, 59 Rehoboth Ave...............................................302-227-3674 Blue Moon, 35 Baltimore Ave........................................................302-227-6515 Café Azafran, 18 Baltimore Ave.....................................................302-227-8100 Café Papillon, Penny Lane Mall......................................................302-227-7568 Diego’s Bar Nightclub, 37298 Rehoboth Ave................................302-227-0818 Dos Locos, 208 Rehoboth Ave............................................. 302-227-3353 Go Fish, 24 Rehoboth Ave..............................................................302-226-1044 Goolee’s Grille, 11 South 1st St.....................................................302-227-7653 Iguana Grill, 52 Baltimore Ave.......................................................302-727-5273 Just In Thyme, 38163 Robinsons Dr..............................................302-227-3100 Lori’s Café, 39 Baltimore Ave.........................................................302-226-3066 Loves Liquors, LLC, 305c Rehoboth Ave........................................302-227-6966 Lupo Italian Kitchen, 247 Rehoboth Ave.......................................302-226-2240 Palate Bistro, 19266 Coastal Hwy.................................................302-249-8489 Penny Lane Liquors, 42 Rehoboth Ave..........................................302-567-5245 Purple Parrot Grill, 134 Rehoboth Ave...........................................302-226-1139 Rigby’s, 404 Rehoboth Ave............................................................302-227-6080 Shorebreak Lodge, 10 Wilmington Ave.........................................302-227-1007 The Pines, 56 Baltimore Avenue....................................................302-567-2726 The Pond, First & Rehoboth Ave....................................................302-227-2234

Letters 40 JUNE 19, 2020

BUILDING/CLEANING/REMODELING/LANDSCAPING

A.G. Renovations ...........................................................................302-947-4096 Country Life Homes, 34882 Picnic Basket Ct................................302-231-5001 Randall-Douglas.............................................................................302-245-1439 Ron’s Repairs..................................................................................302-727-3591

CHURCHES/SYNAGOGUES

All Saints’ Episcopal, 18 Olive Ave.................................................302-227-7202 Epworth UMC, 19285 Holland Glade Rd.......................................302-227-7743 Grace of God Lutheran, ELCA, 20689 Shoppes at Long Neck.......302-947-1044 M.C.C. of Rehoboth, 19369 Plantation Rd.....................................302-645-4945 Seaside Jewish Community, 18970 Holland Glade Rd..................302-226-8977 St. Peter’s Episcopal, 2nd & Market Sts, Lewes.............................302-645-8479 Unitarian Universalist, 30486 Lewes-G’Town Hwy........................302-313-5838 Unity of Rehoboth, 98 Rudder Rd, Millsboro.................................717-579-2612 Westminster Presbyterian, 301 King Charles Ave.........................302-227-2109

COMMUNITY RESOURCES

AARP of Delaware (age 50+)..........................................................866-227-7441 ACLU of DE—Lesbian & Gay Civil Rights Project............................302-654-3966 CAMP Chorus—Program of CAMP Rehoboth.................................302-227-5620 CAMP Rehoboth—LGBTQ Community Service Org........................302-227-5620 CAMP Rehoboth Families—LGBTQ parents connect......................302-227-5620 CAMP Rehoboth Parents of Transgender & Gender Non-conforming Children............................................302-227-5620 Cape Henlopen Senior Center—Rehoboth (age 50+)....................302-227-2055 CHEER Centers of Sussex County (age 50+)..................................302-515-3040 Delaware Aging & Disability Resource Center...............................800-223-9074 Delaware Human Relations Commission Housing & public accommodation............................................877-544-8626 Delaware Information Line............................................................................2-1-1 Delaware Pride—Community events, annual Pride Festival..........302-265-3020 Delaware Transgender Resources—transdelaware.net, delawarelgbtq@gmail.com Delaware Transgender Support.....................................................302-402-3033

Gay/Lesbian Alcoholics Anonymous—add’l schedules..................302-856-6452 Saturdays 6 pm: Epworth UMC, 19285 Holland Glade Rd (step meeting) Saturdays 7:30 pm: All Saints’ Church, 18 Olive Ave (step meeting) Tuesdays noon: St. Peter’s Church, 211 Mulberry St, Lewes (step meeting) Thursdays noon: CAMP Rehoboth, 37 Baltimore Ave (open discussion) Sundays 9 am: CAMP Rehoboth, 37 Baltimore Ave (open discussion) Tuesdays 8 pm: CAMP Rehoboth, 37 Baltimore Ave (Young Persons) Gay Men’s Discussion Group—Program of CAMP Rehoboth.........302-227-5620 Lesbian Support Group—Program of CAMP Rehoboth..................302-227-5620 Lewes Senior Activity Center (age 50+).........................................302-645-9293 LGBTQ Student Union—University of DE, Newark.........................302-831-8066 Meals on Wheels Lewes-Rehoboth................................................302-645-7449 PFLAG-Rehoboth—2nd Tuesdays, Public Library, 111 Adams Ave, Lewes............................................................302-841-1339 SLAA and SAA—Thursdays, 7:30 pm, All Saints’ Church 18 Olive Ave ............................................................................302-745-7929 Social Security Administration—Lewes office................................800-772-1213 TransLiance of DE—Rehoboth—4th Tuesdays at 7 pm, MCC of Rehoboth; contact: TransLiance@gmail.com

Christiana Care HIV Wellness Clinic ..............................................302-933-3420 Christiana Care LGBTQ Health Initiatives.......................................302-733-1227 Delaware HIV Consortium - Statewide..........................................302-654-5471 Delaware Hospice..........................................................................800-838-9800 Delaware Total Foot & Ankle Center.................................... 302-297-8431 National Alliance on Mental Illness of DE (NAMI)...........................302-427-0787 Rehoboth Beach Dental, 19643 Blue Bird Ln....................... 302-226-0300 Steven B. Wright, D.M.D., 18912 J.J. Williams Hwy............. 302-645-6671 The Aesthetic Center......................................................................302-827-2125

COUNSELING/THERAPY/LIFE COACH

Rock Lock/Robin Rohr/Your Community Locksmith.......................302-386-9166

Jewish Family Services........................................................ 302-478-9411 Karen Abato, ATR-BC, LPAT, Licensed Art Psychotherapist... 302-232-5330 Kevin J. Bliss, Personal/Professional Coaching.............................302-754-1954 Time to Heal Counseling & Consulting, Lewes ............................302-574-6954

ENTERTAINMENT

Jazz SEAduction music, Valerie McNickol............................ 302-381-6707

ERRANDS/PERSONAL NEEDS

Alternative Lifestyle Services.........................................................302-727-2050

EVENT PLANNING/CATERING

Big Fish Catering................................................................. 302-226-5500 Flair................................................................................................302-930-0709 Palate Bistro & Catering.................................................................302-249-8489 Plate Catering.................................................................................302-644-1200

FINANCIAL SERVICES

Bell Rock Capital, 19606 Coastal Hwy..........................................302-227-7608 Community Pride Financial............................................................302-227-2939 County Bank, 19927 Shuttle Rd.......................................... 302-226-9800 Jenn Harpel, Morgan Stanley.........................................................302-644-6620

FLORISTS

Windsor’s Florist, 20326 Coastal Hwy...........................................302-227-9481

FUNERAL SERVICES

Parsell Funeral Homes & Crematorium................................ 302-645-9520

HAIR SALONS/TATTOO & PIERCING

Beach Cuts, 214 Rehoboth Ave...........................................302-226-ROBB Gregory Meyers Hair Studio, 20245 Bay Vista Rd & Rt 1..............302-727-5331 Stephan & Co Salon & Spa, 19266 Coastal Hwy................... 302-260-9478

HEALTH-RELATED

AIDS Delaware – Kent & Sussex Counties.....................................302-226-3519 AIDS Delaware – New Castle County............................................302-652-6776 AIDS Hotline – Delaware statewide...............................................800-422-0429 Brandywine Urology Consultants...................................................302-824-7039 Beebe Healthcare, 26744 J.J. Williams Hwy.................................302-645-3300 CAMPsafe AIDS education & prevention program of CAMP Rehoboth........................................................................302-227-5620

INSURANCE

Eric Blondin, State Farm...................................................... 302-644-3276 George Bunting, State Farm................................................ 302-227-3891 Jeanine O’Donnell, State Farm............................................ 302-645-7283

LEGAL/ACCOUNTING/TRUST SERVICES

Lawson Firm, 402 Rehoboth Ave...................................................302-226-3700 Steven Falcone CPA, Taxes & Planning..........................................302-644-8634

LOCKSMITHS

MASSAGE THERAPY/FITNESS

Midway Fitness & Racquetball, Midway Center.............................302-645-0407 One Spirit Massage, 169 Rehoboth Ave........................................302-226-3552 Rehoboth Massage/Alignment.......................................................302-727-8428

PET RETAIL

Critter Beach, 156 Rehoboth Ave..................................................302-226-2690 Pet Portraits by Monique................................................................717-650-4626

PET SERVICES

Brandywine Valley SPCA, 22918 Dupont Blvd, G’twn.......... 302-856-6361 Delaware Humane Association, 18675 Coastal Hwy........... 302-200-7159 Parsell Pet Crematorium, 16961 Kings Hwy, Lewes............ 302-645-7445

REAL ESTATE

Allen Jarmon, RE/MAX, 317 Rehoboth Ave...................................302-227-4800 Bill Peiffer, Patterson Schwartz, 18958 Coastal Hwy....................302-703-6987 Chris Beagle, Berkshire Hathaway, 37230 Rehoboth Ave............302-227-6101 Debbie Reed Team, 319 Rehoboth Ave.........................................800-263-5648 Donna Whiteside, Berkshire Hathaway, 16712 Kings Hwy...........302-381-4871 Eric Atkins, Patterson-Schwartz, 18958 Coastal Hwy...................302-727-1456 Hugh Fuller, Realtor........................................................................302-745-1866 John Black, Patterson Schwartz, 18958 Coastal Hwy...................302-703-6987 Lana Warfield, Berkshire Hathaway, 37230 Rehoboth Ave...........302-227-6101 Lee Ann Wilkinson Group, 16698 Kings Hwy....................... 302-645-6664 Lingo Realty, 246 Rehoboth Ave....................................................302-227-3883 McGuiness Group, 246 Rehoboth Ave...........................................302-227-3883 Randy Mason/Shirley Kalvinsky, Lingo Realty................................302-227-3883 Sea Bova Associates, 20250 Coastal Hwy........................... 302-227-1222 Troy Roberts, Mann & Sons, 414 Rehoboth Ave............................302-228-7422

TRAVEL & TRANSPORTATION

Accent On Travel, 37156 Rehoboth Ave.............................. 302-278-6100 CHEER Transportation (age 50+)....................................................302-856-4909 ITN Southern Delaware (age 60+ or disabled)...............................302-448-8486 Jolly Trolley Shuttle from Rehoboth Ave & Boardwalk...................302-644-0400 Olivia Travel...........................................................800-631-6277 ext. 696

POPULAR LGBTQ BEACHES

Poodle Beach, south end of the Rehoboth Boardwalk Cape Henlopen State Park, Ocean Dr north to Cape Henlopen State Park. Daily parking rate in effect March-November

JUNE 19, 2020 41 Letters

CAMP Houses

BY RICH BARNETT

Kit House Cool Editor’s note: this is a new feature, spotlighting area homeowners and their residences.

T

he secret to a good renovation is two-fold. You must have vision.

And you should hire a contractor not because he’s good looking, but because you can trust him with your money and he can deliver a quality project on time.

This advice comes from Matt Gaffney and Ned Kesmodel, a retired couple who recently downsized from a large multi-story Nantucket-inspired shingled house in Rehoboth to two modest cottages: one here in town on Henlopen Avenue, and one in Delray Beach, Florida. We all like to see other people’s houses and hear their stories, so, let’s step inside.…

Matt and Ned were gracious enough to greet me after they’d spent the morning helping the Rehoboth Art League clean up its gardens, pulling ivy and cutting out dead branches in enormous old boxwoods. Of the pair, Ned is the head gardener. “He’s a dirty boy,” says Matt, “always dragging in all kinds of debris. It’s why we slipcover all the furniture.”

Ned shrugs. The place looks immaculate to me, but I take Matt at his word.

Ned also serves on the city’s Park and Shade Tree Committee, and the Board of Elections. The two men are long-time supporters of CAMP Rehoboth.

These fellas are mad for home renovations. I think they’d rather slit their throats than tear down an old house. As the owner of an elderly home myself, I can appreciate that. This house is their eighth project together, a reno of a homely little 70s kit house tucked in among oak trees and loblolly pines.

Friends were perplexed when they bought it, but Matt and Ned could see the potential.

FYI, a kit house is one where the manufacturer delivers pre-cut materials for a specific house model to the owner’s lot. The owner then hires a local contractor or carpenter to put it together.

The concept is said to have originated in England and entered the US market in the late 19th century. Sears, Roebuck & Co. was one of the more recognizable manufacturers of these “mail order bungalows,” which are said to have democratized the home buying process

in this country. Kit houses are gaining popularity again these days, especially trendy eco-friendly ones.

“Our boring little house badly needed a face-lift,” Ned explains. “It didn’t have much going for it besides the big screened-in porch and a row of glass windows on the front of the house. We’ve

“He’s a dirty boy,” says Matt, “always dragging in all kinds of debris. It’s why we slipcover all the furniture.” always wanted a screened-in porch. Now we practically live on it. And we can look across to the Epworth graveyard and keep an eye on our plot.” They won’t need to renovate that.…

I cast my eye about. At 10’ x 25’ there’s plenty of room on the porch for lounging and entertaining in comfortable sofas and chairs—perfect for morning coffee or evening cocktails with friends.

A dining table easily seats six for dinner.

The guys reconfigured the outdated 70s design by removing the walls separating the living room, kitchen, dining room, and one bedroom to create a large living space opening onto the screened porch. They kept the pine floors and added a wood-burning fireplace and built-in bookshelves.

They ended up with three bedrooms and three bathrooms. Outside, they re-sided the brown planking with board and batten siding and painted it Oxford White, a Benjamin Moore color that I wholly concur is the perfect shade of white with just a touch of grey.

It sounds straightforward, but it was a lot of work. Never in their wildest imaginations would they have thought it would take a full year to complete.

Continued on page 75

Letters 42 JUNE 19, 2020

JUNE 19, 2020 43 Letters

Letters 44 JUNE 19, 2020

JUNE 19, 2020 45 Letters

The REAL DIRT

BY ERIC W. WAHL

Gardening for Wellness

I

t is no surprise that during these troubling times, gardening is prefabricated material that looks like wood. Other materials at an all-time high. I must confess that even though I have a are available too; you are only limited by your imagination. Of career in landscape design, I have never had my own parcel course, how high to build is a consideration as well. Typical of ground where I can get my hands dirty. It’s always been a heights are in 6-inch increments. Eighteen inches is a stanbalcony, terrace, or patio sprinkled with greenery. dard height for seating, so if you are using 6 x 6 lumber, three One of the trending items of late is the Wellness Garden or stacked on top of each other could double as a place to sit Therapy Garden. We all know by instinct that being in the garden while you weed your garden. has its benefits to our health and wellbeing, but now it’s proven If it is a low-level bed, consider placing a layer of filter fabric in science and data. A Wellness Garden can be as simple as a before you fill it with soil. This will help keep the weeds down flower bed or herb garden that but also allow water to pass stimulates all the senses. Or through. Some like a weed barit can be more elaborate with rier on the top of the bed with universally accessible beds the vegetables poking through. and pathways.

This is optional; I prefer natural For my mental health and wood mulch. to promote better eating at If starting from seed, make home, I chose to start a raised sure to check the recommenvegetable bed at the local comdations on when to sow. You munity garden in Milford. The can also vary the seeding entire plot of ground has been times to extend the growing transformed, thanks to Nancy season for some vegetables.

Saxon, president of the Milford In addition, timing is critical Community Gardens. My raised for cool season crops and bed is one of several. Nancy, warm season crops. Always along with volunteers, built double-check the planting numerous raised beds, tilled requirements. Think about fall and planted rows of tomatoes, harvests too; planting pumppeppers, and squash; they kins, cabbage, and other late now are planning for additional season crops can be done universally accessible potting when your summer vegetables tables. are beginning to fade; again, Having a raised vegetable check the recommended Eighteen inches is a standard height for bed of your own could be the planting times. next project for “staying-atDon’t be afraid to really seating, so if you are using 6 x 6 lumber, three home.” Let’s go through the stock your bed with plants. stacked on top of each other could double as a When starting from seed, it is steps of creating one.

First, make sure you have typical to overplant and then place to sit while you weed your garden. the space and the correct thin them out as they grow. If location in your yard. Almost starting with plants from the all vegetables require full sun. They also like moist but wellnursery, check to see the mature size of the plant—this will be drained soils. Having a raised bed helps out with the soil rekey for proper spacing and production. quirement since you will most likely add soil to bring the level One more item to consider is companion plants. Some do of planting up to the level of the bed. I tend to use the existing not mind growing next to each other as is the case with most soil, blended with new topsoil and organic matter such as herbs. However, there are always exceptions. I recently found compost. If your existing soils are heavy or include clay, then out that cucumbers and tomatoes do not play nice with each I recommend adding some sand to the mix. Both sand and other in the garden, but they certainly go well when combined compost will help with drainage. in a cucumber salad!

If you are building your own bed, the size is determined by Stay well and get in the garden! ▼ the space available and your endurance in building it. Prefabricated raised beds are readily available and usually measure 4 Eric W. Wahl is a Landscape Architect and President of the Delaware feet wide by 8 feet long. This is the size of my bed.

Native Plant Society.

They can be made of a durable wood like cedar or a Letters 46 JUNE 19, 2020

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A 501(c)3 Non-Profit JUNE 19, 2020 47 Letters

We at Delaware Pride join those individuals all over the country, and all over the world, to raise our voices against racism and white supremacy. We mourn the murder of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade, and countless other Black Americans at the hands of police. We also know the danger that our Black LGBTQ brothers and sisters face at the intersection of homophobia and racism, particularly Black Transgender women. We can not remain neutral in the face of inequality and oppression. We have an obligation to all the LGBTQ activists who came before us to actively fight against white supremacy because we believe that Black Lives Matter. We believe that Black Queer Lives Matter. We believe that Black Trans Lives Matter. Pride month is a celebration of who we are, but it is also a remembrance of where we were. We remember that the Stonewall Riots were led by Black Transgender women. We remember that the fight for rights started by not tolerating oppression.

We are reminded that our fight is not over.

To our Black LGBTQ siblings: We are listening and we are with you in this fight.

“To be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedoms of others.” - Nelson Mandela

Letters 48 JUNE 19, 2020

randy mason 28-02_Layout 1 3/30/2018 2:08 PM Page 1

246 Rehoboth Avenue Rehoboth Beach, DE 19971 302-227-3883

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Partner with Success www.HomesOfRehoboth.com JUNE 19, 2020 49 Letters

Did you know that CAMP Rehoboth provides • Community Space, Meeting Rooms, Public Courtyard • Diversity Training for City & Park Police •Advocacy for LGBTQ & Other Human Rights Issues • Sexual Health Counseling (Couples & Individuals) • Health Testing (partnership/Beebe Medical Center) • HIV Prevention, Education & Testing • CAMP Rehoboth Chorus • Support Groups • Safe Haven for Youth • Grief Counseling • Public WiFi • Information Resources on Area Services • Tourist Information Services • Gallery & Performance Space for Artists • Fundraising Assistance for Other Area Non-Profits • Ticket Sales for Other Organizations • Women’s FEST Weekend • Promotion for Local Non-profit Events

Letters 50 JUNE 19, 2020

37 Baltimore Avenue Rehoboth Beach, DE 19971 302 227-5620 www.camprehoboth.com

saved souls 28-02_Layout 1 3/30/2018 2:15 PM Page 1

JUNE 19, 2020 51 Letters

Out & About

BY ERIC C. PETERSON

Remembering Larry Kramer

L

arry Kramer died on Wednesday, May 27, 2020. He was an activist, playwright, provocateur, essayist, and a loud-mouthed son-of-a-bitch. He was 84 years old.

In the 1980s, when the AIDS epidemic had killed hundreds of thousands of Americans, mostly gay men, Anthony Fauci led the AIDS response on behalf of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Kramer didn’t think Fauci was moving fast enough. He referred to Fauci as a murderer; said he was evil, and incompetent, and he hated gay people.

Upon hearing of Larry Kramer’s death, Anthony Fauci sent an e-mail to Michael Specter at the New Yorker.

It read, in part, “This is a very sad day for me and for so many others involved in the HIV/AIDS struggle over so many years who have had the opportunity to know and interact with Larry Kramer. A veritable icon has passed after a life of enormous impact.” To say that Kramer’s legacy is complicated is to put it mildly.

In fact, Kramer shouted those things about Fauci in the press and then, according to a recent interview with Dr. Fauci, Kramer called him to say he didn’t really mean it, but he needed to make waves.

Kramer was mostly known for two things: saving many, many lives, and being very, very angry. It isn’t difficult to argue that his anger was justified. He founded the Gay Men’s Health Crisis (GMHC) in 1981, but was eventually ousted from the organization he created for being too radical. He founded another organization, ACT UP, in 1987.

Their motto was “Silence = Death,” and silent they were not. Known as much for their tactics as for their mission, their demonstrations typically resulted in several, sometimes hundreds, of arrests for civil disobedience. One can only imagine how that must have galled Kramer—the “civil” part, I mean.

Civility was never Larry Kramer’s goal; he wouldn’t have been pleased with the description.

As a student and fan of popular culture, I’m more familiar with Larry Letters 52 JUNE 19, 2020

Kramer’s writing for the page and stage: his provocatively titled novel Faggots (1978), and the brilliant play, The Normal Heart (1985).

I read Faggots in the mid-1990s, having just come out of the closet in my twenties. I’ll be honest; it scared me a little. I saw much of myself in Fred, the main character, who just wanted to find a nice man and settle down, but was constantly bedeviled by the more hedonistic aspects of gay culture: bathhouses, party drugs, glory holes, orgies—y’know, typical gay stuff.

He wrote about men who would say they were free—free from the

As he fought to save the lives of the gay men who made up his tribe, he was unafraid—absolutely fearless—of earning the scorn of the very men he was trying to rescue. heteronormative expectations of society, free to be as vulgar, promiscuous, high, and sleazy as they wished, with no one to stop them. But Kramer saw them as the opposite: chained by shame and internalized oppression, reacting to society’s disapproval and controlled by it rather than rebelling against it.

As a young, still-maybe-Catholic, inexperienced, just-out-of-the-closet gay man, I wasn’t sure I disagreed with him. But for the first time, I wasn’t sure I was so thrilled about this club I had just joined. I wondered how many Freds were really out there.

As you can imagine, Kramer made a lot of gay people angry with Faggots.

Understandably, they didn’t much like the way he portrayed them. He

explored this chasm further in his play, The Normal Heart. Written less than a decade later but in a completely different world, The Normal Heart is about Ned Weeks, an AIDS activist.

Ned rails against the government and medical establishments for their slowness and indifference, but he saves some ire for his fellow gay men, who—to his mind—are having too much sex and are partly to blame for the quick spread of the virus. At least in this work, he gave his critics a credible voice, and yet it always seems to be Ned who gets the last word in their debates.

It is for this reason that I remember Kramer as angry, sure—but also an avatar of pure courage. As he fought to save the lives of the gay men who made up his tribe, he was unafraid—absolutely fearless—of earning the scorn of the very men he was trying to rescue. He said what was right, without any concern as to whether it would be popular. He stood for an entire community, but even in doing so was brave enough to stand completely alone, if need be.

It’s fitting somehow that Larry Kramer died just as many of America’s cities were on the verge of riots—chaotic, violent outbursts of rage that have many of us shaking our heads in sadness, horror, and confusion. I doubt Larry would have been confused; he had long ago made his peace with rage, and perhaps there’s a lesson there for the rest of us. ▼ Eric Peterson is a writer and teacher. He cohosts a podcast about old movies—visit www. rewindpod.com to learn more.

Safely open this summer!

19266 Coastal Hwy, Rehoboth Beach, DE 19971

We are committed to ensuring food and drink safety and providing a safe and enjoyable experience.

134 Market Street, Lewes, DE 19958

JUNE 19, 2020 53 Letters

Explore Springpoint Choice from the safety and comfort of your own home!

Springpoint Choice is a program for active, independent, healthy adults who are planning for the future. Members who join Springpoint Choice will benefit from care coordination of future long-term care needs while gaining access to Springpoint’s network of long-term care services and personalized health and wellness programs.

For a great introduction to the program, check out our blog post, “A Retirement Community That Comes to You,” adapted from a November 2019 New York Times article: https://springpointchoice.org/times.

es to You for years, That Com es ommunity mbers live in their own hous C t en m re me A Reti programs, e at-home

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g to her ailing nt years tendin all three Basso had spe point, Carole Ann band; at one ey disabled hus thern New Jers nor her parents and in e hospice car were receiving home. . Basso, a l,” recalled Ms redibly stressfu cher. “I didn’t want to “It was so inc y tea school histor ” . retired high ess zin en that cra give my childr side town of the small bay band’s relocated to ents’ and hus So when she 2, after her par 201 d. At 69, in l., De d on her min Lewes, icy and future weighe ths, her own ome care e insurance pol dea car at-h an erm ed g-t a lon ich had Basso, 76, join house, where Ms. Basso had nt savings, wh Carole Ann to stay in her . sion, but sca e Gustafson for t allows her a modest pen er-cost region program tha on her. Michell or” checks in move to a low a “care navigat prompted her in long-term es ion Tim opt k a ut another The New Yor abo rd hea lls. Typically, she . without wa ?” In Lewes, es: a C.C.R.C care of myself living, a mement communiti ndent living to assisted going to take care retirem , “How am I epe e programs, ing red ind om tinu nde m at-h wo fro con e g ft She shi rin ing car by a few pionee or campus where residents ty decline. But in continu care offered x mobili rates a comple ir health and own houses.

C.C.R.C. ope table ranch g home if the years in their t or a nursin in her comfor ndent living stay epe to ind ory-care uni her the ” checks in t allows entially spend “care navigator, nt Choice tha members ess lloughby, her led Springpoi Wi cal ne m Dia gra a. so joined a pro setter named Princess Lei Bas .

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Letters 54 JUNE 19, 2020

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Celebrity Interview

BY CHRIS AZZOPARDI

Janelle Monáe Doesn’t Know Time Either

The Queer Icon Talks ‘Too on the Nose’ Pandemic, LGBTQ Representation, and Pride Plans

M

onáe’s in isolation. From lockdown, she at least looks put together. Greeting me like the bots she sings about, she says, “Hi, I’m Janelle and I don’t know who I am today.”

She appears to be reclining on a couch, a white top hat perched on her head; her virtual backdrop is appropriately one for Homecoming.

In August, Monáe leads the cast of the slavery-themed horror film Antebellum, which was initially scheduled to be released in April.

And though it was just in February, it seems like another life when Monáe opened the Oscars and celebrated diversity and being, as she proclaimed on national TV during her performance, a “black queer artist.” Previously, in 2018, she came out as pansexual, after years of telling the press she was dating androids.

So, no wonder she was looking forward to headlining NYC Pride Island on June 27. In a statement, she called it a “dream.” But summer gatherings, including NYC Pride Island, have been cancelled.

Monáe is still doing what she can; recently, she took part in a special performance for Verizon’s Pay It Forward LIVE, when she and Verizon made donations to small businesses owned by those in the LGBTQ community and other minorities affected by COVID-19.

How are you coping with everything that’s happening right now?

I don’t know. I probably won’t know until, like, next month. Time is not real to me. I feel like I’m in a warped, alternate universe, especially watching everybody walking around with masks and avoiding each other and dealing with an administration who hides information and is putting capitalism above the health and well-being of our people.

How does Homecoming fit into the kind of stories you want to be telling?

We’re on a journey with her as she discovers her identity. I think that this show has

Letters 56 JUNE 19, 2020

nuanced conversation because we’re dealing with sexuality and we’re dealing with gender. A lot of it is a journey; it’s not just a destination. And there’s new terminology that’s coming, and we have to be open and nonjudgmental within our community.

I’ve definitely received a lot of judgment, and I can’t say that I haven’t judged myself, but at this point I think that life is a mystery. We are uncovering truths about us, just like this show does, and the more information we have, we should never feel ashamed to lean into that gray area.

But I want to say that I think that we still have a lot more work to do in terms of allies. Folks who are more privileged, who are the majority and the minority, I think that they can share the mic.

a lot to say about capitalism over citizenship and community, and the well-being of our citizens. I think it has a lot to say about how we treat ex-vets and mental health. And it’s a character study on minorities and those who are marginalized, and how they go on their rise to being powerful and also having their freedom through living in their truth, so that was super important to me.

And the show’s queer representation?

Like you said: representation. It always matters. You think about the number of shows that are greenlit and films that are greenlit, and we’re still in that minority.

It’s still not equal in terms of storytelling.

There are so many cis, het-normative stories, and that’s not a reflection of the real world. I don’t want to give away too much, but there is a strong presence of (queerness) in Homecoming. I hope the folks feel seen.

How do you feel about where we’re at now with LGBTQ representation? And what do you hope is next in that regard?

I think it’s getting better. I think we have a long way to go. I think it’s a more

You were supposed to perform at NYC Pride Island this summer. What message would you like to send out to all the people who will be celebrating Pride in a very different way this year?

I was looking forward to being there, but all of our health is important. I would hate to be irresponsible and hold a concert and bring people together and then people pass away as a result of us trying to have a concert right now. But I have a feeling that in the future I will come back.

The organizers of Pride New York are trying to put together something special that I may be a part of, so just keep your ears glued. (On May 15, it was announced that Monáe would be among the performers taking part in NYC's virtual Pride celebration on June 28.) ▼ As editor of Q Syndicate, the LGBTQ wire service, Chris Azzopardi has interviewed a multitude of superstars, including Cher, Meryl Streep, Mariah Carey, and Beyoncé. His work has also appeared in the New York Times, Vanity Fair, GQ, and Billboard. Reach him via Twitter @chrisazzopardi.

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JUNE 19, 2020 57 Letters

arts+entertainment

by Doug Yetter

SPOTLIGHT ON THE

arts

CAMP Rehoboth Puts Art at The Heart of Our Community

Thanks for Masking!

H

appy PRIDE to all you quaran-queens, as well as you introverts continuing to practice anti-social distancing. I’m certain we were all looking forward to another wonderful summer at the beach, but…2020.

So, go pour yourself another quarantini, and stay safe out there. Or in there, as the case may be.

Let’s Try This Again…

Women’s FEST Art Show June 19-July 23 | By appointment CAMP Rehoboth Gallery is reopening with art that was accepted—but never had the chance to be exhibited—for the Women’s FEST Art Show. Fine artist Caroline Huff selected works by over 25 artists in multiple mediums. The exhibit will be on display June 19-July 23—by appointment and on social media. CDC guidelines will be followed.

The exhibit features local artists, including: Susan Frey, Jane Knaus, Renata Price, Rita Poore, and Mara Rago. From florals to portraits, the subjects are varied as well as the mediums.

Women’s FEST may not have happened but we can still celebrate our local women artists.▼

This program is supported, in part, by a grant from the Delaware Division of the Arts, a state agency, in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts.

The Division promotes Delaware arts events on www.DelawareScene.com.

Letters 58 JUNE 19, 2020

At CAMP Rehoboth gallery (clockwise), Waiting to Dance by Renata Price; Flock of Pink by Rita Poore; Tits Up by Mara Rago; Happy Fish by Jane Knaus; and Forgotten Treasures by Susan Frey.

arts+entertainment PERFORMING ARTS

GALLERIES & MUSEUMS

The Rehoboth Beach Bandstand has made the difficult decision not to move forward with their 2020 concert season, and the Freeman Stage has not yet announced a season, or if they will cancel their season.

Abraxas Studio of Art (515 Federal Street, Lewes; 302-645-9119; abraxasart.com) features the oil portraits and landscape paintings of Abraxas. He’s offering one-on-one lessons in sketching either in person or Facetime.

Cinema Art Theater (17701 Dartmouth Drive, Lewes; 302-313-4032; rehobothfilm.com) has reopened with CDC guidelines in effect and seating capacity has been reduced. Several films will continue to be available for streaming. Check their website for screenings, show times, and new policies.

Clear Space Theatre Company (20 Baltimore Avenue; 302-227-2270; ClearSpaceTheatre.org) plans to reopen July 6 with social distancing procedures in place for both audiences and actors. Their summer season features Cabaret, Sister Act, and La Cage Aux Folles. Check their website for details.

The Milton Theater (110 Union Street, Milton; 302-684-3038; miltontheatre. com) had a weekend of shows and events in June and premiered their new Quayside stage, but currently lists only their Summer Camps. Check their website for updates.

Possum Point Players (441 Old Laurel Road, Georgetown; 302-856-4560; possumpointplayers.org) has moved the majority of their 2020 season into 2021. They are planning to present Godspell in an outdoor location in September.

Second Street Players (2 South Walnut Street, Milford; 302-422-0220 / 800-838-3006; secondstreetplayers. com) has cancelled the remainder of their 2020 season and will present those shows as part of their 2021 lineup.

The Brush Factory on Kings (830 Kings Highway, Lewes; 302-7452229; Facebook@brushlewes) houses a co-op of 50 local artisans and merchants—featuring the unique and unusual for your home and garden.

CAMP Rehoboth Gallery (37 Baltimore Avenue; 302-227-5620; camprehoboth.com) features the Women’s FEST Art—June 19-July 23. Call CAMP Rehoboth for an appointment to view the artwork. (See listing elsewhere in this column.)

Cape Artists Gallery (110 W. 3rd Street, Lewes; 302-644-7733; capeartists.org) is a half block from the Zwaanendael Museum and features the work of two dozen artists and their personal interpretations of life at the beach.

Gallery 37 (8 South Walnut Street, Milford; 302-265-2318; marciareedpainting.com) represents over 45 artists and artisans from around the country with fine art, woodturned vessels, fibers, glass art, and more.

Gallery 50 (50 Wilmington Avenue; 302-227-2050; gallery50art.com) features original paintings, jewelry, glass, sculpture, ceramics, and mixed media.

Peninsula Gallery (520 E. Savannah Road, Lewes; 302-645-0551; peninsula-gallery.com) offers over 3,000 square feet of display and custom framing. They are currently featuring Symbiosis: Art and Nature— mixed media collage by Kate Norris— through June 21. Opening June 27: Evolution—new works by Nina Mickelsen—through July 19.

Going to School, Susan Amadio, mixed media, at Rehoboth Art League.

Rehoboth Art League (12 Dodds Lane, Henlopen Acres; 302-2278408; rehobothartleague.org) offers several exhibitions: Season: Spring—a Member’s Juried Showcase through July 25; Charlene Jobe—Member Artist of the Month—through June 30; Painting with Words, 47th Annual Members’ Fine Craft Exhibit, and Highways and Byways—all through July 12. Check their website for details on their extensive class offerings in ceramics, stained glass, pottery, mosaic, pen and ink, watercolor, acrylics.…

Rehoboth Beach Museum (511 Rehoboth Avenue at the Canal, 302-2277310; rehobothbeachmuseum.org) has virtual offerings to stay in touch on YouTube and their Facebook page including Off the Shelf and Golden Age of Rehoboth Beach: The Railroad Era. Tideline Gallery (111 Rehoboth Avenue; 302-227-4444; tidelinegallery.com) offers unique gifts, Judaica, jewelry, pottery, lamps, and art glass. ▼ Doug is the Artistic Director for CAMP Rehoboth Chorus, Director of Music Ministries at Epworth UMC, and cofounder and Artistic Director emeritus of the Clear Space Theater Company. Contact Doug at dougyetter@gmail.com if you want to add your events to the calendar.

Check out CAMP Arts on our website at camprehoboth.com for links to all the listed theatres, galleries and museums.

JUNE 19, 2020 59 Letters

arts+entertainment

by Terri Schlichenmeyer

BOOKED SOLID Confessions of a Gay Priest

by Tom Rastrelli c.2020, University of Iowa Press, $19.95/higher in Canada, 328 pages You spent days examining your life.

Sins: that's what you were looking for. How had you displeased God? How many lies, covets, dishonors? What have you done since—oh, when was your last confession, anyhow?

They say the sacrament is good for your soul, and in Confessions of a Gay Priest by Tom Rastrelli, there's a lot to tell.

Though he'd always known that he liked boys, little Tommy Rastrelli pretended the opposite when he was in grade school because marriage was what good Catholics did. His family was devout and Rastrelli never questioned God's love.

Not even after, he says, he was repeatedly molested by a doctor in his Iowa hometown.

For several reasons, he never told his parents about the abuse, enduring it for years until he'd convinced them that he was too old for a pediatrician. That God hadn't saved him from a predator made Rastrelli slowly lose his faith and his self-respect. He stopped attending Mass and began questioning the Church's teachings.

But then God called a shocked Tom Rastrelli to the priesthood.

It happened while he was at college, and the whole idea quickly consumed him. Gone was the plan to major in theatre; instead, Rastrelli began to explore a world steeped in mystery and ritual, but overlaid with fear. Always believing that testimony against the doctor could save others from the

same abuse, Rastrelli took legal action, knowing that scandal could ruin his chance to attend seminary.

There were many things undiscussable, in fact, and the court case was only half of it. As he progressed in his journey to ordination, the secrets included priestly kisses, caresses, and soft lies that a "backrub" was just a backrub. At nearly every gathering, Rastrelli was approached for sex or touched inappropriately, led to believe that celibacy had wiggle-room, plied with alcohol or favors, and left to deal with it alone.

He fell in misguided love.

And then he fell into a deep depression, with only one real way out....

Confessions of a Gay Priest is a hard, hard book to read— it'll make you squirm, it'll make your eyebrows raise, you'll want to toss it on the street and let semis run it over, and yet, it's stay-up-all-night compelling.

Beginning with his ordination (so you know-don't-know the end of the story), author Tom Rastrelli tells a tale that will further shock Catholics already reeling from church-related scandals. This book, however, is not written in the same manner as is a diocesan document: Rastrelli is sometimes extremely graphic, both in the bedroom and in his various emotional states. He doesn't pull back the curtains on his experiences; he rips them down and burns them. He uses pseudonyms, but tells details before softening his harshness with beautiful language, strong faith, and poetic distractions that play with a reader's sympathy.

You can't beat a book like that, though its graphic nature needs to again be underscored. For a reader who can endure a panoply of squirms, Confessions of a Gay Priest is worth deep examination. ▟ Terri Schlichenmeyer has been reading since she was three years old and never goes anywhere without a book. Always Overbooked, she lives on a hill in Wisconsin with two dogs and 15,000 books.

• •

• • • ff •  � • � � �

Letters 60 JUNE 19, 2020

Catch every show twice each week!

JUNE 19, 2020 61 Letters

Letters 62 JUNE 19, 2020

Giving back is my way of saying “Thank you.”

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63 Letters

CAMPshots

SCENES FROM REHOBOTH BEACH A Slow Start to Summer 2020—Rehoboth Restaurants Reopen with Restrictions and New Sidewalk Seating THIS PAGE 1) Lori Kline, Monica Chmielewski, Jen Booth, Sandy Freeman, Charlie Gable, and Anne Cole at Lori’s Café and CAMP Rehoboth Courtyard.

2) Derek Thomas, Brian Shook, Hugh Fuller, Jamie Romano, Butch Cordova, John Flynn, Billy Toner, David Brinton, Joe Sterner, RB Commissioner Edward Chrazanowski, and Terry Kistler at Purple Parrot. 3) Gary Seiden and Ah Bashir (with Max) Celebrating Gary’s Birthday. 4) Tim Ragan, Randy Haney, Kim Martin, and Scott Wealand at Blue Moon.

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OPPOSITE PAGE 5) Tom Newton, John Hackett, Tony Burns, Khusan, David Mariner, Chris Kettner, Pamala Stanley, Tom Bachmann, Tom Poor, Kevin McDuffie, and Tyler Townsend at Aqua. 6) Luis Martinez, Andrea Mardalo, and Manny Tejeda at Dos Locos. 7) Lisa Dillon, Mary Tapp, Chip Latina, Sally Marchegiano, and Maria Marchegiano at Nicola Pizza. 8) Bob Suppies, Shawn White, Anthony Frasso, Chris Cahill, Richard Cahill, Jeff Smith, and Tony DiMichele at The Pines. 9) Joanne Martin, Amy Martin, and JB Fields at Salt Air. 10) Don Alexander, Daniel Bowler, Tom Resh, and Jeffrey Meyers at Café Azafran. 11) Michael Taggert, Brendon McLaughlin, Jarad Bieschke, David Arma, Steve Jaskulsky, Andrea Jaskulsky, Matt D’Amico, Scott Brinitzer, Mark Matey, and Jay Kottoff at Poodle Beach.

Photos by Murray Archibald, Tony Burns, and Tricia Massella.

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Cool It! Welcome to the Dog Days Seasons in The Sun

2019 10 July 26, 29, Number Volume oboth.com campreh

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C R E A T I N G ment That’s Entertain A Passion for Play Taking Dance Tradition for a Twirl

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67 Letters

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GREEN LEVEL Brenda Abell X Gerry Beaulieu & Bill Fuchs Sharon Bembry & Lois Powell Alex Benjamin & Pete Grover* Chris Berg & Terry Kistler Teresa Bolduc & Kim McGeown David Bower* Chris Bowers* David W. Briggs & John F. Benton X Charlie Browne & Rod Cook X Cheryl Buxton Jay Chalmers & John Potthast X Paul Christensen & Dennis Morgan* Beth Cohen & Fran Sneider X Don Corin & Tim Dillingham* Stephen Corona Mike DeFlavia & Tony Sowers* Max Dick* Maureen Dolan & Karen McGavin* Ann Evans*

Kathy & Corky Fitzpatrick X Cynthia Flynn & Deirdre Boyle X Connie Fox & Donna Adair Richard Green & Asi Ohana X John Hackett & Tom Newton* David Hagelin & Andy Brangenberg* Harris Holden X Terry Hollinger & Mike May John Holohan & William Ensminger* Steve Hoult & Rick Bane X Karen Hugues & Cathy McCallister X Jocelyn Kaplan & Idalie Adams X Linda Kemp* Deborah Kennedy & Beth Yocum* Jerry Kennedy & Robert Quinones X Eric Korpon & Steven Haber* Stephen Manos X Courtney & Katie McGregor Susan Morrison* Dennis Neason & Steve Bendyna Kim Nelson & Lori Simmons X Fran O’Brien & David Gifford Don Peterson & Jeff Richman X Keith Petrack & Michael Fetchko* Anne Pikolas & Jean Charles X Stephen Pleskach X Gail Purcell & Sandy Kraft Bill Rayman & Frank King* Carolyn Robinson Kim Rutherford & Dalit Eyal James Sears & Luis Mora Douglas Sellers & Mark Eubanks Scott Shaughnessy & John Hassell* William Snow & Richard Pagnotta X Joseph Steele & Chris Leady Angie Strano & Cindy Gruman David Streit & Scott Button* Terry Vick & Billy Pat Clamp Sandra & Lori Waldee-Warden Margaret Wilkins* Kathy Wiz & Muriel Hogan X Jon Worthington & Bryan Houlette X Doug Yetter & Mark Horne Lisa Zimmerman X

YELLOW LEVEL Keith Anderson & Peter Bish X Dale Aultman & Paul Gibbs X Pamela Baker & Diane Dixson* Linda Balatti & Shirley Gilmer X Mike Ballenger & Martin Thomas Miriam Barton* Chris Beagle & Eric Engelhart* Tom Beall Barbara Beavers & Kathy Carrell Sherry Berman & Deb Hamilton X Abby Bernstein & Karen Frank X Boland Family - In Memory of Michael J. Kelly* Nancy Bouse & Norma Morrison X Michael Boyle & Greg Murphy X John Brady X Russ Capps & Ken Yazge* David Carder Kathy Casey & Jean Burgess X Kate Cauley & Pat Newcomb Bob Chambers* Jim Chupella & Jim Wigand* Austin Clayton Betsy Cohen Gary Colangelo & Gerald Duvall X Nancy Commisso* Kay Creech & Sharon Still*

CAMP REHOBOTH MEMBERSHIP 2020 Scott Davis & Chris Shaheen* Drexel Davison - Bad Hair Day?* Lewis & Greg Dawley-Becker* Robert Defendis & Ronald O. Dempsey Anthony Delacruz & Ronald Mangano In Memory of Frank Dell’Aquila X Marianne DeLorenzo & Linda Van de Wiele* Fred DiBartolo & Steve Wood X Frank Dorn & Edward Schumacher* Diane Dragositz Albert Drulis & Scott Silber* Sandy Duncan & Maddy Ewald Paul Dwyer Susan Eig & Ellen Schiff X Karen & Lisa Faber* Alice Fagans & Ruth Ann Mattingly* John Farley & Dennis Wilson X Dent Farr & Erick Lowe* Dee Farris* Jerry Filbin* Diane Fisher & Kharma Amos Metropolitan Community Church of Rehoboth* Keven Fitzsimmons & Jeff Stroud X Monica Fleischmann & Lona Crist X John Flournoy & Jim Chrobot Susan Goudy* Bill Graff & Jeff Schuck* Ken Green & Joe Kearney* Michael Green & Robert Schwerdtfeger* Patricia Guild Todd Hacker Jo Hamilton & Donna Voigt* Harbor Healthcare Pete & Joanne Harrigan* David Herring & Karl Hornberger Carol Holland - Holland Jewelers X Larry Hooker X Caroline Huff & Brenda Robertson* Pete Jakubowski* Philip Johnson* Marilyn Kates & Laura Glenn* Rose Korten & Brenda Pinkney Roger Kramer Greg Kubiak* Susan Kutliroff & Barbara Snyder Glenn Lash & Mark Paugh Carol Lazzara & Sheila Maden* Monica Lewis & Ann Zimmerman* Frank Liptak & Joe Schnetzka* Jim Lonsdale & Bryan Hoffman Patricia Magee & Anita Pettitt X John Marson Jill Masterman & Tammy Jackson Tony Mazzarella Kathleen McCormick & Elizabeth Fish X Mickie McManamon* James Mease & Philip Vehslage* Howard Menaker & Patrick Gossett X Floyd Merchant Ray Michener & Tom Carlson* Marvin Miller & Dan Kyle X Linda Miniscalco & Jeanne Drake* Gaylon Morris & Rick Kinsey* Jack Morrison & Bob Dobbs* Rita Nelson & Ralph Peters Sandy Neverett & Pam Cranston X

Robert Nowak & David Bergman X Judy Olsen & Joanne Kempton X Maggie Ottato X Dotti Outland & Diane Mead X Stephen Pape & Jerry Clark Marilyn Pate & Dorothy Smith* Peninsula Gallery - Tony & Carol Boyd-Heron* John Piccirillo & Jonathan Rose Joanne Picone & Kathy Bostedo Denny Pintello & Coke Farmer* Tom Poor & Tom Bachmann - Bin 66 Fine Wine* Jim Pressler X Sam Profeta X Lisa Rabigi & Bea Vuocolo Joie Rake & Nan Flesher X Charlotte Reid & Polly Smale* Marty Rendon & John Cianciosi* Gene Roe X Thomas Rose & Thomas Sechowicz X Lucien Rossignol & Tom Harris Mark Saunders & Bob Thoman* Betsy Schmidt X Sheryl Schulte & Jeanne LaVigne* Mary Ann Slinkman & Sharyn Santel David Smith & Kenn Williams Susan Soderberg & Terri King X John Michael Sophos & Miss Dot Sophos* Diane Sozio & Patricia Hutchinson* Dee Speck & Linda Kauffman X Mary Spencer & Kathy Lingo* Greig Stewart & Jake Hudson* Russell & Patricia Stiles* Lenny Stumpf & John B. Pitchford* Brett Svensson & Bill Quinn Dust Doctors LLC* Gordon Tanner & Robert Patlan* David Theil* James Tucker & In Memory of Dennis Murphy* Lana Warfield & Pamela Notarangelo X Daniel Watkins & Micah Shockney Cal Weible & Daniel Halvorsen X Michael Weinert* Douglas Werner & JD Pryor John Wood & Mike Roob Tony Wright & Mary Jo Bennett X Jean Sutliff Young* Joanne Yurik* Larry Zeigler X John Zingo & Rick Johnson

ORANGE LEVEL Donna Adair* Gwen Atwell & Marla Hoon Shannon & Sarah Avery* Romulus Barba & Dean Yanchulis* Paul Barbera & Joseph Nolan Peter Bezrucik* Kathleen Biggs & Maria Campos Linda Bova & Bridget Bauer The Sea Bova Associates* Anita Broccolino In Memory of Cathy Fisher Wendy Bromfeld* Barry Bugg Ronald Butt & Steve Cannon* William Byron Debbie Cali & Maddie Cunningham

John Carr & Billy Cox* Jean Chlastawa & Susan Griesemer Dottie Cirelli & Myrna Kelley X Steve Clayton & Brad Lentz Michael Clement & Mac Gardner* Charlie Codacovi* Gregory Cole Community Bank Delaware* Mark Conheady* Quida Cooper-Rodriguez Lois Cortese & Jill Stokes X Kenneth Currier & Mike Tyler X John D’Amico* Linda DeFeo X J. Lynne Dement & Lisa J. Snyder* Jim DiLalla & In Memory of Frederick Episcopo* Tony DiMichele & Jeff Smith* Joe DiSalvo* Donna Dolce* Kevin Doss & Arie Venema Arlyce Dubbin & Kathleen Heintz* Brenda Dunn & Karen Anderson Martin Durkin & Chetan Patel* Jeanne Embich* Gary Espinas & Daniel Sherlock Maureen Ewadinger* Ellen Feinberg & Lesley Rogan X Sara Ford & Anne Donick* Deb Fox & Deb Bonneau Christopher Galanty & James Apistolas Anne Geary William Gluth & Channing Daniel Ed Gmoch* Mike Gordy & Ed Brubaker Joe Gottschall & Scott Woody Suzanne Graefen & Tad Webb Deborah Grant & Carol Loewen DiMitri Guy* Wesley Hacker & David Block* Sharon Hansen X Tracey & Erica Hellman Bill Hillegeist X Vance Hudgins & Denny Marcotte John Hulse X Mary Huntt & Angela Creager Janet Idema & Patricia Higgins* Bob Kabel Sharon Kanter & Cyndy Bennett* Mark Kehoe X Maryl Kerley & Pat Sagat X Bonnie Kirkland & Wanda Bair X Jay Kottoff & Mark Matey* Rob & Jean Krapf X Barbara Lang & Diane Grillo Leslie Ledogar & Marilyn Hewitt* Edmund LeFevre & Keith Wiggs X Jim Lesko Dale & Sue Lomas* John Mackerey & Donald Filicetti Duncan MacLellan & Glenn Reighart* Marsha Mark & Judy Raynor Gina & Jules Marotta Vicki Martina & Nancy Hewish* Marie Martinucci & Pam Kozey* Michael & Stephan Maybroda Kathy & Steve McGuiness Kate McQueen Julia Monaghan & Carissa Meiklejohn Margaret Moore & Sheree Mixell X Thomas Moore & Richard Bost Debbie & Frank Navecky Robert Neighbour & Andrew Dan Pat Nickols Donna Ohle & Susan Gaggiotti X Sandra Oropel & Linda Frese* Carolyn Ortwein & Ann Barry*

Rutland Paal & Robert Mittleman* Sandra Pace & Barbara Passikoff X Steve Parker* Ellen Passman X Emilie Paternoster & Monica Parr X Rina Pellegrini Colleen Perry & Jane Kuhfuss* Marianne Perry & Jeanette Laszczynski Deena Pers X Grace Pesikey & Janet Urdahl* Russ Phipps & Stephen Jacobs* Peter Pizzolongo & Carlos Prugue* Renata Price & Yona Zucker* Joseph Purdy & Anthony Pontorno Pierce Quinlan & Ginny Daly Thomas Ramsey & Chris Murray Susan Reinagel & Dawn Henderson* Pat Renninger & Tammy Plumley X Judy Rosenstein & Elva Weininger X Michael Safina & Tim Bean Katherine Sams* Richard Sargent* Gary Schell & Jim DiRago Laurie Schneider & Margie Ripalda* Teri Seaton & Rena FramptonSeaton Michael Seifert & Harvey Holthaus* Craig Sencindiver & Gary Alexander* Sue Shevlin & Ren Culp* Frank Shockley & Arthur Henry Matthew Stensrud & Michael Cohen Robert Stoltzfus & Gerald Warhola* Brian Straka* Sandra Sullivan & Lorie Seaman* David Szumski & James Carfagno Trudie Thompson & David Welch Thrasher’s French Fries Jeffrey Trunzo & Herman Goodyear* James Vernicek & Jeff Dailey* Tama Viola Don Wainwright & Tom Jamison* Elizabeth Way & Dorothy Dougherty* Donald Wessel William Wheatley Ralph Wiest & Anthony Peraine* Daryle Williams & Steven Fretwell Terry Wise & Beth Shank* Melanie Wolfe & Monica Niccolai Sherri Wright & Dick Byrne* Niki Zaldivar & Cecil McNeil X Kathryn Zimmerman Helaine Zinaman & Roselyn Abitbol X

RED LEVEL Adrienne & Kim* Jim Affonco X Mark Aguirre & Wayne Gleason X Bill Alldredge X Stephani Allison & Judith Gorra X Marge Amodei* Alan Anderson X Daniel Anderson & Greg Melanson Lois Andreasen & Jean McCullough* Andrea Andrus & Maggie Shaw X Peter Antolini X Patricia Antonisse X Wanda Armwood & Illona Williams Judith & Wanda Ashbrook Jan Atwell Terry August Jack Ay & James Krebsbach* Kathleen Bailey X David & Sandra Baker John Baker & Richard Latham X June Baker* Ruth Ball & Mary Ellen Jankowski* Susie Ball & Susan Delaney X

Michael Barnes & Scott O’Neill Sarah Barnett Curtiss Barrows X Brian Bartels Eric Barton & Greg Nagel John Batchelor X Sherry Baxter & Robin O’Neil Karen Beck Beebe Medical Foundation* Mike Behringer & Nelson Correa Sheryl Bender & Doreen DiLorenzo* George Benes & Michael Mallee X Suzanne Bennethum & Deborah Smith Norman Bennett & Marco Morales Joel Berelson & Charles Maples* Lisa Beske Christine Bielenda & Karen Feuchtenberger* Thomas Biesiadny X Deb Bievenour & Susan Shollenberger Lorraine Biros Cathin Bishop & Laura Simon X Jason Blachek Ann Black & Kaye Wachsmuth X Carol Blair* Eric Blondin - State Farm Insurance Rehoboth Beach X Jacquelyn Blue X Rev. Dr. Tom Bohache & Tom Laughingwolf Simmons X Annabelle Boire Carl Bomberger & Mike Rhoads Robin Bond & Leanna Johannes* Bob Bonitati X Joy Boone & Marina Simmers X Randall Borgerson X Sheri & Carl Borrin Pete Borsari X Laura Borsdorf X Darice Bowles & Gerry Sue Davis* David & Donna Bowman X Deni Boyer & Loretta Imbrogono Beth Bozman Jim Brady & Mike Hays X Victor Branham & Mark Clark Kelly Brennan & Susan McVey William Briganti & Gary Moore Susan Brinsfield John & Bud Broda-Knudsen Debora Brooke * Cathy Brown Gladys Brown Kevin Brown X Lyn Brown & Winsome Boyd Tina Brown Diane Bruce & Annie Sorvillo* Daniel Bruner & Tim Beymer Marilyn Bryant Belinda Buras & Linda Simeone Geoffrey Burkhart & Bruce Williams* Carol L. Burnett X Mary Jean Burns & Novalyn Winfield Rob Burns & Cris Hamer* Timothy B. Bush X Randy Butt & Emerson Bramble* James Byrnes X Chris Cahill X Robertine Cale Ingrid Callmann & Karen Askins* Leslie Calman & Jane Gruenebaum* Michele Campisi & Julie A. Slick X Matt Carey X Jim Carlo X Justine Carpenter X Shirley Carpenter & Mary Coldren X Lisa Carrol & Deb Dubois X Marianna Carson & Laura Bobo Alice Casey

Jo Cason & Peggy Neidlinger Teresa Cason & Lynda Schepler X Linda Chaney & Irene Lawlor* Helen Chang & Pat Avery Dr. Harvey J. Chasser X Mike Chateauneuf-X Anthony Chiffolo & Rusty Hesse* Dan Childers & Ted Hernandez* Tom Childers & John Hall X Sandra Chinchilla & Michelle Holmes X Curt Christensen & Ellen Heald* Billy J. Christian X Dennis Chupella & Rob White X Norma K. Clark X Terry Clark* Barbara Clipper Amy Clouse & Betty Long X Carolyn Cole & Sandy McDevitt X Stuart Comstock-Gay X Inez Conover X Bill Cooley & Ken Watkins DVM X Josh Cooper & Steve Rathburn Jeffery A. Coover X Michael Cornell X Lois Corson & Mary Murdoch X Mary Costa & Kris Nygaard Becky & Tom Craft X Wendy Cramer & Carolyn Baranowski* Theresa-Ann Crivelli & Angela Murray Robert Crocetti X Bill Cross & David McCall X Donald Crowl* Richard Culver Mark Cunningham & Ken Tattersall X Howard Cyr & Lynn Ashley* Ellen Dahl Susan Daily Charles Daniels William T. Darley X Joseph Davey & H. Ralph Fletcher Jeff Davidson & Steve Yahn Marsha Davis & Bev Lesher X Kathy Davison & Ruth Dickerson X Scott & Donna de Kuyper Hotel Blue* Frederick Dean & Steven Swierzy X Linda Dean & Donna Whiteside* Penny Lee Dean Scott Dechen & James Maino Michael Decker X Susan Deise & Jerri Budzinski Bernie Delia X Claire Dente & Leslie Campo* Stefani Deoul* Karen DeSantis & Carol Brice* Nancy DeToma & Meg Smith David DeVargas & Steven Champion X Barbara Devenport & Susan Brinsfield Carolyn DeVito Dawn Devries Henry & Marcia DeWitt X Geri Dibiase Photography* Julie Dickson X Richard Dietz Phyllis Dillinger Mary Dipietro & Wendy Schadt* Romana Dobbs Deb Dobransky & Ketty Bennett* Arthur Dochterman X David & Lizann Dockety X Peg Dolan & Mary McDevitt X Debra Doricchi Debbie & Karen Dorris* Kathryn Downs

Frances Doyle X Paul Dradransky X Michael Driscoll & Ben McOmber X Susan Dube & Diana Patterson* Deanna Duby & Carol Bruce Barry Dunkin Deborah Duran Gregory DuRoss Gene Dvornick X Sue Early X Frank Echols & Robert Robinson Eden Restaurant X Gail Elliott & Bea Hickey Pamela Elliott W. Kay Ellis Susan Farr & Joanne Pozzo Rene Fechter & Cynthia Smith Larry & Ro Fedorka Karen Ferguson Virginia Fessler & Chris Patton Jayne & Ro Fetterman* Irene & Edward Fick* Allen Fred Fielding X Joe Filipek & Larry Richardson X Mark Finkelstein & Michael Zeik X Paul Finn & Joseph Porporino Rick Fischer X Barbara Fischetti & Janet Thoden Gary Fisher & Josh Bushey* Barbara Fitzpatrick & Denise Centinaro Chuck Flanagan & George Whitehouse X David Flohr & Steven Kuschuck* Paul Florentino & Chris Pedersen X Anthony Forrest & Glyn Edwards Roland Forster & David McDonald John J. Foster Jr. Beebe Frazer X Phil Fretz X Billiemichelle & Evelyn Friel* Neil Frock & Bob Harrison* Marilyn Fuller & Teresa Marigliano Lorraine Gaasche & Jill Mayer* Charles Gable Frank Gainer & Ramon Santos* Lynn Gaites & Faye Koslow X Nina Galerstein* Marcia Gallo & Ann Cammett Jerry Gallucci & Conrad Welch Marilyn Gamble & Joan Morgan Karen Gantz & Jeanie Geist Kathryn Gantz & Kathryn Gehret Don Gardiner X Cheri Garnet & Cynthia Arno Mindy Gasthalter* Wilson Gates X Charles George & Dennis Rivard X Tracey Gersh & Amy Johnson Gary Gillard X Jordan Gipple & Paul Weppner* Angela & Cheryl Gladowska Joan Glass X Ron Glick & Tien Pham* Karen Glooch X Jane Godfrey* Randall Godwin X Jackie Goff & Mary Vogt X Dave Gold & In Memory of James Yiaski X Robert Gold X Mel Goldberg Suzanne Goldstein & Dana Greenwald X Milton Gordon & Bill Hromnak X Teresa Gordy & Barb Ford X Dan Goren & Peter Robinson X Anita Gossett & Ronnie Smith* Amy Grace & Karen Blood* Lisa & Raymond Graff* JUNE 19, 2020

69 Letters

Charles Graham Paul R. Grant & Marc Watrel* Linda Gregory Harvey Grider Kenneth Grier* Richard Grifasi X John Grillone & Paul Schlear Jr. X Joseph Gritz X Wendy Grooms & Barbara Fishel X Carol Gross X James Gross X Arnold H. Grossman* Richard & Frances Grote* Paula Grubbs X Michael Guerriere Helene Guilfoy X Bill Gunning & Joe Greoski X Mary Gunning Marie & Ken Haag* Jay Haddock & Hector Torres* Gerard M. Haley & George D. Zahner X Cynthia Hall X Siobhan Halmos & Beth McLean* Mark Hare & Mike Newman X Frederick Harke X Kelley Harp X David Harrer & Floyd Kanagy* Tanya Harris Pat Harte & Nancy Sigman Mary Hartman & Laurie Nelson Jeff Haslow X Janece Hausch* John & Mary Havrilla* John Hawkins & Silvia Ritchie Nancy Hawpe Daniel F.C. Hayes Gail Hecky* Brook Hedge & Bonnie Osler Leslie Hegamaster & Jerry Stansberry* Linda Heisner X Mary Helms & George Beckerman* Matthew Hennesey* David Herchik & Richard Looman X Fred Hertrich X Howard Hicks & Stephen Carey X Barbara Hines & Nancy Froome X Howard C. Hines, MD X Janel Hino & Patricia Ann Scully X Connie Holdridge* Robert Holloran & Ed Davis Brad Holsinger & Ed Moore Mod Cottage* Chris Holt & Emory Bevill X Mollyne Honor & Shelley Garfield Mary Anne Hoopes & Dianna Johnston Penni Hope* James T. Hopkins X Elaine Horan & Debbie Sciallo X Kenneth Horn James Hospital & Jack Faker* Robert Hotes X Corey Houlihan & Karen Abato Carol Huckabee Peggy Ann Hughes Ron Hughes & Ben Cross Ellan Hylton Batya Hyman & Belinda Cross* Thomas Ingold X Sue Isaacs* Chris Israel & John Stassi X Debbie Isser & Fran Leibowitz Geoffrey Jackson & Will Delany X Fay Jacobs & Bonnie Quesenberry X Sharon Janis X Steve Janosik & Rich Snell X Robert Jasinski*

Letters 70 JUNE 19, 2020

Mary Jenkins & Laura Reitman Sue Jernberg & Chris Hunt Susan Jimenez & Cathy Benson X Donna A. Johnson* Dorsey Johnson & Kay Jernigan* Ken Johnson X Tara Johnson Cynthia Johnston & George Meili Jim Johnston Richard Jolly & Charles Ingersoll X D. J. Jones Dee Dee Jones & Julie Blake Gay Jones & Barb Bartels Glenn Jones X Rob Jones Sparky Jones & Lee Chrostowski Sue Jones & Dottie Stackhouse Tom Jones X JoEllen Jordan Nola Joyce & Brenda Eich Frank Jump & Vincenzo Aiosa Wayne Juneau X Mick Kaczorowski X Jana Kamminga & Niki Nicholson* Bob Kaplan & Jeff Davis X Daphne Kaplan & Steve Scheffer Sharon Kaplan & Pamela Everett* Kevin P. Kaporch X Denise Karas & Katherine Bishop Amylynn Karnbach - One Day At A Time Gifts, LLC Peter Karsner X Anne Kazak & Chris Coburn X Peter Keeble & Tom Best Margaret Keefe* Alan Keffer* Donald Kelly* John Kelly & Randy Sutphin X Michael J. Kelly X John Kennedy Kate Kent Hunter Kesmodel X Ned Kesmodel & Matt Gaffney X Marge Keyes & Julie Arenstein X Spencer Kingswell X Daniel Kinsella* Frank Klemens & Barry Brown Ruth Kloetzli & Lisa Scholl* Jane Knaus & Cindy Myers Stephen Kopp John Kort & Hung Lai* Robert Kovalcik & Bob Howard X Myra Kramer & John Hammett* Marcia Kratz Karen Kreiser & Beth Nevill* Kevin W. LaBarge X Adam Lamb & Eli Martinez Peter Lanzaro & Frank Bodsford X Dr. Mathilda Laschenski & Dr. Kathleen Heacock X Ruth Lauver & Judy Wetzel* Kate Lavelle X Charlie Lee X Jon Leeking & Dieulifete Jean* Sherry Leichman & Keith Snyder Mary Lenney* Jen Leonard & Claire McCracken Chris & Mary Leslie Marsha Levine & Susan Hamadock X Barbara Lilien* Bill Lipsett & Eric Bolda* Duwayne Litz & Steve Triglia X Eleanor Lloyd & Celeste Beaupre George Long & Brian Johnson* Robert E. Long X Cynthia Lowe & Rae von Doehren James Lucas & Karen Davis* Debbie Lupton Diane Lusk X

P. Michael Lutz* Donna Lynch Minda Lynch Becky Lyons & Ebie Hamrick X Wendy Maclay & Sheree Davis* Christopher Magaha* Joe Maggio X Loretta Mahan* Bernadette Maher & Cheryl Tarlecky Jack Maher X Nancy Maihoff X Eddie Major X Bruce Majors X Harvey Manchester X Kate Mangione & Gayle Parker Brian Mann Domenic Mannello X Stephanie Manos & Reber Whitner X Robb Mapou & Mike Zufall Anyda Marchant X Charles Marino & Alan Berman* Diane Markey & Randi Snader* Harold Marmon & Robert Hill* Ann Martin Bill Martin & Scott Freber* Michele Martin Norma Martin X Linda Martinak Nan Martino* James Mastoris & Edward Chamberlain X Joe Matassino & Tim Murray Nancy Mathis John Matthews & Nick Polcini* Jonathan Mattner & Chad Rinker Eric Matuszak X Lewis Maurer Donna McCabe & Mac Ignacio X Debbie McCall & Cyndi Brooks Sean McDonald Mary McElhone & Nancy Kaiser X Thomas McGlone X Jeffrey McGuire Alexis McKenzie Ellen McKeon & Kay Cummings Joe McMahon X Jeanne Ann McManus & Robin Robertson Joseph McNally & Terry Jones X Karen McNamara & Rebecca Della-Rodolfa* Charlotte McNaughton Chuck McSweeney & Michael Clay X Jim & Bruce McVey-Back* Mary Medlock & Susan Russell Buck Melton X John Messick X Alicia Mickenberg & Kathleen Fitzgerald Jamie Middelton* Dr. Phyllis J. Mihalas X Melissa Milar* Alicia Miller & Shawn Noel* Bruce R. Miller & Dean D. LaVigne X Frank Miller & Al Naylor X Marilyn K. Miller & Candice Zientek Todd A. Miller & Michele Frame X Chris & Joann Miller-Marcin Doreen Millon Stan Mills & Marcia Maldeis X Andrea Monetti & Karen Petermann* Sue Monismith X Jamie Moore Teri Moore & Barb Kulbaba* Beverly Morgan & Sandra Fluck Mary Morgan & Beth Fitton X Meg Morgan & Susan Lynham X Pearl Morris*

Richard Morris Andrew K. Moss & Richard Blevins X Donna Mulder & Denise Delesio* Brent Mundt X Robbin Murray & De Raynes* Cynthia Myers Kathleen Nagle & Susan Blazey Marc Nasberg & Howard R. Nelson X Keith Neale X Cindy Necaise & Debbie Cole X Lee Ann Nelson X Darrell Netherton & Robert Wheeler X James Newkirk & Leon Wilkowsky* Janet Newkirk X J. E. Newton, Jr. Charitable Trust X Arletta Nicholl & Mary Anderson Konrad Noebel, MCAT, LMT & Brian Cox* Rich Norcross Chuck Oakes & Robert Dellanoce* Susan O’Brien James O’Dell X Dan O’Flaherty & Mario Flores* James O’Malley X Richard O’Malley X Lisa Orem & Debby Armstrong* Missy Orlando & Patty Violini X Jeffrey & Lisa Osias X Kathy Osterholm Randy Overbaugh X Sharon Owens & Doreen Halbruner Sally Packard & Dinah Reath X Denise Page Bud Palmer X Carol Patterson & Carol Hughes* Tim Patterson & Harvey Sharpe X Peggy Paul X Wesley & Connie Paulson* Patricia Pawling & Jennifer Butz* Lucille & Dan Payne Michelle Peeling & Wendy Adams* Beverly Peltz* Roy Perdue X Al Perez & Gary Kraft Susan Petersen Eric Peterson X Bruce Pfeufer X PFLAG-Rehoboth Beach Peggy Phillips & Norma McGrady* Frank Pileggi & Jon Blackman X Arleen Pinkos Janice Pinto & Lori Swift* Terry Plowman X Jo Pokorny* Claire Pompei & Dolores Yurkovic* Mary Lu Pool Jeanne Posner & Noreen Tomaino Roni Posner X Sue Potts & Karen Kohn X Timothy Price & Gerard Sealy X Glen C. Pruitt* Jerry Pulaski & Carl Caratozzolo Sarajane Quinn* Elaine Raksis & Maxine Klane* Barb Ralph X Rob Ramoy X Bob & Mary Beth Ramsey X Linda Rancourt & M. Sue Sandmeyer* Lewis Rathbone* Carole Redman Janet Redman X Carolyn Redmon & Nancy Allen* Randy Reed X Paul Rehak Rehoboth Art League* Peter S. Reichertz X Ken Reilly & Tony Ghigi X

Virginia Reime & Gene Tadlock Jeff Reinhart & Jack Miller* Thomas Resh & Jeffrey Meyers X Judith Retchin & Elyse Wander X Deborah Reuter & Deborah Bea* Sarah Reznek & Babette Pennay Gloria Richards Sandie Riddell & Eileen Siner* Patricia Ridge Marion Ridley & Mark Lundy X John & Jane Robbert Joel Robbins & Michael Linder X Sandra Robbins X William Robbins & Gary Ralph Sandy Roberts X Rob Robertson & Carlos Taylor X Teri & Amy Robinson-Guy Craig Rocklin X Tim Rodden & Randy Clayton X John & Susan Roehmer* Jeanne Rogers* Roy Rollins- X Lauren Romig X Debbie Ronemus & Peggy Sander* Ed Rose & Sandra Robbins X Peter Rosenstein X Deborah & Charles Ross X Larry L. Ross X Ellen & Terry Roth Perreault X Barb Rowe & Pat Hansen X Ski Rowland & Gary Mosher X Joan Rubenstein X Herbert Russell Mary K. Ryan Kelly Sabol & Erin Reid Steve Sage & Thom Swiger X Chris Sailer & Min Mancini Joe & Nancy Sakaduski* Margaret Salamon Cindy Sanders & Donna Smith* Sanford & Doris Slavin Foundation X Linda Santi Richard Scalenghe & Thomas Panetta Lynn Scherer & Natalie Ireland Kim Schilpp* Michael Schlechter & Kevin Sharp X Lisa Schlosser & Sherri Brown Kirk Schneck Holly Schneider & Linda Haake Jaime Schneider & Glenn Randall X Peter Schott & Jeffrey Davis* Linda Schulte Carol Schwartz X Craig Schwartz & William Pullen X Mona Schwartz & Joanne Tramposch* Rich Schwarz & Bill Sarvey* Carol Scileppi & Valerie McNickol John Scotti & Greg Landers David Scuccimarra & Dorothy Fedorka* Clifton C. Seale & Charles A. Gilmore* Nancy Bradley Seibert* Shirley Semple* Marj Shannon* Dale Sheldon & Pat Coluzzi X Tara Sheldon Kelly Sheridan & Debra Quinton David Sherman X George Shevlin & Jack Suwanlert* Cathy Sieber & Brenda Kriegel Frank Silverio X Marc Silverman & John Campbell* Terry Simon & Marcia Kass Joanne Sinsheimer & Margaret Beatty* Joy Sirianni & Chris Snell

Sandra Skidmore & Jonathan Handy X Ken Skrzesz X Carol Smith* Cheryl Smith Harlan Joe Smith & Dustin Abshire* Peg Smith* Robert Smith Rosanne Smith & Brenda Butterfield* Sam & Anita Smulyan Tina Snapp Sandra Sommerfield & Cindy Scott X Sandy Souder - Unity of Rehoboth Beach* Lynda Sowbel Jim Spellman X Lorraine Stanish & Beverly Miller* Christine Stanley & Joyce Rocko* Christy Steer X Frank Sterner X Lisa Stewart X Libby Stiff & Bea Wagner X Allison Stine & Pete Jamieson Terry Stinson Tracy Stith & Laura McCarthy Dr. Frederick C. Stoner * Michael Stover* Christine Strauss X Lois Strauss X Terrence Sullivan Jill Sungenis & Nicole Bano Frank Surprenant, DDS & Chris Wisner X David Svatos & Chris McMackin John Swift & Ron Bowman X Gail Tannenbaum & Wendy Walker* Ronald Tate & Jacob Schiavo X Micaela Tedford X Richard Thibodeau Dave Thomas X The Hon. Henry E. Thomas IV & John-Kevin Litschgi X Thomas Tibbetts X David Tiburzio Otto F. Tidwell X Cassandra Toroian X Manny Tortosa X Anne Tracy & Mary Gilligan Cheryll & Bill Trefzger Patricia Truitt Abby Tschoepe & Pat Dunn* Angela Turcotte Ed Turner & Steve Baker X Judy Twell & Cheri Himmelheber Bruce Uliss X Thomas Urban & Marc Samuels* Donna Valla Debra Van Dyke* Jennifer Varone V. James Villareale & Dale Ebert* Gail Vitale & Carmen Garrett Beverly Vogt & Waneeta Mack X Darlene Waddell & Cindy Campbell Patrick Wadsworth & Mike Converse X Scott Wagner & John Sohonage* Eric Wahl Marianne Walch X David Wall & Robert Houck* Kenneth E. Walz & Robert G. Ward, Jr. X Garold Wampler X Michael E. Ward X Barbara Warden* Robert Warmkessel X Jack Warren* Sharyn Warwick X Ellen Watkins X

Troy Watson & Dennis Wolfgang* Mark Weaver Debbie Webber & Terry McQuaid Lisa Weidenbush & Judy Stout Kathy Weir & Lynn Finaldi* West Side New Beginnings Karin Westermann Carl R. Wetzel X Liz Wheeler & Ruth Morse X Steve White & Wayne Williamson X Thomas White & Robert Freeman X Kurt Wibbens Phil & Stephanie Wikes Keith Wilkinson X Edward Williams Jim Williams* Rich Williams X Donna L. Wilson & Laurie R. Levin X Stephanie Wingert & Carla Avery Bradley Wojno David Wolanski Max Wolf X Carol Woodcock & Carol Lewis* Robert B. Wright X Robert T. Wright Marjorie Wuestner & Catherine Balsley* Janet Yabroff Mary Yasson Alexander G. Yearley X James E. Yiaski X Linda Yingst* Vickie York X John Zakreski* Cherie Zeigler & Barbara Brimer James Zeigler & In Memory of Sam Deetz* Carol Zelenkowski* Keith Zembower Phyllis Zwarych & Sheila Chlanda*

X Founders’ Circle 10+ years * Members five years or more Names in bold are new or upgraded members as of June 5, 2020 Founders’ Circle designation has been added to our Membership roster. Please send kudos, questions, or listing updates to membership@camprehoboth.com.

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JUNE 19, 2020

71 Letters

WE'RE OPEN!

BRAND NEW EVENTS ADDED WEEKLY Check out the full events line-up and get your tickets at

www.MiltonTheatre.com 302.684.3038 - 110 Union St. Milton, DE immanuel quarter 28-02_Layout 1 3/30/2018 1:54 PM Page 1

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YOU

Immanuel Shelter serves those experiencing homelessness in Rehoboth Beach, Lewes and surrounding areas.

Your generous support allows us to continue our mission and helps our community provide assistance for those in need.

FOR INFORMATION ON HOW YOU CAN VOLUNTEER OR DONATE, PLEASE VISIT www.immanuelshelter.org 17601 Coastal Hwy, Unit 11, #431 Nassau, DE 19969 1-888-634-9992

Letters 72 JUNE 19, 2020

All monies raised go directly to Immanuel located in Rehoboth Beach, Sussex County, DE.

BEEBE HEALTHCARE,

The Next Generation of Care Beebe Healthcare has become the premier healthcare facility in Sussex County, serving a thriving beach and vacation resort area and a growing year-round population.

For a complete listing of all Beebe job openings, please visit our website

www.beebehealthcare.org

Attracting and retaining the best healthcare professionals is Beebe Healthcare’s top priority.

We offer an excellent patient-focused environment, exciting career opportunities, and leading-edge technology with supportive, progressive leadership.

Joining Beebe Healthcare means joining an exciting healthcare team that is deeply committed to the community. Our customer-service focus is recognized on a daily basis through our patient satisfaction surveys. Our clinical expertise strives to surpass patient expectations.

A variety of work/pay options are designed to meet the needs of team members, including: • Flexible schedules and shifts available based on the needs of the department • Full-time/comprehensive benefits • Part-time/pro-rated benefits • Per diem incentive plan • Competitive shift differential Join us now to take advantage of our excellent benefits and compensation package.

Beebe Healthcare is committed to hiring qualified professionals who provide the best patient care in the region.

EOE | 424 Savannah Rd, Lewes, DE 19958 | www.facebook.com/beebecareers JUNE 19, 2020

73 Letters

FENWICK ISLAND

Letters 74 JUNE 19, 2020

Continued from page 42

Our protagonists, you see, were simultaneously working on a renovation in Florida.

They were managing both projects from the Sunshine State because their little pink stucco house in Delray needed more time and attention than originally planned. When the duo finally moved back to Rehoboth and into the house to supervise the lengthy final construction push, they stepped into what sounds like the set of a reality TV show.

Matt describes it. “We had one electrician who would show up at 11 p.m. and work until dawn. We’d get stuck entertaining the girlfriend and the dog until we went to bed. A carpenter regaled us non-stop with stories of his ribald escapades with women, including the time an irate husband caught him in bed with his wife and shot him five times!”

All the hard work and headaches, however, paid off handsomely. The

mer’s Rehoboth cottage tour. Even the garden has a casual elegance to it.

My favorite element is the Irish moss pathway winding its way across the front of the house. I was delighted to learn it came in a box. Moss in a box—a nice nod to kit house history. An old hot tub was replaced by a he-shed to store bicycles and garden tools.

I’m not sure what impressed me more—the house or the couple’s cool demeanor towards a hell of a renovation. After listening to their tale, however, I think they should add one more piece of guidance to anyone considering a major renovation: keep up a good sense of humor! ▼

house is light and cool, crisp and clean.

A white color palette predominates and it feels like a beach cottage without screaming beach cottage, if you know what I mean. It was a hit on last sum-

Rich Barnett’s CAMP Stories column just celebrated 15 years. CAMP Houses is his latest project, exploring interesting houses and their interesting owners. Rich’s CAMP Stories will be back on a sporadic basis as well.

Fourth-Page-V CROSSWORD PUZZLE SOLUTION (puzzle on page 32)

bayberry

rehobothflowers.com 302-227-5725

JUNE 19, 2020

75 Letters

Letters 76 JUNE 19, 2020

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thank you to all the CAMP Rehoboth Community Center Volunteers for the period: May 13 - June 12, 2020

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JUNE 19, 2020

77 Letters

AD INDEX 1776 Steakhouse...............................................................15 Accent On Travel...............................................................21 AG Renovations.................................................................19 Allen Jarmon, Realtor....................................................... 37 Bayberry Flowers............................................................. 75 Beagle Real Estate Group.................................................15 Beebe Healthcare.......................................................30, 31 Beebe Healthcare Career Opportunities......................... 73 Brandywine Urology Consultants..................................... 35 Brandywine Valley SPCA.................................................. 78 Breakthru Beverage......................................................... 45 Browseabout Books.........................................................60 Café Azafran......................................................................51 CAMP Rehoboth Annual Premier Sponsors....................... 7 CAMP Rehoboth Community Center................................50 CAMP Rehoboth Letters Subscription...............................77 Caroline Huff, Artist...........................................................19 Cat and Mouse Publishing............................................... 32 Chesapeake & Maine....................................................... 55 Clear Space Theatre..........................................................61 Community Pride Financial Advisors................................ 29 County Bank..................................................................... 55 DE Division of Public Health Tobacco.............................. 27 DE Health & Social Services, Senior Medicare Patrol...... 62 Debbie Reed Team, Realty Group.................................... 55 Delaware Hospice............................................................ 63 Delaware Humane Association ....................................... 67

Delaware Pride................................................................. 48 Donna Whiteside, Realtor.................................................16 Eric Atkins, Realtor............................................................19 Fifth Avenue Jewelers...................................................... 32 General Dentistry............................................................. 53 God’s Greyts Senior Greyhounds..................................... 75 Gregory Meyers Hair Studio............................................. 53 Hugh Fuller, Realtor.......................................................... 38 Immanuel Shelter............................................................. 72 Insight Homes ................................................................. 33 Jack Lingo, Real Estate.................................................... 43 Jenn Harpel, Morgan Stanley............................................15 Jolly Trolley...................................................................... 76 Just In Thyme Restaurant................................................. 57 Lana Warfield, Realtor...................................................... 23 Lee Ann Wilkinson Group, Realtors.................................. 57 Linda Mazie, Health & Wellness Coach............................ 44 Lori’s Café........................................................................ 44 Loves Liquors................................................................... 23 Mark Engberg & Stephanie Brown, Charles Schwab....... 49 MERR Institute.................................................................. 57 Midway Fitness & Racquetball......................................... 79 Milton Theatre.................................................................. 72 Mirabelle.......................................................................... 72 New Wave Spas................................................................66 Olivia Travel....................................................................... 17 Palate............................................................................... 53

Pet Portraits by Monique...................................................51 PFLAG............................................................................... 76 Photo Restoration............................................................ 76 Purple Parrot.................................................................... 39 Randall-Douglas............................................................... 67 Randy Mason/Shirley Kalvinsky, Realtors........................ 49 Rehoboth Art League....................................................... 44 Rehoboth Beach Dental...................................................66 Rehoboth Guest House.....................................................19 Rehoboth Massage & Alignment...................................... 29 Ron’s Repairs ................................................................... 23 Saved Souls Animal Rescue..............................................51 Sea Bova Associates, Realtors.........................................80 SoDel Concepts................................................................ 74 Springpoint Choice........................................................... 54 State Farm - George Bunting........................................... 63 State Farm - Jeanine O’Donnell/Eric Blondin................... 29 Sundance 2020..................................................................11 The Aesthetic Center.........................................................13 The Lawson Firm.............................................................. 49 Troy Roberts, Realtor........................................................ 53 True Blue Jazz Festival .................................................... 47 Unfinished Business......................................................... 76 Volunteer Opportunities....................................................77 Windsor’s Flowers............................................................ 23

Life Feels Better When You Make a Difference Here’s your chance to help shelter pets and people. Join the BVSPCA volunteer team to take our dogs and cats out into the community! By connecting pets and people, you’ll: Give a homeless pet a much needed outing Increase adoption reach Raise awareness of rescue Brighten the day of the people you visit Getting started is easy.

Just signup for an orientation at bvspca.org/volunteer!

22918 Dupont Boulevard, Georgetown, DE 19947 | Phone: 302-307-9736 Letters 78 JUNE 19, 2020

UNLIMITED CLASSES: per month

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Seven day FREE PASS for locals

Virtual classes available for those who aren’t ready to return to the gym!

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Affordable Pay-As-You-Train Personal Training with NO contracts!

Convenient location behind Midway Theaters With great parking!

THE CLEANEST GYM IN TOWN! 34823 Derrickson Drive Behind Movies at Midway 302.645.0407 www.midwayfitness.com STA F F E D MidWay Ad-2020-June.indd 1

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KINGS CREEK CC - Rehoboth.

4BR/3.5BA courtyard-style house w/in-ground pool & guest suite.

Outdoor kitchen. EP Henry paver drive & pool deck. Gorgeous interior finishes. Located on 14th green. $975,000 (1001573482)

CEDAR GROVE - Lewes.

2016-built 3BR/2BA 2,100sf on 0.76 acres. Hardwood, granite, gas FP, screen porch, lawn irrigation & more! 4.5 miles to Lewes beach. Low HOA. $549,000 (160186)

EDGEWATER HOUSE Rehoboth Beach. Ocean-front 2-story, 2BR/2BA condo. BRs have pool views. 8’x14’ balcony.

Dues avg. $3.1k/qtr. Excellent rental potential. “Turn Key.” $699,900 (149780)

A/C *

KYRIE ESTATE - Rehoboth.

1988 2BR/2BA manufactured home. Enclosed porch. 4 miles to beach & near State Park trail. Sold fully furnished/Turn Key. On its own land – 1/2 acre. $199,900 (162296)

BEACHWOODS I - Lewes.

4BR/2.5BA “Like New”.

Hardwood & tile. Granite & SS appliances in kit. Huge 1st-floor master suite. Big deck. 6 miles to Lewes public beach. $385,000 (153560)

HEARTHSTONE MANOR Milford. New Construction.

3BR/2BA Fairmont II model is 1,844sf. Great room. Kit w/dinette + formal dining.

Split BR plan. 2-car garage $274,990 (162272)

ROUTE 5 - Milton. 0.76-acres.

Lot #2 Harbeson Rd near Rust Rd. Valid site eval. or public sewer hook-up. No builder tiein. Cape Henlopen district.

Quick access to Rt. 9 & 11 miles to beach. $59,900 (1001565654)

*T/O

CAMELOT MEADOWS Rehoboth. 1978 3BR/1.5BA home. Features eat-in kit, LV w/tip-out & Jack-n-Jill half bath. 3.5 miles to beach & close to the pool. $24,900

COLONIAL EAST - Rehoboth.

1980 3BR/2BA home has been nicely remodeled with a chic, cosmopolitan interior. Huge porch. Olympic-size pool. 4 miles to beach. $89,900 (146820) Lot Rent $564/mt.

CAMELOT MEADOWS Rehoboth. 2001 3BR/2BA home is 1,260 sq. ft. Big kitchen adjoins dining area. Handicap ramp. Just 3.5 miles to beach.

Community pool. $95,000

(159844) Lot Rent $635/mt.

PINEY GLADE - Rehoboth.

1991 3BR/1BA singlewide on its own land. Approx. 0.28 acres. Front deck, backyard shed. “As Is.” 4 miles to beach & near State Park trail. $185,000 (158736)

SEA AIR VILLAGE - Rehoboth.

2014 2BR/2BA w/bonus room.

Vaulted ceilings. Kitchen adjoins dining area. Split BR plan. Patio. Shed. Pool. 2 miles to boardwalk. $59,999

SILVER VIEW FARM Rehoboth. 1997 3BR/2BA Split BR plan. Vaulted ceilings. Large rear deck.

Corner lot. Pool & just 3 miles to boardwalk. $58,500

WEST BAY PARK - Lewes.

2001 3BR/2BA. Open floor plan, plus a sunroom for 1,500sf. Marina community w/pool & more. 10 miles to Rehoboth boardwalk. $78,500

CAMELOT MEADOWS Rehoboth. 1979 3BR/2BA. Nicely remodeled! LV, family room w/gas FP. Screen porch.

Community pool. 3.5 miles to beach. Carport. $140,000

A/C

SUNSPOT - Dewey Beach.

2BR/1.5BA condo w/direct views of the ocean. 2nd-floor w/1 assigned parking space. Dues $750/mt. Community laundry & storage. Excellent rental history. $688,000 (142462)

(155196) Lot Rent $555/mt.

*

(148334) Lot Rent $581/mt.

(160728) Lot Rent $694/mt.

(156182) Lot Rent $736/mt.

(160920) Lot Rent $736/mt.

20250 Coastal Highway - Suite 3, Rehoboth Beach, DE 19971

OFFICE

- 302.227.1222  TOLL FREE - 877.SEA.BOVA  EFAX - 888.SEA.BOVA  EMAIL – RealEstate@SEABOVA.com

Office Independently Owned & Operated by SBA, Inc. Prices, promotions, and availability subject to change without notice. * “A/C” Active/Under Contract – “T/O” Temp Off Market