Here we go again—welcome to Memorial
Day Weekend, summer 2008, and the fifth issue in the eighteenth season of Letters
and CAMP Rehoboth. To visitors finding your way to Rehoboth Beach for
the first time this season, forgive our mess, please—and the silly grins
on our faces. Though the new Community Center construction will continue
well into the summer months, we are thrilled by the progress. Though we
may not be “pretty” yet, both the CAMP Rehoboth Community Center and
the CAMP Rehoboth courtyard are open for business so “come on down.”
The weekend after Memorial Day, the annual
Black and White Beach Ball will take place at the Atlantic Sands Hotel
Ballroom on Baltimore Avenue and the Boardwalk. The Black and White Ball
is not only a good time, but also a gathering of some of the most generous
and visionary people in our community. Without them we would not have a
Community Center or be building its new wing. The Black and White Ball is
a celebration for all those who have helped us get to this point, but it
is also a reminder that we still have some money to be raised before the
end of this summer season. Please don’t miss this event. Now is the time
for all of us to come together for a last big push over the top. Tickets
to the Black and White Beach Ball are $70 and usually sell out fast. One
last note—tickets come with certain Founders’ Circle levels, but
reservations must be made in order to use them.
Living Color is the theme of this year’s
HEART of the Community art auction. All the work will be auctioned—some
live, some silent—at this year’s Black and White Beach Ball. On the
Saturday of Memorial Day weekend all the art will be previewed at the
HEART Preview Party at CAMP Rehoboth. Congratulations and our
“heartfelt” thanks to all the artists who have generously given of
their time and talents to help the CAMP Rehoboth Community Center. See
page 28 for more on Living Color and the 2008 HEART of the Community
project.
Since the early 90s, I’ve conducted
sensitivity training for the Rehoboth Beach summer police, and this year
was no exception. The big difference in now and way back then, of course,
is a much more relaxed attitude that allows GLBT people to be accepted
throughout our community. Back in “those” days the bumper sticker
read, “Keep Rehoboth a Family Town.” All we did was broaden the
meaning of the word “family.” Thanks goes to Chief Banks and the
police for continuing to make Rehoboth a safe place for all of us. As a
reminder, sensitivity trained cops still give out speeding tickets and
make arrests for breaking the law—they’re just nicer when they do it.
CAMP Rehoboth’s very successful AIDS
prevention program CAMPsafe is in its eleventh year and CAMPsafe Director
Sal Seeley recently unveiled the new CAMPsafe web site www.campsafereho.com.
Visit the site for information, to blog, or to look at all the CAMPsafe
promotional materials developed over the years. A new CAMP Rehoboth web
site is being developed and should be up and running by mid-summer. One of
the major purposes of the new site will be to promote tourism and
encourage the use of the new Community Center for workshops, retreats, and
conferences.
Looking over this issue I’m reminded of
the many events that will make this summer season a memorable one—Love
Weekend (July 4th weekend), The CAMP Rehoboth Follies (July 26), and the
21st Sundance (Labor Day Weekend). On June 28 the popular Washington Gay
Men’s Chorus returns to the beach for a benefit concert for SCAC and
their first performance here in several years. From Bingo-a-go-go to Clear
Space Productions; from the new Rehoboth Beach art gallery collective
Mosaic to the many house and beach parties happening all over town,
another summer season has begun.
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