Letters from CAMP Rehoboth, Vol. 33, No. 2

Here Comes Spring Get Some Green Time Walk Rest Restore

C R E A T I N G

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M O R E

P O S I T I V E

R E H O B O T H

March 10, 2023 Volume 33, Number 2 camprehoboth.com

inside 4 In Brief

THIS ISSUE

VOLUME 33, NUMBER 2 • MARCH 10, 2023

22 LGBTQ+ YA

62 CAMP Arts

WES COMBS

JULIAN HARBAUGH

64 Booked Solid

8 CAMP News

24 Health & Wellness

9 Welcome Tara Sheldon

SHARON MORGAN

6 President’s View

MATTY BROWN

10 Vice President’s View LESLIE LEDOGAR

12 Community Connections

Green Time (Perhaps You Require It)

LESLIE SINCLAIR

TERRI SCHLICHENMEYER

66 View Point

PrEP for a Healthy Life

Chatbots from the Edge RICHARD ROSENDALL

26 Out & About

68 The Real Dirt

What is Queerbaiting and Why Shouldn’t You Care?

ERIC PETERSON

28 Easter Bonnets

NANCY SAKADUSKI

The Women Producing Women’s FEST 2023 LAURIE THOMPSON

14 Women’s FEST Laughs NANCY SAKADUSKI

16 Women’s FEST Headliners 18 Words Matter

Sharing Really Is Caring CLARENCE FLUKER

20 Community News

The Magnificent Cherry Tree “Super Hero Origin Story” by Charlie Selders. See page 62.

ERIC W. WAHL

80 Visiting View 32 It’s My Life

46 Be A Sport

MICHAEL THOMAS FORD

MARY JO TARALLO

Old Dog, New TikTok

34 CAMP Stories Kava Culture RICH BARNETT

36 Dining Out

Dos Locos: A Grand Mexican Treat MICHAEL GILLES

FlingGolf

ANN APTAKER

52 CAMPshots

40 Sea Salt Table

56 The Writing Life

Effortless Bread for Sunday Dinner ED CASTELLI

82 We Remember

A Place in the World: Janet Flanner

BETH SHOCKLEY

Gym Rat…Not

ROBERT DOMINIC

50 Historical Headliners

Hooray for Hollywood, Polar Bear Plunge Chili Contest and More Scenes of Winter Survival in RB!

38 OUTlook

Strolling into My Next Decade

ON THE COVER Jen Kober

Nesting Dolls of Hate REDFERN JON BARRETT

60 Spring Equinox

A Time for New Beginnings PATTIE CINELLI

See Page 28.

Photo by Tommy Cobau.

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.

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EDITOR Marj Shannon EDITORIAL ASSOCIATE Matty Brown DESIGN AND LAYOUT Mary Beth Ramsey ADVERTISING SALES MANAGER Tricia Massella DISTRIBUTION Mark Wolf CONTRIBUTORS: Ann Aptaker, Rich Barnett, Redfern Jon Barrett, Matty Brown, Ed Castelli, Pattie Cinelli, Wes Combs, Robert Dominic, Clarence Fluker, Michael Thomas Ford, Michael Gilles, Julian Harbaugh, Leslie Ledogar, Tricia Massella, Sharon Morgan, Eric Peterson, Mary Beth Ramsey, Richard Rosendall, Nancy Sakaduski, Terri Schlichenmeyer, Marj Shannon, Beth Shockley, Leslie Sinclair, Laurie Thompson, Mary Jo Tarallo, Eric Wahl

Letters from CAMP Rehoboth is published 11 times per year, between February and December, 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 in any way, to imply sexual orientation or gender identity. The content of the columns are the views and opinions of the writers and may not indicate the position of CAMP Rehoboth, Inc. © 2023 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.

From the Editor

CAMP REHOBOTH

MISSION STATEMENT AND PURPOSE

BY MARJ SHANNON, EDITOR

MISSION

CAMP Rehoboth, which stands for (Creating A More Positive) Rehoboth, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit LGBTQ+ community service organization. It is the largest and only organization of its type serving the needs of LGBTQ+ people in Rehoboth, greater Sussex County, and throughout the state of Delaware.

CAMP Rehoboth is dedicated to creating a positive environment inclusive of all sexual orientations and gender identities in Rehoboth Beach and its related communities. It seeks to promote cooperation and understanding among all people as they work to build a safer community with room for all.

VISION

We create proud and safe communities where gender identity and sexual orientation are respected.

PURPOSE

Promoting the health and wellness of our community through a variety of programs including HIV testing and counseling, mental health support, fitness classes, mindfulness classes, support for LGBTQ youth, and building community and support.

Promoting artistic expressions and creative thinking, and giving aid to artists and craftspeople with an emphasis on the works of LGBTQ people.

Advocating for our community to build a safe and inclusive community through voter information, education, and registration; and analysis of issues and candidates.

Education and outreach to the larger community, including sensitivity training seminars, and printed materials to promote positive images of LGBTQ people and our allies.

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

PRESIDENT Wesley Combs VICE PRESIDENT Leslie Ledogar SECRETARY Mike DeFlavia TREASURER Jenn Harpel

H

appy (almost) Spring! Which seems to have arrived early at my place—there are daffodils blooming; the hydrangeas are beginning to leaf out; and the primroses, lilies, and spiderwort are sending up shoots. I know global warming is a serious matter—but frankly, local warming works for me. I’m fine with fewer wind-chilling days and nothing more than a shower of snow.

Something else that works for me: a magazine chock full of fun and informative stuff! We have lots of details this issue on CAMP Rehoboth’s upcoming (April 27-30) Women’s FEST. See pages 14 through 16 for that. FEST 2023 packs an abundance of fun, entertainment, sports, and tradition into one long weekend— you’ll want to plan now to enjoy it all. Or as much as you can fit in, anyway.

More fun: Michael Thomas Ford tells us about his first TikTok appearance; Rich Barnett waxes eloquent on the subject of kava. And Nancy Sakaduski helps prepare us for an amazing Easter parade with her piece on Easter bonnets—top hat with live rabbit, anyone?

In a great bit of kismet, one of this issue’s themes is “wellness”—just as CAMP Rehoboth welcomes its new Health & Wellness Manager, Tara Sheldon. You can meet Tara (if you haven’t already) via Matty Brown’s interview with her on page 9.

Please join us all in welcoming Tara to the CAMP Rehoboth team.

More on wellness: Sharon Morgan’s column on PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis), and Beth Shockley’s report on her experience at a gym—not nearly so bad as she’d thought it might be! Maybe a nice walk is more your speed? Robert Dominic speaks to that—even if it’s more stroll than stride for him, these days. And don’t miss Julian Harbaugh’s LGBTQ+ YA column on the importance of “green time,” perhaps especially for those with ADHD. Speaking of green time—Eric Wahl tells us all about cherry trees—the famous ones in DC as well as our local variety. And Pattie Cinelli has lots to say about the upcoming spring equinox—and spring cleaning.

What else? Well, there’s Redfern Jon Barrett—his novel Proud Pink Sky hits bookstores very soon; read about it on page 56. Terri Schlichenmeyer offers up a passel of books perfect for Women’s History Month, and Ann Aptaker introduces us to a lesbian writer—Janet Flanner—who penned a New Yorker column for 50 years.

If you have questions, comments, or story ideas, I’d love to hear them. You can reach me at editor@camprehoboth.com. Thanks for reading Letters!

AT-LARGE DIRECTORS Amanda Mahony Albanese, Lewis Dawley, Lisa Evans (non-voting), David Garrett, Teri Seaton, and Jason D. White

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

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.

MARCH 10, 2023

3 Letters

Women’s FEST 2023 Tickets on Sale The time has finally arrived!

Women’s FEST 2023 FEST Passes and tickets are now available to purchase online at camprehoboth. com/womensfest.

FEST Passes are $75 and include a FEST t-shirt, admission to the Friday night shows by Jen Kober and Mouths of Babes at the Rehoboth Beach Convention Center, and admission to the Saturday night dance. All other ticketed events must be purchased à la carte. Please see the full schedule or ticketed events tab for more information.

Ticketed events outside of the FEST Pass include: concerts by Regina Sayles and Christine Havrilla, FEST sports, singles mixers, and more. Be sure to check online for a full list of prices and event descriptions. Plus, check out the FEST Schedule tab for plenty of free events, like Beebe Healthcare Screenings and Broadwalk on the Boardwalk.

CAMP Rehoboth Women’s FEST strives to create and maintain an inclusive and accessible environment that empowers all persons, including persons with disabilities to participate in the event. If you or a companion have any needs related to accessibility, please contact Hope at Hope@phoenixaccessibilityteam.com. ▼

2023

ON THE COVER: JEN KOBER WOMEN’S FEST is just around the corner, and in the spirit of Women’s History Month, FEST performer Jen Kober graces our March cover. Kober is a hilarious standup comic and actress, who is making her FEST debut at the Rehoboth Beach Convention Center on Friday, April 28.

Check out the full feature on Kober on page 14.

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Pop that Cork!

Letters congratulates long-time contributor Eric Peterson (Out & About) on being named Interim Managing Editor of Amble Press. (Amble Press is an imprint of Bywater Books and is dedicated to uplifting underrepresented voices in the LGBTQ+ literary community.) We also congratulate Amble Press on securing his services—it looks like a win-win to us.

Aside from his column in Letters, Eric is a novelist (Loyalty, Love, & Vermouth) and playwright. Somehow, he also has found time over the past 20 years to work as an award-winning Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) practitioner, operating his own DEI consulting firm, Red Seven Consulting. In his spare time, he hosts a podcast, The Rewind Project, devoted to movies from the past—both recent and distant.

Letters wishes Eric the best of luck—and an influx of energy— as he undertakes his newest endeavor. ▼

Rent the Atrium Do you have any big upcoming events and need an accommodating space?

Consider booking your next event at CAMP Rehoboth!

Whether it’s a gathering for a birthday party, a wedding, a conference, or a general meeting for your organization, our conference rooms and/or the Elkins-Archibald Atrium may be your perfect fit. For more information and for booking rates, call 302-227-5620.

The Elkins-Archibald Atrium of the CAMP Rehoboth Community Center was built in 2009 as a multi-purpose space serving the needs of CAMP Rehoboth and the community around us. The beautiful space is filled with light and contains the award-winning, rainbow-colored, Founders’ Circle wall that represents all the donors who made the building possible.

Since its construction, the Elkins-Archibald Atrium has served a multitude of functions that include: workshops, meetings, theater performances, debates, private parties, civil unions and weddings, charity events, art events, and much more. In its first year, Delaware’s then-Governor, Jack Markell, signed anti-discrimination legislation in it.

Theater style, the room seats 90; for cocktail parties, it holds close to 180. It also offers access to the gorgeous CAMP Rehoboth Courtyard, a small kitchen, and a small auxiliary conference room. ▼

WANTED

Grant Writers/Researchers CAMP Rehoboth is assembling a team of volunteer grant writers/researchers to explore opportunities and draft grant proposals and supporting documents based on the funding requirements of the organization. Volunteers will conduct research and write coherent, organized, and compelling proposals.

The rewards of this opportunity include knowing that your efforts are vital to CAMP Rehoboth’s fulfillment of its mission of promoting cooperation and understanding among all people as we work to build a safe and healthy community with room for all.

An effective team member must have grant experience and excellent research and communication skills; be able to clearly communicate both verbally and in writing (especially in grant proposals); work well with others; be deadline-driven with multitasking abilities; and manage confidential matters with the utmost integrity.

SPECIFIC DUTIES: • Research grant opportunities that align with CAMP Rehoboth’s strategic priorities and funding needs.

• Write polished grant proposals and prepare supporting documents.

BROLO Coming to CAMP Rehoboth Mark calendars now for an upcoming show by the Philadelphia Gay Men’s Chorus (PGMC) at CAMP Rehoboth’s Elkins-Archibald Atrium on May 6 at 4:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. The select ensemble of the PGMC presents musical selections from classical, Broadway, and contemporary genres, including a preview of their upcoming concert GAY ICON: The Music of Elton John. The show runs 75 minutes with no intermission.

The select ensemble, Brotherly Love (aka BROLO), is made up of 20 PGMC members. Their size provides PGMC

more opportunity to fulfill high-volume booking requests and to maintain LGBTQ+ visibility in the community.

They perform at various special events, other concerts, and community outreach events throughout the year. Their repertoire includes a broad range of styles, including music from classical to contemporary—spirituals, sacred music, holiday tunes, love ballads, comic pieces, pop and rock songs, Broadway and Hollywood tunes, opera choruses, folk songs from around the world, and the latest LGBTQ+ empowerment music. ▼

TRAVELS WITH LETTERS ⊲ Snowbird Season

• Collaborate with the Development Manager, staff, team members, and other stakeholders.

• Understand and adhere to grant deadlines.

• Assist with managing grant requirements, such as the preparation of grant status reports.

• Update and maintain grant records. ▼ FOR MORE INFORMATION and/or to join the team, email us at: development@camprehoboth.com

FORT LAUDERDALE

Marvin Miller and Fay Jacobs in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida

NAPLES

Joe Benshetler, poolside, in Naples, Florida MARCH 10, 2023

5 Letters

President’s View

BY WESLEY COMBS

What’s Health & Wellness Got to Do with It?

H

ow is everyone doing with their 2023 New Year’s resolutions?

We are two months into the year, and I am here to be your accountability coach. What is working well? What would you change about your approach so far?

If you are making progress—way to go! Changing our behavior is not easy (as if you did not already know that.). On the other hand, if my asking these questions raises your blood pressure, relax…take a breath. There is plenty of time to regroup, shifting your perspective away from what you have not done towards focusing on one action you can take to move forward on one of your goals. When we take time to assess barriers that may be standing in our way, it helps us break down the task into manageable pieces.

Since one of this issue’s themes is wellness, I wanted to share part of my own journey toward focusing on getting in better shape this year. For me, losing weight has been a decades-long battle that I mostly have lost. I have always struggled with my weight, which has always frustrated me and negatively impacted my self-image.

Some would say that how much you weigh is correlated with acceptance, happiness, health, and belonging. Others might argue that what someone looks like is the other person’s problem because they are fine just the way they are.

This is obviously an oversimplification of a very complex topic, but my point is this: if your current weight is putting your health at risk, choosing to shed pounds is a positive step forward. In some cases, it can make the difference between life or death.

During my annual physical in December, my doctor said for the second year in a row that I was too heavy, and it was time to become serious about losing weight. If I did not, I was raising my risk for heart disease and diabetes.

Over the years I have tried the Adkins diet, eliminated carbs, and ate only fatfree food products but for the most part they never did the trick for me. While tak-

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ing these steps may have achieved my goal, I eventually gained it all back once I returned to my “normal” routine.

That all changed about 10 years ago when I tried Weight Watchers. It is a science-based approach that uses a calorie-counting system that is personal-

When we take time to assess barriers that may be standing in our way, it helps us break down the task into manageable pieces. ized, based on your age, weight, height, and sex. Every food item you eat has a point value based on its nutritional value and number of calories. Once you enter your personal information, you are given the number of points (which equates to how much food to eat each day/week) in order to lose weight at a safe rate—one to two pounds a week.

Using their simple-to-use app, you track what you eat and how that impacts your point total. When you learn how many points are associated with a given portion size and type of food, you begin to make intentional decisions. This also creates accountability because you are reminded to log your meals and instantly shown your progress. The good news is I have lost 11 pounds since January 1.

Weight loss is one of many health and wellness focus areas where CAMP Rehoboth could consider developing solutions to support our community in the future.

Over the years, our programs have included HIV testing and counseling, smoking cessation, support groups for men and women, and offering flu shots, among many others.

In the coming weeks, you will get a chance to raise your voice to the strategic planning task force through a survey being sent to our members as well as anyone on our email list. The data collect-

ed will help identify priorities along with which current programs may no longer be relevant given changing demographics and availability of similar services from partner organizations. The strategic planning task force will then analyze the current landscape of organizations that provide services addressing these various health issues to ensure CAMP Rehoboth does not duplicate what is already available.

We need your input now more than ever—so please fill out the survey when it lands in your email box. I thank you in advance for helping the board and staff create the best community center possible. ▼ Wesley Combs is CAMP Rehoboth Board President.

TRANSITION

S

peaking of health and wellness, CAMP Rehoboth is happy to report that effective February 27, former board member Tara Sheldon assumed the role of Health and Wellness Manager. Among the many candidates who applied for the job, Tara emerged as the clear choice for the following reasons: Tara has a master’s degree in social work, and her work as a hospice social worker in the area gives her a unique perspective on the mental health challenges facing people in our community.

Tara is passionate about addressing discrimination that is based on sexual orientation or gender identity; in 2016, she was part of a joint effort with PFLAG and the Rehoboth Beach Film Society to address bullying in the community. Finally, having been a board member since 2017 provides her with in-depth knowledge of CAMP Rehoboth’s programs as we complete the strategic plan.

Please join me in giving a warm CAMP Rehoboth welcome to Tara! . ▼

HOSTED JOURNEY

JOIN

Murray Archibald, the founder of CAMP Rehoboth, on an incredible journey in Australia & New Zealand F E B RUARY 2024

Our custom designed hosted journey starts in New Zealand when we meet our Abercrombie & Kent guide. Multi-night stays in New Zealand and Australia include Rotorua, Queenstown, Melbourne, Uluru (the Outback), and Sydney to give you both time free and amazing experiences with our professional guide (all included). Our planned itinerary includes the Hobbiton Movie Set, cultural performances, the opportunity to experience a working kiwi nursery and hatchery, Waitomo Glowworm Caves, art galleries, wine tastings, walking tours, a wildlife conservation park, a private behind the scenes tour of the Sydney Opera House and time at the world famous Bondi Beach. Awe-inspiring scenery and wildlife will provide amazing photo opportunities and memories that last forever on this unique tour! Rich in history and culture this hosted journey is sure to sell out quickly.

For more information please contact Sofia Hedman, Group Travel Manager sofia@accentontravel.com | 302-703-0115

37156 Rehoboth Ave Rehoboth Beach, DE accentontravel.com

PLENTY – OF –

FREE PARKING!

MARCH 10, 2023

7 Letters

CAMPNews CROP Goes to a Concert

C

AMP Rehoboth Outreach Program (CROP) teams were at Epworth United Methodist Church again this year to usher and otherwise assist those attending the three CAMP Rehoboth Chorus concerts, February 17-19.

Between our veteran ushers/sales volunteers and great “newbies,” it was the best year yet.

And speaking of the best year yet, the Chorus was spectacular! CROP looks forward every year to enhancing the experience for concert-goers.

This year, they don’t have to look too far ahead for their next opportunity: the Chorus will be performing songs about those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer in just a few short months, on June 16-18. We would love to see you there! ▼

Check “Australia” Off the Bucket List

C

AMP Rehoboth co-founder Murray Archibald invites community members to join him and fellow CAMP Rehoboth supporters on an exciting travel opportunity in Australia/New Zealand—February 17-March 4, 2024—in partnership with Accent on Travel. (US departure is February 15, 2024.)

The hosted journey arrives in Auckland, with visits to Rotorua, Queenstown, Melbourne, and Uluru, and ends in Sydney. Touring includes the Hobbiton movie set, cultural performances, a working kiwi nursery and hatchery, Waitomo Glowworm Caves, art galleries, wine tastings, walking tours, a wildlife conservation park, a private behind-the-scenes tour of the Sydney Opera House, and time at the world-famous Bondi Beach. Awe-inspiring scenery and wildlife will provide amazing photo opportunities and indelible memories. This hosted journey is sure to sell out quickly, so contact Sofia Hedman, Group Travel Manager, at sofia@accentontravel.com for more details. ▼

CAMP REHOBOTH THANKS OUR 2023 ANNUAL SPONSORS

For information on how to become a CAMP Rehoboth Annual Sponsor, email development@camprehoboth.com or call 302-227-5620.

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CAMPNews

BY MATTY BROWN

Welcome Tara Sheldon!

CAMP Rehoboth’s New Health & Wellness Manager

O

n February 27, Tara Sheldon joined the CAMP Rehoboth staff as the Health and Wellness Manager. Sheldon brings a wide variety of experience to the role. She’s studied psychology, women’s studies, and social work, earning a Master’s degree in Social Work at the University of Maryland’s School Of Social Work. Her commitment to fostering community includes stints at Whitman-Walker Health with Lesbian Services, at Compassionate Care Hospice, and most recently, in collaborations with local groups like PFLAG and ACLU of Delaware in efforts to advocate for LGBTQ+ youth.

CAMP Rehoboth invites the community to join in welcoming Tara to the team!

CR: What is your background with CAMP Rehoboth?

TS: I first joined CAMP Families shortly after we moved here in 2010. Ironically, we all had little ones within about six months of each other. It was so much more than playgroups; it was a sense of community and connection. We were able to share resources and more.

I joined the board in 2017. I was all-in on anything that had to do with advocating for our LGBTQ+ youth. I will miss it but am so very excited to serve CAMP Rehoboth in another way—one I truly believe will allow me the opportunity to do so much more than I could in a volunteer capacity.

CR: What excites you about the Health & Wellness Manager role?

TS: When I interviewed, I said it was my dream job when I moved here 13 years ago!

I admire the variety of CAMP Rehoboth’s programming to serve our community. At its core, I think CAMP is all about meeting people where they are. I think about Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. People at various levels of the hierarchy will need different resources to support their health and wellness.

In advocacy, it is about meeting

people where they are, too—and helping them to see we are all connected. That’s what [CAMP Rehoboth founders] Murray [Archibald] and Steve [Elkins] did so well.

Our strategic planning that is in process will help guide CAMP Rehoboth forward. Ultimately, we can’t and shouldn’t try to do it all, but through collaborations with others—nurturing necessary allies, and building beneficial ones—we can help serve our community and beyond.

I think it’s been my mission from a young age to make life more fair.

Our challenge is to figure out “how can we see and hear from those who need us most”?

Who is struggling the most? And, most importantly, WHY? Is it physiological, safety, love, or esteem?

Sometimes our traumas turn into tumultuous relationships or debilitating illnesses. Sometimes we are able to process and express them, and in turn release them through therapy, art, making connections within our community—whatever our self-care looks like. Behind our wellness is our willingness to accept the truths, be open to change, and ultimately, we grow.

CR: What do you see as some of the most pressing challenges facing the LGBTQ+ community?

TS: Equal access to employment, health care, and education. Environmental catastrophes. Gun violence.

Our community is both most susceptible to discrimination in the workplace, healthcare, and education, AND we have the added stigma attached to the consequences of the discrimination—which further impedes care.

[Our community is] most susceptible to HIV and endures the stigma when diagnosed with it.

[Our community is] most susceptible to mental health concerns and endures the stigma when seeking care for it.

All the bans on gender affirming care, and in consideration of what that leads to in terms of the increase in depression, anxiety, and the risk of suicide—our population has fewer resources.

Just as with every natural disaster, and HIV—COVID is teaching us a lot. Who has been hurt the most by COVID? The poor, the people of color, the single parents, the most marginalized among us—LGBTQ+ in particular—already burdened within Maslow’s hierarchy—COVID knocked them down further. Why? Because all of the above are more likely to have a lower income, fewer resources, and a minimal support system. “Same storm; different boats.”

We can’t be healthy, and well, unless our basic needs are met.

CR: There’s a throughline in your career and life in bringing community together.

What compels you to do that?

TS: There’s something I remember my mother told me when I was very little. It was, “remember what Jimmy Carter said: ‘Life isn’t fair.’” And I hated that. I think it’s been my mission from a young age to make life more fair. But more so than that, I think that if we can’t see the humanity in each other, why are we here? ▼ Matty Brown is the Communications Manager at CAMP Rehoboth.

MARCH 10, 2023

9 Letters

Vice President’s View

BY LESLIE LEDOGAR

Strategic Visioning An Existential Opportunity

S

trategic planning provides an organization such as CAMP Rehoboth Community Center with a unique opportunity to kick the tires and look under the proverbial “hood,” while simultaneously looking into the future. It’s also a great way to reinvigorate our team, get everyone on the same page, and document our strategies. Ultimately, we will be reminded of who we are, why we are here, and what literally gives us goose bumps when we mention CAMP Rehoboth. At the end of the day, we will understand how we can coalesce around a renewed and shared vision for the future of this great organization.

The passing of CAMP Rehoboth cofounder Steve Elkins was the catalyst for the Board’s last strategic planning effort. So much has happened since the 2018-2019 strategic planning process occurred. Suffice it to say that we currently find ourselves at a critical inflection point, where we have a golden opportunity to refresh our sense of who CAMP Rehoboth is and what the world needs from us and our organization.

As Board President Wes Combs has shared in his past columns, the 2023 strategic initiative is underway. As a first step, the Board formed the Strategic Planning Task Force (SPTF). The SPTF consists of current and former board members, the Interim Director, and key staff, all under the guidance of strategic planning expert and consultant Dr. Michela Perrone of MMP & Associates.

The SPTF is now focused on the first phase of strategic planning: strategic visioning. Strategic visioning involves suspending our knowledge of “reality” to answer the question, “Where is Point B?” Thinking from a position of abundance, what if a bejeweled box containing $1 million landed on CAMP Rehoboth’s front porch? What would we do with it and why? Once we have ascertained Point B, we can then do the strategic plan, which is the solution, the Letters 10

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road map, the how-to of getting from where we are now (Point A) to where we want to be at some specified time in the future (Point B).

Strategic visioning involves three main phases: 1) the organization scan; 2) strategic exploration; and 3) strategic vision formulation and documentation.

As a part of the organization scan, the SPTF is seeking information and lots of it. We don’t know what we don’t

The results of the strategic visioning process will be a reevaluation and possible update of each of the following: the purpose statement, the values statement, the vision statement, and a statement of strategic priorities. know, so we are seeking input through focus groups, one-on-one interviews, and a survey. We are seeking to gain a shared understanding of the status quo, namely, what folks think CAMP Rehoboth does well and how we can better serve the community, and what are the key questions folks are asking about CAMP Rehoboth to help identify recurring themes and concerns.

The SPTF is also knee deep into strategic exploration, including conducting a broad-reaching landscape analysis. Some examples of questions we hope to answer include, who else is out there doing this work, how are they similar, different, duplicative, who are they serving, and how are their missions like or different from ours?

After completing data collection, the SPTF will prepare a briefing booklet that will contain all the information collected during the organizational scan and strategic exploration. With the help

of the Board and the new Executive Director (ED), the SPTF will then be able to formulate and document our strategic vision.

The results of the strategic visioning process will be a reevaluation and possible update of each of the following: the purpose statement, the values statement, the vision statement, and a statement of strategic priorities. Said differently, we will hopefully be able to identify what exactly Point B is. The actual strategic plan itself will flow naturally out of the strategic visioning process as the SPTF and the Board work closely with the new ED to come up with the implementation plan—how to get from Point A to Point B. What can readers of this column do to help? Be sure that you are on CAMP Rehoboth’s listserv by contacting Communications Manager Matty Brown (matty@ camprehoboth.com). When your survey hits your inbox, fill it out. And, you can email me directly if there is something of particular import that you want to share (lesliel@camprehoboth.com).

The Board is committed to leading with vision and with community input, including asking all the hard questions, because CAMP Rehoboth is nothing without our colorful and multi-talented community. It’s an existential and exhilarating journey that will help shape our community center in the years to come. ▼ Leslie Ledogar is a retired administrative attorney, current Vice President of the Board and Chair of the SPTF. She will be providing regular updates on the strategic planning process as a guest columnist in future editions of Letters.

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11 Letters

COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS

BY LAURIE THOMPSON

The Women Producing Women’s FEST 2023

I

still introduce myself as the new Development Manager at CAMP Rehoboth. I think one year is a fair length of time to describe myself that way—after all, it takes a year to experience a full cycle of events at CAMP Rehoboth.

I am currently working with a fabulous group of women who are planning Women’s FEST (Fun, Entertainment, Spring, Tradition) 2023. The Women’s FEST committee is comprised of 78 women—volunteers who have collectively spent hundreds of hours planning the events for this year’s FEST, which CAMP Rehoboth will host April 27-30 in downtown Rehoboth Beach.

I am in awe of these women who are working tirelessly to ensure that all 24 events—yes, I said 24 events!—are well-organized and run smoothly over the four-day period. In addition to the women serving on the committees, it will take approximately 80 additional women and men to volunteer their time at Women’s FEST to ensure that it will be a great experience for its more than 1,000 attendees.

This year’s FEST is packed with programming that includes sports events, entertainment, art exhibits, dances, and a walk (the popular Broadwalk on the Boardwalk) that benefits the Delaware Breast Cancer Coalition. None of these events would be possible without the dedication of time and the passionate devotion of our CAMP Rehoboth volunteers. Thank you all for your support!

While an event needs volunteers to be successful, it also needs financial support from sponsors, donors, and attendees. Women’s FEST 2023 co-chairs, Teri Seaton and Karen Laitman, have expressed their gratitude for all the financial support of Women’s FEST this year. According to Teri, “we are currently tracking toward our sponsorship goal for Women’s FEST 2023.

Volunteers on the sponsorship committee have done a phenomenal job and are continuing to reach out and share sponsorship opportunities to ensure we reach or exceed our goal of $35,000.”

CAMP Rehoboth is especially grateful to our three legacy sponsors—Jeanine O’Donnell with All State Insurance, Jen Harpel with Morgan Stanley, and Lana Warfield with Berkshire Hathaway—who have supported Women’s FEST from almost the beginning. I applaud these businesswomen, each of whom rec-

I am in awe of these women who are working tirelessly to ensure that all 24 events…are wellorganized and run smoothly.

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MARCH 10, 2023

ognizes the importance of sponsoring Women’s FEST year after year.

We are also grateful to Linda Kemp with Olivia Cruises who has been instrumental in securing donations for many fabulous cruises for both Women’s FEST and SUNFESTIVAL for more than a decade. Fay Jacobs, one of the founders of Women’s FEST, shared the following: “It is thanks to Olivia’s generosity and Linda’s perseverance and desire to support CAMP Rehoboth that has been instrumental in raising so many dollars over the years.”

In addition to sponsors, we also have generous donors who choose to support Women’s FEST financially.

There are many women—and men—who are unable to attend for one reason or another, but who want to support the event and choose to donate on either the Women’s FEST or CAMP Rehoboth website. We are so grateful for the financial support of our sponsors and our donors.

Ticket sales make up the third type of financial support and are integral to the success of the event. Because without ticket sales, there would be no events.

Attendees like you are key to the success of each and every event and we are grateful that you return year after year to attend Women’s FEST and support CAMP Rehoboth.

I look forward to attending some of the Women’s FEST 2023 events and activities, like bingo or a bike ride or the CAMP Rehoboth art exhibit. I am excited to see the comedian, Jen Kober, and listen to the music of Mouths of Babes at the Friday headliner show at the Convention Center. I plan to participate in the women’s health screening that will be offered free of charge through Beebe Healthcare. I am especially excited to walk at the Broadwalk on the Boardwalk event with all the women who are breast cancer survivors, or who walk in honor of survivors or in memory of women who lost their lives.

I look forward to attending my first Women’s FEST event. It will be inspiring to be in the company of so many women who will travel from near and far, and who will make new friendships—or reunite and celebrate with old friends—as they gather in community to support and enjoy one another at Women’s FEST 2023. ▼ Laurie Thompson is CAMP Rehoboth’s Development Manager, overseeing all development, fundraising, and donor relations.

She can be reached via email at laurie@camprehoboth.com or call 302-227-5620.

PRESENTING SPONSOR

ANNUAL SPONSORS

WOMEN’S FEST IS BACK!

A PR IL 27 - 3 0, 20 2 3 HOTEL SPONSOR

LEGACY SPONSORS

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS PRESENTING SPONSOR

ANNUAL SPONSORS

FEATURING JOIN THE !

FUN

Wes Combs & Greg Albright Susan Kurtliroff & Barbara Snyder Natalie Moss

Chris Dances LLC

Lisa Evans & Joann Gusdanovic Diane Scobey & Jennifer Rubenstein Teri Seaton

Comedian Jen Kober

HOTEL SPONSOR Pat Catanzariti & Carole Ramos Kenneth Currier & Mike Tyler David Nelson & Bill McManus

LEGACY SPONSORS Rehoboth Beach Dental Kim Parks & Sharon Denny Jane Blue & Louisa Watrel Leslie Sinclair & Debbie Woods Lewis Dawley & Greg Becker Debra Wood Leslie Ledogar & Marilyn Hewitt Joanne Yurik Donna Ohle & Susan Gaggiotti

Vocal Duo Mouths of Babes

Wes Combs & Greg Albright Susan Kurtliroff & Barbara Snyder Natalie Moss

Cheer!

Mouth of Babes, Regina Sayles, GirlsRoom, Christine Havrilla, and Mama’s Black Sheep unite us all through music!

Play!

Golf, pickleball, bike ride, cornhole, and bowling!

Experience!

Chris Dances LLC

laugh!

The hilarious Jen Kober at the Rehoboth Beach Convention Center, and Fay Jacobs brings two new shows!

Remember!

Honor loved ones and fight cancer: Broadwalk on the Boardwalk, Sunday

Lisa Evans & Joann Gusdanovic Diane Scobey & Jennifer Rubenstein Bingo, speed dating, CAMP outreach Teri Seaton program (CROP) volunteer event, health screenings, and more!

Discover!

Popular craft expo, singles mixer, art show, and more!

Dance!

Thursday Georgette Krenkel’s Kick Off, and Saturday’s FEST 2023 Premier Dance at the RB Convention Center!

Pat Catanzariti & Carole Ramos Kenneth Currier & Mike Tyler David Nelson & Bill McManus FOR INFORMATION OR TO BECOME A SPONSOR, CALL 302-227-5620.

Updates on Women’s FEST Facebook page and camprehoboth.com

Rehoboth Beach Dental Jane Blue & Louisa Watrel

Kim Parks & Sharon Denny Leslie Sinclair & Debbie Woods

MARCH 10, 2023

13 Letters

WOMEN’S FEST ✺ Laughs

BY NANCY SAKADUSKI

The Amazing World of Jen Kober

J

udging by her acting roles, Jen Kober could be a one-woman Village People ensemble. She’s played a nurse, judge, rabbi, police officer, science teacher, hospital administrator, 911 operator, hooker, arsonist, poet, and— what Jen says was a real stretch—“loud lesbian.” But her energies coalesce like a fine wine when she hits the stage for live performances, and with sets like “Stand Up in Stilettos,” “Smoking Out with My Girlfriends,” and “Eat Me Raw,” you know you’re not going to be watching Masterpiece Theater.

“You should expect to laugh so hard your face hurts,” replies Jen, when asked what we should anticipate of her performance at Women’s FEST. She says she has a brand-new power hour of stories to tell. “It is something I’ve been honing for about three months now; it’s really strong—I’m super excited.”

Originally from Lake Charles, Louisiana, Jen once sold insurance door to door. “It certainly gave me plenty of stories,” she says. “I had one man sign a policy on a horse’s ass.… It taught me how to talk to anyone.” Fortunately for us, she turned to comedy, bounding onto the national stage and bringing crowds to their feet with her original blend of stand up, storytelling, and improvised rock-‘nroll comedy.

For someone who says she enjoys relaxing and “free-boobin’” (going braless) around the house, Jen’s been pretty busy.

She has appeared in two original shows produced by Netflix and shows on an alphabet soup of other media outlets, from Apple TV to USA Network.

Jen’s comedy timing is spot on, and she modulates her voice from a bare whisper to a shake-the-rafters bellow.

“When I was younger, I thought, man you gotta come out swinging,” she explains, but she learned it was more effective to

start off slow and vary the tone of her voice. “It’s about pulling them in,” she says. “I was always the loudest person in the room…my mother kept getting my hearing tested when I was a kid…but now

“We are going to have a great time. If you’re not there, you’re going to hear about it.

It’s going to be fun.”

I realize you don’t have to scream at people to get their attention and that being quiet and the not speaking almost brings them in closer than yelling at them.”

Jen recently had a milestone birthday but isn’t concerned with her age. “What’s the alternative?” she asks. “I am very lucky to look very young. Fat is nature’s Botox…. I’ve done a lot. I’ve been traveling a lot, I’ve been really doing the work… and doing lots and lots of shows, and that’s matured me more as a performer much more than any chronological timeline.”

In her stand-up appearances, Jen talks about everything from Girl Scout cookies to substances she doesn’t always use medicinally. She clarifies that she sticks to things “God put here for us to partake of,” but admits, “I have always been a person who lives in excess. I enjoy indulging.”

Her performances are certainly an indulgence in humor for her audiences. And as we all know, laughter is medicinal—so there you go.

But back to what the Women’s FEST audience can look forward to. “They can expect to see themselves in it,” says Jen. “They can expect to have to repeat to their neighbor what I just said

CAMP Rehoboth Women’s FEST strives to create and maintain an inclusive and accessible environment that empowers all persons, including persons with disabilities, to participate in our event. If you or your companion have any needs related to accessibility, please contact Hope at Hope@phoenixaccessibilityteam.com.

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MARCH 10, 2023

because they were laughing so hard. It’s going to really be a fun night.” If you have any doubts, visit jenkober.com and check out some of the video clips. (Warning: May cause uncontrollable laughter.)

Jen says she is planning to travel to Rehoboth with a “gaggle of lesbians” to—like many of us—make a weekend of Women’s FEST. And she’s looking forward to the Women’s FEST audience. “We are going to have a great time. If you’re not there, you’re going to hear about it. It’s going to be fun.”

And speaking of hearing about it, Jen Kober may have just hit the jackpot. She’s been signed to do a super-secret project that will be announced in time for her to talk about it at FEST. She wouldn’t spill much, but suffice to say the word “Marvel” is in it. How’s that for amazing? ▼

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15 Letters

WOMEN’S FEST ✺ Headliners

BY NANCY SAKADUSKI

Rehoboth is Alive with the Sound of

WOMEN’S FEST WOMEN’S FEST is the largest women’s event in the MidAtlantic region for good reason. In addition to sports, games, health screenings, speed dating, an art show, and an expo, we’ll be hosting some of the most popular and fun female musicians and comedians, and it’s going to be a boatload of fun. Whether you long to laugh until your belly hurts, are destined to dance the night away, or crave kicking back and being entertained, we have you covered. Go to camprehoboth. com for the latest details and ticket information, but here are your don’t-miss events:

2023 Letters 16

MARCH 10, 2023

Jen Kober*† Fri., April 28, 8 p.m., Rehoboth Beach Convention Center

Jen Kober is one funny lady. She won NPR’s Snap Judgement Comedic Performance of the Year for “Girl Scout Cookie Caper” (if you haven’t seen it, stop reading immediately and google it), which went viral instantly. She received the 2018 Comedic Performance of the Year for “Nana Vs. OJ,” and appeared on Netflix in 2019 in Dead to Me and RuPaul’s sitcom AJ & The Queen. Jen had audiences rolling in the aisles on The Righteous Gemstones on HBO, played a no-nonsense detective in The Purge on USA Network, and was a wacky science teacher in Diary of a Future President on Disney+.

In 2021 Jen’s momentum continued with a recurring role on American Horror Story, a guest appearance on Showtime’s Black Monday with Regina Hall and Don Cheadle, and a regular role on Apple TV’s new queer sitcom, The Browns. She is also featured in Audible’s Pride Special, Owning It. Last year she scored a hilarious guest starring role on the CBS sitcom How We Roll, starring Pete Holmes and Katie Lowes, and appeared with Jean Smart on the HBO hit series Hacks. This is an opportunity to see a top-tier comedian at the top of her game. Don’t miss it.

Mouths of Babes*† Fri., April 28, 7 p.m., Rehoboth Beach Convention Center

Opening for Jen Kober will be the ever-popular Women’s FEST favorite Mouths of Babes. With more than a dozen albums and over a thousand shows between

them, Ty Greenstein and Ingrid Elizabeth of Mouths of Babes are no strangers to the contemporary folk music scene. For years, their respective bands, Girlyman and Coyote Grace, captivated thousands of loyal fans as they crisscrossed the country, rocked festival main stages, and toured with the likes of the Indigo Girls and Dar Williams. Now, as Mouths of Babes, Ty and Ingrid have distilled the very best of the songwriting, musicianship, and humor of their previous groups into a new duo that brings more style and depth than ever before.

Onstage, Ty makes a quiet impression as a gifted lyricist, talented multi-instrumentalist, and magnetic presence. “The poignant honesty that Ty brings to [her] tunes gives them an emotional intensity that’s as bracing as it is moving,” says Relix Magazine. The Americana Gazette writes, “Ty’s practice of extending metaphors out toward a precipice keeps an unpredictable edge to her songs. Most writers would stop at the easy close. Ty jumps, leaving much to the imagination, to powerful effect.”

Ingrid, a natural performer, easily commands audiences with her largerthan-life sassiness and professional dancer’s grace. Curve Magazine calls her “the fiery redheaded bassist...the unabashed, unapologetic woman who isn’t afraid to yell it all from the rooftops.”

Regina Sayles† Fri., April 28, 4 p.m., Top of the Pines Sat., April 30, 1:30 p.m., CAMP Rehoboth ElkinsArchibald Atrium

Regina’s acoustic-driven, singer/songwriter melodies are said to connect you to the everyday human condition. Called a vocal chameleon, Sayles belts and croons to the center of life’s heartstrings. In addition to

Whether you long to laugh until your belly hurts, are destined to dance the night away, or crave kicking back and being entertained, we have you covered. performing more than 100 shows a year, Sayles has had the opportunity to open for Tret Fure and Ani DiFranco and played as a featured artist on the 2019 Melissa Etheridge Cruise.

Based in East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, Regina tours whenever possible while remaining passionately dedicated to her loyal local fan base. In 2022, Regina toured Florida and Colorado and hopes to play a new state this year. When she’s not playing solo, she can be found joining the Craig Thatcher Band as a featured vocalist. In January 2023, Regina released her single, “Rollin’ in the Hay,” her first solo single release in 10 years. Regina will be releasing an EP of new music in the upcoming year, so keep an eye on Regina’s social media as well as reginasayles.com for details. But—first things first—snag a ticket to one of her Women’s FEST performances.

Christine Havrilla† Sat., April 29, 3:30 p.m., CAMP Rehoboth ElkinsArchibald Atrium

Philadelphia-area native Christine Havrilla will bring her unique style back to Women’s FEST by popular demand. A self-taught musician, she uses “well-built, catchy, smart tunes” (Upstage Magazine) to connect with her audiences. The soft gritty texture of her vocals expresses warmth and honesty listeners quickly embrace, and is backed by aggressive, raw, trash-style guitar playing and looping.

Christine tours nationally as a solo act as well as with her band Gypsy Fuzz. She is known for her spontaneous energy, soul-felt vibes, and the musical adventures she brings to the stage. Her recently released new single and EP, California Night, is a blend of 90s guitar and late-60s harmonies wrapped up in a

catchy rocker about sharing the California coast and its memories. If you’re counting, that makes 13 albums and three EPs. Her music always has new twists and has been described as “a blend of 70s, 80s, and 90s rock delivered by the modern singer/songwriter.” According to What’s Up magazine, “Christine breaks out the gasoline and sets fire to the typical roots/ folk genre with blazing guitars.”

GirlsRoom*† Sat., April 29, 7 p.m., Rehoboth Beach Convention Center

Saturday night’s premier dance will be to the beat of GirlsRoom, a local all-female rock-and-roll band and DJ Peggy Castle. GirlsRoom consists of drummer Jill Brady, formerly of The Girlfriends, vocalist Barbara Phillips, bassist Terri Brady, guitarists Lois McDuffee, Glenda Diem, and Kathy Nace-Jones, who is returning just for this event.

Between the band’s rocking sounds and DJ Peggy Castle’s brilliant song picks, everyone will be up and out on the floor.

The Saturday night dance is Women’s FEST’s centerpiece event. Whether you’re there to celebrate with old friends or looking forward to meeting new friends, you are in for a spectacular evening.

Fay Jacobs† Sat., April 29, 5 p.m., Top of the Pines Sun., April 30, 4 p.m., CAMP Rehoboth ElkinsArchibald Atrium

seemingly never-ending challenges of modern life. Once again, hear the author’s insistence that nothing is ever so horrible if it’s worth the story you can tell. The stories are relatable to all and touch everyone’s heart and funny bone. These will be the last performances of “Aging Gracelessly: Still Rock ‘n Roll to Me” in Rehoboth, so be sure to catch one of them.

Mama’s Black Sheep Sun., April 30, 12 - 3 p.m., Dogfish Head Brewings & Eats (closing party—open to all)

The Women’s FEST Closing Party will feature Mama’s Black Sheep, the hugely popular local band that covers all the bases, from country to soul and from pop to blues. A collaboration of singer-songwriters Ashland Miller (guitar/ vocals) and Laura Cerulli (drums/vocals), this duo creates a blend of hit-worthy originals and covers with a unique spin.

Bid a fond farewell to friends new and old at this last dance. * Included in Women’s FEST pass † Individual tickets available CAMP Rehoboth Women’s FEST strives to create and maintain an inclusive and accessible environment that empowers all persons, including persons with disabilities, to participate in our event. If you or your companion have any needs related to accessibility, please contact Hope at Hope@ phoenixaccessibilityteam.com.

Local author and humorist Fay Jacobs is returning to tell more tales as she continues to “age gracelessly.” Fay taps into universal themes with observational humor surrounding her attempts to navigate the MARCH 10, 2023

17 Letters

Words Matter

BY CLARENCE FLUKER

Sharing Really Is Caring

O

ver the years I have written for several publications and for a while I even managed two personal blogs. Somewhere along the line, I thought I would stretch and transform my written expressions into a one-man play.

The focus was love. In a Ntozake Shange inspired way, I pieced together monologues, poetry, and prose that I had written on the subject and combined them into a complete one-act work. I explored love of self, love of God, and of course my own pursuit of romantic love.

Since my early college days, I had been accustomed to sharing at times deeply personal aspects of my life with strangers. I don’t think it phased me because there was a certain comfort in typing something up, sending it out into the universe, and never having to really come face-toface with the readers. There was a perceived wall between me and them. They could only judge words on a page. They could not judge me.

Showing up at a theater to perform a one-man play, with the spotlight on me, unable to see the faces, but knowing there were people in that audience watching, listening, and perhaps judging me and my story in real time was quite different. The night before the show I sat in my bathtub wondering if I had made a huge mistake. What was I thinking? Why on earth did I choose this most vulnerable path of expression?

Yet, it was the night before the performance and too late to call the whole thing off.

So, I leaned into that vulnerability and for an hour and 10 minutes I shared, in my own words, my own journey with love. I heard the audience laugh.

I heard them gasp. I also heard silence. There were immediate reactions that night when the lights went up. Strangers clapped. Friends hugged me. My mom told me she was proud of how brave I was. There was also a friend in the audience that night that slipped out after the show quietly. I thought her nonreaction was a reaction.

Days later though, I received an email from her. She shared that she left so soon after the show because she felt so deeply connected to a particularly melancholy monologue that she needed

So, I leaned into that vulnerability and for an hour and 10 minutes I shared, in my own words, my own journey with love.

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MARCH 10, 2023

some air and time with herself. She told me that my sharing of my experience—which mirrored her own—made her feel for the first time that she was not alone.

That moment cemented for me that I had made the right choice in sharing in the way that I did. It also was the first time as a young adult that the words of C.S. Lewis crystalized themselves for me: “Friendship...is born at the moment when one man says to another, ‘What! You too? I thought that no one but myself…’” That moment and those words forever changed how I show up in the world and in my friendships, emphasizing the power of sharing stories and truths. We don’t have to all do it on a blog, in a column, or on stage, but essential to meaningful friendships is sharing right where you are with the people closest to you.

My family and I have experienced several challenges in the last three months after my mom had a stroke and other physical health trials.

Thankfully, she has overcome them and is on the road to total healing. And thankfully, as I tried to navigate my role as her son and as a brother, while also trying to maintain my own mental and emotional health through the toughest of moments, I had friends who were not only just willing to listen to me, but to also share the experiences and knowledge that they’d gained from similar situations. Navigating a health system. Navigating family dynamics. Navigating the early stages of being a caregiver.

Their transparency was a gift that I hold close to me. They made me feel supported and not alone.

They had gone through these things or were still in the process of going through them and we were in it together. Releasing judgement, embarrassment, and fear. Holding on, and being held up by vulnerability, empathy, and the bravery that grows from transparency and compassion. Sharing really is caring. ▼ Clarence J. Fluker is a public affairs and social impact strategist. Since 2008, he’s also been a contributing writer for Swerv, a lifestyle periodical celebrating African American LGBTQ+ culture and community. Follow him on Twitter: @CJFluker or Instagram: @Mr_CJFluker.

MARCH 10, 2023

19 Letters

CommunityNews DELAWARE VALLEY ALZHEIMER’S ASSOCIATION

Support Group Meetings Scheduled

T

he Delaware Valley Alzheimer’s Association has released its schedule for in-person support group meetings.

FIRST TUESDAYS ⊲ 1:00-3:00 p.m.

Call 800.272.3900 before attendCHEER Longneck, 26089 Shoppes at Long Neck, ing as dates and times are subject to Millsboro change.

FIRST TUESDAYS ⊲ 4:00-5:00 p.m.

The Delaware Valley Chapter of FTD (Dr. Pierson’s office), 57 Tiffany Dr., the Alzheimer's Association serves the Rehoboth Beach greater Philadelphia area and the Lehigh Valley, Southern New Jersey, and FIRST THURSDAYS ⊲ 6:00-8:00 p.m. the full state of Delaware. The chapter CHEER at Ocean View, 32 West Ave., Oceanview is a source of information and support SECOND TUESDAYS ⊲ 1:30-3:00 p.m. for the more than 489,000 residents Lofland Park Center, 715 E. King St., Seaford in Delaware, New Jersey, and PennsylTHIRD TUESDAYS ⊲ 1:00-2:00 p.m. vania who are living with Alzheimer’s CHEER Longneck, 26089 Shoppes at Long Neck, disease, and their more than 809,000 Millsboro caregivers. Through its network of staff WEEKLY ON TUESDAYS ⊲ 10:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. and volunteers, the chapter offers a Lewes Library, 111 Adams Ave., Lewes broad range of free programs and services, funding for Alzheimer's and dementia research, and advocacy efforts on behalf of those across the region. ▼

Sussex County In-Person Support Group Meetings

MEDICARE & TRANS ADULTS ⊲ Transgender older adults have

unique health care needs. Many are unaware that Medicare has been addressing them. For example, it’s been almost 10 years since Medicare began covering medically necessary gender-affirming surgeries.

Across those years, Medicare policies regarding many services to transgender adults have evolved and have clarified. Our April issue will cover some important basics.. ▼

Twin Poets Society

T

he house was packed and West Side New Beginnings in West Rehoboth was buzzing with anticipation: the 2015 Delaware Twin Poets Laureate were in the house! The February 16 visit by identical twins Al Mills and Nnamdi Chukwuocka included the twins’ recitations of their award-winning writings. The delivery of their inspiring words struck a certain cadence that drew those listening into a new world. It was a world of struggle and a world of loss. Yet, it was also a world of victory and of hope.

Tears flowed down the cheeks of those who had the pleasure of hearing the Twin Poets. Some were tears of sorrow, as Al and Nnamdi shared the poetic saga of the shooting of ‘Lil Shane in a dice game. There were also tears of hope and promise when they recited their writing about talking to tomorrow’s leaders today, asking, “What would I say?” They would tell them to spend more money on education instead of prisons.

They would say, “Show character and always give respect.”

Respect is a quality that exemplifies the Twin Poets, both given and received. Al and Nnamdi brought their lives and their livelihood to West Rehoboth—and all those present were captured in their words. ▼

Know o t s Thing My Mom: y, About

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Letters 20

MARCH 10, 2023

MARCH 10, 2023

21 Letters

LGBTQ+ YA Column

BY JULIAN HARBAUGH

Green Time (Perhaps You Require It)

A

t this point, we all know that going outside is good for us.

But it turns out some of us are hardwired to need it a little bit more than others.

Green time, as it’s been dubbed, is an important tool in the ADHD toolbox for managing symptoms and maintaining emotional wellbeing. There are emotional, sensory, and physiological benefits to getting enough green time. And there’s no better time to start planning for that than now, as our first 70° days are behind us and the buds are starting to peek out on the tree branches.

If you are someone with ADHD—or you know someone with ADHD—you know how restless sitting in one place for too long can make us. Our brains want varied sensory inputs, which means that doing one thing for too long or sitting in the same position for too long can be physically or emotionally frustrating for us.

This is doubled when that one thing that we’re doing includes screen time.

Our devices, be they laptops or phones or tablets, are essentially tiny machines that provide us dopamine, which is chronically low in ADHD brains. Unfortunately, like candy, the energy that we get from that dopamine is short-lived.

Green time gives us more sustainable dopamine that can help us transfer that energy into tasks that don’t give us dopamine, like sending emails or doing homework. ADHD experts suggest green time as a sort of sensory reset—a way to drastically change our sensory inputs in order to give ourselves a break from tasks and environments that tax our brains.

This reset improves our focus, our emotional regulation, and gives us a break from performing “indoor” behavior.

Anyone who’s worked with kids knows that they need time to run around and speak loudly, and some of us still need that long after our age is in double digits.

There are physiological benefits as well—along with all the endorphins that come with being outside (and especially exercising outside), being outside can provide vitamin D through exposure to Letters 22 MARCH 10, 2023

sunlight. Even taking slow walks in nature can lower blood pressure, reduce hyperactivity, and lower the level of cortisol (our body’s primary stress hormone). Just remember to pack sunscreen!

There are a lot of different ways to get green time. There are the obvious ways, such as taking a walk through the woods, or going hiking, or mountain biking. But there are also other ways to get green time. Joining an outdoor sports league like sand court volleyball or disc golf can be green time. Gardening or reading outside also works as green time for nonsports people.

You could even do what I did in high school: I put on a hoodie and lay face down in the grass on sunny days when I came home from school. I’m sure that sounds odd, but it worked.

Any way that you can be out in nature is effective green time. If you’re someone who works from home and you don’t have access to a backyard or a park, you can try working in front of an open window that faces some trees or grass. Or grow plants on your windowsill to bring some of that greenness into your home.

If you’re a parent or guardian to a child with ADHD, try scheduling time a couple days a week to take your kid to the park or play outside with them. This has benefits for both you and your kid!

For those with ADHD, try to be as present in that time as possible—green time is less effective if you’re looking at your phone the whole time. It can feel boring at first, but the further you disconnect from interferences like your phone, the more beneficial it’ll be for you. It won’t be easy at first, but it’s worth it.

And you can try things like birding— ADHD brains are great at noticing little things like birds or birdsong that others without ADHD tend to tune out. The sky is literally the limit for green time!

Like with any other coping mechanism for ADHD, this is not a replacement for therapy or medication, but another tool that helps us manage our symptoms. No matter whether we’re having a good day or a bad day with our ADHD, green time can help us relax, recharge, and reinvigorate our efforts towards the things we need to get done. ▼ Julian Harbaugh (they/them) is the Youth Peer Leader at CAMP Rehoboth. When they’re not writing, they can be found teaching their four rats new tricks, walking their dog, and roaming garage sales looking for antique philosophy books.

Photo: Johannes Plenio on Unsplash.com

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23 Letters

health+wellness

BY SHARON MORGAN

PrEP for a Healthy Life

M

uch has changed in the treatment and management of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) over the last 40 years. In fact, between 2015 and 2019, new HIV diagnoses in the United States actually declined by around nine percent: by 2019, approximately 1.2 million individuals 13 years or older were living with HIV, with about 38,000 newly diagnosed cases.

A cornerstone to HIV management and prevention over the past decade has been advances made in pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) medications.

Yet in spite of the benefits, awareness of PrEP medications has remained low, and lack of awareness disproportionately affects individuals of color.

In 2012, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Truvada (emtricitabine/tenofovir disoproxil fumarate) for HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis to reduce sexually-acquired HIV-1 infection in at-risk adults, in combination with safer sex practices. Later, in 2018, the FDA extended the use of Truvada for PrEP in adolescents weighing at least 35 kilograms (77 pounds).

The FDA approved a second medication regimen, Descovy (emtricitabine/ tenofovir alafenamide), in late 2019 for use in at-risk adults and adolescents weighing at least 35kg.

PrEP has proven beneficial for those who test negative for HIV; have had anal or vaginal sex in the past six months; and: 1) have or had a sexual partner with HIV; 2) have not consistently used a condom; or 3) have been diagnosed with a sexually transmitted infection in the past six months. In addition, PrEP is beneficial for those who inject drugs; have an injection partner with HIV; or share needles, syringes, or other injection equipment.

Both Truvada and Descovy are once-daily prescription medications that, when taken correctly, reduce the risk of getting HIV from sex by about 99 percent. Among people who inject drugs, PrEP reduces the risk by at least 74 percent when taken as prescribed.

Letters 24 MARCH 10, 2023

However, PrEP is much less effective when it isn't taken regularly. In 2021, Apretude (cabotegravir), an every-other-month injection, was approved for PrEP to reduce the risk of getting HIV-1 infection in adults and adolescents who weigh at least 35 kg.

…when taken correctly, [PrEP] reduces the risk of getting HIV from sex by about 99 percent.

Under the Affordable Care Act, all PrEP medications are free under most health insurance plans. For those that use Medicare Part D, a cost sharing may be incurred. Individuals who do not have prescription drug insurance may be eligible for Ready, Set, PrEP (readysetprep.hiv.gov), a national program that makes PrEP oral medications available at no cost. All medications are fully covered for qualifying participants; however, the costs of necessary clinic visits and lab tests may vary depending on a person’s income.

Despite the medications’ effectiveness and the fact that PrEP has been available for a decade, key barriers exist to PrEP usage. Some structural barriers include PrEP access, potential costs associated with the medication, stigma surrounding populations who benefit from PrEP, lack of provider knowledge, or a lack of prescribing providers. PrEP is only available by prescription and only certified practitioners can prescribe PrEP. Moreover, those on PrEP need periodic blood testing (HIV and kidney function tests), so access to routine clinician care is required.

Awareness of PrEP also has remained low and disproportionately affects individuals of color (Black and Hispanic). Awareness is the lowest in Black men who have sex with men (MSM) and transgender women. Not surprisingly, these groups are also disproportionate-

ly more likely to acquire HIV. In 2019, African Americans represented 13 percent of the US population but accounted for 44 percent of new HIV diagnoses; Hispanics composed 18 percent of the US population but accounted for 30 percent of new HIV diagnoses. From 2015 through 2019, Black MSM accounted for more than 36 percent of new HIV infections annually among MSM. The number of diagnoses of HIV infection for transgender adults and adolescents increased between 2015 and 2019, with the highest percentage (93 percent) of HIV diagnoses for transwomen.

The HIV National Strategic Plan (2022-2025), the nation’s third consecutive national HIV strategy, sets forth bold targets for ending the HIV epidemic in the United States by 2030. Those targets include a 75 percent reduction in new HIV infections by 2025 and a 90 percent reduction by 2030.

The plan goes hand in hand with the UNAIDS 90/90/90 strategy. Announced in 2014, the strategy outlined that by 2020, 90 percent of people living with HIV would know their status, 90 percent of individuals diagnosed with HIV would be on treatment, and 90 percent of individuals with HIV on treatment would achieve an undetectable viral load. Although the initial targets were missed, UNAIDS revised the goals with 95/95/95 benchmarks by 2030.

Prevention is a key piece to achieving these strategic goals. PrEP awareness, access, and correct usage can help ensure an end to the HIV epidemic, here and globally. ▼

Additional information on HIV and PrEP is available on many credible websites, including HIV.gov, HIVinfo.nih.gov, FDA. gov, CDC.gov, and KFF.org.

Sharon A. Morgan is a retired advanced practice nurse with over 30 years of clinical and healthcare policy background.

Classes & Events For more information about any of these events, please visit camprehoboth.com or call us at 302-227-5620. Zoom links (when applicable) can be found on our website or the weekly email newsletter. Meetings are in-person and take place at CAMP Rehoboth unless noted otherwise.

Weekly Events

Bi-weekly & Monthly Events

WALK-IN HIV TESTING

WOMEN IN CIRCLE

Free, rapid, walk-in HIV testing at CAMP Rehoboth. Get your results in 15 minutes. No appointment needed during the below times. Appointments available for other dates and times.

Women in Circle is a gathering of LGBTQ women that meets the first and third Saturday of each month. The circle is a welcoming, inclusive, and positive place to meet, connect, and share with other women.

Mondays-Fridays

Mondays.................12:00-4:00 p.m.

Tuesdays................12:00-4:00 p.m.

Wednesdays.........1:00-4:00 p.m.

Thursdays..............1:00-4:00 p.m.

Fridays....................9:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m.

MORNING MINDFULNESS Tuesdays 8:00 a.m. (Zoom)

Erin will lead a mindful exercise or morning meditation for 30 minutes.

CHAIR YOGA

Tuesdays 9:00 a.m. (Zoom)

Erin guides participants to synchronize conscious breath with mindful movement. The sequence of poses is designed to energize and strengthen, as well as relax and lengthen muscles.

MEN’S YOGA

Saturdays 8:45 a.m.

All levels are welcome, and everyone will be given the opportunity to modify or advance their practice, based upon their preferences.

YOGA FOR ALL

Wednesdays 11:00 a.m.

Come enjoy this new, open-toeveryone, pay-whatyou-like yoga class!

03/18, 04/01, 04/15, 10:00 a.m.

YOUTHUP DISCUSSION GROUP 04/13, 6:30 p.m. (Zoom)

The Youth Discussion Group meets the second Thursday of each month. This discussion group is for 11- to 19-year-old LGBTQ+ youth to get together and chat virtually with other LGBTQ+ youth and a supportive adult moderator.

These meetings are meant for informal discussions of school, friends, media, and other youth-driven topics. Requests for presentations and other questions from/by adults should be directed to julian@camprehoboth.com.

YOUNG ADULT DISCUSSION GROUP 03/16, 04/20, 6:00 p.m. (Zoom)

The Young Adult discussion group meets the third Thursday of each month.

This group is for 19- to 25-year-old LGBTQ+ young adults. For more information email julian@camprehoboth.com.

YOUTHUP THEME NIGHT 03/23, 6:30 p.m. (Zoom)

Every fourth Thursday we do our Theme Nights over Zoom, and this month we’re playing Jackbox games! Join us for this fan favorite. Phone or tablet with internet connection required. Please sign up by emailing julian@camprehoboth.com.

YOUTHUP BOOK CLUB 03/27, 7:00 p.m. (Zoom)

The YouthUp Book Club meets the last Monday of each month. This month’s book is Ophelia After All

by Racquel Marie.

If you need a copy of the book or want to be added to the mailing list for the Zoom link, email julian@ camprehoboth.com.

FLAMING KNITTERS

03/27, 04/10, 6:30 p.m.

Flaming Knitters meets the second and fourth Monday of each month.

The group provides a thoughtful and engaging space for working, conversing, connecting, showing off, sharing resources, and supporting fiber-related crafts/projects in a queer- and trans-affirming space.

CAMP REHOBOTH BOOK CLUB 03/27, 5:30 p.m. (Zoom)

The Book Club meets the last Monday of each month. The Book Club is a queer-facilitated discussion group dedicated to reading novels about queer topics and/ or books by queer authors that tackle a variety of interests and subject matters. The March selection: Nevada by Imogen Binnie. ▼

MARCH 10, 2023

25 Letters

Out & About

BY ERIC C. PETERSON

What is Queerbaiting … and Why Shouldn’t You Care?

L

ast month, Harry Styles caused a minor uproar when he accepted a Grammy for Album of the Year, when most prognosticators, music fans, and people with ears expected Beyoncé to win the evening’s biggest award. To suggest that people were upset is putting it mildly. To make things worse, Styles ended his speech thusly: “This doesn’t happen to people like me very often and this is so, so nice. Thank you very much.”

Now, it’s impossible to know exactly what he meant by that, but to most of the folks watching a white man win an award they believed a Black woman deserved more, it was brutally ironic. Viewed through the lens of race and gender, Harry seemed like exactly the kind of people who typically won these things.

He continued making headlines a few weeks later at the BRIT Awards. After picking up a trophy for Song of the Year, he kissed a guy, and the internet lit up like the proverbial Christmas tree.

As a proud member of Generation X, who learned what “gay” meant around the same time I heard my first AIDS joke, the idea that a same-sex kiss would generate controversy is not shocking.

What did surprise me, however, was who was doing the complaining. Suddenly, and not for the first time, Styles was being criticized by LGBTQ folks. His crime was something called “queerbaiting.”

This is a term that means different things to different people. When it first arose in the early 2010s, it was used to describe fictional stories (usually movies and TV) that hint at LGBTQ subject matter to attract (“bait”) an audience hungry for representation, then fail to follow through. The BBC’s Sherlock series has often been accused of this (though its creators insist the relationship between Holmes and Watson has never been anything but platonic). But in my recent memory, the worst example was hearing that Avengers: Endgame was going to feature Marvel Studios’ first gay character, Letters 26 MARCH 10, 2023

only to learn that this giant step in LGBTQ visibility was a man with no name in a support group for survivors of the Snap talking about his dead husband. He was listed in the credits as “Grieving Man.” Worst. Superhero. Ever.

But because language evolves (faster than ever thanks to the internet),

But because language evolves (faster than ever thanks to the internet), “queerbaiting” now has an alternate meaning … “queerbaiting” now has an alternate meaning, referring to celebrities who imply by word or action that they may not be 100 percent straight/cisgender while simultaneously not coming out in a definitive way.

Back in 2019, Ariana Grande released a music video called “Break Up With Your Girlfriend, I’m Bored.” In it, she teases and flirts with a man who already has a girlfriend, but in the final moments, leans in and is about to kiss the girl instead, as the image fades to black. LGBTQ fans didn’t think it was cute. Many commented that if Ariana was using a video to come out as bisexual, great. If not, they said, using bisexuality for “shock value” is wrong. Other celebrities who’ve been criticized include Nick Jonas (for singing in gay nightclubs), Billie Eilish (flirted with partially dressed women in a video), and Charlie Puth (posts pictures on his Instagram featuring his bare buttocks).

But no one has been criticized for this more than Styles. While he’s on record saying that “everyone’s a little bit gay,” he uses he/him pronouns and has only ever publicly dated women. Still, he wears pearls, nail polish, glittery jumpsuits, and heels, and has a habit of kissing men in public (first his co-star Nick Kroll at the

Venice Film Festival, then Scottish singer Lewis Capaldi at the BRIT Awards last month). He’s either pretending to be one of us, or refusing to come out, and apparently, this is bad.

Mark Harris writes in the New York Times Style Magazine that queerbaiting “can feel like teasing.” And I suppose he’s right, although that’s a word that can be either cruel or delicious, depending on the context. I suspect that a lot of LGBTQ folks don’t like to see Harry Styles get (mostly) positive attention for things that most of us would be criticized for. If he proudly claimed a queer identity, that would be one thing, they’d argue; this way, he’s just chasing clout.

Or, I would argue, he’s having fun. If by teasing, you mean you’re upset because despite Styles’s androgynous fashion choices, Vogue covers, and his habit of locking lips with other dudes at public events, you’re still not quite sure if Harry Styles is going to sleep with you, allow me to clear that up quickly and neatly: No. He’s not. Or at least the chances are so remote as to be practically zero. It strikes me as mindbendingly ironic that the queer generation that claims to love ambiguity and hate labels like no other can’t deal with a person’s ambiguity unless they attach themselves to the correct label. And Harry Styles, if you’re reading this (you aren’t)—go ahead and wear all the dresses and kiss all the men you want. I fully support you in these endeavors. (Beyoncé probably should’ve won the Grammy, though.) ▼ Eric Peterson is a diversity and inclusion practitioner. His first novel (Loyalty, Love & Vermouth) is available online and at Browseabout Books in Rehoboth Beach. His podcast, The Rewind Project, is available wherever you listen to podcasts.

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MARCH 10, 2023

27 Letters

In Your Easter Bonnet

BY NANCY SAKADUSKI

…With All the Frills Upon It

T

he idea of showing off a new spring hat is probably intertwined with Christian traditions surrounding the end of Lent and the excitement that comes with the sense of rebirth and renewal. Special Easter garb dates back at least to Shakespearean times; an “Easter suit” is referenced in Romeo and Juliet.

Wearing a bonnet specifically designed for Easter became popular after the Civil War, when communities held parades to boost community spirit. The New York City Easter parade had become so popular by the 1940s that up to one million people took part. And once Fred Astaire and Judy Garland strolled into the 1948 film Easter Parade, every woman (and quite a few men) wanted to be seen in a fashionable Easter bonnet.

As interest in Easter bonnets grew, milliners rose to the challenge. They made hats with not only ribbons and flowers, but also feathers, lace, and even taxidermy. Easter bonnet designs—then as now—ranged from high style to hijinks. In the Instagram sensation of its time, actress Ann Miller famously posed wearing a flower-covered hinged top hat containing a live rabbit.

At least as far back as the mid-20th century, the Rehoboth Beach Easter Promenade attracted crowds to celebrate the holiday and the arrival of warmer weather by strolling the boards in their Easter finery. The Rehoboth Beach

Chamber of Commerce sponsored the promenade for many years and awarded prizes for categories that included BestDressed Babies, Best Dressed Families, and Best Easter Bonnet.

LGBTQ+ milliners have played a part in the evolution of hats. Otto Lucas, who created hats for Greta Garbo and Wallis Simpson, was a German-born gay Jewish man. He escaped the rise of Nazism in his homeland to go to London in the 1930s. He opened a salon on glamorous Bond Street, where he proceeded to make stunning hats (three are in the collection of the Museum of London), some with matching hatpins.

Hats fall in and out of popularity, but a great hat continues to be the mark of a well-dressed person. That is fortunate for top milliners such as Albertus Swanepoel. He was recently listed as one of the “5 LGBTQ+ Milliners in the US to Know” by the Milliners Guild. His hats have been featured in Vogue, W Magazine, Harper’s Bazaar, T Magazine, and the Wall Street Journal, to name a few.

He has worked on Broadway shows and television series such as 30 Rock, True Blood, and Sex and the City.

“Personally, I’m not a fan of Easter Bonnets nowadays,” he says. He confesses he doesn’t even go to the parade on Fifth Avenue. “I think people are now trying to be funny or outrageous instead of witty, and let’s not even mention chic.”

His clients have included Aretha Frank-

At least as far back as the mid20th century, the Rehoboth Beach Easter Promenade attracted crowds to celebrate the holiday and the arrival of warmer weather.

Letters 28 MARCH 10, 2023

lin, Kate Winslet, Sasha Baron Cohen, and Yoko Ono. Other prominent LGBTQ+ milliners include Guy Carsone, who started his career running a New York costume house and grew up in his grandmother’s garment factory on West 39th Street, where “every day it was a parade of different hats”; Jason Murillo, whose work as a hairstylist lead him to hat making; and Corina Haywood, who collected vintage hats before taking a millinery course at the Fashion Institute of Technology and now creates “a spectrum of gendered and gender-free hats and headpieces.”

Tommy Cobau, who was included in “5 LGBTQ+ Milliners in the US to Know,” creates headwear and accessories for Broadway shows, national tours, regional theater companies, television shows, individual performers, and everyday people looking for something special to wear. He serves as head milliner for the Metropolitan Opera, and in what must be one of the more unusual millinery challenges, designed the party hats made from vintage Tupperware for the Tupperware party scene in season four of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel on Amazon Prime (under the direction of costume designer Donna Zakowska).

“Personally, I’m not a fan of Easter Bonnets nowadays, I think people are now trying to be funny or outrageous instead of witty, and let’s not even mention chic.”

ALBERTUS SWANEPOEL Increasingly, dogs are adorned in Easter bonnets as well, from simple bunny ears to shameless chapeaus and fascinating fascinators. Consider master pet couturier Anthony Rubio. With a formal education in women’s wear design, he had no reservations about delving into the world of pet fashions.

His creations are inspired by anything from movies to fairy tales and especially by the best women’s wear couturiers of Europe. Anthony became the first pet fashion designer to showcase at New York’s Fashion Week in February 2012.

Albertus Swanepoel is correct that the typical parade participant now wears an Easter bonnet with more than just “frills upon it.” Towering paper mâché constructions, mechanized displays, and populations of marshmallow

peeps have dominated, although some still opt for elegance. So, whether you want to be the grandest lady or proudest fellow in the Easter parade or simply want to be in the rotogravure (think CAMPshots in Letters), be sure to don your best Easter bonnet. ▼

WANT TO KNOW MORE? “The Life and Legacy of Otto Lucas,” Museum of London YouTube video.

“Hats Off: Why Do We Make Easter Bonnets, Why Do We Have Parades and How Did the Tradition Begin?”

Jennifer Newton, Becky Pemberton, thesun.co.uk, 19 Mar 2018.

“The Importance of an Easter Bonnet,” April 7, 2020.

National Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium.

“Milliner Profile: Otto Lucas,” Posted on February 22, 2022 by Royal Hats.

“A Brief History of Easter Bonnets,” Record Gazette, Mar 21, 2019, Updated Sep 28, 2019.

“Bonkers for bonnets: At the Fifth Avenue Easter Parade, nothing is too ridiculous to be worn as a hat,” Alexandra Charitan, April 18, 2019.

“5 LGBTQ+ Milliners in the U.S. to Know,” Interviews & Forward by Rowell Concepcion. Milliners Guild.

Parading Easter finery in Rehoboth Beach in mid-20th century, April 11, 2017, Cape Gazette.

Nancy (Day) Sakaduski is an award-winning writer and editor who owns Cat & Mouse Press in Lewes, Delaware.

Photo credits page 28: (bottom left) Easter Parade in Rehoboth Beach, photo by Herbert Moore, mid20th century, Delaware Public Archives/Delaware Economic Development Office Photo Collection. (top right) Anthony Rubio with Bogie and Kimba.

Photo by SimplyRobb. Photo (this page above):

Designer Albertus Swanepoel in his studio.

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29 Letters

SUSSEX

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MARCH 10, 2023

31 Letters

It’s My Life

BY MICHAEL THOMAS FORD

Old Dog, New TikTok

Y

’all. Are you sitting down?

I made a TikTok. This was not my fault.

Well, not entirely. It’s mostly my friend Thumper’s fault. And also a little bit my editor’s fault. Some of you know that, among other things, I write young adult (YA) novels. And for the last little while, TikTok has been the place to be for YA writers and books. This isn’t surprising given that 80 percent of TikTok’s user base is between the ages of 16 and 34, which lines up almost perfectly with the target audience for YA books these days.

There’s a subcommunity of TikTok called BookTok, where users make TikToks about their favorite books. And this is a big deal. Books that become favorites with the BookTok community almost inevitably become bestsellers.

I love this because it’s readers selling other readers on their favorite books.

And the best part of it is, absolutely no one has figured out how to make a book a BookTok star.

They’ve tried. But it doesn’t work. As one of my publishing friends lamented, “We have entire meetings about BookTok and how to make a book go viral there. And nobody knows. If it doesn’t happen organically, it doesn’t happen.” Frustrating, to be sure. But also, kind of fantastic.

I honestly hadn’t paid much attention to TikTok before except when my husband, who is addicted to TikTok, would send me ones to watch. Also, there’s this hilarious Muslim woman (@ zainah.mb) who makes TikToks about her cat, Sister Minnie, and I am in love with them both and get excited every time they make a new TikTok. Now, though, I have a reason to pay attention. I haven’t had a YA book out in a while. But in one of those peculiar publishing fairy tales that sometimes come true, a book I published 15 years ago, called Suicide Notes, was recently given a second life by someone at Barnes & Noble, who selected it for a sales program that found it reaching an Letters 32 MARCH 10, 2023

entirely new audience. That audience asked for a sequel, and so this fall my novel Every Star That Falls will be out.

A week or so ago, another editor friend sent me a photo. He had gone to a Barnes & Noble in Manhattan and took a photo of a table they’d made featuring

As of today, I have 23 followers and 14 likes.

BookTok Favorites. There in the middle of the table was my novel Suicide Notes.

That led to my husband searching for my books on TikTok and finding a surprising number of TikToks about them.

Which brings us to my friend Thumper. About a year ago, Thumper decided he wanted to give TikTok a go to promote his writing. He started making TikToks engaging with the witchcraft community, which is his primary focus. To his delight, they took off. (Check him out at @fivefoldlaw.)

And one of the things he realized very quickly is that the best way to promote your writing is to not talk about it very much at all. Instead, you make TikToks about pretty much anything else that gets people to engage with you. Then, if they like you, they might check out your books.

“Make one about something fun,” Thumper suggested when I told him I was thinking of venturing into TikTokland. And so, I decided to make one about Greta, one of our dogs.

Specifically, I made one of me singing Greta one of the daily songs that I make up about her, in this case one in which I assure her that she is the most beautiful dog in all the world. It concludes with the statement that she is especially more beautiful than Gwyneth Paltrow.

“This is so stupid,” Thumper said when I sent it to him for his thoughts. “I love it.”

I put my TikTok up and waited for it to go viral. (Should you want to see it, check out my account at @ authormtford.) So far, it has not. As of today, I have 23 followers and 14 likes.

This is nothing on Thumper, who has 57K followers and 1.5M likes. And it’s really nothing on TikTok’s most popular creator, Khabane Iame, who has 155M followers and 2.4B likes. But everyone has to start somewhere.

Most of my writing peers lament the very existence of TikTok. They don’t understand why anyone likes it. They hate that something as simple as a ridiculous 15-second video can make or break a book. Mostly, they resent it deeply when the books that make it aren’t theirs. And I get it. In its worst moments, TikTok feels like being in a room filled with people desperate to be famous just for being famous.

But I can’t help but love it. I love that it’s made mostly by young people taking control of the same advertising channels that target them. I love that it’s actual readers talking about the books they love, and why. I love that it’s often completely ridiculous.

Yeah, I’m probably too old for TikTok. Whatever. I learned a new trick. And I think it’s a pretty good one. ▼ Michael Thomas Ford is a much-published Lambda Literary award-winning author. Visit Michael at michaelthomasford.com.

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33 Letters

CAMP Stories

BY RICH BARNETT

Kava Culture

I

wasn’t sure what to expect when I walked into the Kava Culture bar on Fleming Street in Key West.

Kava? Java? And what about cava, the sparkling wine from Spain?

Admittedly I was a bit befuddled but also curious because—let’s be honest—any establishment promoting itself as a “bar” was right up my alley. Anyone remember baked potato bars?

Kava Culture is situated in an historic commercial building that I recall once housed a nautical antiques store. Inside it looked more like a coffee house than a bar. Not a sterile Starbucks kind of place, but more like the Central Perk coffee house from the sitcom Friends with its big windows, wooden floors, tin ceiling, comfortable sofas, graffiti artwork, and U-shaped bar. Ironically, Friends was playing on a big video screen when I bellied up to the bar. And, yes, you guessed it, Phoebe was sitting directly across from me in a fuchsia tie-dye dress and sipping something from a coconutstyle bowl she held up to her lips with both hands.

Phoebe’s bowl, I learned, contained kava, a brown tea made from the ground-up root of the Piper methysticum plant, which roughly translates to “intoxicating pepper.” It’s traditionally been used by Polynesian cultures in folk medicine and for social and ceremonial occasions such as when Prince Harry visited Fiji in 2018 and glugged down a bowl of kava to the loud cheers of Fijians in attendance.

It is generally believed kava first found its way to the west coast from Hawaii in the early 20th century where it was used to treat gonorrhea, kidney disease, and nervousness. In 1900, kava extract even appeared in the Sears Roebuck catalog as a “temperance wine,” an alternative to alcoholic drinks.

The first kava bars began showing up in hip neighborhoods in San Francisco and New York in the 1990s. But the drink has more recently come into vogue nationwide as more and more people are seeking healthier alternatives to Letters 34 MARCH 10, 2023

alcoholic drinks while still looking for a way to unwind and socialize after work and on weekends. The global kava market is expected to grow from $1.2 billion in 2022 to $3.4 billion by 2029.

I looked at the tulipshaped glass of yellow liquid she set in front of me and wondered what the heck I was ingesting…

Kava’s popularity stems from the fact it produces a natural buzz, a state of calm relaxation, and can reduce anxiety without impairing cognitive function or promoting addiction. It’s healthier than alcohol and the impacts from one kava drink generally can be felt after about a half hour from the first taste and can continue for several hours.

As kava culture is quite alien to me, I turned to the young ‘tender behind the bar to guide me through my initial experience. She started me out with a bowl of classic kava tea, which was a

tad bitter and rather underwhelming, except that it slightly numbed my lips.

It’s common to mix kava with natural fruit flavors to balance the bitterness of the root so I next sampled two teas on tap that featured pear and orange flavors.

Both were nice, but a tad too sweet. (No sugar, though, just natural products.)

I wasn’t feeling much, so I asked the ‘tender if she could mix me something a bit stronger to take the edge off a little backache that had popped up earlier in the day.

She nodded and drew forth from one of the taps a drink she proudly called “Lemon Pound Cake.” A handsome man sitting beside Phoebe at the bar yelled “that’s the best.” Instead of kava root, it was made with Delta-8, a natural hemp extract promising a mind-dominant buzz, whatever that meant. I looked at the tulip-shaped glass of yellow liquid she set in front of me and wondered what the heck I was ingesting and if it all was legit. Key West does have a history of flaunting conventions. Long story short, kava is legal, and it is considered a dietary supplement. Delta-8, however, is less cut-and-dried. It was tasty, though, so I spent the next half hour sipping the Lemon Pound Cake and watching Friends on the big screen.

The bike ride home from the kava bar was simply amazing. For once all the traffic lights were green in my favor.

The setting sun shone warm on my face.

And everywhere I looked there were purple orchids and pink bougainvillea.

Chickens ran alongside my bike. An elderly gentleman even tipped his straw bowler hat. I felt incredible and my back pain was gone. Count me a kava culture convert. Bula! ▼ Rich Barnett is the author of The Discreet Charms of a Bourgeois Beach Town, and Fun with Dick and James.

You’ve Always Belonged Here . . .

Lana Warfield 16712 Kings Highway, Lewes, DE Office: 302-645-6661 Cell: 302-236-2430 E-mail: lcwarfield@hotmail.com A member of the franchise system of BHH Affiliates, LLC

It takes a local business owner to protect one.

As local small business owners, we understand what it takes to protect your small business. Stop in or give us a call to get insurance for your business at a great value.

Eric Blondin Ins Agency Inc Eric Blondin, Agent 18958 Coastal Highway Bus: 302-645-7283 www.surfsidecoverage.com

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

statefarm.com® State Farm Fire and Casualty Company, State Farm General Insurance Company, Bloomington, IL State Farm Florida Insurance Company, Winter Haven, Florida State Farm Lloyds, Richardson, TX 1706445 MARCH 10, 2023

35 Letters

Dining Out

BY MICHAEL GILLES

Dos Locos: A Grand Mexican Treat

L

et’s have frozen margaritas!

Those are the first words from many people dining in a Mexican restaurant, and the first thing you order at Dos Locos, the popular restaurant on Rehoboth Avenue near the beach. The food is tasty, the service fine.

But those margaritas…. It’s not just the sublime lime juice and tequila, the right proportion of each. It’s also the size! Order a small one. You’ll ask the server, “Are you sure this is a small?” Order a large. It takes a wheelbarrow to get it to the table.

Oh, so satisfying, plus it lasts deep into the meal. I highly recommend you try one, or two, or three. Maybe not three. Just make sure you have a designated driver!

Yes, the margaritas are splendid, but not the only reason to enjoy Dos Locos. First of all, the menu is fun to look through, with a multitude of selections to browse. I counted eight pages of captivating choices, not including the voluminous drink menu. The menu is chockful of items you’d expect from a Mexican restaurant, but also includes many nontraditional items touched with Mexican charm.

The starting offerings include a smorgasbord of items, such as Mexican Tortilla Soup, a variety of tacos, and several nacho combinations. Sally and I chose to share the Seafood Nachos, with your typical nacho ingredients, but topped with over a half-pound of lobster, crab, and shrimp. Delicious. In addition to the Mexican treats, the menu accommodates kiddies and less adventurous adults with American appetizers, such as Potato Bacon Tater Tots, and Corn Dogs and Fries.

Of course, some appetizers boast a Mexican twist, such as the Loco Calamari— wild caught, salted and peppered, fried calamari served with Diego Sauce (hot!) and jalapenos (hotter!!). I will definitely try it when we come back.

One of Dos Loco’s specialties is its Stonegrill dining. The stone comes to your table piping hot (700 degrees!), and you cook your entrée right on it. You can get a variety of meat, fish, and shellfish to prepare (and you can prepare your hand Letters 36 MARCH 10, 2023

if you’re not careful). It’s a fun way to put a personal touch to your dining experience.

We chose the NY strip steak (certified Angus) with a bourbon sauce, and seared it just right. I was very proud that I didn’t hurt myself when it was my turn to cook.

Such a good meal was topped off with some decadent desserts.

Then it was time to sample the traditional tried-and-true. The menu offered many opportunities. Tacos, enchiladas, burritos, and chimichangas of many shapes and tastes seemed to rule the day. Sally and I sampled the fajitas, grabbing a combination, half sirloin and half shrimp. So tasty, with a perfect blend of peppers and sweet onions. A nice complement to the Stonegrilled steak.

But if you’re not in the mood for Mexican food, Dos Locos has you covered.

There are many non-Mexican dishes to

try. There is the Seafood Señor, a grilled trio of shrimp, scallops, and salmon; an 8-ounce Ahi Tuna Steak; Fish and Chips; or a grilled Fish of the Day. But this was a night for Mexican dining, so we turned to another specialty of the house—the quesadilla. Again, there were choices galore. We chose the crab quesadilla, which was stuffed with tomatoes, melted Jack cheese, and of course, a healthy serving of lump crab meat. It was a wonderful treat. This was one of 10 options for quesadilla dining. If they are as good as this crab delight, then that is another reason to come back!

Such a good meal was topped off with some decadent desserts. I had never tried fried ice cream. The words “fried” and “ice cream” seem to me to be an oxymoron, but I was pleasantly surprised with the taste and texture of my dessert choice. Sally was even more daring, ordering the Cactus Flower. Easily the Ninth Wonder of the World, this featured several of the dessert offerings piled high on her plate, with a brownie tucked underneath.

Well, not just any brownie; this is hands down the best brownie you’ll ever have.

We felt very relaxed in this setting.

There is a wall between the well-stocked and popular bar and the modest, more quiet dinner seating. The décor is inviting, the dining area was softly lit, and the seating area was comfortable.

Our server was attentive, knew everything about the menu, and gave us helpful hints on what to order with what.

Owner Mit Patel has anywhere between nine and 18 employees, and proudly points out that they come from many cultures. His table-side visit was particularly charming.

Dos Locos is so much more than a margarita paradise. Try it and see. But do try a margarita. Or two. Or three. ▼ Michael Gilles is a playwright, actor, and director from Milton, and a regular contributor to Letters from CAMP Rehoboth.

Daily specials Mon: $12.99 Stonegrill steak Tue : $12.99 Tres Tacos Wed : $5 Off any Fajitas Thur : $12.99 Stonegrill Seafood Happy hour everyday Friday: $39 King Crab legs 11:30am to 6pm Saturday : Liquid Lunch till 6PM Open Daily Year Round Karaoke late night happy hour 11:30am to 9pm Sunday : Happy hour all day Saturday 11:30am to 1am

Every Saturday Karaoke @ 10pm Late Night Happy Hour till 1am 302-227-3353 TM

www.doslocos.com

MARCH 10, 2023

37 Letters

OUTlook

Gym Rat…Not

Astonishingly, I still haven’t closed all the rings on my watch’s exercise app.

It’s a goal now.

Letters 38 MARCH 10, 2023

BY BETH SHOCKLEY

I

joined a gym. And I like it. Color me shocked.

I didn’t expect this to happen. I’ve never been much of a joiner. But I’ve been going for almost a month, and I feel really good about it. The gym is clean. It doesn’t stink. The machines aren’t complicated. The people are nice and are all sizes, shapes, and ages. And despite some soreness, I’m not in traction.

A desire to be fit again is my motivation. I don’t know if I will lose weight. I hope so, but I’m not expecting it. I sure need to. Between moving to Delaware from NYC, a sedentary job and couch potato-hood for the last 15 years, menopause, the pandemic, and retirement, I’ve put on way more than I need. But not being able to move as I age is a real fear. You know—use it or lose it. I see it happen, and I don’t want to go out a blob on the sofa.

I blame yoga, another activity I didn’t expect to enjoy, for my gym membership.

I began yoga classes last summer and I really feel so good afterward. I’ve only missed one class. Yoga taught me how to breathe, and how to get on and off the floor. There are certain poses, though, that I just can’t do. They’re not pretzel poses; I’m simply not strong enough, and my stomach sometimes gets in the way.

It’s annoying.

So the seed was planted. Get fitter.

My friend Jen told me about the gym she goes to. She’s a good deal younger than me and has lost weight. She looks great.

But it’s the way she feels; the increased energy she exudes. I want that, too.

I was a fit kid. I played outside, rode my bike everywhere, and swam all summer. I was the most athletic girl all the way through junior high school. I won presidential fitness awards in gym and blue ribbons on swim team. I shimmied up the rope as fast as the boys.

When I lived in DC in my late-20s, I took Kenpo karate classes. I only got to yellow belt by the time I moved to NYC, but I enjoyed it. I didn’t have the time for fitness in NYC, and since I walked everywhere and was a drummer in several

bands, it wasn’t an issue. Not long after I met Sandy and moved to Dover in 2005, we took boxing classes, which were a short-lived blast. Foot problems and then a knee replacement took me out of that game. And the boxing gym, sadly, closed a few years later.

After that, I was at a desk behind a computer all day, too exhausted to do anything else.

Fast forward to last summer, and well, I was starting to feel like Jabba the Hutt.

But that’s changing. I’m aiming for going to the gym regularly two times a week, and maybe three. I met with one of the gym officiants and we laid out a plan. Until April, I do the bike for 15 minutes, then what’s called the 30-minute workout on the machines (which takes me longer than a half-hour, but that’s OK) and bike again for another 15 minutes. In May, we check in and reassess.

Astonishingly, I still haven’t closed all the rings on my watch’s exercise app. It’s a goal now. I’m tantalizingly closer every visit. But yoga has taught me not to push it into pain. I’m taking it easy, using the lowest weights on the machines for now.

I’m happy to huff, puff, and sweat on the lowest settings.

Sometimes I don’t feel like going, like yesterday. But I went anyway and felt better. Sandy is going with me at least twice a week, which is very helpful. We are getting fit together. In our early 60s, we can’t really imagine living without one another.

I know I’ll never have the body I had in my 20s, 30s, or 40s. It was great, but that ship sailed. But I know I can feel better, look better, and not have to worry so much about falling. Or if I do fall, knowing I can get back up, assuming I didn’t break anything. It’s important for me to be able to move. And have more energy.

And really, to live a better life. ▼ Beth Shockley is a retired senior writer/ editor living in Dover with her wife and four furbabies.

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MARCH 10, 2023

39 Letters

The Sea Salt Table

BY ED CASTELLI

Effortless Bread for Sunday Dinner

I

f you’ve ever followed a recipe, you know cooking involves a bit of math.

Especially if you’re changing the number of servings. And if you’re planning an entire menu, the mathy-est part is figuring out the start times for every step.

As I started to cook more often, I developed an innate feel for time management. But even for me, baking is still a challenge because it’s often less art and more science. Let cake batter sit too long or overmix a dough, and the result could be disastrous.

So, this month I’m turning breadmaking on its ear. I’ve converted a recipe from time-based durations to a clock-based approach. I’m giving you the steps and when to start them, instead of you having to work up a timeline. The result is a foolproof, delicious bread that will make you a supper rockstar!

This recipe is based on the King Arthur brand “No-Knead Crusty Chewy Bread.”

Apropos, the key to this and all no-knead breads is time itself. Time is doing the hard work for you.

Thursday at 7:00 p.m. Take a break from Wheel of Fortune to mix in a large bowl: 5 cups bread flour; ¼ tsp instant yeast granules; 2 ¼ tsp table salt; 2 ⅔ cups cool water.

The mixture will be rather wet and stringy. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and let it sit overnight on your counter.

Friday at 7:00 a.m. You will see a dough that is bubbly and has risen a good bit.

Put the bowl in your refrigerator. By letting the dough rest for almost two days, you’re passively developing its gluten which is what it needs for that springy texture and airy bite. You’re doing this instead of kneading.

Sunday at 12:45 p.m. Grease the bottom and sides of a 5.5- to 6-quart cast-iron Dutch oven (or a casserole dish with a lid) with nonstick cooking spray. Then dust the greased surfaces with cornmeal or rice flour.

Letters 40 MARCH 10, 2023

Sunday at 1:00 p.m. Your dough is a grayish-tan blob. You might even see a little water separation. It won’t look appetizing. No worries.

Gently stir the dough down, separating it from the sides of the bowl. The goal is not to deflate it in any hard way.

cutting board. It needs to get air underneath and around it.

Sunday at 4:30 p.m. The house smells amazing and you want a slice slathered with butter. Don’t do it! Cutting too early will release steam and allow cold air to rush in. This will be a fleeting pleasure, and you’ll be punished tomorrow with slices that are gummy. A slow cool is key to a crusty crust and a light fluffy crumb.

Sunday any time after 5:00 p.m. Cut and enjoy! Drink in the kudos. Sign autographs. You worked for it. OK, we know you really didn’t.

TIPS

A slow cool is key to a crusty crust and a light fluffy crumb.

Nudge and pour the dough into your greased dish. Put the lid on and let it rest on the counter.

Sunday at 2:30 p.m. Preheat your oven to a screaming hot 450°.

Sunday at 3:00 p.m. Put the dish in the oven with the lid on. The lid is the key, trapping the steam like a professional baker’s oven.

Sunday at 3:45 p.m. Carefully take the lid off. Ta-da! You have a loaf of bread, albeit still be kind of pale.

Sunday at 3:55 p.m. It’s time for a judgement call. You want your bread to be deep caramel brown. If it’s not, let it bake a couple minutes more. Don’t worry, you’re not going to burn it.

Turn the loaf out onto a baking rack or lean it against a bowl. Do not set it on a

• Start googling. There are many noknead breads with all sorts of fun techniques, including recipes where you preheat the Dutch oven, ones where you gently lift and fold the dough like a letter, and still others where you slash the top like a true baker.

• You really should use bread flour for the dough. You’ll find recipes where you can swap in some whole wheat flour but be warned the bread will be heavier.

• For dusting the pan, I’m partial to rice flour and lots of it. It gives that rustic, streets-of-Paris, bakery look. Using regular flour won’t work as it can burn.

• Using a bigger pan is fine. I like the 5.5 quart because the dough climbs the sides, getting higher in the middle. The larger the pan, the wider and lower the loaf. Still delicious.

• You can chill the dough longer than two days. It will age like a fine wine. Sort of like it’s fermenting, developing a great yeasty taste. But there’s a tipping point where the result will be denser. So, start no earlier than Tuesday. ▼ Ed and his husband Jerry split their time between homes near Harrisburg Pennsylvania and Bethany Beach. Recipe requests and feedback welcome: ed@seasalttable.com.

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Coastal Delaware Sales & Rentals

REHOBOTH BEACH

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

LEWES

1240 Kings Highway Lewes, DE 19958 office: 302-645-2207

MILLSBORO

28442 Dupont Boulevard Millsboro, DE 19966 office: 302-934-3970

MARCH 10, 2023

41 Letters

Letters 42 MARCH 10, 2023

MARCH 10, 2023

43 Letters

CAMP REHOBOTH BEACH GUIDE BEACH AREA LODGING 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 Harbour Waterfront Dining, 134 West Market St...........................302-200-9522 Matt’s Fish Camp, 34401 Tenley Ct...............................................302-644-2267

Visit the Beach Guide 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.

REHOBOTH RETAIL SHOPS New Wave Spas, 20660 Coastal Hwy............................................302-227-8484 Unfinished Business, Rt. 1 behind Panera Bread..........................302-645-8700

REHOBOTH ART | GALLERIES | MUSEUMS Caroline Huff, Fine Artist ...................................................www.carolinehuff.com Gallery 50, 50 Wilmington Ave......................................................302-227-2050 Philip Morton Gallery, 47 Baltimore Ave........................................302-727-0905 Rehoboth Art League, 12 Dodds Ln...............................................302-227-8408 Rehoboth Beach Museum, 511 Rehoboth Ave..............................302-227-7310

REHOBOTH FOOD & DRINK 1776 Steakhouse, Midway Shopping Center................................302-645-9355 Aqua, 57 Baltimore Ave................................................................ 302-226-9001 Back Porch Café, 59 Rehoboth Ave...............................................302-227-3674 Blue Moon, 35 Baltimore Ave........................................................302-227-6515 Café Azafrán, 18 Baltimore Ave.....................................................302-227-8100 Café Papillon, Penny Lane Mall......................................................302-227-7568 Coho’s Market & Grill, 305 Rehoboth Ave......................................302-227-2646 Diego’s Bar Nightclub, 37298 Rehoboth Ave................................302-227-1023 Dos Locos, 208 Rehoboth Ave.......................................................302-227-3353 Freddie’s Beach Bar & Restaurant, 3 South First St.......................302-527-1400 Go Fish, 24 Rehoboth Ave..............................................................302-226-1044 Goolee’s Grille, 11 South 1st St.....................................................302-227-7653 Indigo, 44 Rehoboth Ave.............................................................. 302-212-5220 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 Port 251 Aperitivo Bar & Restaurant, 251 Rehoboth Ave..............302-278-7069 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

Letters 44 MARCH 10, 2023

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 BUILDING/CLEANING/REMODELING/LANDSCAPING

A.G. Renovations ...........................................................................302-947-4096 bsd, 18412 The Narrow Rd, Lewes...................................... 302-684-8588 Randall-Douglas.............................................................................302-245-1439

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 Rehoboth 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—3rd Tuesdays, Public Library, 111 Adams Ave, Lewes 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

INSURANCE

COUNSELING/THERAPY/LIFE COACH

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

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

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 PWW Law LLC, 1519 Savannah Rd, Lewes................................... 302-703-6993 Steven Falcone CPA, Taxes & Planning..........................................302-644-8634

LOCKSMITHS

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

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 Reiki CENTRAL, thecentralfirm.com...............................................302-408-0878

PET RETAIL

PET SERVICES

Silver Electric..................................................................................302-227-1107

Brandywine Valley SPCA, 22918 Dupont Blvd, G’twn.......... 302-856-6361 Humane Animal Partners (formerly Delaware Humane Association & Delaware SPCA).......................................................... 302-200-7159 Parsell Pet Crematorium, 16961 Kings Hwy, Lewes............ 302-645-7445

EVENT PLANNING/CATERING

REAL ESTATE

ELECTRICIANS

Flair................................................................................................302-930-0709 Plate Catering.................................................................................302-644-1200

FINANCIAL SERVICES

County Bank, 19927 Shuttle Rd.......................................... 302-226-9800 Jenn Harpel, Morgan Stanley.........................................................302-644-6620

FLORISTS

Bayberry Florist..............................................................................302-227-5725 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 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

Allen Jarmon, NextHome Tomorrow Realty...................................302-745-5122 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 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 McWilliams Ballard, Kevin McDuffie.................................. kmcduffie@mcwb.com McWilliams Ballard, Justin Orr.....................................................jorr@mcwb.com 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

RETIREMENT LIVING/SENIOR CARE FACILITIES

Springpoint Choice, 17028 Cadbury Cir, Lewes............................302-313-6658 The Lodge at Truitt Homestead, 36233 Farm Ln.................. 302-232-6372

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.

MARCH 10, 2023

45 Letters

BE A SPORT!

BY MARY JO TARALLO

FlingGolf—the Future of the Fairway?

S

ome people are intimidated by golf and rightly so. Just figuring out what club to use can be perplexing. There are the woods, the hybrids, the irons, the wedges, and the putter. It is sometimes hard to know which to use in any given situation.

FlingGolf solves that problem because there is only one club. It’s called a FlingStick. It resembles a golf club, but it has a metal pocket at one end to hold a regular golf ball. The pocket sides are flat.

It serves as the tee box club, fairway club, and putter. Immediate benefits include lower cost than a set of clubs and no heavy golf bag to lug around. Numerous FlingStick models are available, and costs range from $90-180.

FlingGolf is played on a regular golf course using the FlingStick. There are two basic techniques to the swing.

One is called the Overhead. It entails keeping the wrists hinged above the shoulders and dropping the FlingStick down the back.

The Sidearm is more like swinging a baseball bat. Either the Overhead or the Sidearm is acceptable on the course so the choice is a matter of what works best for you. Either way, it is important to keep the head tilted up and forward.

This simple detail better enables the ball to sail farther.

FlingGolfers can play with traditional golfers. Depending on one’s level of proficiency it is possible to hurl the golf ball about 200 yards.

Sounds relatively easy but there is a learning curve—though it’s perhaps not as great as the one in traditional golf.

The New Swarm FlingGolf web site (flinggolf.com) offers a plethora of pointers and videos on rules, techniques, and how to play the game. It offers a vast array of tutorial videos. It also includes a list of courses where FlingGolf is offered and there are several in Delaware—although at various levels of involvement. Two nearby examples are The Rookery and Shamrock.

One of the more engaged courses is the American Classic Golf Course Letters 46 MARCH 10, 2023

(ACGC), a public course in Lewes. ACGC started offering the sport in 2019 and the nine-hole course is perfect for beginners.

(ACGC may already be familiar to many readers: the CAMP Rehoboth Ladies (traditional) Golf League plays there on Thursday evenings from May through September. Contact CAMP Rehoboth for details.)

“It’s a great way to get exercise, a fun way to play golf, and super easy to learn as it is extremely adaptive for all types of players.”

ACGC’s management is all-in for the FlingGolf. Golf Operations Manager Austin Ebersole is a FlingGolf enthusiast and has been playing for four years. He currently is the Number 1 ranked World League FlingGolfer. His handle is “Showtime.” He teaches both FlingGolf and regular golf at ACGC. FlingGolf rentals are less expensive than a regular set of clubs. The ACGC rents a FlingStick for $3 and the greens fee to play nine holes of FlingGolf is $12.

That’s $15 total. The cost is $12 for those who have their own stick.

For those who might just want to

observe, American Classic is one of five stops in the US for the 2023 World League FlingGolf Tour. More than 50 athletes from across the US are expected to compete. The event is scheduled for May 20-21. Local sponsors include Revelation Brewing Company and Britt Marie Fitness.

Other tour stops include locations in California, Colorado, Virginia, and a yet-to-bedetermined stop In New England.

ACGC also organizes local FlingGolf events. FlingGolf Fridays is offered each week at 6:00 p.m. starting the Friday after Memorial Day and continuing through Labor Day. “Attendance averages anywhere from 10-30 players depending on the weather and weekend,” according to Ebersole. He claims that it typically only takes players three to five holes—or 15-minutes’ worth of throwing—to pick it up.

He adds, “It’s a great way to get exercise, a fun way to play golf, and super easy to learn as it is extremely adaptive for all types of players”.

Massachusetts inventor Alexander Van Alen created FlingGolf after developing his first prototype in 2012.

He and business partner John Pruellage appeared on Shark Tank in Season 12 (2021). The two offered 10 percent equity of their company in exchange for a $300,000 investment and ended up walking away with a deal from Kind snacks founder Daniel Lubetzky for $300,000 and 25 percent equity.

FlingGolf is now played in 27 countries on more than 1,200 courses.

Want to give it a try? Austin Ebersole is available for personal lessons at $20 for a half hour. He can be reached at ebersole1992@gmail.com. Or call 302-7036662 for lessons or to book a tee time. ▼ Mary Jo Tarallo is a former journalist and public relations professional for various non-profits including a ski industry trade association. She won a Gold Award for a United Way TV program starring Oprah Winfrey.

2022 $309.6 MILLION IN SALES. 398 PROPERTIES SOLD. 462 CLIENTS SERVED.

THE ONE NAME IN REAL ESTATE AT THE BEACH.

MARCH 10, 2023

47 Letters

Get the Best for Less for Your Pet

Call to make your appointment today!

The Brandywine Valley SPCA Animal Health Center is a full service veterinary clinic offering the same high quality care available at a private practice with lower pricing. Services include: • Sick visits • Preventive care

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bvspca.org/hospital Letters 48 MARCH 10, 2023

Georgetown Campus 22918 Dupont Boulevard Georgetown, DE 19947 516-1004

MARCH 10, 2023

49 Letters

Historical Headliners

BY ANN APTAKER

A Place in the World: Janet Flanner

I

t’s Women’s History Month! So let’s give a cheer for the daring dykes who came before us and insisted on having their place in the world so that we could have our place in the world, too.

In 20th century America, journalism afforded a few determined—or lucky—women a place in the exciting, modernizing world taking shape early in the century.

Among the handful of women who found a spot in American journalism’s pantheon of sharp, insightful, or witty writers, Janet Flanner snagged what might be considered the best gig a journalist could ever have: writing a regular feature from Paris for one of America’s premier publications, the New Yorker magazine.

How did Flanner, a middle-class girl from Indianapolis who dropped out of the University of Chicago out of disinterest in academics in favor of the city’s nightlife, snag this plum assignment?

That’s where luck, talent, and lesbian fate came in.

Returning to Indianapolis after leaving Chicago in 1914, Flanner landed a spot as a film critic on the Indianapolis Star newspaper. Though living in that small city, she maintained correspondence with her pals still in Chicago, among them William Lane Rehm. In 1918, to the surprise of all who knew her, including her family, Flanner married Rehm, and the two immediately headed for New York City, where they took an apartment in Greenwich Village.

New York and especially the Village, on the cusp of the Jazz Age, was becoming THE place to be for the young artsy set. Flanner, though married, insisted on living as independently as possible.

Rehm, to his credit and his own need for independence, was supportive. Flanner was thus free to hobnob with the leading creative lights of the time, among them Harold Ross, who would go on to found the New Yorker in 1925.

Only months after her marriage to Rehm and their arrival in New York, fate jumped into Janet Flanner’s life in the person of Solita Solano, recently named drama critic for the New York Herald Tribune. According to various sources Letters 50 MARCH 10, 2023

who knew both women, the two almost immediately fell in love.

Because Flanner was still married, and because of the prevailing strictures on lesbianism and same-sex relations, even in free-wheeling Greenwich Village Flanner and Solano couldn’t live the life they

Flanner’s life, like her prose, was lively, unpredictable, and full of wit. The lesbian literary legacy is the better for it. wanted for themselves. But in 1921, fate intervened again: Solano was offered an assignment by the National Geographic magazine to write articles from Greece.

The couple jumped at the chance.

Now in Europe, Flanner and Solano eventually settled among the avant-garde set on the Left Bank of Paris. The couple became part of the lesbian circle of Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas, Djuana Barnes, and Natalie Barney, as well as palling around with the literati set of F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway. The creative atmosphere was ripe for Flanner to write her only novel, The Cubicle City.

Meanwhile, back in New York, Harold Ross was organizing his seminal publication of literature and wit, the New Yorker.

With the first issue planned to debut in February 1925, Ross wanted to round out his roster of contributors with a bi-weekly

feature articulating the social, cultural, and political currents in Europe. Friends since their early Greenwich Village days, Ross reached out to Flanner to write what became the “Letter From Paris.” And thus, one of the great American literary essays came to be.

Flanner, using the pen name Gênet, continued to write the “Letter From Paris” for the next 50 years, writing the essays from her home in that city, with a break during World War Two while Paris was under Nazi Occupation. She returned to Paris in 1944 to cover the city’s liberation.

While Flanner’s literary life was now stable, her personal life was anything but.

She divorced Rehm in 1926. Both she and Solano had affairs with other women.

For Flanner, her most serious affairs were with singer Nöel Haskins Murphy and later, with Natalia Danesi Murray. Like her relationship with Solano, Flanner’s liaisons with Murphy and Murray weren’t monogamous, and the foursome remained friends over many years.

Back in the United States, Flanner’s mother’s health deteriorated. Flanner travelled back and forth from Paris to the US to see to her mother’s care, while still writing her essays for the New Yorker and other publications.

Though her mother died in 1947, Flanner continued to commute between America and Paris to pursue various journalism assignments. The furious pace and constant travel eventually affected her own health, and by 1975 she was completely worn out. Solano and Murphy, no longer young themselves, were unable to care for their mutual lover. Flanner moved back to New York permanently, where she lived out her remaining years cared for by Natalia Danesi Murray.

Flanner’s life, like her prose, was lively, unpredictable, and full of wit. The lesbian literary legacy is the better for it. ▼ Ann Aptaker is the author of short stories and the Lambda & Goldie award winning Cantor Gold series Murder and Gold. The latest in the series, Hunting Gold, was released in July 2022.

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MARCH 10, 2023

51 Letters

CAMPshots

SCENES FROM REHOBOTH BEACH

Hooray for Hollywood, Polar Bear Plunge Chili Contest and More Scenes of Winter Survival in RB! THIS PAGE (left to right) 1) at CAMP Rehoboth Chorus’s

“Hooray for Hollywood” Concert: Toni Barrett, Doug Yetter, Tara Sheldon, Leslie Sinclair, Debbie Woods, Leslie Ledogar, David Garrett, David Scuccimarra, Tracey Seabolt; 2) at Rehoboth Historical Society—150 Anniversary Celebration of Camp Meeting Founding: Sam Cooper, RB Mayor Stan Mills, Ernie Lopez, Marilyn Bryant, Bob Stransky; 3) at Iron Hill Restaurant: Jeff Balk, DE Lt. Governor Bethany Hall-Long,

OPPOSITE PAGE 4) at Polar Bear Plunge Restaurant

Chili Contest: Harkaitz Urnestarazu, Paige Townsend, Lisa Turgean-Williams, Nikki Turgean-Williams, Oscar Santana and Mitt Patel (The Pines), Gabriel Smyth, Ramazan Cakdakli, Matt Carroll, David Engle, Billy Toner, (Café Azafran), Melson Gutierrez, Unery Equevara (Kiwi’s Tiki Hut), Jennifer Peterson, Gail Wright, (Zogg’s), Tyler Townsend, Drew Mitchell, Katherine Manequill, Yolanda Pineda, Matt Soaglowski, Eric Engelhart, Tony Burns, Mike DeFlavia, Tony Sowers, Chris Beagle, Michael Peagler, (Mariachi).

1

2 Letters 52 MARCH 10, 2023

More CAMPshots page 54

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MARCH 10, 2023

53 Letters

SCENES FROM REHOBOTH BEACH

2

1

4 (Continued from page 53)

3

5 Letters 54 MARCH 10, 2023

THIS PAGE (left to right) 1) at Coastal Concerts—The Viaro Quartet & Roberto Diaz: Hao Zhou, Lucy Wang, Roberto Diaz, Aiden Kane, Tate Zawadick; 2) at Peninsula Gallery—Art Opening Reception for Dane Tilghman: Neal Fitz, Lauri Fitz, Yvonne Devastey, Norman Fitz, Tony Boyd-Heron, Carol BoydHeron, Dane Tilghman, 3) at Freddie’s Beach Bar: Cindy Carey, Paul Carey, Jeff Shields, Mark Hunker, David Franco, David Cordell; 4) at Lupo Restaurant: Carol Hehir, Mary Stuart, Henry Hehir, 5) at Theo’s Restaurant: Stuart Grifter, Blair Cappuccio, Jason Evans, Kresta Grifter.

OPPOSITE PAGE: 6) at The Pines: John Potthast, Jay Chambers, John Flynn, Roxy Overbrooke, Alondra Sanchez; 7) at Purple Parrot: Randall Malick, Chris Leady, Joe Steele, Brian Gray, Damien Gray, Phil Brandt, Alberto Rivera-Rentas; 8) at Fins Restaurant: Marvin Miller, Conrad Welch, Jerry Gallucci, Tony Burns, Dan Kyle, Robert Kopansky, Don Commisso; 9) at Polar Bear Plunge: Joann Baldridge, Cliff Lassahan, Ted Orzech, Jim Brezinsk, George Meldrum, Joe Daigle. ▼

Polar Bears and Drag Queens!

6

7

8

9 MARCH 10, 2023

55 Letters

The Writing Life

BY REDFERN JON BARRETT

Nesting Dolls of Hate

D

iscrimination is complicated.

We’re humans, and the way we treat each other is never simple. Sometimes oppressions are contained within oppressions, one nesting within the other like a twisted Russian doll, where the unfair hatred one receives is then passed down to somebody smaller. Someone who can do even less about it.

That sounds abstract. To put it simply, I first came out in the year 2000, when I was 16 years old. No longer a closeted right-wing Evangelical, I was ready to meet this strange new millennium as someone proud and unashamed. Two years later I moved from England to Wales, and got into queer community activism, helping organize petitions and protests and parties. (I was a teenager, and very passionate about all three.) I wanted to help make things better for those who came out next.

Of course, not everyone wants the same thing. Some did, but very quickly I discovered those nesting dolls of hate: gay men and lesbians who seemed outraged at anyone bisexual (who were somehow both a threat and didn’t exist); anyone trans (who were somehow both a threat and didn’t exist); and even Jewish people (who were somehow a threat but were at least considered real). I couldn’t understand it.

Why, when we experience hate, do so many of us feel the need to pass the hate along? That’s what my novel, Proud Pink Sky, set out to explore.

In 2010 I moved from Britain to Berlin, a city with a half-million queer people.

I thought that maybe things would be different here, but as anyone who lives in a major metropolis knows, I was being hopelessly naive. The same kind of hate was here too, but it was sneakier: hidden in the corners of run-down squats or huddled in fashionable nightclubs; there in the smirk of an otherwise-righteous activist, or glinting in the eye of an anti-establishment punk.

Proud Pink Sky is set in a very different city to the one I moved to—it takes Letters 56 MARCH 10, 2023

place in a Berlin that’s the world’s first gay state. The novel’s Berlin has a dual gay and lesbian government, distinct districts for different subcultures, and even an official gay language. It’s a reality where gay people are finally in control, and though

Proud Pink Sky is a novel which tries to understand…which seeks to represent all of us, whatever part of the LGBTQ+ spectrum we’re part of. the city-state is a welcome escape from a homophobic world, it, too, contains the nesting dolls of hate.

For my part, I was never really accepted by any of the gay societies I joined.

I was too…something. Perhaps, rumors went, I was one of the craven bisexuals (I certainly hung around with enough) or secretly trans (I spent a suspicious amount of time with them, too). I was passionate, but I was also silly, feminine, and the sex I liked didn’t fit the gay set menu. This was true in England, it was true in Wales, and it’s true in Berlin.

In Proud Pink Sky, citizenship of the gay state is denied to those who don’t fit, and in turn those who don’t fit huddle into towering slums on the edge of the city. Bisexuals hide their sexuality, polyamorous people are forced to hide their families, and trans folk gather in a walled-off slum

of perpetual twilight, hidden beneath a gigantic transit bridge.

Yet in all this division there’s still hope and solidarity. The glittering city contains many citizens with friends and lovers across the divides, and residents brave cynical politicians and ferocious cops, reaching across these separations in the hope of making their metropolis a better place. Hate is passed along, for certain, but just as in real life, so is solidarity. So is hope. So is rebellion.

In 2020 I came out again: this time as nonbinary. The truth was they were right: I didn’t really fit, not even into the neat categories of ‘man’ or ‘woman.’ For me, identity was never something fixed or solid—it always had been something fluid, immaterial, just-beyond-my-reach. An absence where other people felt something; an agnosticism while others had faith.

It was that way ever since I was a child, spending time with groups of boys and girls and never fitting in with either. There was only ever myself. My curiosity, and my questions.

Proud Pink Sky is a novel which tries to understand. Without judgment, without condemnation. It’s a novel which seeks to represent all of us, whatever part of the LGBTQ+ spectrum we’re part of. Above all, it warns us to always stay aware of those little nesting dolls of hate—and to never, ever let them rest inside ourselves. ▼ Proud Pink Sky releases March 14 from Amble Press, a new imprint of Bywater Books..

Born in Sheffield in 1984, Redfern grew up in market towns, seaside resorts, and post-industrial cities before moving to Wales and gaining a PhD in Literature from Swansea University (Prifysgol Abertawe) in 2010. Redfern is nonbinary queer and has campaigned for LGBTQ+ and polyamory rights since they were a teenager. They currently live in Berlin. Website: redjon.com

Out

CAMP Rehoboth Chorus presents

e h t r o f

Summer Celebrating those lazy, hazy, crazy days.

SUMMER CONCERT 2023

June 16 – 7:00 pm June 17 – 7:00 pm June 18 – 3:00 pm Epworth United Methodist Church Rehoboth Beach, Delaware

Doug Yetter – Artistic Director David Zipse – Collaborative Artist & Accompanist

T i c ke t s ava i l a b l e at ca m p re h o b o th .c o m Lifeguard artwork by Aurelio Grisanty • Courtesy of beachtownposters.com CAMP Rehoboth Chorus 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.

MARCH 10, 2023

57 Letters

The reviews are in!

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17028 Cadbury Circle, Lewes, DE 19958 • springpointchoice.org Letters 58 MARCH 10, 2023

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MARCH 10, 2023

59 Letters

SPRING EQUINOX

BY PATTIE CINELLI

A Time for New Beginnings

M

arch 20th at 5:24 p.m. marks the spring equinox this year.

The length of the day and night is almost equal wherever you are in the world, with the sun shining directly on the equator. It marks the beginning of spring in the northern hemisphere. It signifies a time of balance and wholeness.

The word ‘equinox’ comes from the Latin ‘aequus’ and ‘nox,’ which mean equal and night respectively. Both the spring and fall equinoxes occur in between the summer and winter solstices, marking the two points in the year when the earth’s axis is tilted neither towards nor away from the sun.

The spring—or vernal—equinox also represents a time of the year when we may begin to experience more creative energy. The return of light presents us with an opportunity to take time to release our fears and create new intentions. The spring equinox marks the turning point when daylight begins to win out over darkness.

One way we can welcome the new season and new possibilities is by doing spring cleaning—purging clutter, dusting nooks and crannies, and cleaning places that we don’t often clean, such as drawers, garages, and sheds. Psychologists say it can improve your mood, reduce stress, and increase creativity. Cleaning physical spaces may help us organize our mental space in a way that produces positive and clear thinking.

Spring cleaning and space clearing can pave the way for turning over a new leaf. Too much clutter can feel disorganized or chaotic, and it can create feelings of being physically and/or emotionally heavy. Clearing out clothes, shelves, and drawers can help you recharge and rebalance energy within your space.

While physically freeing up space in your environment is important for creating balance, some feel the spring equinox is also a perfect time to clear out any “sludge” that has clogged up your inner workings during the winter. For the past few years, I’ve been doing a spring detox diet. There’s a plethora of choices when it

Letters 60 MARCH 10, 2023

comes to detox programs. I’ve done a 10day plan by Elson Haas, MD whose book is The Detox Diet. I also have done a three-day juice cleanse and a week-long ayurvedic cleanse.

In yogic tradition the spring equinox is seen as a day when one has the best possibility of transcending the limitations and compulsions of one’s physical longings.

Cleaning our physical space may give us a sense of lightness and freedom, but we can also take this time of the year to clear the baggage of our emotional past that may be keeping us stuck. One approach: to raise awareness of the negative nagging we bombard ourselves with daily, carry a notepad around for a day or two. Write down all the chatter you tell yourself. I was shocked when I realized I say things to myself I’d never say to a friend. Truly freeing yourself of the internal negative voice can set the groundwork for the seeds and dreams we want to plant and thrive this season.

Celebrating the spring equinox starts with setting an intention. Maybe you’d like to attract abundance, health, or spiritual growth in the new season. Create an altar or space dedicated to your intention using shells, statues, colors, plants, flowers, and/or crystals. Light a candle.

When we acknowledge and embrace the

sun, moon, and earth’s cycles, we naturally cultivate emotional balance, spiritual recalibration, physical awakening, and mental clarity.

It’s a time to connect with nature. Get outside and look around. Try walking barefoot on the earth. Plant seeds. Listen to the birds sing. Journal your dreams.

Nourish with healing foods. Shed limiting ways of being.

The spring equinox is honored around the world. In shamanic and other cultures where attunement to nature is ingrained in the rhythm of day-to-day life, the equinox is a natural progression of mother earth bringing balance to our world. Without darkness there would be no light.

In Judeo-Christian traditions, spring cleaning dates back to the liberation of Israelites from Egypt, now celebrated as the holiday of Passover. For Christians, the equinox also marks a time of resurrection and renewal.

In Buddhist culture, spring cleaning also plays a major role in ancient Buddhist purification rituals. It also can be traced back 3,000 years in Persian culture. It was believed that sweeping up dust and removing clutter would prevent ill-fortune in the upcoming year.

In yogic tradition the spring equinox is seen as a day when one has the best possibility of transcending the limitations and compulsions of one’s physical longings. Masculine and feminine are said to be on an even keel that day.

If you are feeling adventurous on March 20 this year, you may want to test a folklore made popular in a 1945 Life magazine article. Legend says that you can stand an egg on its end during the spring equinox.

During this shift to more light, have some fun! Be playful. After all, it’s spring!▼ Pattie Cinelli is a health and fitness professional and journalist who focuses on holistic ways to stay healthy and get fit. She can be reached at: fitmiss44@aol.com.a Photo: Aniket Bhattacharya on Unsplash.com

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61 Letters

arts+entertainment

BY LESLIE SINCLAIR

SPOTLIGHT ON THE

arts

CAMP Rehoboth Puts Art at the Heart of Our Community

CAMP REHOBOTH'S VISUAL ARTS PROGRAM highlights our community’s unique history and culture, and serves to further diversity, equity, and inclusion by building unity and understanding. It is a new year, and in the February issue, the plans for 2023 were highlighted. In this issue, there is additional information about the current exhibition and what is in store over the coming months. Mark your calendars and get ready for a season that shines a light on the talents of our community! ▼

Connections On display through April 17, 2023 Artists’ Reception: March 11, 2:00 to 4:00 p.m.

IMAGES (Above left, clockwise): My Lady

by Bea Stryjewski; Drowning

by Samantha Strunk; Lost Eyes

by Tatum Friend; Snakes in the Grass by Hannah Worth.

We live in a world of many connections and shared experiences— both personal and via the digital world. In Connections, on display at CAMP Rehoboth from March 10 through April 17, developing artists aged 16 to 21 years share their voices through a youth-focused lens. The artists’ reception on Saturday, March 11, will provide an opportunity to celebrate these artists and their talent.

Art gives meaning to our lives and helps us understand the world. The creation of art facilitates a deeper understanding of emotions, promotes self-awareness, and allows for consideration of new ideas and experiences. In Connections, the 11 exhibiting artists* explore these themes and emotions such as isolation, relationships, anger, love, belonging, and more.

In this juried art exhibition, the selections, which were made by a team of community members, incorporate works in a broad range of media: painting, charcoal sketches, photography, digital art, mixed media, and sculpture.

All can learn from the perspectives of these talented young artists. ▼ *Cryslan Arceneaux, Lillianna Berkey, Tatum Friend, Madison Laird, Lo Parks, Charlie Selders, Samantha Strunk, Bea Stryjewski, Willow Troise, Sabina Troncone, and Hannah Worth. They reside in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Delaware.

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 DelawareScene.com.

Letters 62 MARCH 10, 2023

w

arts+entertainment FEST ART 2023!

April 21 to May 26, 2023 Artists’ Reception: April 28, 2023, 3:00 to 5:00 p.m.

Up next is what may be CAMP Rehoboth’s largest community art exhibition of the year, FEST ART 2023! Held in conjunction with CAMP Rehoboth’s Women’s FEST, this juried exhibition celebrates women in the arts and is open to all.

The juror for FEST ART 2023! is Delaware artist Roberta Tucci. She creates paintings and drawings of vigorous color and patterns to explore organic forms, material objects, calligraphic shapes, and the dynamic interacting spaces between them. Her unique artwork is represented in private collections and diverse public locations including churches, spas/resorts, and museums. And she was a previous exhibitor at CAMP Rehoboth! You may view Roberta’s work at RobertaTucciStudio.com.

If you are interested in submitting your art for consideration in FEST ART 2023!, visit CAMP Rehoboth’s website at camprehoboth.com. Under Programs, Arts & Culture, then Visual Arts, you will find the Call for Artists for FEST ART 2023! in the lefthand column.

Murray Archibald in a Solo Show June 10 to 30, 2023 Opening Reception: June 10, 4:00 to 6:00 p.m.

During the pandemic and after emerging from it, Murray has been busy in the studio creating new art. CAMP Rehoboth is honored to host Murray’s solo exhibition where he will share his latest work.

Be among the first to see how Murray’s creativity and art has evolved.

Known for his use of color, now layered with underlying texture and patterns, his art reflects his deep love and passion for life, spirit, and community. ▼

artist SPOTLIGHT DAN BARTASAVICH

This month, Letters had the good fortune to talk with local artist Dan Bartasavich.

Dan and his long-term partner (23 years!), Duane, have lived in the area since 2012.

They and their two bulldogs love the area and the people.

Dan works in mediums ranging from paper to found-object sculpture; from reclaimed paint to photography. His most recent solo exhibit, at The Manos Gallery in Tarentum, Pennsylvania (near Pittsburgh), featured nearly 100 works.

Locally, he’s exhibited at the CAMP Rehoboth gallery. He’s working now toward a Pride show at The Manos Gallery.

CR: So—what sort of pieces are you working on right now?

DB: Each year, I choose a theme for the year. For 2023, it’s “The Gifts of Love and Life.” Working within that, I’ve got about 100 works on paper in progress.

And then there are the large paintings—the one next to me is 5x6 feet; there are 20-30 of them (but not all are that large). Those are made 100 percent from reclaimed paint and other found objects. The theme of that series is “In the Music, I Am the Melody.”

CR: How do you define success as an artist? Do you feel you’ve achieved success?

DB: I feel I’m successful because I’ve never been more satisfied or happier than I am now with the growth I see in my work. I’m not motivated by money; I’m just driven, creatively, to “get it out.” For me, a piece that makes me remember a time or event, or which always evokes an emotion, is a success.

CR: CAMP Rehoboth gallery’s March exhibit, Connections, will feature young artists, age 16-21 years. What advice would you offer a young person interested in pursuing art?

DB: My number one piece of advice, as they approach a new piece, is to ask themselves some questions: What is my intention? What am I trying to say? What’s my voice?

I’d also strongly advise that they partner with someone—art isn’t created in a void. Remember the maxim, “steal like an artist”—study, mash-up, transform, remix.

Build on what came before.

Also—ask: can I devote myself to this piece till it’s finished? (Of course, it’s been famously said that a work is never completed; it’s merely abandoned.) That aside, I think there’s real value in sticking with a piece, even one you think isn’t going anywhere. Don’t give up till you surprise yourself.

Of course, there also are practicalities. Like: • Create a space of your own in which to work. It may be just a table someplace, but it needs to be someplace where you can make a mess.

• Set aside a RIGID time in your day to work on your art. Just like some folks commit to time at the gym, the artist needs to commit to work on their art.• Warm up before you start a piece— just like you would at the gym.

• Play a LOT with your materials—see what they do, how they look, what happens when you let yourself experiment.

• Don’t pigeonhole yourself into just one (or a few) mediums—open yourself up; being uncomfortable can be a great thing.

I’d also offer just an observation: the world needs artists; it needs creatives.

Though come to think of it, “artist” is a noun. Who wants to be a noun? I’d rather be a verb. Being an artist is an identity.▼ MARCH 10, 2023

63 Letters

arts+entertainment

by Terri Schlichenmeyer

BOOKED SOLID Women’s History Month Books

c.2023, various publishers, $19.99 to $30, various page counts

Great-Grandma never paid attention to the word “no.”

She raised her kids and her skirts, cooked meals and schemes, cleaned rooms and society, and ran a household like a boss. And she wasn’t alone. In March, we salute women like her, and others, during Women’s History Month....

Every woman who tries to break into a “man’s world” finds a glass ceiling—but some of those have cracks. It’s true now, just as it was on Every Night Is Saturday Night, a memoir by Wanda Jackson, with Scott B. Bomar (BMG Books, $19.99). Jackson was just 16 when her first record hit the Top Ten in the mid-1950s, and that was the beginning of a wild, decades-long career. For fans of country music, Elvis, rock & roll, Bob Dylan, Jack White, Johnny Cash, and others, this book will make you dance.

Where would we be without Mom? For sure, there’d be no history at all. And with that in mind, Zig-Zag Boy by Tanya Frank (W.W.Norton, $28.95) is the book to read this month. It’s the story of Frank’s young adult son, who had a sudden psychotic break one night. But that’s not the end of (or the whole reason for) this tale. Frank writes of fighting for her boy, the medications he needed, the care team he required, and learning to be Mom to someone who’s very ill. This is a great book about the power of motherhood, perfect for a woman in the same spot.

Bravery takes all kinds of forms, and in Madame Restell by Jennifer Wright (Hachette, $30), you’ll read about one woman whose life has, up until now, been largely forgotten. Little Ann

Letters 64 MARCH 10, 2023

Trow was born in the early 1800s and she grew up to be an elegant woman and a talented surgeon at a time when that was a rare thing for a woman to achieve. But she who called herself Madame Restell didn’t work in a clinic—she owned one that offered birth control, quiet abortions, and health care for New York’s women, whether they were society ladies or common washerwomen. And she did this openly, became very wealthy doing it, and she flaunted it despite that the city was full of men who wanted to stop her. This is a story that’ll make you want to stand up and yell, “HECK, YES!” And on that note, A Woman’s Life is a Human Life by Felicia Kornbluh (Grove Press, $28.00) is a dual story: one of the fight for reproductive rights, and one of the fight against sterilization abuse. Both issues affected many communities of color in New York decades ago. Kornbluh, who is a historian, explains how these seemingly-separate battles then coalesced with grassroots activism, how support came from surprising corners, and what these events have to do with these subjects now.

If these books don’t quite fit with your idea of a great Women’s History Month read, then be sure to ask your favorite librarian or bookseller for ideas. They’ll have the books you need to celebrate women, noooo problem. ▼ Terri Schlichenmeyer’s second book, The Big Book of American Facts, comes out this fall. Her first (Big Book of Facts) is available now in bookstores.

2023 EVENTS Save The Dates For more than 30 years CAMP Rehoboth has served the LGBTQ+ and wider community in Sussex County. We rely on the generous support of businesses, corporations, foundations, members, donors, and volunteers to fulfill our vision to create proud and safe communities where gender identity and sexual orientation are respected.

WE INVITE YOU TO JOIN US FOR OUR UPCOMING 2023 EVENTS

LABOR DAY WEEKEND APRIL 27-30, 2023

SEPTEMBER 2-3, 2023

THANK YOU! Your support ensures that we can continue outreach to advocate and educate within the LGBTQ+ community. For more information and for sponsorship opportunities, please contact Development Manager Laurie Thompson at laurie@camprehoboth.com

OCTOBER, 2023

302.227.5620 camprehoboth.com 37 Baltimore Avenue Rehoboth Beach DE 19971

MARCH 10, 2023

65 Letters

View Point

BY RICHARD J. ROSENDALL

Chatbots from the Edge

Let’s deal with current challenges, not science fiction

A

ll the talk of UFOs flying above us and being shot down takes me back to my youth when I read science fiction novels about invasions by space aliens. Some covers would feature an alien carrying a scantily clad, busty young woman, invariably unconscious.

That was before Sigourney Weaver kicked butt in the Alien movies.

If I were commissioning art for those books, I would base a cover on Michelangelo’s Pietà, with a beautiful young man passed out in the alien’s arms. Just because you’re a bug-eyed monster out to conquer the Earth doesn’t mean you can’t have good taste. This, however, was the 1970s, when most sci-fi editors were nerdy straight guys with cramped imaginations.

Another development that echoes sci-fi stories is Microsoft’s artificially intelligent Bing chatbot that professed its love for one reporter and described dark fantasies like hacking computers.

I’m not too worried about chatbots, though they could well replace House Republicans who haven’t an ounce of wit but can recite the latest talking points.

Would anyone notice if Kevin McCarthy were replaced with a robot? (I apologize to robots for that remark.)

Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson noted recently that an alien species capable of crossing the vastness of space would be far more advanced than humans and would not need to sneak around.

At present, we are unlikely to encounter alien spacecraft—much less shoot them down—and are not at a point when sentient computers will launch wars on their own, though our technology advances faster than our wisdom.

Entertaining as they are, sciencefiction scenarios are a distraction from present-day threats like nihilistic demagogues manipulating gullible people. Who needs shape-shifting aliens Letters 66

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when we have Nikki Haley? She is so all over the place in her pandering to the Republican base that she could have been one of the victims in the movie Jaws.

After Haley’s presidential campaign launch in which she said America is not racist (which raises the question why she found it necessary to abandon her first name, Nimrata), conservative troll Ann Coulter told her, “Why don’t you go back

The Gen Z-ers of which Frost is the vanguard are not troubled by sexual minorities, and are not traumatized by learning the less heroic details of America’s past. to your own country?” It is discouraging that, after such a long struggle, the right wing still does not see large swaths of America’s population as Americans.

But the fact that Trump’s MAGA hordes don’t even bother faking moderation is their Achilles heel. They constantly go too far with their ridiculous rhetoric. For example, QAnon cultists insist that Democrats are satanic, cannibalistic pedophiles. Granted, I think freshman Congressman Maxwell Frost of Florida is brilliant and adorable, but the most I would do is join him for lunch, not have him for lunch. And he is 25, not 15.

As for devil worship, they should stop projecting.

The Gen Z-ers of which Frost is the vanguard are not troubled by sexual minorities, and are not traumatized by learning the less heroic details of America’s past. These young citizens are

used to mass-shooting drills. They are familiar with diversity and do not regard it as an existential threat.

Not most of them, at least. Without fixations and resentments being passed down from generation to generation, there would not still be people eager to re-fight the Civil War. But shielding children from outside influences is increasingly difficult.

The far right in its paranoia is unable to adjust to changing demographic trends and is uninterested in solutions.

By contrast, the emerging generation will not be fooled by bullies who pose as freedom lovers, nor tolerate greedy industrialists who socialize risks while privatizing profits.

That’s my bet. There is more of a future in cooperating to solve problems together. Still, Republicans enjoy structural advantages in our political system (e.g., the Senate and Electoral College), and have been taken over by fanatics as surely as if they were alien changelings. It’s like the old movie, Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Don’t go to sleep!

A friend warns, regarding Twitter, “You never know whether you’re engaging a person or a bot.” True, but sometimes a writer’s work involves dancing on the edge. And simulated friends might assuage someone’s isolation at a remote outpost. In the end, however, we need flesh-and-blood people in our lives, not just imitations on a screen.

If we broke out of our electronic bubbles and encountered actual human beings more often, right there in front of us, who knows? It might restore a healthy dose of reality to our politics. ▼ Richard J. Rosendall is a writer and activist at rrosendall@me.com.

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

George Bunting Jr, Agent 19716 Sea Air Ave #1 Rehoboth Beach, DE 19971 Bus: 302-227-3891 george@gbunting.com

We’re all in this together.

State Farm® has a long tradition of being there. That’s one reason why I’m proud to support Camp Rehoboth.

Get to a better State®.

1211006 State Farm, Bloomington, IL immanuel quarter 28-02_Layout 1 3/30/2018 1:54 PM Page 1

D E E N E W R SUPPORT

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

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

MARCH 10, 2023

67 Letters

The REAL DIRT

BY ERIC W. WAHL

The Magnificent Cherry Tree

S

pring is almost here; in fact, I think it came early based on the bud breaking and leaf unfurling observed in the past few weeks. The anticipation of the cherry tree blooms is filling the air, especially around the Tidal Basin in Washington, DC. I’m sure most of you have been to the National Cherry Blossom Festival at least once in your life, or at a minimum witnessed its beauty televised on the news. It’s truly a sight to behold.

Now, being a native plant enthusiast, it’s my duty to inform you that all the glorious cherry trees planted in DC, and the reason for the festival, are actually Japanese in origin. However, I do not mind this one bit. I am also a history buff when it comes to horticulture, and I am constantly amazed at the stories in trees.

(That’s a future book I’m thinking about writing, so I call dibs on that title.)

We’ll discuss the history of these Japanese trees shortly but first, let’s chat a little about our native cherries.

Yes, we do have native cherry trees and even though they are not as ornamental or vibrant as the Japanese varieties, they play a vital role in our ecology and food web. According to Doug Tallamy, professor at the University of Delaware, native cherries are second only to our native oaks for their importance to our region’s ecological health.

Black cherry or Prunus serotina, is one of our eastern natives and is considered a pioneer species. A pioneer species is a plant that is first to encroach on open, disturbed land or in places after a wildfire occurred. They are fast growing and tolerant of diverse environments. They can grow in sun or shade and can adapt to most soil conditions. But their true value lies in their importance to wildlife.

The fruit of the black cherry is devoured by 33 species of birds and many caterpillars, including the Eastern tent caterpillar, which prefers them. Numerous other moths and butterflies are attracted to black cherry, including the Letters 68

MARCH 10, 2023

Eastern tiger swallowtail and the sphinx moth. Our native bees are also drawn to this tree, especially the bumblebee.

And of course, the wood of the black cherry is highly prized for its red tint; it’s often used in furniture. However, words of caution: even though the fruit is edi-

The fruit of the black cherry is devoured by 33 species of birds and many caterpillars, [as well as] our native bees… ble, every other part of this plant is highly toxic, even the seeds. In addition, the tree is known for its allelopathic properties, meaning some garden plants will not grow in close proximity to the tree because of a chemical it emits in the soil.

Back to a brief and interesting history of the Japanese cherries. Many of you may remember, in 2012, that First Lady Michelle Obama celebrated the 100-year

anniversary of the cherries that were planted by First Lady Helen Taft and Viscountess Chinda (wife of the Japanese Ambassador). However, the story of the Japanese cherry tree in America starts before that. It was actually the idea of Mrs. Eliza Scidmore—which fell on deaf ears at the time—to plant these trees along the Potomac River. It would take over 20 years before her advocacy paid off and Helen Taft took up the cause to plant cherries along the avenue.

During this same time, a Japanese chemist was in Washington and heard about this endeavor. He asked the mayor of Tokyo to make a donation of 2,000 trees to the United States, which the mayor agreed to do. However, these trees would show up in DC infested with insects and had to be destroyed.

The Tokyo mayor suggested a second donation and this time sent over 3,000 trees of varying varieties.

In 1912, these trees were planted around Washington. Taft and Chinda planted two at a ceremony at the Tidal Basin…this would be the basis of the National Cherry Blossom Festival.

During the next 100 years, new trees would be propagated from these original selections, so that replacements could be installed when needed. The propagation effort also came in handy when cherry trees suffered great decline in Japan after WWII, and the US gifted cherry trees propagated from this original stock back to Tokyo.

Horticulture has transformative properties not only in nature, but in all aspects of the human condition, including as symbols of peace between nations.

Be kind, and let’s garden together. ▼ Eric W. Wahl is Landscape Architect at Pennoni Associates, and President of the Delaware Native Plant Society.

Photo: Eric Dekker on Unsplash.com

clear space theatre company

March 10-26

Tickets on sale now!

Sponsored by

Fred and Joyce Legge

ClearSpaceTheatre.org

www.

302.227.2270

GROUP DISCOUNTS AVAILABLE!

MARCH 10, 2023

69 Letters

Q Puzzle Make Lemonade from Your Lemons ACROSS 1 Shakespeare’s “anon” updated 5 Concern of GLAAD and NLGJA 10 Sourpuss 14 Not using the tongue 15 Where a top lays?

16 Antifur org.

17 Start of a quote from 59-Down 20 Tango number 21 Celeb dancer on DWTS, say 22 Elbow-bender 23 Boys Don’t Cry Oscar winner Swank 25 Gay in the library 27 Arrow shaft 28 Posed for Berenice Abbott 31 Playbill lists 32 More of the quote 35 NBA or NRA 38 Brokeback Mountain setting 39 Like a member that’s not upright 43 Beginning of a hickey?

44 Device to assist penetration 46 Heston was once its pres.

47 In a frenzy 49 Bonheur’s word 50 Move barely 52 Units that make it seem like more inches

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Solution on Page 84 54 Threatening words 55 End of the quote 59 Lip service?

60 Easy putt for SpencerDevlin 61 Give ___ to (approve) 63 “Da Doo Ron Ron” beginning 64 Didn’t dine out 65 Look at a hottie in a bar 66 Angry in., for example 67 Leases out 68 Ancient European language DOWN 1 Bessie of the blues and more 2 Start of Richard Hatch’s motto 3 Peter of Florence of Arabia fame 4 Keanu’s role in The Matrix 5 Dearest role for Dunaway?

6 Singer on Lord of the Rings soundtrack 7 Cabinet div.

8 Start of an Evan Wolfson memo 9 Deuce follower, for Mauresmo 10 Cross-dresser M. Klinger’s rank 11 Witherspoon’s favorite cups?

12 Tops

13 Uses a turkey tool 18 Megan’s Will & Grace character 19 Support for someone on their knees 24 Ball of film 26 Barrie’s boys 28 Seattle’s WNBA team 29 Sound in a studio 30 Lott of Mississippi 33 In need of lube 34 Drink served with fruitcake 35 Cukor’s rib donor 36 Sooner or later 37 Bali Hai setting 40 Joke by Wanda Sykes, perhaps 41 Michelangelo paintings, e.g.

42 Strip in the locker room 44 Kind of milk 45 Light brown 48 Whitecaps off South Beach 51 Used car transaction 53 Phallic oral pleasure 54 Black pussy cats, e.g.

56 Dark time, in ads 57 Counterfeiters’ nemeses 58 Cut out 59 First trans Grammy winner Petras 62 Anal insertion procedure (abbr.)

ENTERTAINMENT SCHEDULE

THE KINSEY SICKS

BROADWAY BABES

Drag Queen Story Hour Gone Wild!

April 6 - 7:30PM

Drag Show April 14 - 8PM

A MILTON THEATRE MAINSTAGE PRODUCTION

A masterful retelling of the original sensation, injected with contemporary references and dazzling new arrangements!

UnGALA: MIRROR BALL Milton Theatre annual fundraising event

April 29 - 8PM

A powerful and thoughtprovoking musical experience that offers a fresh perspective on the genre, and leaves audiences with a sense of hope and inspiration!

33 1/3 LIVE'S KILLER QUEEN EXPERIENCE!

May 6 - 3PM & 8PM

MORE EVENTS

MAR 11 - FLYING IVORIES: Dueling Pianos MAR 12 - ST. PATRICK'S DAY PARADE: Festivities at Quayside MAR 29 - DELMARVA BIG BAND: 18-Piece Big Band MAR 30 - AUNT MARY PAT DISABATINO: Internet Comedy Sensation MAR 31 - THE BRITISH INVASION EXPERIENCE APR 1 - KATEGORY 5: Tribute to Yes, Styx, Rush, Boston, and Kansas APR 2 - EASTER BUNNY TEA: Live Interactive Show For Kids

APR 2 - LOWER CASE BLUES & ALICIA MAXWELL PROJECT APR 7 - THE ROCK ORCHESTRA: The Music Of Talking Heads APR 8 - APRIL FOOLS EVENING OF COMEDY APR 13 - DEANNA FITZPATRICK: Psychic Medium APR 15 - SWEARINGEN & KELLI: The Music Of Simon & Garfunkel APR 16 - THE McCARTNEY EXPERIENCE: Paul McCartney Tribute APR 23 - DELAWARE COMEDY THEATRE: Adult Improv Comedy

For more information on tickets, show details, and full events calendar go to:

www.MILTONTHEATRE.com

302.684.3038 | 110 Union St. Milton, DE

MARCH 10, 2023

71 Letters

OUR SUPPORTERS MAKE IT HAPPEN PURPLE LEVEL Greg Albright & Wes Combs X Sondra N. Arkin X Aaron, Heather, Gia & Joe Book* Catherine & Katie Brennan Carol Bresler & Carolyn Billinghurst X Jeanette Cammiso Pat Catanzariti & Carole Ramos* Lee Chrostowski & Sparky Jones Edward Joseph Chrzanowski * Skip Dye & Steven King* David Grossman & Jeremy Graboyes William Himelright & David Carter Judy & Carole Jesiolowski James W. Johnson & Matthew H. Shepard* Beth Pile & S.A. White X Chris Rinaldi & Brian Powers X Mary Rossettini & Kathleen Taylor Jennifer Rubenstein & Diane Scobey X Danny Sebright Gary Seiden & Ah Bashir X Leslie Sinclair & Debbie Woods X Diane Sweeney* Barb Thompson X Hope Vella William E. Cross Foundation, Arthur Brisker, Director Karen Zajick & Jennifer Weeks

INDIGO LEVEL Terry Albarella Murray Archibald & In Memory of Steve Elkins X James Beal & In Memory of David Van Patter Alex Benjamin & Pete Grover* Wesley Blickenstaff* Jane Blue & Louisa Watrel X Deborah Bosick Joe Brannen & John Klomp X Tom Brown X Elizabeth Carl & Tori Hill X Richard Coss & Mike Hull* Elbert Leroy Dage Lou Fiore & Jim Burke* Gary Gajewski - In Memory of Dr. John A. Boscia* Richard Gamble & Paul Lindsey* David & Marti Garrett* James Graham & David Dusek Fred Harke - In Memory of Robert Rougeau X Holly Horn & Kathleen Garrity X Peter Karsner X Melissa & Amanda Kaufman X Maureen Keenan & Teri Dunbar X Jerry Kennedy & Robert Quinones X Russell Koerwer & Stephen Schreiber X Roger Kramer* Susan Kutliroff & Barbara Snyder* Christine Lay X Curtis J. Leciejewski, DDS, PA X Thom Morris & Jim Slusher* Natalie Moss & Evelyn Maurmeyer X Rick Mowery & Joe Conn X

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MARCH 10, 2023

Tom Negran & Marc Anthony Worosilo X David Nelson & William McManus X John Newton & Mowry Spencer X Mark Niehaus & Brooks Honeycutt X Jeanine O’Donnell - State Farm* Gwen Osborne & Katie Handy X Porter-Gordon Family* Deborah Qualey & Karen Gustafson X Lori & Renee Rocheleau Mark Roush & Dave Banick* Mark Schweizer & Robert Voelker Frank Surprenant, DDS & Chris Wisner X Susan Tobin & Cathy Martinson* Cheryll & Bill Trefzger* Terry Vick* Mel W. & Linda Lee M. Weller Ronald Wetzel & Nathan Hench*

BLUE LEVEL Ronald Bass & George Robbins X Rocky Bible & Kevin Bosley In Memory of Jackie Morris Tim & Meredith Birrittella Chris Bowers* Karen Brause & Kim Sheaffer* Tony Burns X Beth Cohen & Fran Sneider X Coleen Collins & Berdi Price X Donna Davis & Gail Jackson X Scott Davis & Chris Shaheen* Connie Fox & Donna Adair* Tom Galloway & Les Diggs Perry Gottlieb & Tim White* Irene & Lou Katz* Nancy & Tora Kennedy* Paul & Anne Michele Kuhns* Chris Rouchard X Michael Shaffer & Benjamin Wilson X Sandra Skidmore X

GREEN LEVEL Marge Amodei* Sharon Bembry & Lois Powell* Teresa Bolduc & Kim McGeown* David Bower* David W. Briggs & John F. Benton X Charlie Browne & Rod Cook X Barry Bugg* Cheryl Buxton* Jay Chalmers & John Potthast X Stephen Corona* Lewis & Greg Dawley-Becker* Mike DeFlavia & Tony Sowers* Marianne DeLorenzo & Linda Van de Wiele* Max Dick* Diane Dragositz Kathy & Corky Fitzpatrick X Jim & Tom Flower* Cynthia Flynn & Deirdre Boyle X Bill Fuchs & Gerry Beaulieu* Lisa Gilley Richard Green & Asi Ohana X Joe Greenhall & Tom Klingler Bob Gurwin & John Rourke

David Hagelin & Andy Brangenberg* Jo Hamilton & Donna Voigt* Jenn Harpel & Katie Rickards* Steve Hoult & Rick Bane X Karen Hugues & Cathy McCallister X Anthony Incalcatera & James Buswold Alex IX & Gare Galbraith Jocelyn Kaplan & Idalie Adams - In Memory of Adeline Kaplan X Deborah Kennedy & Beth Yocum* Eric Korpon & Steven Haber* Lee Lambert Leslie Ledogar & Marilyn Hewitt* John J. MacDonald & Douglas James Bob Mancuso & Doug Murray James Mease & Philip Vehslage* Susan Morrison* Dennis Neason & Steve Bendyna* Kim Nelson & Lori Simmons X Fran O’Brien & David Gifford* Kim Parks & Sharon Denny Keith Petrack & Michael Fetchko* Anne Pikolas & Jean Charles X Gail Purcell & Sandy Kraft* Bill Rayman & Frank King* Marty Rendon & John Cianciosi* Douglas Sellers & Mark Eubanks* Scott Shaughnessy * William Snow X Mary Spencer & Kathy Lingo* Joseph Steele & Chris Leady David Streit & Scott Button* Anne Tracy & Mary Gilligan* Kathy Wiz & Muriel Hogan X Jon Worthington & Bryan Houlette X Karl Zoric & Mark Pipkin X

YELLOW LEVEL Brenda Abell X Ria Allman Keith Anderson & Peter Bish X Gwen Atwell & Marla Hoon* Dale Aultman & Paul Gibbs X Shannon & Sarah Avery* Pamela Baker & Diane Dixson* Linda Balatti & Shirley Gilmer X Susie Ball & Susan Delaney X Mike Ballinger & in Memory of Martin Thomas* Miriam Barton* Chris Beagle & Eric Engelhart* Tom Beall Barbara Beavers & Kathy Carrell John Bell Sherry Berman & Deb Hamilton X Abby Bernstein & Karen Frank X Michael Boyle & Greg Murphy X Mary Ann Brewer Daniel Bruner & Tim Beymer David Carder* Kathy Casey & Jean Burgess X Kate Cauley & Pat Newcomb* Bob Chambers* Jean Chlastawa & Susan Griesemer* Paul Christensen & Dennis Morgan* Jim Chupella & Jim Wigand* Steve Clayton & Brad Lentz*

CAMP REHOBOTH MEMBERSHIP 2023 Gary Colangelo & Gerald Duvall X Nancy Commisso* Thomas Conway & Thoth Weeda* Billy Cox & John Carr* Drexel Davison - Bad Hair Day?* Anthony Delacruz & Ronald Mangano Fred DiBartolo & Steve Wood X Maureen Dolan & Karen McGavin* Albert Drulis & Scott Silber* Sandy Duncan & Maddy Ewald Ann Evans* Karen Faber & Lisa Balestrini Faber* Alice Fagans & Ruth Ann Mattingly* Dee Farris* Lisa Fernandez & Allison Lindon Cecily Fisher & Loretta Higgins Monica Fleischmann & Lona Crist X John Flournoy & Jim Chrobot Roland Forster & David McDonald* Ricki Geiger Gail Gormley* Susan Goudy* Ken Green & Joe Kearney* Renee Guillory & Melissa Vila-Guillory Wesley Hacker & David Block* Pete & Joanne Harrigan* Robert Henthorne & Roger Bolduc Carol Holland - Holland Jewelers X Terry Hollinger & Mike May* Caroline Huff & Brenda Robertson* Nan Hunter & Chai Feldblum Dorsey Johnson & Kay Jernigan* Philip Johnson* Dee Dee Jones & Julie Blake Frank Jump & Vincenzo Aiosa* Marilyn Kates & Laura Glenn* Andy Kite & Karl Martin Jay Kottoff & Mark Matey* Greg Kubiak* Carol Lazzara & Sheila Maden* Edmund LeFevre & Keith Wiggs X Greg Lehne Judy Lettes & Sandra Sue Monica Lewis & Ann Zimmerman* David Lindeman & Andrew Phipps Frank Liptak & Joe Schnetzka* Jim Lonsdale & Bryan Hoffman John Mackerey & Donald Filicetti* Teresa Madonna & Stacey Mazzacco Patricia Magee & Anita Pettitt X Jill Masterman & Tammy Jackson* Tony Mazzarella - In Memory of Vickie Stapleton Howard Menaker & Patrick Gossett X Ray Michener & Tom Carlson* Sandy Neverett & Pam Cranston X Pat Nickols* Robert Nowak & David Bergman X Donna Ohle & Susan Gaggiotti X Maggie Ottato X Dotti Outland & Diane Mead X Peninsula Gallery - Tony & Carol Boyd-Heron* Joanne Picone & Kathy Bostedo* Frank Pirhalla Stephen Pleskach X Jim Pressler X Lisa Rabigi & Bea Vuocolo* Gene Roe X

Thomas Rose & Thomas Sechowicz X Lucien Rossignol & Tom Harris* Mark Saunders & Bob Thoman* Sheryl Schulte & Jeanne LaVigne* Troy Senter & Stacey Chan* Polly Smale & In Memory of Charlotte Reid* David Smith & Kenn Williams Susan Soderberg & Terri King X John Michael Sophos & Miss Dot Sophos* Diane Sozio & Patricia Hutchinson* Matthew Stensrud & Michael Cohen* Lenny Stumpf & John B. Pitchford* Kaye Sullivan Brett Svensson & Bill Quinn - Dust Doctors LLC* Thrasher’s French Fries* Lana Warfield & Pamela Notarangelo X Elizabeth Way & Dorothy Dougherty* Michael Weinert X Justin Weitz William Wheatley* Joseph & Diane Wood Steven Wunder & Rod Hastie Jean Sutliff Young* Joanne Yurik* Larry Zeigler X John Zingo & Rick Johnson*

ORANGE LEVEL James Apistolas & Christopher Galanty* Ruth Ball & Mary Ellen Jankowski* Romulus Barba & Dean Yanchulis* Paul Barbera & Joseph Nolan Susan Becker & Mary Ellen Wivel Kathleen Biggs & Maria Campos* Janet Blaustein Kathy Board & Jackie Maddalena Boland Family - In Memory of Michael J. Kelly* Richard Bost & Thomas Moore* Linda Bova & Bridget Bauer - The Sea Bova Associates* William Briganti & Gary Moore* Anita Broccolino - In Memory of Cathy Fisher Wendy Bromfeld* Randy Butt & Emerson Bramble* Ronald Butt & Steve Cannon* Community Bank Delaware* Mark Conheady* Lois Cortese & Jill Stokes X Kay Creech & Sharon Still* Kenneth Currier & Mike Tyler X Ginny Daly* John D’Amico* Julie A. Danan Linda DeFeo X J. Lynne Dement & Lisa J. Snyder* Donna Dolce* Kevin Doss & Arie Venema* Arlyce Dubbin & Kathleen Heintz* Lissa Dulany Brenda Dunn & Karen Anderson* Susan Eig & Ellen Schiff X Jeanne Embich*

Continued on page 74

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Opening late summer 2023, The Lodge at Historic Lewes will be home to the same exceptional and inclusive lifestyle, offering vibrant assisted living and groundbreaking The Compass Memory Care™.

Start your journey to “Lodge Life” today by calling 844-493-9888.

LEWES & REHOBOTH BEACH, DE | WWW.LODGELIFEDE.COM | 844-493-9888 MARCH 10, 2023

73 Letters

Continued from page 72

Eddie Engles Robin Esham Maureen Ewadinger* Ellen Feinberg & Lesley Rogan X Paul Finn & Joseph Porporino* Barbara Fitzpatrick & Denise Centinaro Keven Fitzsimmons & Jeff Stroud X Deb Fox & Deb Bonneau Charles Gable Ron Glick & Tien Pham* William Gluth & Channing Daniel* Ed Gmoch* Mike Gordy & Ed Brubaker* Joe Gottschall & Scott Woody* Amy Grace & Karen Blood* Charles Graham* Deborah Grant & Carol Loewen* Robert Grant & Chris Cossette Siobhan Halmos & Beth McLean* Sharon Hansen X Pat Harte & Nancy Sigman* Jacqueline Havriliak Tracey & Erica Hellman Bill Hillegeist X Vance Hudgins & Denny Marcotte* John Hulse X Mary Huntt & Angela Creager* Janet Idema & Patricia Higgins* Anne Kazak & Chris Coburn X Maryl Kerley X Ned Kesmodel & Matt Gaffney X Bonnie Kirkland & Wanda Bair X Myra Kramer & John Hammett* Rob & Jean Krapf X Barbara Lang & Diane Grillo* Mary Jo & Rachel Lauer Kim Leisey & Kathy Solano Jim Lesko* Robert & Yen Ling Duncan MacLellan & Glenn Reighart* Amanda Mahony & Alex Albanese Marsha Mark & Judy Raynor* James Mastoris & Edward Chamberlain X Michael & Stephan Maybroda* Kathy & Steve McGuiness* Sherril Moon & Louise Montgomery* Margaret Moore & Sheree Mixell X R. Moore Carol Morris & Ann Abel Lisa Mosley Judy Olsen & Joanne Kempton X Sandra Oropel & Linda Frese* Carolyn Ortwein & Ann Barry* Rutland Paal & Robert Mittleman* Sandra Pace & Barbara Passikoff X Steve Parker* Ellen Passman X Marilyn Pate & Dorothy Smith* Patricia Pawling & Jennifer Butz* Rina Pellegrini Deena Pers X Grace Pesikey & Janet Urdahl* Russ Phipps & Stephen Jacobs* Peter Pizzolongo & Carlos Prugue* Susan Reinagel & Dawn Henderson* Pat Renninger & Tammy Plumley X Bill Rogers & Jeff Wilkinson Judy Rosenstein & Elva Weininger X Deborah & Charles Ross X Michael Safina & Tim Bean Katherine Sams* Richard Sargent* Gary Schell & Jim DiRago Laurie Schneider & Margie Ripalda*

Letters 74

MARCH 10, 2023

Carol Scileppi & Valerie McNickol* Teri Seaton Michael Seifert & Harvey Holthaus* Craig Sencindiver & Gary Alexander* Tara Sheldon* Frank Shockley & Arthur Henry* Cathy Sieber & Brenda Kriegel* Carol Sieger & Maggie Guardino Anita Smulyan Tina Snapp & Susan Leathery* Christine Stanley & Joyce Rocko* Greig Stewart & Jake Hudson* Robert Stoltzfus & Gerald Warhola* Brian Straka* Sandra Sullivan & Lorie Seaman* Terrence Sullivan Trudie Thompson Susan & Rich Thornberg James Vernicek & Jeff Dailey* Joseph Vescio Tama Viola* Don Wainwright & Tom Jamison* Patricia Walker Don Wessel Ralph Wiest & Anthony Peraine* Daryle Williams & Steven Fretwell* Lynne Wilmer & Jeannie Marsh Terri Windlan Melanie Wolfe & Monica Niccolai Robert T. Wright & Jack Lim* Sherri Wright & Dick Byrne* Janet & Ron Yabroff Niki Zaldivar & Cecil McNeil X Helaine Zinaman & Roselyn Abitbol X

RED LEVEL Guy Abernathey X Dale Adams Jim Affonco X Mark Aguirre & Wayne Gleason X Bill Alldredge X Chris Allison Stephani Allison & Judith Gorra X Alan Anderson X Daniel Anderson & Greg Melanson Andrea Andrus & Maggie Shaw X Peter Antolini X Patricia Antonisse X Wanda Armwood & Illona Williams* Cynthia Arno Josh Bach & Edward Ginley Kathleen Bailey X Christine A. Baker John Baker & Richard Latham X Sarah Barnett Curtiss Barrows X Barbara Bastow & Margaret McHale John Batchelor X Karen Beck* Beebe Medical Foundation* Mike Behringer & Nelson Correa* Michael Beigay Alex Belano Sheryl Bender & Doreen DiLorenzo* George Benes & Michael Mallee X Suzanne Bennethum & Deborah Smith* Joe Benshetler & Kurt Angell Jeri Berc X John Berdini X Joel Berelson & Charles Maples* Lisa Beske - In Loving Memory of Steve Elkins* Christine Bielenda & Karen Feuchtenberger*

Thomas Biesiadny X Deb Bievenour & Susan Shollenberger* Beatrice Birman & Mary Malgoire Lorraine Biros* Cathin Bishop & Laura Simon X 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 Pete Borsari X Laura Borsdorf X Nancy Bouse & Norma Morrison X David & Donna Bowman X Deni Boyer & Loretta Imbrogono* Brian Boyle & Larry Gee X Beth Bozman* Jim Brady & Mike Hays X John Brady X Kelly Brennan & Susan McVey* Susan Brinsfield & Barbara Devenport Laurie Bronstein Debora Brooke * Kevin Brown X Lyn Brown & Winsome Boyd* Matthew Brown Diane Bruce & Annie Sorvillo* Carol Buck Al Bulliner X Belinda Buras & Linda Simeone* Geoffrey Burkhart & Bruce Williams* Lyn Burleson & Sharon Werner* Carol L. Burnett X Timothy B. Bush X Sherry Butler James Byrnes X Chris & Richard Cahill X Robertine Cale* Debbie Cali & Maddie Cunningham Ingrid Callmann & Karen Askins* Leslie Calman & Jane Gruenebaum* Pat Campagna & Debra Sansoucie Terri Campbell & Victoria Smith Michele Campisi & Julie A. Slick X Joe Canter Matt Carey X Jim Carlo X Justine Carpenter X Shirley Carpenter & Mary Coldren X Deborah Carroll & Jill Steiner Alice Casey & Anthony Codella Jo Cason & Peggy Neidlinger Teresa Cason & Lynda Schepler X Sara Cavendish & Wendy Bunce X Denis Chandler & Sebastion DiMauro Linda Chaney & Irene Lawlor* Helen Chang & Pat Avery* Dr. Harvey J. Chasser X Mike Chateauneuf X 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 Dottie Cirelli & Myrna Kelley X

Norma K. Clark X Rob Cline Barbara Clipper Amy Clouse & Betty Long X Julie Cockley Anne Cole & Sandy Freeman Carolyn Cole & Sandy McDevitt X Stuart Comstock-Gay X Inez Conover X Blanche Cook & Clare Coss Bill Cooley & Ken Watkins DVM X Josh Cooper & Steve Rathburn Jeffery A. Coover X Michael Cornell X Lois Corson 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 Madeline Cunningham & Linda Matulaitis Mark Cunningham & Ken Tattersall X Rich Custer Jamie Cuthbert & KT Tinney Howard Cyr & Lynn Ashley* Ellen Dahl* William T. Darley X Denise Davis & Jeanne Bilanin Marsha Davis & Bev Lesher X Patricia Davis Kathy Davison & Ruth Dickerson X Celeste De Bease Frederick Dean & Steven Swierzy X Linda Dean & Donna Whiteside* Penny Lee Dean Scott Dechen & James Maino* Michael Decker & Arley Jaimes X Michael DeGraffenreid Susan Deise & Jerri Budzinski Ann DeLazaro & Annette Potemski Bernie Delia X Frank Dell’Aquila X Claire Dente & Leslie Campo* Tracy Denton & Brenda Welsh Karen DeSantis & Carol Brice* Nancy DeToma & Meg Smith* David DeVargas & Steven Champion X Carolyn DeVito Dawn Devries & Helen Krum Henry & Marcia DeWitt X Romy Diaz & Dennis Bann Geri Dibiase Photography* Julie Dickson X Richard Dietz* Phyllis Dillinger Tony DiMichele & Jeff Smith* Mary Dipietro & Wendy Schadt* Deb Dobransky & Ketty Bennett* Arthur Dochterman X David & Lizann Dockety X Peg Dolan & Mary McDevitt X Polly Donaldson Millie Donnell Kathryn Downs Frances Doyle X Paul Dradransky X Michael Driscoll & Ben McOmber X Susan Dube & Diana Patterson* Deanna Duby & Carol Bruce* Barry Dunkin* Gene Dvornick X Sue Early X

Frank Echols & Robert Robinson John Eckardt Eden Restaurant X Richard Egler Gail Elliott & Bea Hickey* Pamela Elliott* W. Kay Ellis* Lisa Evans & Joann Gusdanovic John Farley & Dennis Wilson X Susan Farr & Joanne Pozzo* Jane Farrell Larry & Ro Fedorka* Karen Ferguson* Mark Fernstrom Virginia Fessler * Jayne Fetterman* Irene & Edward Fick* Ben Ficks & Bob Angell Allen Fred Fielding X Jerry Filbin* Joe Filipek & Larry Richardson X Mark Finkelstein & Michael Zeik X Rick Fischer X Barbara Fischetti & Janet Thoden Gary Fisher & Josh Bushey* James Fitzsimmons & Brian Burdelle* Chuck Flanagan X Paul Florentino & Chris Pedersen X Sandra Fluck & Beverly Morgan* Bill Ford Mary Ford & Judy Hedrick X Beebe Frazer X Jon Frazier Phil Fretz X Neil Frock & Bob Harrison* Marilyn Fuller & Teresa Marigliano Susan Furman Frank Gainer & Ramon Santos* Lynn Gaites & Faye Koslow X Nina Galerstein* Charles Gallagher & James Day Marcia Gallo & Ann Cammett Jerry Gallucci & Conrad Welch* Kathryn Gantz & Kathryn Gehret Don Gardiner X Peter Garneau & Dennis Rodriguez Cheri Garnet Mindy Gasthalter* Wilson Gates X Charles George & Dennis Rivard X Tracey Gersh & Amy Johnson Gary Gillard X Michael Gilles Angela & Cheryl Gladowska Joan Glass X Karen Glooch X Ronald Gluck* Jane Godfrey* Randall Godwin X Jackie Goff & Mary Vogt X Katherine Goff Dave Gold & In Memory of James Yiaski X Robert Gold X Suzanne Goldstein & Dana Greenwald X Cindy Gonzalez Milton Gordon & Bill Hromnak X Teresa Gordy & Barb Ford X Dan Goren & Peter Robinson X Robert Gotwalt & Norman Jones Bill Graff & Jeff Schuck* Lisa & Raymond Graff* Paul R. Grant & Marc Watrel* Cheryl Graves Harvey Grider Continued on page 76

LET YOUR LOVE BLOOM WITH A NEW COMPANION! Midway Shopping Center 18675 Coastal Highway, Suite 8 Rehoboth Beach, DE 19971

humaneanimalpartners.org | 302-200-7159 | get social! @hapdelaware MARCH 10, 2023

75 Letters

Continued from page 74

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 Richard & Frances Grote* Paula Grubbs X Helene Guilfoy X Lori Guitson Bill Gunning & Joe Greoski X Mary Gunning* Jay Haddock & Hector Torres* Gerard M. Haley & George D. Zahner X Cynthia Hall X Roberta Hamer Mark Hare & Mike Newman X Kelley Harp X David Harrer & Floyd Kanagy* Thomas F Harris II Mary Hartman & Laurie Nelson Jeff Haslow X Janece Hausch* John & Mary Havrilla* Christine & Brooke Havrilla-Downes Nancy Hawpe Daniel F.C. Hayes* Helen Healy & Lisa Whitehouse Gail Hecky* Barb & Len Hedges-Goetti Leslie Hegamaster* Linda Heisner X David Herchik & Richard Looman X Fred Hertrich X Howard Hicks & Stephen Carey X Helen Hilderbrandt Barbara Hines & Nancy Froome X Howard C. Hines, MD X Karen & Mickey Hinman Janel Hino & Patricia Ann Scully X Cynthia Hogue David Hogue Harris Holden X Connie Holdridge* Christine Holloran Robert Holloran & Ed Davis* Brad Holsinger & Ed Moore - Mod Cottage* Chris Holt & Emory Bevill X Mollyne Honor & Shelley Garfield Larry Hooker X Mary Anne Hoopes & Dianna Johnston* Penni Hope* James T. Hopkins X Elaine Horan & Debbie Sciallo X Frank Hornstein & Mark Henckel X James Hospital & Jack Fraker* Robert Hotes X Peggy Ann Hughes Kaz Huston & Sylvia Daniels Ellan Hylton Batya Hyman & Belinda Cross* Thomas Ingold X Claire Ippoliti X Chris Israel & John Stassi X Debbie Isser & Fran Leibowitz* Geoffrey Jackson & Will Delany X Fay Jacobs & Bonnie Quesenberry X Sharon Janis X Steve Janosik X Kathy Jantzen & Debi Cunn Allen Jarmon & Ward Ellinger X Robert Jasinski*

Letters 76

MARCH 10, 2023

Mary Jenkins & Laura Reitman Susan Jimenez & Cathy Benson X Chip Johnson - In Memory of Joseph Lachac* Donna A. Johnson* Ken Johnson X Randi Johnson Jim Johnston* Richard Jolly & Charles Ingersoll X D. J. Jones* Gay Jones & Barb Bartels Glenn Jones X Sparky Jones Tom Jones X Beth Joselow Wayne Juneau X Mick Kaczorowski X Darleen Kahl & Susan Poteet* Bob Kaplan & Jeff Davis X Daphne Kaplan & Steve Scheffer* Sharon Kaplan & Pamela Everett* Kevin P. Kaporch X Amylynn Karnbach - One Day At A Time Gifts, LLC* Peter Keeble & Tom Best* Margaret Keefe & Dianne Conine* Mark Kehoe X Donald Kelly* John Kelly & Randy Sutphin X Michael J. Kelly X Ann Kemper John Kennedy* Hunter Kesmodel X Tom Ketterman Marge Keyes & Julie Arenstein X Charlotte King Rachel King Spencer Kingswell X Ilene Klein Jane Knaus & Cindy Myers* Stephen Kopp* John Kort & Hung Lai* Robert Kovalcik & Bob Howard X Marcia Kratz* Karen Kreiser & Beth Nevill* Kevin W. LaBarge X Beth Lake Cheryl Landry & Lisa Corrado Peter Lanzaro & Frank Bodsford X Dr. Mathilda Laschenski & Dr. Kathleen Heacock X Ruth Lauver & Judy Wetzel* Kate Lavelle X Jim Lawrence & Bob Palandrani Charlie Lee X Tara Leek Jon Leeking & Dieulifete Jean* Monica Lehman & Cathy Amberman Lisa Lekawa Charles & Matthew Lentz Jen Leonard & Claire McCracken* Jill Leonard Marsha Levine & Susan Hamadock X Arlene & Ginny Levy-Balmforth Barbara Lewis Barbara Lilien* Alexander Lincoln Cindy Lins & Diane Milam Duwayne Litz X Eleanor Lloyd & Celeste Beaupre* Robert E. Long X Cynthia Lowe & Rae von Doehren* Debbie Lupton & Romana Dobbs* Diane Lusk X Donna Lynch Becky Lyons & Ebie Hamrick X Joe Maggio X

Loretta Mahan* Bernadette Maher & Cheryl Tarlecky* Jack Maher X Barbara Mahoney Nancy Maihoff X Eddie Major X Bruce Majors X Scott Mallan & E.B Easter Harvey Manchester X Domenic Mannello X Stephanie Manos & Reber Whitner X Robb Mapou & Mike Zufall* Anyda Marchant X Kathi Marek & Mary Seminara Charles Marino & Alan Berman* Diane Markey & Randi Snader* Harold Marmon & Robert Hill* Michelle Marsh & Barb Sann Shelly Marsh Colleen Martin Norma Martin X Linda Martinak & Susan Baker* Nan Martino* Marie Martinucci* Joe Matassino & Tim Murray* Jason Darion Mathis John Matthews & Nick Polcini* Eric Matuszak X Linda Mazie & Terry Koff Donna McCabe & Mac Ignacio X Marcia McCollum Edward McCord Kathleen McCormick & Elizabeth Fish X Mary McElhone & Nancy Kaiser X Sherri McGee & Kris Aulenbach Thomas McGlone X Kathleen McGrath Joe McMahon X Anita McMullin Joseph McNally & Terry Jones X Charlotte McNaughton Chuck McSweeney & Michael Clay X Jim & Bruce McVey-Back* Mary Medlock & Susan Russell Buck Melton X John Messick X Joseph & Thomas Michael-Ryan 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 X Gene Miller & Jane Godfrey Marilyn K. Miller & Candice Zientek* Marvin Miller & Dan Kyle X Robin Miller Shelly Miller Todd A. Miller & Michele Frame X Chris & Joann Miller-Marcin Doreen Millon Lee Wayne Mills X Stan Mills & Marcia Maldeis X Linda Miniscalco & Jeanne Drake* Martha Monell Andrea Monetti & Karen Petermann* Sue Monismith X Jamie Moore Teri Moore & Barb Kulbaba* Mary Morgan & Beth Fitton X Meg Morgan & Susan Lynham X

Richard Morgante & Edward McHale* Bob Morris & James Weygandt Pearl Morris* Richard Morris Jack Morrison & Bob Dobbs* Rebecca Moscoso* Barry Moshinski & Robert Ponzini Andrew K. Moss & Richard Blevins X Brent Mundt X Mary Murdoch X Joanie Murphy Marie Murray & Deb Ward X Cynthia Myers* 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 Arletta Nicholl & Mary Anderson* Scott Nickle Konrad Noebel, MCAT, LMT & Brian Cox* Teri Noel* Janet Nosal Terry O’Bryan & Jack Musser James O’Dell X 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 Richie Pagnotta X Bud Palmer X Fran Panzo & Karen Groething Stephen Pape & Jerry Clark* Fred Parham Diane Pasatieri Emilie Paternoster & Monica Parr X Carol Patterson & Carol Hughes* Tim Patterson & Harvey Sharpe X Peggy Paul X Lucille & Dan Payne* Michelle Peeling & Wendy Adams* Caroline Pellicano & Jodi Foster Beverly Peltz* Roy Perdue X Al Perez & Gary Kraft* Colleen Perry & Jane Kuhfuss* Susan Petersen & Luz Cruz Don Peterson & Jeff Richman X Eric Peterson X Elizabeth Petitte & Erin Reid 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 Trudy Portewig & Luanne Schinzel Roni Posner X Sue Potts & Karen Kohn X Pat Powell* Renata Price & Yona Zucker*

Timothy Price & Gerard Sealy X Sam Profeta X Sarajane Quinn* Jean Rabian & Ralph Hackett X Joie Rake & Nan Flesher X Elaine Raksis & Maxine Klane* Barb Ralph X Rob Ramoy X Bob & Mary Beth Ramsey X Linda Rancourt & M. Sue Sandmeyer* Lewis Rathbone* Nancy Ratner Carole Redman Janet Redman X Carolyn Redmon & Nancy Allen* Randy Reed X Rehoboth Art League* Peter S. Reichertz X Ken Reilly & Tony Ghigi X Virginia Reime & Gene Tadlock* Jeff Reinhart & Jack Miller* Don Reppy Thomas Resh & Jeffrey Meyers X Judith Retchin & Elyse Wander X Deborah Reuter & Deborah Bea* Sarah Reznek & Babette Pennay Sandie Riddell & Eileen Siner* Patricia Ridge Marion Ridley & Mark Lundy X Ronica Ridley-Martin & John Martin Linda Rikard & Mary Jo Tarallo Keith & John Riley-Spillane X Heather & Cathy Rion Starr 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* Chris Rogahn Jeanne Rogers* Roy Rollins X Lauren Romig X Debbie Ronemus & Peggy Sander* Ed Rose & Sandra Robbins X Michael Rose & David Le Sage Allison Rosenberg Peter Rosenstein X Larry L. Ross X Ellen & Terry Roth Perreault X Barb Rowe X Ski Rowland & Gary Mosher X Joan Rubenstein X Herbert Russell* Steve Sage & Thom Swiger X Chris Sailer & Min Mancini Joe & Nancy Sakaduski* Margaret Salamon* Cindy Sanders & Donna Smith* Sanford & Doris Slavin Foundation X Richard Scalenghe & Thomas Panetta* Kim Schilpp* Nancy Schindler & Eric Youngdale Michael Schlechter & Kevin Sharp X James Schmidt & Carl Horosz Rosemarie Schmidt & Carolyn Horn X Sharon Schmitt* Holly Schneider & Linda Haake Jaime Schneider & Glenn Randall X Peter Schott & Jeffrey Davis* Continued on page 79

Delaware Hospice provides more than in-home hospice services.

MORE THAN HOSPICE WE HELP FAMILIES:  Shelter assets from long term care costs  Apply for Medicaid & VA long term care

benefits  Create Wills and Powers of Attorney  Utilize Trusts for probate avoidance  Preserve public benefits for persons with special needs  Administer their loved ones’ estates

Whether it’s palliative care, children’s care or bereavement services you are looking for, we have you covered.

delawarehospice.org 302.683.8948

Planning today to protect your family’s tomorrow. w w w. p w w l a w. c o m ••••••••••••••••••••••••••

302.628.4140

Estate Planning Elder Law

Estate & Trust Administration MARCH 10, 2023

77 Letters

N as o sl e!

H

15 s! ly e n ut O in M

KN OW Y O U R S T AT U S !

WALK-IN HIV TESTING AT CAMP REHOBOTH Ta k e a c t io n t o d a y!

Vi s i t u s f o r a c o n f i d e n t i a l t es t .

N o a p po i nt me n t s ne e d e d !

3 7 BA L T I M O R E A V E R E HO B O T H BEA C H, D E 1 99 71

302 -227- 5620 www.c ampr ehoboth.c om M ON D A YS , 1 2 P . M . - 4 P .M .

T U E SD A YS , 1 2 P . M. - 4 P . M .

W E D NE S D A YS , 1 P .M . - 4 P . M. T HU R S DA Y S , 1 P . M . - 4 P . M. F R ID A Y S , 9 A . M. - 1 2 P . M.

Letters 78

MARCH 10, 2023

Continued from page 76

Carol Schwartz X Craig Schwartz & William Pullen X Diane Schwarz Diane Scobey X John Scotti & Greg Landers* David Scuccimarra & Dorothy Fedorka* Shirley Semple* Janet & Elaine Shaner & Elizabeth Taylor Marj Shannon & Carla Burton* Dale Sheldon & Pat Coluzzi X Banner Sheppard & Marlin Hubler Kelly Sheridan & Debra Quinton* Lynn Sheridan & Melissa Imbergamo David Sherman X George Shevlin & Jack Suwanlert* William Shively & TD Stanger Davis Short & Beverly Castner Frank Silverio X Marc Silverman & John Campbell* Ann Singleton & Twila McDonough Joanne Sinsheimer & Margaret Beatty* Ken Skrzesz X Jeffrey Slavin X Anne Smith & Lisa Taylor Carol Smith* Harlan Joe Smith & Dustin Abshire* Leonard Smith X Marty Smith & F. Price Connors Robert Smith* Rosanne Smith & Brenda Butterfield* Rich Snell X Sandra Sommerfield & Cindy Scott X Stephanie Specht Dee Speck & Linda Kauffman X Jim Spellman X Lorraine Stanish & Beverly Miller* Ginger Stanwick Christy Steer X Frank Sterner X Shelley Stevens & Joanne Locke Lisa Stewart X Libby Stiff & Bea Wagner X Russell & Patricia Stiles* Allison Stine & Pete Jamieson* Terry Stinson* Caroline Stites & Elizabeth Coit X Tracy Stith & Laura McCarthy Dr. Frederick C. Stoner * Rev. Barry Stopfel Michael Stover* Christine Strauss X Lois Strauss X Jackie Sullivan & Sharon Padbury John Swift & Ron Bowman X Stephen Szymanski Gail Tannenbaum & Wendy Walker* Ronald Tate & Jacob Schiavo X Susan & Jill Taylor Micaela Tedford X Martin Thaler David Thomas & David Tiburzio X The Hon. Henry E. Thomas IV & John-Kevin Litschgi X Laurie Thompson Thomas Tibbetts X Otto F. Tidwell X Linda Toggart & Jane MacDonald Cassandra Toroian X Manny Tortosa X Steve Touzell & Marshall Scott Beadle Carol Trenga & Cheryl Harding

Steve Triglia X Roz Troupin & Mary Harris X Patricia Truitt* Matt Turlinski & Jerry Sipes X Ed Turner & Steve Baker X Judy Twell & Cheri Himmelheber* Charles Tyrell Bruce Uliss X Michael Utasi Donna Valla Debra Van Dyke* Jennifer Varone* V. James Villareale - & In Memory of Dale Ebert* Gail Vitale & Carmen Garrett Beverly Vogt & Waneeta Mack X Patrick Wadsworth & Mike Converse X Scott Wagner & John Sohonage* Eric Wahl & Eric Coverdale* Marianne Walch X Jennifer Walker & Mary Ann Veitch X Paula Walker & Gayle Dumonceaux David Wall & Robert Houck* Kenneth E. Walz & Robert G. Ward, Jr. X Garold Wampler X Michael E. Ward X Robert Warmkessel X Sharyn Warwick X Ellen Watkins X Troy Watson & Dennis Wolfgang* Barbara Weatherly Debbie Webber & Terry McQuaid* West Side New Beginnings Donna West Patricia West Carl R. Wetzel X Liz Wheeler & Ruth Morse X Steve White X Thomas White & Robert Freeman X Phil & Stephanie Wikes* Steven Wildasin Keith Wilkinson X Diane & Ken Williams Jim Williams* Rich Williams X Kelly Williamson & J. Ellis Donna L. Wilson & Laurie R. Levin X Lynn Wilson* David Wolanski* Max Wolf X Carol Woodcock & Carol Lewis* Cody Woodfin & Rich Morgan Robert B. Wright X Marjorie Wuestner & Catherine Balsley* Alexander G. Yearley X James E. Yiaski X Linda Yingst* Vickie York X James Zeigler & In Memory of Sam Deetz* Lisa Zimmerman X

CAMP REHOBOTH MEMBERSHIP Join today to support our mission!

RAINBOW MEMBERS RECEIVE:

• Basic Membership Package - Advance ticket sales to CAMP Rehoboth events - Recognition in Letters from CAMP Rehoboth - Rainbow level colored Member window cling(s) - Weekly “What’s Happening at CAMP” email • Discount on CAMP Rehoboth Event Tickets for Levels Green and above (as noted) • Free Health Screenings, Counseling Services, and Support Groups • Youth, Adult and Senior Programs, Services and Outreach • The satisfaction of knowing you are helping others!

PAY ANNUALLY or MONTHLY

☐ PURPLE LEVEL ☐ $2400 annual or ☐ $200 monthly

Basic + 25% ticket discount and one 1/4 page ad in Letters from CAMP Rehoboth

☐ INDIGO LEVEL

☐ $1200 annual or ☐ $100 monthly Basic + 20% ticket discount

☐ BLUE LEVEL

☐ $900 annual or ☐ $75 monthly

Basic + 15% ticket discount

☐ GREEN LEVEL

☐ $600 annual or ☐ $50 monthly Basic + 10% ticket discount

☐ YELLOW LEVEL ☐ $300 annual or ☐ $25 monthly ☐ ORANGE LEVEL ☐ $180 annual or ☐ $15 monthly ☐ RED BASIC

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MARCH 10, 2023

79 Letters

Visiting View

BY ROBERT DOMINIC

Strolling into My Next Decade

A

s a gay man in his late 40s, I have come to notice more and more the little (and not so little) signs that I’m aging, and they have all happened very recently. It’s like I have been young for decades and now suddenly every morning it’s something new. (I have been getting Botox once or twice a year now for a few years but I consider that just normal life maintenance lol.)

I am near-sighted and wear glasses. Sometime last year I was having trouble reading a book or looking at my phone while wearing my glasses. I was actually very confused for days, pondering— what’s going on? Why can’t I see my phone? I have been wearing glasses my whole life and had been able to read perfectly while wearing them— apparently not anymore! Now it’s glasses on for distance and glasses off when I need to read or send a text. This makes texting during Rupaul’s Drag Race quite the challenge! Relaying the story to a friend, he politely replied, “Yeah, that’s a real thing. It happens in your 40s.”

Everything we have heard about getting older is true: the hangovers are rougher; it takes much, much longer to recover.

The pounds pack on very easily and the new-found weight is significantly harder to get off.

A few years ago, I thought these were urban legends or that maybe I was lucky and would always be “young at heart.” Just like karma—who might be late but always shows up—Father Time also begins to show up with his scythe and ticking clock. Well, Father Time found me. It’s like the dam broke and once the first crack of aging appeared the flood waters started rushing in.

Aging for me hasn’t felt gradual. It feels more like a before and after. One day I was young, carefree, hot, lean, muscular, sexy. (Let me have this, please lol.). Then one morning I woke up and just felt “older.” If everyone in the world were broken up into two categories—young and old—I feel like now, today, I am part of the old group. I mean if I finally got on the reality show Survivor and they broke up the teams by age, I would definitely be in the “older” group. I’d be longingly looking at the 35-year-old on the other team and hoping a tribe swap or merge would come up soon.

As we age, we need to spend more time

Lately I have come to notice that not only are people walking as fast as I am, many are walking even faster.

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MARCH 10, 2023

taking care of ourselves, looking after our mental and physical health. Every time I see a friend posting on FaceBook that they are preparing for a colonoscopy, I think to myself, “I need to schedule that.” Doctors, dentists, trips to the dermatologist for a little touch up of Botox (or “Bo” for us in the know) come more and more frequently.

But the absolute “kick-me-in-the-crotch, spit-onmy-neck fantastic” sign of my own aging is walking.

I’m only too aware of it. Loud, chatty, animated, gregarious, energetic, hyper—I have heard them all. I am Italian; I gesture when I talk. And I talk a lot. And I’m a New Yorker. Born and raised. I walk fast. VERY FAST. Especially on NYC sidewalks. I take pride in it. Lately I have come to notice that not only are people walking as fast as I am, many are walking even faster. Color me dumbfounded on 8th Avenue, walking to that quintessential Chelsea gay bar, Rebar, with people passing me left and right, leaving me to wonder, “when the f* did I lose my stride?!”

With all my whining about aging, I want to make something perfectly clear: getting older is a privilege. I am fully aware of how lucky I am to see 40, 45, and hopefully 50, 60, and beyond. Some of our friends and family did not get that privilege.

I am not a huge birthday person. I go out, see my friends, but it’s not a huge fanfare-type of event. However, we do acknowledge the day, and celebrate. We celebrate for those who didn’t get the chance. I celebrate for my beloved cousin Dawnie, who died at 32 after battling lupus her entire life.

I celebrate for my two friends from college, Carrie and Deidre, both taken from us far too soon. I celebrate for an entire generation of gay men lost during the AIDS epidemic.

Speaking of the passage of time…it’s time for another touch-up of the Bo. I just hope everyone doesn’t stride past me as I walk to my dermatologist’s office! ▼ Robert Dominic splits his time between Brooklyn and Rehoboth Beach. He writes for publications including Instinct Magazine and his own blog, The Gays of Our Lives.

S R A E B H C A E B H T O REHOB RS A E Y T A E R G 9 G IN T A CELEBR

Survey Says... at The Pond 19266 Coastal Highway The Shops at Sea Coast thepondrehoboth.com Reservations suggested (302) 227-2234 PROUD SPONSOR

MARCH 10, 2023

81 Letters

WE REMEMBER Richard C. Arnold

R

ichard C. Arnold, 82, of Lewes, passed away Thursday, January 26, 2023, at Delaware Hospice Center in Milford. He was born December 31, 1940, in Brooklyn, New York.

Richard joined the US Air Force in 1960. During his active duty, he was trained as a communications specialist and was stationed in the Azores and in Texas. When his service was complete, his career with the National Security Agency began.

Richard was married in 1964 and blessed with a son in 1966.

Richard worked various assignments for the NSA, and the Security and Inspection division of the Communications Security organization. He traveled across the US conducting security inspections for the Department of Defense contractors and civil agencies. During this time, Richard was also a chief warrant officer with the US Army Reserve in the Special Security Services Section of the 342nd Army Security Agency in Fort Meade, Maryland.

Richard was a stellar example of duty and service to his country, serving in the Air Force and Army.

Richard had many interests and hobbies, including traveling, bartending, and gardening, and was a member of American Legion.

He is survived by his beloved husband of 37 years, Ronald Heinefield, of Lewes; his son, Joseph Arnold; his sister, Susan Arnold; and his brother, Thomas Arnold.

A funeral service was held Thursday, February 2, at Parsell Funeral Homes & Crematorium, followed by interment with military honors at Delaware Veterans Memorial Cemetery, Millsboro. ▼

the Cove, in Dewey Beach, and worked for many years at the Camel’s Hump in Rehoboth Beach.

Terry subsequently moved to Los Angeles, California, where she lived for 20 years and worked as vice president of operations for National Maintenance Inc., part of a long career in healthcare support services. She was also the founder and CEO of Safe Concepts. While living in California, Terry took up karate, eventually earning a black belt and competing

in international tournaments.

When Terry and Nancy weren’t traveling, they were happiest hosting the people they loved at their home in Rehoboth Beach. Terry threw legendary dinner parties for her many friends and family—parties that often evolved into dance parties or drinks around the backyard fire pit.

A remembrance service and a celebration of Terry’s life were held February 10, 2023. ▼

Teresa Lynne Vignola

T

eresa Lynne Vignola passed away Thursday, February 2, 2023, surrounded by family and friends. She is survived by her wife, Nancy Shields, and her beloved companion poodle, Cali.

Terry was born in San Diego, California and moved to Rehoboth Beach at a young age. She graduated from Cape Henlopen High School in 1978 and earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of Delaware in 1983. She helped run the family resort cottages,

Letters 82

MARCH 10, 2023

Greater Dover Boys & Girls Club, Simpson Elementary, Camden-Wyoming

Powerful Philanthropy

A donor advised fund at the DCF helps you make a difference in Delaware.

From Boys & Girls Clubs to the Choir School of Delaware, hundreds of Delaware nonprofits are helping prepare our children to be the innovative, passionate leaders who will build our community’s future.

Whatever you love about this community — whether it’s a children’s organization, a favorite museum or something else — you can make it stronger through a donor advised fund (DAF) at the Delaware Community Foundation.

A DAF is a charitable fund that brings you tax advantages while growing tax-free and helping you support the charities you care about — forever. It’s a smart way to be generous.

Talk with us about how your DAF can make what you love about Delaware even better.

To learn more, visit delcf.org/daf or contact Mike DiPaolo, Vice President for Southern Delaware, at 302.856.4393 or mdipaolo@delcf.org.

MARCH 10, 2023

83 Letters

windsor's 28-02_windsor's 14-15.qxd 3/30/2018 2:26 PM Page 1

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CROSSWORD PUZZLE SOLUTION (puzzle on page 70)

“WHERE FLOWERS SPEAK A BEAUTIFUL LANGUAGE” FLORIST SHOP • GREENHOUSES 20326 Coastal Highway • Rehoboth Beach, DE (Next to Arena’s Café)

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Letters 84

MARCH 10, 2023

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CAMP Rehoboth Volunteer Opportunities WOMEN’S FEST 2023 | APRIL 27-30

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Women’s FEST is one of CAMP Rehoboth’s landmark events, bringing fun, entertainment, sports, and tradition to women all over the Mid-Atlantic for 20+ years.

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thank you AARP TAX AID AT CAMP REHOBOTH

Barbara Breault Doug Sellers Susan Taylor ARTS TEAM

Logan Farro Jane Knaus Lois Powell Leslie Sinclair Patricia Stiles Debbie Woods CAMP COMMUNITY CENTER

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Bill Fuchs Dianna Johnston Judy Olsen Dave Scuccimarra Sandra Skidmore

to all the CAMP Rehoboth Community Center volunteers for the period: January 27 – February 24, 2023

CROP USHERING AT CAMP REHOBOTH CHORUS CONCERT

Robert Arner Pat Catanzariti Debbie Cali Blaise DeFlorio Donna Dolce Dick Hospital Dawn Kasow Leslie Ledogar Valerie McNickol Carol Schleppi Teri Seaton Tara Sheldon John Michael Sophos Susan Taylor Debbie Woods GRANTS COMMITTEE

Leslie Calman Kate Cauley David Garrett John Roane Leslie Sinclair

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LETTERS MAILING TEAM

Nancy Hewish Grant Kingswell Vicki Martina Stephen Palmer Russell Stiles Linda Yingst MEMBERSHIP TEAM

Jane Blue Ann Evans

WOMEN’S FEST COMMITTEE

Liz Aranza Mary (Lulu) Beach Anita Broccolino Mary Ann Dellinger Lissa Dulany Connie Fox Peggy Hughes

Karen Laitman Kathy Lehmann Leslie Ledogar Michelle Manfredi Marcy McCollum-Martin Deb Quinton Cindy Sanders Teri Seaton Kelly Sheridan Hannah Simone Kim Smitas Hope Vella VOLUNTEER DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE

Liz Aranza Jim Mease Kim Nelson Rina Pellegrini Leslie Sinclair John Michael Sophos Debbie Woods

MARCH 10, 2023

85 Letters

AD INDEX Accent On Travel................................................... 7 AG Renovations................................................... 35 All Saints Church................................................. 75 Atlantic Jewelry................................................... 33 Atlantic View Hotel.............................................. 11 Beach View Hotel................................................ 23 Beebe Healthcare............................................... 30 Brandywine Urology Consultants........................ 19 Brandywine Valley SPCA..................................... 48 bsd....................................................................... 51 Café Azafrán........................................................ 49 CAMP Rehoboth 2023 Save the Dates............... 65 CAMP Rehoboth Annual Sponsors........................ 8 CAMP Rehoboth Chorus, Out for the Summer.... 57 CAMP Rehoboth Letters Subscription................. 85 CAMP Rehoboth Women’s FEST.......................... 13 CAMPsafe............................................................ 78 Caroline Huff, Artist............................................. 23 Chesapeake & Maine, Dogfish Head.................. 73 Children’s Beach House Charity Golf Event........ 21 Chris Beagle Group, Realtors.............................. 27 Clear Space Theatre............................................ 69 Coho’s Market & Grill........................................... 31

Country Lawn Care.............................................. 86 County Bank........................................................ 27 Delaware Community Foundation...................... 83 Delaware Hospice............................................... 77 Donna Whiteside, Realtor................................... 20 Dos Locos............................................................ 37 Fifth Avenue Jewelers......................................... 49 Freddie’s Beach Bar & Restaurant...................... 87 go fish go brit...................................................... 35 Hugh Fuller, Realtor............................................. 42 Humane Animal Partners Delaware.................... 75 Immanuel Shelter................................................ 67 Jack Lingo, Real Estate....................................... 41 Jenn Harpel, Morgan Stanley.............................. 11 Jolly Trolley......................................................... 39 Just In Thyme Restaurant.................................... 29 Lana Warfield, Realtor......................................... 35 Lee Ann Wilkinson Group, Realtors..................... 47 Lori’s Café........................................................... 70 Maplewood Dental Associates............................ 84 Milton Theatre..................................................... 71 New Wave Spas................................................... 59 Olivia Travel......................................................... 15

Purple Parrot....................................................... 43 PWW Law............................................................. 77 Randy Mason/Shirley Kalvinsky, Realtors........... 29 Rehoboth Beach Bears........................................ 81 Rehoboth Beach Dental...................................... 31 Rehoboth Guest House....................................... 39 Reiki CENTRAL..................................................... 39 Rigby’s Bar & Grill................................................ 61 Saved Souls Animal Rescue................................ 67 Sea Bova Associates, Realtors............................ 88 Springpoint Choice.............................................. 58 State Farm - George Bunting.............................. 67 State Farm - Jeanine O’Donnell/Eric Blondin...... 35 Stephen Cremen, Realtor.................................... 39 Sussex Family YMCA........................................... 59 The Lodge at Truitt Homestead........................... 73 Time to Heal Counseling & Consulting............... 64 Troy Roberts, Realtor........................................... 31 Unfinished Business............................................ 49 Village Volunteers............................................... 82 Volunteer Opportunities...................................... 85 Volunteer Thank You........................................... 85 Windsor’s Flowers............................................... 84

When you sign up for our 7 visit / 17 step - Lawn Care Plan Call us TODAY, we only have LIMITED APPOINTMENTS AVAILABLE!

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Letters 86 MARCH 10, 2023

Every Sunday Doors @ 10:30AM Showtime @ 11:30AM featuring the Best in Entertainment

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All You Can Eat Buffet $28 Per Person Includes 1 Mimosa or 1 Bloody Mary

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Thursday - 4pm - 11pm weekly entertainment Friday - 4pm - 1am Thurs: (Karaoke 8PM) Saturday - 4pm- 1am Fri: (Drag Show 9pm; Karaoke 11PM) Sunday - 10:30am - 9pm

Come Check out our New Menu!!

Sat: (Dance Party 9PM) Sun: (Drag Brunch 10:30AM)

3 S 1ST ST REHOBOTH BEACH, DE MARCH 10, 2023

87 Letters

LINDA BOVA

BRIDGET BAUER

BROKER-ABR®

ASSOC. BROKER-REALTOR®

CELL

CELL

302-542-4197

302-245-0577

HOLLY OAK - Lewes. New Construction – Late Winter Delivery.

Double 1-acre lot. 3BR/2BA home is a 1,506 sq. ft. one-level rancher w/oversized 2-car garage. Open concept floor plan. Great room opens to the kitchen and dining area. There is also a sliding glass door out to the big 12’x16’ deck.

Main bedroom suite has a walk-in closet & elegant bath with a 5’x4’ tiled “curbless” shower. Split bedroom plan with a tub/shower in 2nd bath.

Bamboo floors. Stainless steel kitchen appliances.

W&D included. Low HOA. $490,000 (2029152)

*A/C

COLONIAL EAST - Rehoboth Beach. 2006 3BR/2BA w/ screened porch. 1,344sf. New roof 2018. Community pool & just 4 miles to the beach. $165,000 (2034130) Lot

Rent $523/mt.

SANDY BEACH - Dagsboro. 2019-built 3BR/3BA home is 2,048 sq. ft. with an additional 1,120 sq. ft. in the full, unfinished basement.

Luxury vinyl plank flooring on the main level with 9’ ceilings. Living room opens to the kitchen, which has quartz countertops & stainless appliances. The kitchen adjoins formal dining area.

1st-floor main BR suite.

Other 2 bedrooms are upstairs next to the family room. 13 miles to Bethany Beach. Boat slip leases are available *ask for details* $473,500

BARCLAY FARMS - Camden.

2BR/2BA 2006 Ritz-Craft w/ 1-car garage. 2,024sf. Living rm, family rm, dining rm & breakfast rm. Mins to Dover.

55+ $178,000 (DEKT2016204)

(2029962) +$5,000 Seller Assist Credit at Settlement

Lot Rent $539/mt

JUST SOLD List with Pam

*A/C

CAMELOT MEADOWS Rehoboth. 1973 2BR/2BA is 1,488sf. Sunroom & enclosed porch. Fencing & shed. 3.5 miles to beach. Community pool. $150,000 (2027780) Lot

Rent $827/mt

~ CALL ~ THERESA CAPPUCCINO REALTOR

®

609-515-5820 cell email

DelawareBeach@yahoo.com

COFFEE RUN - Hockessin. 1974 3BR/2BA 3rd-floor condo in an elevator building. Pool views from the balcony & all rooms! Giorgi Kitchens of Wilmington designed this condo’s kitchen & main bath. Condo dues of $650/mt. include water, hot water, heat, AC, and cable/Internet. $299,000 (DENC2031966)

~ CALL ~ PAMELA M. SCHAEFER REALTOR ®

302-388-8299 cell email PMS1530@aol.com

LOCHWOOD - Lewes. New Construction Delivery TBD. The Cedarwood is 3BR/2BA 1,634 sq. ft. home. Popular open floor plan.

Gas fireplace. Kitchen will feature stainless steel appliances & granite countertops. 0.23 acres. 10 miles to beach. Low HOA fees – just $280/year. $484,900 (2027444)

POT-NETS CREEKSIDE Long Neck. Nicely remodeled 1985 2BR/2BA home is +1,300sf. Big kitchen.

Fenced yard. Shed w/elec. So many amenities! $174,900 (2031668) Lot Rent $689/mt.

~ CALL ~ ~ CALL ~ LUZ ESCOBAR REALTOR ®

302-260-2080 cell email

luz_escobar2000@yahoo.com

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20250 Coastal Highway - Suite 3, Rehoboth Beach, DE 19971  302-227-1222 office www.SEABOVA.com 

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Office Independently Owned & Operated by SBA, Inc. Prices, promotions & availability subject to change without notice. *A/C Active/Under Contract -- Accepting Back-Up Offers