Letters from CAMP Rehoboth, Vol. 36, No. 8

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September 25, 2026 Volume 36, Number 8 camprehoboth.org

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Second Season! Looking Forward Glancing Back

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MAKE AN IMPACT TODAY

Your support helps us forge proud and safe communities where gender identity and sexual orientation are respected. CAMP Rehoboth’s mission isn’t just about programs and services—it’s about making sure every person feels embraced for who they are. That takes resources, and it’s the member-driven donor system that keeps the mission moving forward. I donate because I believe in CAMP Rehoboth’s ability to create a stronger, more inclusive community for all of us here in Delaware. — Dennis Diaz

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Contact our Development Manager, Laurie Thompson, at laurie@camprehoboth.org to learn more about these ways to give.

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SEPTEMBER 25, 2026

EIN # 51-0331962 © CAMP Rehoboth 2025

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CAMP Matters BY ROBIN BRENNAN, DRPH

Ready, Step, Fall

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tepping into fall has always felt like a fresh start to me. The air begins to change. The leaves follow. Schools open and familiar routines return. And now, living at the beach, I have discovered a few other signs of the season: less traffic, free parking, and the return of local specials. Ready or not, fall has arrived. And this year, it seems to be bringing a season of firsts. I began the month experiencing a first of my own: my first SUNFESTIVAL! For months, people had been telling me about the history, the planning, the performers, the volunteers, the fundraising, and the tremendous amount of work it takes to bring it all together. I thought I understood. Then I experienced it. There was incredible décor, lights, performances, music, dancing, fashion, laughter, and an energy that is difficult to describe unless you were there. What an incredible weekend! But some of the moments I will remember most happened outside the spotlight. I watched our staff and volunteers quietly do whatever needed to be done. They came days early to transform the convention center, inflated what seemed like endless balloons, set up chairs and broke them down again. They welcomed guests, ensured accessibility, solved problems with ease, stepped in when someone needed help, answered questions, arrived early, stayed late, and then did it all over again on Sunday. I saw our sponsors, donors, Board members, community partners, volunteers, and attendees show up not simply for an event, but for CAMP Rehoboth and for one another. And then came the last dance. As the weekend was coming to an end and the final song began to play, the last of our team and volunteers still in the room stopped what we were doing. We shared a few proud smiles and danced together. For just a few minutes, the work stopped.

I looked around at the people who had poured so much of themselves into creating this weekend for everyone else, and there we were, enjoying what we had created together. Maybe we were celebrating the end of a successful SUNFESTIVAL. Maybe we were simply exhausted. Maybe it was a little of both. Whatever it was, that moment will stay with me. SUNFESTIVAL may happen over Labor Day weekend, but now I truly understand why we call it a labor of love. And then, just a day later, another first arrived, this one closer to home.

Leadership is what we do with the opportunities entrusted to us. It is how we honor what came before while remaining willing to imagine all the possibilities ahead. My daughter started high school. As a parent, I found myself experiencing all those familiar first-day emotions alongside her: excitement, anticipation, a little nervousness, and the hope that she will belong, find her way, make connections, and begin to feel at home. I watched her walk into a new school, in a new state, beginning a new chapter without knowing anyone. And I thought about courage. There is courage in stepping through a new door without knowing exactly what is waiting on the other side. I am learning that beginnings require that kind of courage whether you are 14 or 50. Maybe we don’t always have to feel ready before taking the next step. Sometimes taking the step is how we become ready. New beginnings are happening all around us. Rehoboth Beach recently elected Susan Stewart as its next mayor, making her the first openly gay mayor in the city’s history.

That matters. In a city whose history and identity have been shaped in profound ways by CAMP Rehoboth and generations of LGBTQ+ residents, business owners, visitors, leaders, and allies, there is significance in this moment. Representation matters because seeing someone step forward can make it easier for another person to imagine doing the same. But milestones are about more than being first. They are also about what comes next. Leadership is what we do with the opportunities entrusted to us. It is how we honor what came before while remaining willing to imagine all the possibilities ahead. As Mayor Stewart steps into this historic role, I look forward to working with her and our community partners as we write this next chapter together. And CAMP Rehoboth isn’t finished celebrating just yet. On Sunday, October 18, we will fill Baltimore Avenue for our annual Block Party. Neighbors, local businesses, volunteers, visitors, friends, and families will come together in the heart of Rehoboth for another day that reminds us what can happen when a community shows up. Perhaps that is what I am noticing most as we step into fall: endings and beginnings rarely happen separately. Six months into my journey as Executive Director, I am reflecting on how much I have learned and how much there is still to discover. Change doesn’t always mean leaving something behind. Sometimes it means carrying forward the relationships, lessons, traditions, and people who have shaped us while finding the courage to step into what comes next. Most importantly, moving forward simply requires the courage to take the next step. And occasionally, we need to stop and dance together before the next song begins. ▼ Robin Brennan, DrPH, is Executive Director of CAMP Rehoboth.

SEPTEMBER 25, 2026

3 Letters

inside ROBIN BRENNAN, DRPH

VOLUME 36, NUMBER 8 • SEPTEMBER 25, 2026

28 Flash Fiction: Reader’s Choice

Britani Bateman

RENÉE ROCKLAND

Single and Fabulous (!)

MICHAEL COOK

92 Visiting View

My Therapist Made Me Do It

6 In Brief

News & Notes

8 President’s View LESLIE LEDOGAR

ROBERT DEDOMINIC

30 Health & Wellness

94 A Lover, Not a Fighter

’Flu & COVID & RSV—Oh, My! MARJ SHANNON

10 CAMP News 12 Community Connections

34 Fierté Montréal I ♥ 2SLGBTQIA+!

36 Sounding Off

14 Block Party 2026

STEPHEN RASKAUSKAS

MATTY BROWN

16 SUNFESTIVAL Wrap-up

NANCY SAKADUSKI

JIM HENRY

LAURIE THOMPSON

Bringing the Love & the People Together

Do You Know Where Your Tofu Is?

Pretty in Pink

L-R: Paul Smelberg, Jason Pier, Daniel Head, Paul Weiner, Mark Koppersmith, and Mike Moleksey at Caftans & Cocktails. See more CAMPshots on page 64.

40 Words Matter

44 Write On!

CLARENCE FLUKER

CHRISTOPHER MOORE

Seen, Heard, and Affirmed

We Saw You Love Out Loud

20 OUTlook

The Last R Train at Cortlandt Street BETH SHOCKLEY

22 CAMP Stories Three Seconds RICH BARNETT

Falling In

MICHAEL THOMAS FORD

26 Out & About

Of Mudbloods and Horcruxes ERIC PETERSON

46 OutTakes

64 CAMPshots

Vacation from What? SANDY CLARK

Sometimes We Dance in the Summer Sun!

48 The Writing Life

70 Be a Sport!

The Book Apparently Disagreed

Hook, Line, and Sinker

HUCK SMITH

MARY JO TARALLO

52 Reflections

74 CAMP Arts

A Spider-Man Skeptic Gets Caught in the Web

LOGAN FARRO & JOE GFALLER & MARY JO TARALLO

56 A Vision for Tomorrow

ERIC PETERSON

PATTIE CINELLI

Rehoboth Beach’s New Mayor, Susan Stewart NANCY SAKADUSKI

58 A Floof and a Woofer Chowder & Miko LYNDA ESPOSITO See page 88.

ANN APTAKER

62 Historical Headliners

78 Every Inch a Lady 79 Booked Solid

When the Garden Begins to Let Go ERIC WAHL

106 We Remember

ON THE COVER Madam Mayor

Cover design and photo by Murray Archibald Second Season! Looking Forward Glancing Back

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RICHARD ROSENDALL

88 Celebrity Interview

ADVERTISING SALES MANAGER: Tricia Massella DISTRIBUTION: Mark Wolf CONTRIBUTORS: Ann Aptaker, Rich Barnett, Robin Brennan, Matty Brown, Ed Castelli, Pattie Cinelli, Sandy Clark, Michael Cook, Robert DeDominic, Lynda Esposito, Logan Farro, Clarence Fluker, Michael Thomas Ford, Joe Gfaller, Jim Henry, Leslie Ledogar, Tricia Massella, Christopher Moore, Eric Peterson, Mary Beth Ramsey, Stephen Raskauskas, Richard Rosendall, Nancy Sakaduski, Terri Schlichenmeyer, Marj Shannon, Beth Shockley, Huck Smith, Mary Jo Tarallo, Laurie Thompson, Eric Wahl, Rick Welk

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. © 2026 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.

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September 25, 2026 Volume 36, Number 8 camprehoboth.org

Perfect Pitch from an American Muslim

DESIGN AND LAYOUT: Mary Beth Ramsey

SEPTEMBER 25, 2026

100 The Real Dirt

82 View Point

EDITORIAL ASSOCIATE: Matty Brown

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EDITOR: Marj Shannon

Letters from CAMP Rehoboth welcomes submissions. Email editor@camprehoboth.org. Photographs must be high resolution (300 dpi). Documents should be sent as attachments in Microsoft Word®. Deadline for submissions is two weeks prior to the issue release date. Letters to the Editor (up to 300 words) are published at the discretion of the Editor on a space-available basis. Letters may be edited for length or clarity.

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24 It’s My Life

We Will Always Love You

Vogue-ing: Dorothy Todd & Madge Garland

96 Sea Salt Table

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From the Editor

CAMP REHOBOTH

MISSION STATEMENT AND PURPOSE MISSION CAMP Rehoboth is an LGBTQ+ community center determined to Create A More Positive (CAMP) environment that is inclusive of all sexual orientations and gender identities in southern Delaware and beyond. We seek to promote cooperation, understanding among all people, and well-being, as we continue our work to build a safer community with room for all.

VISION CAMP Rehoboth envisions communities in southern Delaware and beyond where all LGBTQ+ people thrive.

VALUES Community | Belonging | Positivity Diversity | Visibility | Transparency Safety | Partnership | Compassion

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BY MARJ SHANNON

nd just like that—it’s Second Season. Wasn’t it yesterday that I welcomed you to summer at the beach? And yet, here we are: summer’s gone (as are the meters!), fall’s underway, and we’re looking toward some cooler-weather fun.

Speaking of which—there’s the upcoming Block Party! See page 14 and plan to arrive early to find parking. (Last year, I arrived too late….) The annual Rehoboth Beach Bears’ art exhibit, Claws, Paws, and Creativity, opened September 17 at the CAMP Rehoboth Gallery; stop by—it’s always a fun show. And, come October, Fay Jacobs returns to the Elkins Archibald Atrium with her sit-down comedy show. Better get those tickets now: she keeps threatening this show will be her last. Perhaps, even as you look ahead, you can’t help but also look back, savoring the summer that just ended? We’ve got you covered there, too. You can revisit SUNFESTIVAL, beginning on page 14 and continuing in CAMPshots. (Clearly, it was a very, very good time.) Another festive event—Fierté Montréal—wrapped recently; Jim Henry was there and reports back. Robert DeDominic had a great time at his family’s annual clambake—even if he was the only singleton of his generation attending…. Of course, not all the look-backs are toward fun, festive events. Some are toward poignant, or even tragic, ones. Christopher Moore offers a tribute to the late, great Dolly Parton; see page 44. And, inspired by this 25th anniversary year of 9/11, Beth Shockley recalls her unforgettable NYC commute to work that fateful day. We have in-the-moment reads as well: there’s a Reader’s Choice Flash Fiction story from our 2026 contest on page 28. Read and—maybe be inspired? CAMP Rehoboth has received funding from the Delaware Division of the Arts that will enable us to run a 2027 contest; watch for details in upcoming issues of Letters.

PRESIDENT Leslie Ledogar VICE PRESIDENT Polly Donaldson SECRETARY Pat Catanzariti TREASURER Kevin Ussery AT-LARGE DIRECTORS Robin Brennan, DrPh (non-voting) Lorne Crawford, AJ Eckman, David Garrett, Jenn Harpel, Michelle Manfredi, Marty Rendon, Teri Seaton, Hope Vella, Joe Vescio EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Robin Brennan, DrPH

CAMP REHOBOTH

37 Baltimore Avenue, Rehoboth Beach, DE 19971 tel 302-227-5620 email editor@camprehoboth.org www.camprehoboth.org

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.

Pattie Cinelli went to see the latest Spider-Man movie without any expectation of really enjoying it—boy, was she surprised! Rich Barnett parses the difference between “slowing down” and “not hurrying”; he’s with the latter crowd. Clarence Fluker, with a nice mash-up of back-to-school and October’s Coming Out Day, reflects on a pivotal back-to-school season of his own. We have some food (or food-adjacent) reads, too. Nancy Sakaduski, browsing for tofu recipes, found instead a trove of other uses for the stuff. Beauty product, anyone? Stephen Raskauskas turned his hand to making Mole Rose—and invites us to make it, too. Ed Castelli offers up his Lemon Feta Rice—it might go well with one of those fish the people in Mary Jo Tarallo’s Be a Sport! column are catching We have fashion news, too—Ann Aptaker brings us two notable women from British Vogue’s history and Terri Schlichenmeyer reviews Every Inch a Lady (on and by fashionista Audrey Smaltz). Eric Peterson interviewed Ms. Smaltz, who now lives in Delaware—see page 78. In short—the issue is packed with good things. Thanks for reading Letters! ▼

Erratum: In the print edition of our September issue, authorship of the CAMP Rehoboth Artist Profiles was incorrect. Nancy Sakaduski wrote the article. Authorship in the online edition of the magazine is correct. SEPTEMBER 25, 2026

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Delaware Division of the Arts Awards CAMP Rehoboth

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Beebe Healthcare Hosts Ribbon Cutting at CAMP Rehoboth

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eebe Healthcare and CAMP Rehoboth celebrated the opening of the Beebe Health Suite at CAMP Rehoboth with a private ribbon-cutting ceremony on Thursday, August 27. The Health Suite began seeing patients on Monday, August 31, offering HIV and STI screening, PrEP services, vaccinations, care coordination, referrals, health education, and outreach to the community. For appointments, hours, and more information, visit: beebehealthcare.org/locations/beebe-health-suitecamp-rehoboth. Located at 39 Baltimore Avenue in downtown Rehoboth Beach, the Health Suite represents an important partnership between Beebe Healthcare and CAMP Rehoboth, one that is focused on expanding access to preventive healthcare services in a trusted community setting. “CAMP Rehoboth is excited to welcome Beebe Healthcare to its campus in the city of Rehoboth Beach,” said Robin Brennan, DrPH, Executive Director at CAMP Rehoboth. “This partnership expands welcoming and affirming care to not only the LGBTQ+ community, but for all of southern Delaware.” “My hope is that our Health Suite becomes more than a place to receive medication,” said Rebecca Marcinak, PharmD, who will be seeing patients at the location. “I hope it becomes a place where people feel welcome, supported, informed, and empowered to take charge of their health.” ▼

Photo: Beebe Healthcare’s Rebecca Marcinak cuts the ribbon with those in attendance.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS!

Women’s+ FEST 2027

⊲ Women’s+ FEST 2027 has set its dates for Thursday, April 15-Sunday, April 18, 2027. The weekend brings four days of fun, entertainment, sports, and tradition for the women’s community and those who identify with the feminine spirit. Follow the Women’s+ FEST Facebook page for the latest updates! ▼ Letters 6

SEPTEMBER 25, 2026

he Delaware Division of the Arts (DDOA) has awarded CAMP Rehoboth $44,175 for the next fiscal year. This award marks an increase from $40,330 last year. DDOA, a branch of the Delaware Department of State, administers grants and programs that support arts programming, educate the public, increase awareness of the arts, and integrate the arts into all facets of Delaware life. For CAMP Rehoboth, funds support the chorus, visual arts and gallery exhibits, performing arts, our Flash Fiction contest, and the publication of Letters. “CAMP Rehoboth thanks the Delaware Division of the Arts for its increased support in our arts events and programs, which bring joy to thousands of community members in southern Delaware and beyond,” said Robin Brennan, DrPH, Executive Director at CAMP Rehoboth. ▼

Community Bank Presents the Check

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n August 12, Community Bank showed its support for CAMP Rehoboth and the community, presenting a check for $600. As a CAMP Rehoboth Supporter sponsor for this year’s SUNFESTIVAL, Community Bank is just one of many businesses or community members who helped CAMP Rehoboth surpass its sponsorship goal this year. Thank you, Community Bank! ▼

L-R: Shae Wagner, Event and Volunteer Coordinator, Pam McCutcheon, AVP, Relations Manager, Laurie Thompson, Development Manager, Derrick Johnson, Finance Assistant, and Keith Bredley-Wilkerson, Teller.

Walk with CAMP Rehoboth in the Sea Witch® Parade!

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AMP Rehoboth invites you, your friends, and your family to walk with us in the Sea Witch® Parade on Saturday, October 24! Costumes are welcome (but not required), so feel free to get festive and creative. Returning this year, CAMP Rehoboth invites helping hands to carry the 50-foot Pride flag along the parade route. Together, share CAMP Rehoboth’s spirit of love, joy, and community! ▼

This Fall: Get Your Health in Check!

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AMP Rehoboth is partnering with several organizations to continue to bring health to the forefront. On Thursday, October 1, Beebe Healthcare will be providing health screenings and influenza vaccinations via its partnership with Cape Pharmacy. For flu shots, three options will be available, including high dose for those over 65 years of age, regular for those 18 and older, and egg-free for those over 18 with an egg allergy or concern. Additionally, free health screenings will be provided; these will include: cholesterol, blood pressure, and glucose. Walk-ins are welcome and appointments are not required. Individuals interested in a flu shot will be asked to provide an ID and insurance information. The vaccines are only available to adults 18 years and older. ▼ 15TH ANNUAL

Student Empowerment Summit

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Annual Battle Breaks Records

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n Sunday, August 9, the annual Battle of the Bachelors and Bachelorettes broke records! Raising $50,150, this annual tradition inspired another outpouring of generosity from the community. Special kudos and congratulations to the top models of the night: Bin 66’s Derrick Kelley, Brittany McCunney, and Clear Space Theatre’s Ashley Williams, who joined together to offer a dinner to the top bidders, courtesy of The Blue Hen. Thanks to Angelo Tabbita, event host Aqua Bar & Grill, auctioneer Lorne Crawford, emcee Magnolia Applebottom, swimsuit sponsor BRASHhh, all the models, and especially to the bidders for raising funds in such a fun way. Funds raised will go directly toward creating more opportunities for community, connection, and purpose at CAMP Rehoboth. ▼

ommunity members may have just experienced “Love Out Loud” at SUNFESTIVAL, but now it’s time to celebrate “Live Out Loud.” At the 15th annual Student Empowerment Summit, United Way of Delaware has adopted this theme to focus on celebrating LGBTQ+ students and the adults and allies who support them. This half-day gathering is intended to connect and uplift LGBTQ+ students, Gender Sexuality Alliance members and advisors, and allies who support them as they work for equal opportunity and fairness. The event’s focus remains on fighting bullying and discrimination and bringing all students together. CAMP Rehoboth is a proud partner of the summit, which will take place this year on Saturday, November 7, from 11:00 a.m.3:00 p.m., at Delaware Technical Community College’s Newark campus. For more information about this event and how to register, visit uwde.org/pride-student-summit/. ▼

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TRAVELS WITH LETTERS

STONEWALL INN | NYC

G Michael Beigay

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Pictured, L-R: Loren Crawford, Jordan Crump, Etienne Pilon, Brittany McCunney, Adam Gold, AJ Eckman

SEPTEMBER 25, 2026

7 Letters

President’s View

BY LESLIE LEDOGAR

Belonging

Purpose, People, and the Power of Solidarity

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AMP Rehoboth Community Center is more than a community center. It is a place where purpose, people, and the power of solidarity come together to create a place to belong. Every program, every volunteer, every support group, every event, every act of advocacy exists for one reason: to help people find connection, purpose, and community. Our activities do not define CAMP Rehoboth. They are simply the ways CAMP Rehoboth fulfills its promise. Wherever someone is in life, whether they are new, returning, celebrating, grieving, searching, giving back, or simply looking for their people, they will be welcomed exactly as they are. That’s because belonging isn’t another program or fundraiser. It’s the outcome of everything CAMP Rehoboth Community Center does. Going into our last Board meeting, our Executive Director, Dr. Robin Brennan, penned a note to the Board. In it, she observed that belonging isn’t seasonal. It’s something every person needs throughout every stage of life. She went on to say that, “Our programs, advocacy, volunteer opportunities, health initiatives, and events all serve one purpose: Helping people find their people, helping neighbors become friends, helping individuals become part of something larger than themselves. Because belonging changes lives.” Nowhere was this sense of belonging more on display that during SUNFESTIVAL: Love Out Loud 2026. Yes, SUNFESTIVAL is CAMP Rehoboth’s largest annual fundraising event, but this year seemed to be so much more. We had folks from as far away as England and as close as our next-door neighbors, all joining together to celebrate the end of a fantastic summer, the beginning of a beautiful fall, and friendships new and old. Even headliner David Archuleta remarked about the sense of belong-

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SEPTEMBER 25, 2026

ing he felt when he stepped onto the stage. In relating his coming out story, he shared with the sold-out crowd that his community of birth was initially not accepting of his sexual orientation, including a heartbreaking exchange with his mother. While his mom is now one of his biggest supporters, David let us know that his lived experience made him

…belonging isn’t another program or fundraiser. It’s the outcome of everything CAMP Rehoboth Community Center does. even more appreciative of the packed house on the Night of Entertainment. He had never felt such a profound sense of belonging as what he experienced with our loving and welcoming community over Labor Day weekend. Belonging also permeated the Night of Dance. As past Board President Wes Combs posted on Facebook, “The SUNFESTIVAL dance is my favorite three hours of every year!” SUNFESTIVAL 2026 is a perfect example of what CAMP Rehoboth is and is not. At the end of the day, CAMP Rehoboth is not about which event we should host. It’s about who needs belonging that isn’t finding it today. It isn’t about the number of people who attended, although that can be an important metric. It’s about how many meaningful connections were created. It isn’t about how many people participated in our activities. It’s about how we measure relationships. What we’re finding is that people don’t join CAMP Rehoboth because it has programs, festivals, block parties, art shows, or theatrical or musical events. People join CAMP Rehoboth because

they’re looking for something those programs create. They are looking for a place where everyone who walks through the doors at CAMP Rehoboth’s offices, atrium, or shows finds a place where they belong. We hope that stepping into CAMP Rehoboth will be someone’s first step on their member journey. Hopefully, they will attend their first event where they meet people with shared interests. Maybe they join an ongoing group or sign up to volunteer. And maybe they end up leading, mentoring, giving, and ultimately welcoming the next person in the door. The point is that belonging is a continuous journey, not a one-time event. At this year’s SUNFESTIVAL, we tried to provide something for everyone. I hope we succeeded. That success falls squarely with the incredible volunteer planning committee, CAMP Rehoboth’s Executive Director and staff, the generosity of our many donors and sponsors, and all those who attended. To all of you, thank you. I hope that the joy that we all experienced carries us well into the fall, and that we all experieced a sense of belonging that gives us comfort, while helping to propel us forward. While SUNFESTIVAL: Love Out Loud 2026 is a wrap, CAMP Rehoboth has several months left in the year to fulfill our promise to our community. With each remaining campaign, each issue of this magazine, every volunteer opportunity, every advocacy effort, every workshop and every show, we are committed to reinforcing the following promise: “Whatever brings you to CAMP Rehoboth, you’ll find a place where you belong.” ▼ Leslie Ledogar is CAMP Rehoboth Board President.

HAVE A DISABILITY OR SUPPORT NEEDS?

CAMP REHOBOTH IS COMMITED TO ACCESSIBILITY! CAMP Rehoboth is ADA-compliant and we work with the Phoenix Accessibility Team to ensure that our accessibility features provide room for all at our community center and events! Want to visit CAMP or participate in an event and need support? Reach out! 37 Baltimore Avenue, Rehoboth Beach, DE 19971 Call 302.227.5620 or visit camprehoboth.org/access

Scan here!

Hosting a birthday party? Conference? Board meeting? Summer potluck? Performance? The Elkins-Archibald Atrium is the perfect place for your event.

Hold your next event in CAMP Rehoboth’s Atrium!

Ask us about rates and availability. Call 302-227-5620.

37 Baltimore Ave Rehoboth Beach, DE camprehoboth.org

SEPTEMBER 25, 2026

9 Letters

CAMP News

Let Fay Entertain You…. In just a few weeks, Fay Jacobs will once again grace the CAMP Rehoboth stage. We sat down with her to learn more about what’s in store….

Veteran’s Day Storytelling Returns to CAMP Rehoboth

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t CAMP Rehoboth, Veteran’s Day has been an important day to gather for local LGBTQ+ veterans. Two years ago, the gathering led to the official formation of the CAMP Rehoboth LGBTQ+ Veterans Group. Last year, that group held its first official public program in the form of "LGBTQ+ Veterans: Tales Asked and Told." On Wednesday, November 11, join the CAMP Rehoboth LGBTQ+ Veterans Group for its second storytelling event. Taking place at CAMP Rehoboth’s Elkins-Archibald Atrium, the group is calling military veterans from all branches of service to share their stories and perspectives by emailing programs@ camprehoboth.org by October 3 for more information. Consider stories that inspire, bring laughter, or provide reflection. No experience is needed to participate; dedicated workshop time will be provided with a published storyteller who will guide veterans through developing and polishing their story. This event will be open to the general public; stay tuned to camprehoboth.org/ events for more information. ▼

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SEPTEMBER 25, 2026

CAMP REHOBOTH: Welcome back to the CAMP Rehoboth entertainment line-up! What inspired your return to the stage? FAY JACOBS: Well, a couple of things. First, quite a few people, many I didn't even know personally, would stop me and ask if I'd come back with another show. I started to get the itch when I'd talk to friends about recent adventures Bonnie and I have had, and I realized I have a lot of new material! But honestly, mostly I'm back because this is a way I can give back to CAMP Rehoboth. The show premiered 11 years ago on this stage, and I've performed here many times over the years. Bringing the show back so CAMP Rehoboth can benefit makes me incredibly happy. CR: Can you offer us a glimpse of what those arriving to enjoy your show can expect? FJ: I've got a lot of new material from the last couple of years, most of which begs the question, "How old is old enough to know better?" Aging gracelessly while hiking a dozen flights of uneven steps in a glacier-formed prehistoric chasm in upstate New York might have been a tipping point—literally. The show will have a lot of new stories plus a few signature classics.

CR: What do you enjoy most about being

a sit-down comic?

FJ: Not having to memorize the material!

When I sit with a script in front of me I can concentrate on interacting and having fun with the audience. I love being the last comic sitting. CR: What's the biggest challenge? FJ: Well, it used to be booking the show myself to many venues where I performed. It was rewarding, but exhausting doing all the booking, promotion, and travel, not to mention schlepping speakers, mics, something to sit on, the music stand, etc. But now that I’m home at CAMP Rehoboth, the only challenge I have is remembering to show up. I’m pretty sure I can manage that. CR: Is there any reason we should believe this is indeed your last hurrah as a sit-down comic? FJ: I heard that Cher has finally stopped her farewell tours, so there goes my role model. All I can say is I’m so looking forward to seeing lots of smiling faces from my perch on stage and telling brand new stories based on my father’s advice that nothing is so bad if it’s worth the story you can tell. Come take a listen! Purchase your tickets at camprehoboth.org/events. ▼

National Depression Screening Day

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n Friday, October 9, CAMP Rehoboth will partner with the Mental Health Association (MHA) of Delaware to recognize National Depression Screening Day with complimentary mental health screenings open to the community. They join organizations around Delaware in offering quick, anonymous screenings in various locations throughout the state. National Depression Screening Day is designed to call attention to depression on a national level, educate the public about symptoms and effective treatment, offer individuals the opportunity to be screened for depression, and connect those in need to the mental health care system in Delaware. Elizabeth A. Davis, PsyD, of MHA, will be onsite to offer the screenings. These screenings are often the first step for individuals with depression to get help. Pre-registration is encouraged; walk-ins are accepted on a first-come, first-served basis. Visit camprehoboth.org to learn more and to register. ▼

More CAMP News on page 54

CAMP R EHOBOTH C HORUS

presents

100 YEARS OF

BROADWAY

FALL 2026

Friday, September 25 7pm Saturday, September 26 7pm Sunday, September 27 3pm Epworth United Methodist Church Rehoboth Beach, Delaware $30 Adult $15 Student Tickets at camprehoboth.org Doug Yetter Artistic Director David Zipse and the CAMP Chorus Band CAMP Rehoboth

A CENTUR Y OF

S h ow S t o p p e rs, H e a r t G ra bb e rs, a n d CurtainDr opp ers !

h

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 delawarescene.com.

SEPTEMBER 25, 2026

11 Letters

Community Connections

BY LAURIE THOMPSON

Showing Up for Community

F

all is one of my favorite seasons in Rehoboth Beach. As the summer crowds ease, locals have more room to enjoy the downtown we love. Free parking makes it even easier to spend an afternoon in town. It is a season that invites us to come together, making it the perfect time for CAMP Rehoboth’s annual Block Party. The Block Party returns to Baltimore Avenue on Sunday, October 18, from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. The event brings residents and visitors together for an afternoon featuring live entertainment, local businesses, and community outreach, offering opportunities to learn about area organizations and get involved. Many staff and board members have told me this is their favorite CAMP Rehoboth event. The thousands of people who attend and the more than 100 participating vendors help explain why. Artists, entertainers, businesses, nonprofit organizations, and community partners come together to make this a special community event. In our courtyard, attendees will gather at the main stage for entertainment featuring local drag performers, including hosts Roxy Overbrooke and Amethyst Diamond, along with performances by Clear Space Theatre, and many others. Vendors and attendees return year after year because they enjoy being part of this welcoming community event. Whether you are a longtime resident, a newcomer, or a weekend visitor, there is a place for you. For sponsors, participating means spending time with the people who support their businesses and organizations. It is an opportunity to expand their community outreach through conversations, introductions, and shared experiences while helping bring the celebration to life. “We’re proud to partner with CAMP Rehoboth once again for Block Party, celebrating a welcoming community Letters 12

SEPTEMBER 25, 2026

where compassion is universal. Building a better world for animals and people goes hand in hand. There’s a home for us all, and this event gives some lucky pups a chance to find theirs,” says Jim Schmidt of Brandywine Valley SPCA, this year’s presenting sponsor. For me, one of the most rewarding parts of Block Party is seeing people connect and discover new ways to become involved in their community. Attendees can learn about local services and CAMP Rehoboth programs, explore volunteer opportunities, or visit with a vendor to learn more about their business. Those connections can grow into relationships that keep people involved long after the event ends. It takes about 60 volunteers, who contribute a combined total of more than 500 hours, to help ensure Block Party’s success. Their dedication, together with the support of sponsors, vendors, and performers, creates space for those connections to happen. As CAMP Rehoboth celebrates its 35th anniversary, we recognize the people whose generosity has sustained our mission. Whether through giving or volunteering, their support makes our year-round work possible and helps build a healthier, safer, more welcoming community. What makes Block Party special is what each of us brings to it: our time, our talents, our generosity, and our willingness to connect. Together, we create the community we want to be part of. We hope you can join us on October 18. Bring a friend, meet a neighbor, and discover a new way to get involved. The celebration lasts an afternoon. The connections we make can last for years. ▼ Laurie Thompson is CAMP Rehoboth’s Development Manager. She can be reached via email at laurie@camprehoboth.com or call 302-227-5620.

CAMP REHOBOTH THANKS OUR

2026 ANNUAL SPONSORS PLATINUM SPONSORS

GOLD SPONSORS

SILVER SPONSOR

BRONZE SPONSORS

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

FALL

INTO HEALTH AT CAMP REHOBOTH FLU SHOTS AND HEALTH SCREENINGS CLINIC

THURSDAY

OCT 1 2026

10:00 AM TO 2:00 PM

WALK-INS WELCOME IN PARTNERSHIP WITH BEEBE HEALTHCARE

FREE MENTAL HEALTH SCREENINGS FRIDAY

OCT 9 2026

10:00 AM TO 2:00 PM

WALK-INS WELCOME IN PARTNERSHIP WITH MHA DELAWARE

PLUS DAILY SELF-CARE AND HEALTHY LIVING PROGRAMS! Scan the QR code or learn more at camp ehoboth camprehoboth.org/health

37 Baltimore Avenue, Rehoboth Beach, DE 19971 302.227.5620

SEPTEMBER 25, 2026

13 Letters

Block Party 2026

BY MATTY BROWN

Bringing the Love & the People Together

W

hat began in 2015 as a way to recognize CAMP Rehoboth’s 25th anniversary celebration has grown into an annual, much anticipated tradition. The CAMP Rehoboth Block Party is set to take over the second block of Baltimore Avenue on Sunday, October 18, from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Dozens of artists, craftspeople, local eateries, entertainers, nonprofit organizations, and businesses show up and show out to bring the community together. This year, Block Party will be co-hosted by two returning, fabulous drag divas: Roxy Overbrooke and Amethyst Diamond. The entertainment lineup also features drag talent like Ivy Blue Austin, Kiz Mountie, Janelle Collins, and JC Pizzazz; as well as performers from Clear Space Theatre Company, Storm Productions, and more to be announced. Letters caught up with co-host Amethyst Diamond ahead of the festivities on what to expect and the importance in bringing folks together. MATTY BROWN: How many years have you been to the CAMP Rehoboth Block Party? AMETHYST DIAMOND: I have been performing at the Block Party since 2024. This will be my third year entertaining and second year co-hosting. MB: Block Party’s goal is bringing the community together. As a performer, how does that speak to you? AD: In today’s world of technology and social media, I feel events like this are critical to the future of humanity. We’ve lost our way of personal, social interaction and I fear that will only lead to further separation from one another. Events like this remind us of the human experience and to acknowledge and love our neighbors. We shouldn’t fear each other. [Events like this] allow us to not only recognize our individuality and uniqueness but to celebrate it as well. We need each other now more than ever! Letters 14

SEPTEMBER 25, 2026

AD: I often say that we can’t have

MB: Do you have any special Block

Party memories that stick out?

AD: My favorite memory from previous

Block Parties is always the people. Seeing people gather and celebrate through fellowship always makes my heart smile. The fall season is setting in, there’s a coolness to the air, the leaves are changing colors, and the street is filled with smiling faces and the warmth of others! MB: What makes the Rehoboth Beach community special to you? AD: I made my Rehoboth Beach debut in March of 2020. I was immediately welcomed and embraced by those I now call family. I fell in love with how people supported one another and all of the amazing venues, events, vendors, and establishments. It’s always held a magical feeling over me ever since I was a teenager. I have been coming here for nearly 30 years, and it has not once ever lost its sense of whimsy and wonder. I am beyond grateful to be able to say that I have been performing here for the past six years and I look forward to many, many more! This truly is my home away from home. MB: During fraught or troubling times, why is it important for the community to come together?

community without unity. Finding your people in this world—especially in today’s political climate—is critical to our survival and continued growth in society. Surrounding yourself with people you trust and can relate to through shared experience provides a sense of connection and security. MB: What can the community expect from your performances this year? AD: No matter the artist or song, you can always expect to be taken on a nostalgic journey through decades of the past, across various genres. I consider myself a storyteller. It’s so much more than music for me. I want people to feel something when I perform. Whether it be a happy memory, a milestone, a cherished loved one, or even times of personal struggle or doubt, and their courage to overcome. Music is its own universal language and I utilize it to share my story and bring joy to others. MB: Where can folks find you outside of the Block Party? AD: I reside in south central PA but I am blessed to be a regular here in Rehoboth. On any given weekend you can find me at various venues including the Blue Moon, Freddie’s, Goolee’s, Somewhere, The Purple Parrot, Diego’s, Kiwi’s Kove, First State Brewing Co., and various events with my friends at CAMP Rehoboth! On social media, you can find me on FB @Amethyst Diamond as well as IG @ Amethyst_Diamond1. Stay tuned and shine bright like a diamond! I love you! ▼ Visit camprehoboth.org/blockparty26. for more information about the Block Party, including accessibility information and this year’s entertainment lineup, Matty Brown is Communications Manager at CAMP Rehoboth.

CAMP REHOBOTH

Registration Open and Sponsorship Opportunities Available

SUNDAY, OCT. 18 | 11 AM-4 PM

PRESENTING SPONSOR

Scan here for Vendor/Sponsor Information Block Party on the 2nd block of Baltimore Avenue For questions/inquiries contact: blockparty@camprehoboth.org

SEPTEMBER 25, 2026

15 Letters

SUNFESTIVAL 2026

BY NANCY SAKADUSKI

SUNFESTIVAL Take-Aways “When we dreamt up the theme ‘Love Out Loud,’ we were reflecting on abstract ideas of what it means to live authentically and share love openly. But we never anticipated the energy of the room when David Archuleta shared his powerful story or when the dance floor came alive with celebration. It really was love out loud.” --MATTY BROWN, CAMP Rehoboth Communications Manager

WE SAW YOU LOVE OUT LOUD HEADLINER DAVID ARCHULETA inspired an intergenerational

audience with a great mix of his pop catalog. His performance included two dancers, a dynamic mix of up-tempo and ballads, and he even played two songs at the keyboard (including “I Am Light,” an India.Arie cover). David spoke openly about his story and paid tribute to the older members of the LGBTQ+ community.

Letters 16

SEPTEMBER 25, 2026

SUNFESTIVAL 2026

More than 2,000 people experienced SUNFESTIVAL 2026.

OPENER ASHLEY WILLIAMS

THE LIVE AUCTION, led by auctioneer Lorne Craw-

ford, raised $71,000. (Danny Sebright’s donation trip to Greece was the top item, with two winners for a total of $41,000.)

SATURDAY’S EMCEE, DONALD GARVERICK, kept

the night rolling.

OPENER ASHLEY WILLIAMS brought star qual-

ity with her electrifying performance featuring a Whitney Houston medley, “Last Dance” by Donna Summer, and other empowering hits.

THE DÉCOR TEAM’S VISION became a reality

with the help of many volunteers who hung giant balloons and created a reflective color-changing inflatable archway that complemented the traditional giant disco ball. Light towers and effects made for an incredible, immersive experience.

THE DJS kept the energy going throughout and

provided the NY club atmosphere SUNFESTIVAL is known for.

THE DISCO BOYZ upped their game with several

outfit changes, starting with costumes inspired by The Matrix on Saturday and multicolor mirror-ball getups on Sunday. Other participants came dressed in signature Labor Day Weekend white or leather, and one group even came as FIFA soccer players.

DAVID ARCHULETA’S BOOK SIGNING brought

130 folks to Browseabout Books on Sunday, and David was gracious with all.

SUNFESTIVAL LOVE OUT LOUD WILL BE REMEMBERED. ▼

80+ volunteers joined together to make the magic happen throughout the weekend. SEPTEMBER 25, 2026

17 Letters

sunfestival a benefit for camp rehoboth community center

camp rehoboth thanks our sponsors for 20 26 their generous support of sunfestival annual sponsors

diamond sponsors

Edward Chrzanowski Rick Perry Danny Sebright

ruby sponsors

sapphire sponsors

JOE FILIPEK & LARRY RICHARDSON Summer Logo 1 “A”

JOE FILIPEK & LARRY RICHARDSON Summer Logo 1 “B”

Rodney Street Realty, LLC

vip room Easy Rider Stable

Sondra N. Arkin

emerald sponsors Jenn Harpel

Gary Alexander & Craig Sencindiver Tom Balling & Rex Varner Carolyn Billinghurst & Carol Bresler Jay Chalmers, John Potthast, John McLaughlin & Paul Frene Marc Charon & Jon Dauphine Mike DeFlavia & Tony Sowers Dennis Diaz & Michael Ewald Max Dick, Jim Villareale, Ed Miller & Glen West Polly Donaldson Lewis Dawley, Greg Becker, Kevin Goeltz & Pete Slesser Jim & Duane Adam Entenberg & Bruce Namerow Fatula Fishman Tucker John Hackett & Tom Newton

Letters 18

SEPTEMBER 25, 2026

Kelly Johnson & Todd Gerdes Jon Kaplan Kerry Kegerise Jamie Kotchek & Craig Schwartz Suzanne Krupa & Joann Glussich Chris Lay & Dr. Mari Blackburn Kim Leisey & Kathy Solano & SODELO Evelyn Maurmeyer in memory of Natalie Moss Dennis Morgan, Paul Christensen, Paul Nye & Jerome Hofer Fran O’Brien & David Gifford Mark O’Connor & Scott Wistner Clarence Pineda, Compass Porter-Gordon Family

Jen Rubenstein, Diane Scobey, Leslie Sinclair & Debbie Woods Nancy & Robert Sher Dennis Shine & Edsel Gayoso Dr. Dean Tyson & Michael Linardi

media sponsors

water sponsor

thank you to our sunfestival camp supporters! Anonymous Aqua Lynden Armstrong & Noah Cohen Kris Aulenbach & Sherri McGee Joel T. Berelson & Charles T. Maples Community Bank Kenneth Currier & Mike Tyler Eddie Engles & Michael Holzer Allen Fielding Joe Gfaller & Kraig Turner Charles Graham Ken Green, Joe Kearney & Andy Benson Chip Hatchell & Earl Harvey Terry Hollinger & Mike May John James & Rolando Rivas-Camp Deborah Kennedy & Beth Yocum John Knapp & Tim Gillham Leslie W. Ledogar & Marilyn A. Hewitt Mark Lenard, Michael White & Timothy Ferguson Brian Miller & Will Feliciano

Jimmy Millsop Patrick Monahan & Mansour Abu-Rahmeh Mike Nonemaker, Bryan Warner, Lewis Renoll Steve Olesen & John Sibilio Sandy Oropel, Linda Frese & Patrick McKenna Bob Palandrani & Jim Lawrence Lori & Lia Paniccia Lawson Keith Petrack & Michael Fetchko Phoenix Accessibility Team Phillip Rathbun, Tom Skeen & Jim Svetz Rehoboth Breeze Dr. Gary Seiden Doug Sellers & Mark Eubanks Troy Senter, Stacey Chan & Mark Kehoe Scott Silber & Albert Drulis Kevin Ussery Sandra & Lori Waldee-Warden Michael & Angel Welborn WSFS

thank you to our sunfestival volunteers Chris Allison Gail Atchison Kris Aulenbach Mary Backer David Bartholomew Greg Becker Crystal Beckwith Michael Beigay Julie Blake Scott Burdette Joe Burton Pat Catanzariti Beckett Chase Greg Clark Lori Cole Lorne Crawford Steve Creps Jeff Dannis Lewis Dawley Vincent DeLissio Polly Donaldson Whit Dunkle AJ Eckman Michael Fetchko Marvin Garcia Peter Garneau David Garrett Sarah Herrmann Bob Horne

Frank Iannucci Dee Dee Jones Michael Kluk Steve Kon Alex Koriakin Leslie Ledogar Mark Lenard Kathryn Lienhard Chip Logan Kim Lokhard Liz Lokhard Sean Lynch Ian MacPherson Christopher Maddox Robert Malara Michelle Manfredi Nancy Maresca Charles Marino Sherri McGee Diane Mead Jean Metzar Barry Moshinski Karen Moysi Noelle Navarro Kim Nelson Ty O’Brein Thomas O’Neill

Dotti Outland Joanie Pegler Kevin Pelland Keith Petrack Steve Pufka Ginny Ranson Randy Riddle Michael Rocchi Jefferson Rougeau Maria Scanapieco Kim Schilpp Kirk Schneck Teri Seaton Mark Shaw Donna Sinclair Mike Sinclair Deb Small Robert Stoltzfus Kat Takacs Matthew Trone Charles Vandergrift Joe Vescio Sharon Vuono Isabelle Wagner Lori Waldee-Warden Mary Ann Wangemann Shawn Wright

SEPTEMBER 25, 2026

19 Letters

OUTlook

BY BETH SHOCKLEY

The Last R Train at Cortlandt Street

I

was on the last subway train under the World Trade Center before the station at Cortlandt Street collapsed on the morning of September 11, 2001. Of course, I didn’t know that when it was happening 25 years ago. And I didn’t know it for an actual fact until a couple of weeks ago. I did a couple of internet searches to get my facts straight for this column. Looking to make sure the R train did, indeed, stop at the Cortlandt Street station under the World Trade Center in 2001, which collapsed that day. I found a 2011 article from CBS News written for the 10th anniversary of 9/11. The motorman on that train, Joe Irizarry, was considered a hero, for keeping the doors on that R train open for people to escape after the first tower was hit. I was on my way to work from my apartment in Park Slope, Brooklyn, to my job in midtown Manhattan. It was the second day of the second week of a new job, an important one that paid well, so pressure, pressure, pressure. I was actually running late, but I did notice what a beautiful, crisp fall day it was before descending to my R train stop in Brooklyn. The trip was uneventful until we got to the Cortlandt Street stop in Lower Manhattan. The doors opened. People got off the train. I saw a little smoke. It was just before 9:00 a.m. Uh-oh, looks like I really was going to be late. Not a good look for the newbie speechwriter. There seemed to be a slight delay. No big deal—a track fire, I guessed. The doors closed. People sat down. The doors opened again. People stood. The station was actually pretty smoky. I noticed a man in a business suit covered in gray ash. Weird. The doors closed. People sat down. Then the doors opened again. And, comically, everybody stood up yet again, like meerkats. Now on my feet, I started tuning into the frantic chatter between the motorman and the operator at the back of the train. You could hear it over the PA—again, I figured it was some kind of fire. Suddenly, I heard shouting, “Shut it down, shut it down, shut

Letters 20

SEPTEMBER 25, 2026

it down!” The doors slammed shut and we sped out of there, nearly knocking us seasoned subway riders off our feet from the G-force. According to the 2011 CBS News article, the Cortlandt Street station collapsed shortly after that. No exact times were listed that I could find. But that motorman kept opening the doors and keeping them open as long as he could for people streaming into cars toward the back of the train that I couldn’t see. He knew what had happened and like all the heroes of 9/11, he saved as many people as he could. The article said Mr. Irizarry had felt the force of the crash of American Airlines Flight 11 into the North Tower as it shook his train. I don’t remember feeling such an impact, since those rattletrap old R trains shook during the whole ride.

“Plane crashed into the World Trade Center,” he said. “It’s bad.” But now we were flying, skipping stops faster than an express train, and didn’t stop until we got to 34th street. Even then, I was oblivious to what was happening in Lower Manhattan. I got off at my stop at Rockefeller Center and walked the couple of blocks to work. I didn’t see or hear anything unusual. Again, I just thought it was a track fire, apparently, a bad one. I found out what was going on from the security guard at my building checking my badge. “Plane crashed into the World Trade Center,” he said. “It’s bad.” I shook my head. I did not believe him. Not until I got off the elevator. The vibe was awful. TVs blaring from the conference rooms, people’s offices, people clustered around the TVs, some people were crying. We stood around watching the horror on TV. Watching those planes crash into the towers, watching people jump

to their deaths from the high floors, watching both towers collapse over and over, the realization that they were flying planes into the Pentagon and Pennsylvania, too. My thoughts were, mainly, where TF is our president? I thought his seeming inaction was the worst, most cowardly thing a president had ever done. To me, to wait so long to address the situation was unconscionable. Nobody official was saying anything. Finally, the mayor seemed to take charge and that made me feel better. Oh, how quaint those thoughts seem these days. I stopped watching TV when I realized I could not watch people actually jumping to their deaths. I just couldn’t. It made me nauseous. So, I went to my own small office and stared out the window, which looked out on a brick chimney. And then, the big boss called us into the big conference room and told us to go home if we could. It was mid-afternoon by then. At that point, we were watching people evacuating lower Manhattan by boat—more heroes were piloting the pleasure boats, the working boats, the ferries and other watercraft that came to lower Manhattan to manage the largest civilian evacuation by boat in history. No trains were running in lower Manhattan. Maybe never again. Stations underground “were collapsing.” Trains were shut down to Brooklyn. Nothing was moving. There were no cabs. There was no way to get to Brooklyn that day. I was going to have to find a way to get to my kitty, Lucy, who was waiting for me across the river. I had broken up with my long-term girlfriend a few months before. We did not call each other that day. But people were on the street, everywhere, murmuring to each other, comforting each other, saying encouraging things and talking about what trains might still be possibly running and where. I headed in that direction. Scattered among the throngs of us on foot headed away from Manhattan were what I called the Ash People. They were coughing, most in skirts and suits,

The amazing humanity that rose in the face of unimaginable horror on September 11, 2001, will always be a story worth telling. covered in gray ash, wiping it out of their eyes. Everyone was walking, giving the Ash People water and help, and keeping their voices low, not panicking, being New Yorkers. Somewhere, I found a train actually going to Brooklyn. I think it was a modified F train, or something like that. The SRO, packed-to-the-gills train made room for a few more of us who were able to squeeze in. Miraculously, I even found a seat. We rumbled slowly over the Manhattan Bridge and stopped somewhere in Greenpoint or someplace, somewhere that I just remember was miles away from my apartment. I didn’t care. I was used to walking, maybe not that much, but I was going to be home soon, and that is all that mattered, getting home to my soul cat Lucy.

When I got to my building I was able to cry, and talk to my neighbors, Eddie the laundry guy, and Ron the flower guy. We were all out in the street. Some people hadn’t heard from their loved ones or friends. Portable TVs were on that nobody was really watching anymore. The news blared from every open window. I had my first meal of the day at the corner diner where we all congregated to just be together. I felt safer and more connected than maybe I ever had. We all broke bread and thanked God we were alive. Some went out for a huge makeshift street party when night fell. I retreated to my apartment to be with Lucy and to let my relatives know I was OK. I could see and smell the wreck of the World Trade Center from my apartment window for months after.

I never thought my 9/11 story was that amazing. Especially compared to some of the harrowing survival stories I have heard from friends who escaped Lower Manhattan that day. So yes, I was on the last R train before the Cortlandt Street station collapsed. But that train was driven by one of the uncounted heroes who saved many lives that day, including mine. The amazing humanity that rose in the face of unimaginable horror on September 11, 2001, will always be a story worth telling. ▼ Beth Shockley is a retired writer and editor, and shares life with her wife and kitty boys.

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Letters Loves AD 2026.indd 1

4/23/26 PM SEPTEMBER 25, 2026 21 5:40 Letters

CAMP Stories

BY RICH BARNETT

Three Seconds

I

live on one of Rehoboth’s busiest streets during the summer. Every morning it transforms into a kind of obstacle course. Contractor and landscaper trucks race to job sites. Beachgoers speed toward Cape Henlopen State Park. Cyclists and dog walkers appear from nowhere. So when I back out of my driveway, I’m extraordinarily patient. I wait until traffic is clear both ways and then begin easing into the street. That’s when it happens. Vehicles approaching the stop sign heading east toward the beach don’t make a complete stop. They perform what is generally referred to as a “rolling stop” before accelerating toward me. Then, rather than waiting for me to finish backing out, most veer onto the shoulder and keep going. One morning I started wondering exactly how long I was delaying these very important and extremely busy people. I counted. One Mississippi. Two Mississippi. Three Mississippi. Three seconds. That was it. Three goddamn seconds! I made a decision. Instead of hurrying to get out of their way, I simply began backing out at a normal pace until my car blocked the entire eastbound lane AND part of the shoulder. Drivers now have no choice but to stop unless they want to drive over the neighbor’s lawn. Some have. Right over the sprinkler system. I should note that most of those particular drivers have Delaware plates. A few honk or gesture. Most simply glare at me. I respond by doing absolutely nothing. I finish backing up, count to three, adjust my rearview mirror, put the car in drive, and proceed on my way. This has become one of the small pleasures of my day. But if I’m being honest, I’m not doing this because I see myself as a one-man traffic-calming device. Very soon I will turn 66, an age that sounded impossibly old for most of my life. It doesn’t anyLetters 22

SEPTEMBER 25, 2026

more, although I am increasingly aware that there is considerably more time behind me than ahead of me, a fact that hit me hard this summer when I buried my brother and my father within a few months of each other.

Being in a hurry suggested I had somewhere important to be. Perhaps it even suggested that I was important. This has not made me want to hurry. You’d think it would. If time is running out, shouldn’t I be flooring it? Going more places? Creating one of those ghastly bucket lists and checking things off as fast as possible? Instead, I find myself increasingly amused by all the hurry. I read the New Yorker at my own pace now—a week, sometimes two or three. A new one arrives, I set it on the stack, and the stack has stopped judging me for it. When someone in line at Aqua orders several martinis and the gentlemen behind me start sighing and muttering, don’t you know I’ll order one too when my turn comes, because, seriously, a martini is always a good option. I can feel the crossed arms behind me. The funny thing is that for most of my life, I was probably one of the people

doing the sighing. I was always trying to get somewhere, finish something, get through one thing so I could move on to the next. There were trains to catch, gym classes to attend, dinner reservations to make, emails—way too many emails—to return. Being busy seemed vaguely virtuous. Being in a hurry suggested I had somewhere important to be. Perhaps it even suggested that I was important. I’m not sure when that changed. Maybe it happened so gradually I didn’t notice. But these days, when I see someone furiously changing lanes on Route 1 and then I pull up beside them at the next traffic light, I laugh. And I resist the urge to wave. Do not take this to mean Rich Barnett is slowing down. I don’t particularly like that expression. “Slowing down” sounds like something other people notice about you before suggesting it might be time to stop driving at night. Not hurrying is different. Not hurrying is a choice. There are still plenty of things I want to do and places I want to go. I just no longer feel any particular urgency to get to all of them. I don’t have to go on cruises, join a pickleball league, or inject peptides. Unless I really want to. Which brings me back to my driveway. I’m under no pretense that I’m teaching those drivers a lesson. The guy bearing down on me in the big-ass Mercedes GLS with the black low-digit Delaware tag is unlikely to think much about his relationship with time. He’ll probably just think I’m an ass. Fair enough. One Mississippi. Two. Three. He’s still gonna wait. ▼ Disclaimer: The Mercedes GLS with the black low-digit Delaware tag is entirely fictional. Probably. Rich Barnett is the author of two books and is an occasional contributor to Delaware Beach Life. His short stories have appeared in a variety of publications, most notably in Saints and Sinners annual LGBTQ fiction anthology. He can be reached at richbarnettwriter.com.

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SEPTEMBER 25, 2026

23 Letters

It’s My Life

BY MICHAEL THOMAS FORD

Falling In

A

s a kid, I hated being a Libra. All the other zodiac signs had wonderful characters representing them. Libra had… scales. Whenever I looked at my horoscope, I envied people who got to be celestial bulls, fish, or mer-goats. I would even have preferred being a Virgin or a crabby Cancer (which our local paper renamed Moon Children because of Cancer’s association with illness) to the inanimate object associated with my birthday. Maybe because of this, I sympathize with the often-overlooked autumn equinox. This is the moment at which the Sun crosses over Earth’s equator, heralding the beginning of fall in the Northern Hemisphere. This year, it occurs on September 22. Until 1974, the autumn equinox was just called the autumn equinox. This bothered Aidan Kelly, who had a particular interest in the history of holidays and was compiling a calendar of days important to folks in the neopagan community. While many of the eight dates comprising what is generally referred to as the Wheel of the Year had distinct names, the autumn equinox did not, and so Kelly assigned it the name Mabon, derived from a character in the collection of Welsh folklore called the Mabinogion. (The story of how and why Kelly chose this name is fascinating and his recounting of it can be found at patheos.com/blogs/aidankelly/2017/05/ naming-ostara-litha-mabon.) Even with a more distinct name, Mabon is still something of the Jan Brady of the Wheel of the Year and doesn’t usually get the love that the other days get. If anything, it bears the brunt of resentment from those who dislike the shortening days and imminent arrival of dark and cold. The freedom of summer is over. School has resumed for the year. For those of us living in places where snow is an inevitability, the Ghost of Unshovelled Driveways looms. Rather than being celebrated, Mabon is often treated like the boring holiday we have to endure before the much-more-popular Samhain (Halloween) and Yule (Christmas) arrive. Letters 24

SEPTEMBER 25, 2026

I happen to love Mabon. Maybe it’s because I was born in October. Maybe it’s because I’m one of those people who love shorter days and colder weather. Maybe it’s because I welcome any excuse to break out the flannel shirts. Whatever the reason, when the signs of autumn start to appear, something changes in me and I look forward to the next cycle with anticipation.

Mabon is often treated like the boring holiday we have to endure before the much-morepopular Samhain (Halloween) and Yule (Christmas) arrive. It’s now still dark in the mornings when I get up. Last week, the hummingbirds departed for their trip south to Mexico for the winter. The autumn spiders have arrived, the orb-weavers spinning their impossibly huge webs between the goldenrod and ironweed and the smaller sheet-weavers decorating the fading hydrangea bushes with gossamer garlands. The black-eyed Susans and echinacea are finished for the year, their seedheads luring the goldfinches out into the open. The bees are bringing the final stores of pollen and nectar into the hives, and I’ve helped several baby box turtles, which are hatched in late summer and early fall, across the roads. This year, the arrival of Mabon comes with both sadness and joy. Two years ago this month, we brought into our lives a 15-year-old dog named Bear. Some of you may recall the story of how I saw a post about Bear on social media. His caretaker had died, he had nowhere to land, and he needed some help. We ended up taking him in, knowing we probably wouldn’t get a lot of time with him due to his age and medical issues. We were fortunate to get longer than we thought, and he was happy and well-loved before passing back in June. This week, on the anniversary of his arrival, I will scatter his ashes

around the perimeter of our property, where he will join Roger, Spike, Sam, Andy, George, and Greta as guardians of the land that has been entrusted to us. Helping me do this will be Tippy, the latest addition to the family. Just as a chance viewing of a post introduced me to Bear, I happened to see a post about Tippy. Initially found abandoned in a dumpster as a pup, his first person loved him for nine years before his death saw Tippy passed to a well-intentioned relative whose struggles with addiction meant providing him a stable life was not possible. Now he lives with us, and it feels fitting that he has arrived during this time of transition from one season to another. A few days later, on Mabon itself, I will put out the three Pumpkin Jacks, the whimsical plastic skeleton bodies that hold the jack-o-lantern heads we create every year. They’ll stand on the porch, greeting passersby as autumn ambassadors and reigning through Halloween night, when the Wheel turns again and the season of thanksgiving arrives. Between Mabon and Halloween, the world will exist in a kind of twilight time of changing leaves, drawing in, and preparing for winter. It will be a time of soups and stews, of baking and brewing. There will be the annual viewing of Over the Garden Wall and rereading of Tove Jansson’s Moominpappa at Sea. For both dogs and humans, it will be a time of burrowing into blanket nests. I no longer dislike being a Libra. While it might be fun to have a more interesting representation of my birth sign, I now appreciate the symbolism of the scales. At Mabon, light and darkness come into balance for a moment before darkness begins to take over. And while darkness can be frightening, it can also contain wonders. Dreams are born in the dark, and the stars shine in it. I look forward to seeing what they have to show us. ▼ Michael Thomas Ford is a much-published Lambda Literary award-winning author. Visit Michael at michaelthomasford.com.

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25 Letters

Out & About

BY ERIC C. PETERSON

Of Mudbloods and Horcruxes

I

have a confession to make. When a celebrity dies, I usually don’t feel all that sad. I don’t jump up and down for joy or anything, but rarely do I shed a tear. Whether the late luminary is a beloved entertainer and philanthropist like Dolly Parton (for a proper tribute to Dolly, please see Christopher Moore’s column on page 44), a brilliant actor like Tim Curry, or a badass civil rights activist like Gloria Steinem, my reaction to their passing is usually a quiet appreciation for all the lives they touched, and a desire to revisit their finest moments or greatest achievements. Not having known them, I don’t have the opportunity to miss them in my daily life. In fact, immediately after their earthly exits, I often see them more than I ever had and have the opportunity to learn things I didn’t know and appreciate them even more. What’s much more upsetting to me is when good celebrities go bad. When I find out that an actor I once liked supports authoritarianism or a director I admire routinely assaults women or an author whose books I love has launched a confounding crusade against an already marginalized group who never harmed her, that’s really heartbreaking. So yeah, I’m talking about J.K. Rowling… again. Once upon a time, J.K. (née Joanne) Rowling was a struggling single mom who struck it rich with a story of an orphan who discovers he’s a wizard and is whisked off to a magical school where he studies potions and spells, learns to fly on a broomstick, and oh by the way, saves the world from the evil wizard who killed his parents. The Harry Potter series was whimsical and imaginative, while slyly showing her young (and old) readers why fascism is bad or why eugenics are immoral. I caught Harry Potter fever soon after Book 4 was released and despite my advanced age (I was in my thirties), I was enthralled. I eventually devoured all seven books, purchased all eight films, and even announced my Hogwarts

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house (Hufflepuff, naturally) to anyone who would listen. Then, things took a turn. It started in 2018, when Jo liked a few transphobic tweets and later followed a few explicitly anti-trans figures on social media. She claimed that she was not endorsing their views but simply trying to learn more about the issues. By 2020, she was pub-

…Harry Potter is coming back to screens near you, this time as an HBO series set to premiere on Christmas Day… lishing 3,000-word essays full of barely logical distortions and outright lies about the trans community, and writing crime novels (under a male pseudonym, ironically) about a cisgender male serial killer who dresses as a woman to get closer to his victims. In the years that followed, she challenged legislation in her native Scotland that would allow transgender citizens to more easily change their legal gender, and denied the existence of trans kids, after making billions writing stories that told kids to embrace their differences. These days, she’s funneling that cash directly into the J.K. Rowling Women’s Fund, whose stated mission is to offer legal assistance to individuals and groups “fighting to retain women’s and girls’ sex-based rights in all aspects of life, including the workplace, sports and clubs, and protected single-sex spaces.” While this seems innocuous on first glance, it’s nothing more than transphobia dressed up as feminism, making it easier to fund frivolous lawsuits against the most vulnerable members of the LGBTQ+ community. As the fund’s website makes clear, the lawsuits they aim to sponsor are exclusively centered on trans issues. This private fund actively targets transgender people, making

them less safe and less able to secure the rights they need to simply co-exist with the rest of us. So why am I bringing this all up again? Well, Harry Potter is coming back to screens near you, this time as an HBO series set to premiere on Christmas Day, devoting 8-10 episodes to each of the seven Potter books. There are still a lot of people out there who love these stories and will certainly feel a rush of nostalgia if given the opportunity to escape our current dystopia by revisiting Hogwarts for an hour with the release of each new episode. But this is not a question of whether or not we can mentally separate a problematic artist from the art they create. This is a case of direct harm. Joanne Rowling owns every bit of intellectual property attached to these stories. She stands to make more money than any other artist connected with the new series. And she has made it abundantly clear that she will continue to support the J.K. Rowling Women’s Fund with her own money for as long as she can. Therefore, anyone who gives the new Potter series their time and attention, and contributes to its success, is directly funding the harassment and further marginalization of trans people. It’s as clear-cut a case as you could hope to find. If you know a trans person, love a trans person, or simply believe that all people have a right to bodily autonomy and self-determination, there is no such thing as the ethical consumption of this work. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I think I’ll go watch Steel Magnolias…again. ▼ Eric Peterson is a Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) practitioner, pop culture junkie, and sometime novelist. His debut novel (Loyalty, Love & Vermouth) is available at Broweseabout Books and online.

SEPTEMBER 25, 2026

27 Letters

BY RENÉE ROCKLAND

Reader’s Choice READER’S PANEL COMMENT Even when we have the words, it is not always easy to express them. While reading this story, I thought about the anxiety and the relief that can accompany sharing our truth with others. Words matter.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Renée Rockland (she/her) writes short and flash fiction in a variety of genres. Her award-winning stories have been published in numerous print anthologies and online. Renée lives in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware with her wife and twin daughters. She is a member of the Rehoboth Beach Writers’ Guild, believes in the magic of dark chocolate and coffee, and when not writing, can be found with her toes in the sand, on her yoga mat, or working out plot points with her rescue pups. Letters 28

SEPTEMBER 25, 2026

My Therapist Made Me Do It

T

he card is her therapist’s idea. Well, technically, her therapist suggested a letter, but as Jo stands in front of the “Thinking of You” card section at Hallmark, she finds herself hoping a card might soften the blow, perhaps seem (slightly) less cowardly than a letter. She glances through a few possible contenders, bypassing those with small forest creatures or flowers on the front and finally lands on one with a hand-drawn rainbow over a field. The inside message reads, “When it rains, look for the rainbow.” Jo smiles, remembering the night when, after their third Tequila Sunrise at an underground women’s bar in downtown Omaha, she and her girlfriend, Beth, brainstormed ideas for a “Coming Out to Your Parents” card section. “Hip Hip Hooray! Turns out I’m gay!” Jo lifted her drink in celebration and earned a round of applause from the next table. “How about ‘Roses are red, violets are blue, I’m gay. Now you know too!’” Beth offered. “Or ‘Breaking News! I’m gay! We now return you to your regularly scheduled program, Laverne & Shirley.’” Jo snorted and choked on her drink. When she recovered, she said, “The moon has phases, but I don’t. I’m gay!” By the end of the night, both tables on either side had joined in the fun, and now, as Jo purchases her card, she wonders what would happen if she actually summoned the courage to send it. At home, Queenie greets her at the door, her entire body wagging in excitement. Beth is working the overnight shift at the hospital, so it’s just the two of them. Jo pours kibble into Queenie’s bowl and pours herself a glass of Boone’s Farm. Then she finds a pen buried in a kitchen drawer, and sits on the sofa with her card, using a recent issue of Ms. magazine as a writing surface. For a long time, Jo alternates between staring at the blank card and staring into their backyard at the Eastern Red Cedar tree, wondering when the cedar wax-

wings might come to feast. They’re her mom’s favorite. The bottle of wine is nearly gone when Jo finally begins to write. Dear Mom and Dad, I’m sending this card because I love you and want to be honest. And honestly, I don’t know how to have this conversation in person. I’m hoping you can think about what I’m going to tell you, and then we can talk. I suspect this won’t really come as a surprise, but I want you to know that yes, I am, in fact, a lesbian. Jo thinks about saying “gay” instead because some people find it less offensive or politically charged, but as Jo’s therapist reminded her, there is value in writing to her parents even if she has no intention of sending it, so she might as well not hold back.

Feeling emboldened, she unscrews the top on a second bottle of strawberry elixir and continues. Jo crosses out the lowercase “lesbian,” and writes in all caps L-E-SB-I-A-N, tracing each letter multiple times and pressing hard enough she embosses the word on the back of the card. Feeling emboldened, she unscrews the top on a second bottle of strawberry elixir and continues. I have spent the better part of the last sixteen years trying to be who you expect me to be, but I can no longer pretend. “The incident” was not a fluke. Jo doesn’t like to dwell on the past. Most of her memories involve some degree of pain, but she wonders whatever happened to the girl at sleepaway camp with the long brown braid and mischievous grin. They’d spend the better part of their thirteenth summer sharing secrets and eventually, their first kiss when they’d thought they were alone in the cabin, and everyone else was at the bonfire down by the lake. Jo remembers the taste of Bonnie Bell bub-

They’d spend the better part of their thirteenth summer sharing secrets and eventually, their first kiss when they’d thought they were alone in the cabin, and everyone else was at the bonfire down by the lake. blegum lip smackers and the softness of intertwined fingers. They’d only begun to explore when the overhead light flickered on, shattering their connection. Jo’s parents arrived the next morning to take her home, and while her father drove like a madman, seemingly determined that the faster he could put distance between Jo and camp, the faster they could put this behind them, her mother cried and screamed words like “freak” and “humiliated” and “damned.” Two excruciating hours later, they pulled into the driveway, and everyone agreed never to speak of the “the incident” again. Now it’s as if Jo’s hand has detached from her body. She writes furiously. This is not a phase or a rebellion; this is simply who I am. And though it proba-

bly goes without saying, I’ll say it (write it) anyway, Beth is not just my roommate— she’s my girlfriend. And she’s also the same warm, loving person you’ve welcomed into your home and hearts for the past four years. I desperately don’t want to disappoint you, but more importantly, I can no longer disappoint myself. Here’s hoping this can be a new beginning for us. I love you both. Still me, Jo(an) The next morning, the smell of coffee lures Jo from bed even though the two hemispheres of her brain feel as if they’ve been permanently severed. She stumbles into the kitchen and finds Beth standing at the island in her scrubs pouring creamer into two steaming mugs. Something seems amiss, but Jo

can’t define it. It’s just a vague sense of unease. “Good morning, sleepyhead.” Beth leans in for a kiss. “Looks like someone partied without me last night.” She indicates the empty bottles on the counter, which is when the fuzzy shapes in the back of Jo’s brain begin to crystallize. “Um, was there a card laying here when you got home?” “Your parents anniversary card? Yep. Did you sign my name too?” Beth teases. “It wasn’t…” Jo swallows visibly, the acrid taste of strawberry bile building in the back of her throat. “Where’s the card?” she whispers. “I mailed it for you when I went out to get coffee.” Beth winks. “You can thank me later.” ▼

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SEPTEMBER 25, 2026

29 Letters

health+wellness

BY MARJ SHANNON

‘Flu & COVID & RSV—Oh, My!

R

ecently, as we prepared to depart for a family get-together in upstate New York, my sister texted some worrying news: my 20-year-old grand-nephew, who also would be attending, had just learned that he’d been exposed to whooping cough about 10 days earlier. That sent both my partner and me scrambling for our vaccination records, to see when we’d most recently received Tdap (tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis—aka whooping cough) boosters. Relieved to discover we’d both received the booster within the recommended interval (10 years), we resumed packing. If I’m writing a Health & Wellness column at this time of year, I often write about vaccinations. That’s because fall is when my thoughts—and those of many healthcare providers—turn to annual vaccines for the “fall trifecta”: ‘flu, COVID-19, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). Notably, where I once would have checked with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for its updated guidance as I wrote the column, this year I relied instead on guidance from the Vaccine Integrity Project (VIP). Due to the ongoing disruption of usual guidance development practices at CDC, the VIP collaborated with the American Medial Association to develop this year’s recommendations. The VIP’s recommendations are those now published by several major medical organizations, including the American Association of Family Physicians and the Infectious Diseases Society of America. With all that as context, here’s my first pitch: Get a ‘flu shot! There are formulations aplenty, ranging from ones designed for anyone age six months or older, to higher-dose ones designed for those over age 65. (Older folks’ immune systems may not respond as robustly to a lower-dose formulation.) Some are egg-based, but there also are ones that are not egg-based, for those with egg allergies. ‘Flu shots are recommended even for (maybe especially for) people with chronic conditions, pregnant people, and people with compromised immune systems. There are the actual

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“shots”—i.e., injections—and also a nasal spray, FluMist (approved for people ages two through 49). I know you’ve probably heard people say they contracted ‘flu despite having been vaccinated. You might even be one of the people saying it. That can certainly happen, for a variety of reasons: • It takes your body about two weeks to respond fully to the vaccine; you may

I know you’ve probably heard people say they contracted ‘flu despite having been vaccinated. You might even be one of the people saying it.

simply have been unlucky enough to be exposed (and become ill) before the vaccine took effect. • Maybe you decided to go with FluMist to avoid getting “stuck”? If so, that might explain your symptoms: FluMist contains a weakened, but live, virus. Some people may develop flu-like symptoms after receiving it. • It could also be that you were sickened by a strain of ‘flu that was not included in a given year’s vaccine. The strains are identified each spring—so manufacturers have time to make the vaccines—and are based on the strains circulating the prior year. Sometimes, a new strain develops in the intervening

time, leaving people less protected than anyone had hoped. • Maybe you got ‘flu late in the season—say, March or April? Immunity does wane over time. That’s why people are advised to get their shots in September or October: doing so means their immunity is peaking in January and February, when ‘flu typically is most prevalent in our area. Though there are reasons someone who has been vaccinated might still contract ‘flu, it is not the case that the shot itself causes the illness: ‘flu shots contain only inactivated (i.e., dead) versions of the virus. That reminds me: if you are in regular contact with an immunocompromised person, FluMist (containing a live virus) may not be for you. You could transmit that virus to someone whose immune system is not well-equipped to protect them. Just roll up your sleeve and get the shot. How about the other ailments in the trifecta? Here’s another pitch: while you’re getting that ‘flu shot, get the new COVID-19 one, too. It’s fine (and so convenient) to get both at one visit. COVID is still very much with us; the truth is, it will never go away. COVID-19 is caused by a corona virus; so, too, is the “common cold.” And we all know how persistent colds have proven to be. Wrapping up on the trifecta, there’s RSV. There’s a vaccine for this one, too; it’s recommended for those age 75 or older, as well as for those ages 50 to 74 whose underlying conditions—like diabetes, heart or respiratory disease, or immunocompromise—would put them at greater risk of severe disease were they to contract RSV. If you’re among those for whom this vaccine is recommended—get it! Just add it to the list; it can be administered at the same time as your ‘flu and COVID vaccinations. Maybe you’re thinking that’s a lot of injections, and you might contract one or another of those ailments anyway, so why bother? It might help to remember that the purpose of the initial COVID-19 vaccination wasn’t to prevent disease altogether. It was to prevent severe disease, hospitalization, and death. Those

health+wellness

are very good things to avoid from ‘flu and RSV, too. Of course, vaccines for the fall trifecta aren’t the only ones around. I started off this column with a vaccine you likely hear a lot less about: the Tdap. You may not have thought about your Tdap status for some time—it’s a childhood vaccine (then, it’s the DTaP) that is “boosted” in the tween years. Ideally, it is then boosted again about every 10 years. But it’s an easy one to overlook, unless you’ve sustained an injury that increases your risk of contracting tetanus (step on a rusty nail, anyone?). In that case, you may well receive the Tdap as part of your ER or urgi-center treatment. But there’s no need to await a critical moment; just check your booster status and get a Tdap if you’re due. And how about measles? We’ve all been hearing a lot about measles recently, given the outbreaks experienced in several areas of the country, including Delaware. In an era of vaccine hesitancy—or even refusal—it’s not surprising measles is surfacing again: it is the most-transmissable of all human infectious diseases. About 90 percent of unvaccinated people exposed to the virus will develop the disease. Those of us who were born before 1957 are presumed immune: we most likely had measles, which was widespread before the vaccine became available. Once the MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccine became available (1966), almost all

The Mpox vaccine is recommended for anyone considered to be “at risk” for Mpox infection. children began to receive it as a routine vaccination. Do we need boosters? Probably not, though under certain conditions your healthcare provider might recommend that you be vaccinated. Listen to them, if so—these are not diseases you really want to experience up-front-andpersonal.

How about chicken pox (aka varicella-zoster)—another once-common childhood disease? Those of us born before 1980 are presumed to be immune by virtue of almost certainly having had the illness. A vaccine became available in the US in 1995 and was promptly added to the schedule of routine childhood vaccinations. Of course, presumptive immunity is no guarantee: one of my former co-workers, a nurse, developed chicken pox when she cared for a patient with shingles. That’s because shingles is caused by the same varicella-zoster virus that causes chicken pox. The virus, a herpes virus, is one that lives on in nerve cells and can resurface. Speaking of shingles—there’s a vaccine for that, too! The first one came out in 2006; a new-and-improved one, in 2017. I’m a big proponent of the shingles vaccine, having had shingles. I’m fortunate, in that I developed it a few years after my 2006 vaccination, so did not develop a severe form of the disease. Importantly, I was spared the post-herpetic neuropathy some shingles patients experience, and which can persist for years after the acute disease. Once the 2017 vaccine became available, I got that one, too. The newer vaccine is stronger and recommended even for those of us who got the earlier vaccine. There are yet other vaccines that are recommended, too; if you haven’t received them, it’s worth checking with your healthcare provider to see if you should. These vaccines include ones for pneumococcus, hepatitis A and hepatitis B, meningococcus, and Mpox. That last may be of particular interest to some in our community. The Mpox vaccine is recommended for anyone considered to be “at risk” for Mpox infection. At risk people include those who are gay, bisexual (or other men who have sex with men), transgender, or nonbinary people who, in the past six months, have had: • a new diagnosis of at least one sexually transmitted disease (STD); or • more than one sex partner; or • sex at a commercial sex venue; or • sex in association with a large

public event in a geographic area where Mpox is occurring. Also considered to be at risk are people who are sexual contacts of those in the preceding group, or people who anticipate experiencing any of the situations described. I know it can be tiresome to get vaccinations and—sometimes—even more tiresome to experience a few days of sore injection sites or a case of the general “blahs” after you do. But—as I can attest from having had a few of these vaccine-preventable diseases—the diseases themselves are infinitely more tiresome. Personally, I’m all for making every effort to avoid a disease altogether; failing that, suffering a less-severe case is also a big win. Now, roll up those sleeves! ▼ Marj Shannon is Editor of Letters from CAMP Rehoboth and a retired epidemiologist.

LET’S STAY CONNECTED! All of CAMP Rehoboth’s programs, services, and events are listed here: camprehoboth.org/ events-calendar/. Please visit the site often to ensure you have up-to-date information on what is being offered—and when. Youth Crisis Support: Crisis intervention services for children under 18. Parents and caregivers are connected to a crisis clinician. Available 24/7. Call 800-969-4357 or text DE to 741-741. 988: Free, confidential support and resources for anyone in distress. Available 24/7. Call 988. Delaware Hope Line: Free coaching and support. Links to mental health, addiction, and crisis services. Available 24/7. Call 833-9-HOPEDE (833-946-7333). SEPTEMBER 25, 2026

31 Letters

Medical Foundation

Letters 32

SEPTEMBER 25, 2026

SEPTEMBER 25, 2026

33 Letters

Fierté Montréal

BY JIM HENRY

I ♥ 2SLGBTQIA+!

I

n early August I traveled to Montreal for their gay Pride celebration, Fierté Montréal. I’ve marched in or watched Pride marches in a halfdozen cities at this point. At my first Pride march decades ago, I walked with ambivalence: I welcomed celebrating unashamedness with like-minded people and allies along the way waving us on, but I did not necessarily feel “pride” at being gay. It felt nonsensical, like feeling pride that I had brown hair. Plus, the Buddha cautioned us that pride can be a dangerous sentiment whenever it reifies ego. Pride of self reinforces the delusion that we are separate entities. Then there’s etymology: Pride, from the old English pryto, Kentish prede, Mercian pride, “unreasonable self-esteem.” Now, you may think etymology solely the stuff of word geeks, but it’s much more. It probes the body of shared languages that date from humankind’s earliest utterances and that occupy our minds and drive our actions whether acknowledged or not. It challenges us to inspect the origins behind a word and be curious as to whether (and how) those origins make their way into reality via our thoughts and deeds. So: self-esteem? Yes, for sure, yet not unreasonable but rather its opposite. This sentiment, pride of a body of people— rather than that of my destined-to-disappear self—champions reason over delusion, challenging prejudice to submit to logic. The francophone variant: Fierté, from the Latin feritare, meaning to strike or to deal blows. Ah! Like the blows dealt by the folks at Stonewall after blows both literal and metaphorical had been dealt to them, the brave souls who set the wheels for marching in motion. And Fierté Montréal did strike blows! On Friday and Saturday, Saint Catherine Street, the blocks-long walking street in “the Village,” as it appears on maps, was festooned with rainbows and lined with booths and booths of folks striking blows for knowledge dissemination. I stopped by several on Friday: Girl Guides Letters 34

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My friend from Les Drags Patronnesses saunters by on the street, and catching my eye, waves. “Coo-coo!” she trills. of Canada, gently guiding perceptions; Kids Help, a phone bank for young folks in trouble; Fierté Littéraire, celebrating queer authors; Les Drags Patronnesses, celebrating the art of drag to serve the community. I chatted quite a bit with the staffers at this one, including a guy who looked to be 50+ and was sporting a fourday beard, tweaking the genre. I donated $10 to the cause and in return received a chic little zippered pencil purse with logo. That evening, I found an outdoor bar facing the walking street with a semi-circular section populated mostly by guys around my age. I sat and listened in on conversations: clearly regulars, lots of good-natured banter in the inimitable Québécois accent, the guy opposite me a bit of an MC. When I order a beer, he picks up on my accent. “Tu es Americain?” Moment of truth. “Hélas,” I reply, clasping my hands in front of me as if begging forgiveness to accentuate my “alas.” A few smiles and nods, and he follows up. “Where from?” “Delaware.” Murmurs all

around at the Trivial Pursuit geography puzzler, until from somewhere, “C’est bleu, non?” “Oui!” I answer, and MC guy adds, “Ah, oui. C’est l’état de Joe Biden.” Absolution by association. The guy next to him locks my gaze and raises crossed fingers. “Les mid-terms, eh?” I cross my fingers back at him and catch a few other looks, part sanguine, part foreboding. Like us, they hope yet are afraid to hope. My friend from Les Drags Patronnesses saunters by on the street, and catching my eye, waves. “Coo-coo!” she trills. My barmates swivel to see that she’s signaling to me as I wave back and shrug to them, my street cred creeping up. By the time folks start leaving for dinner and bidding adieux, I feel almost like one of the guys. “Happy Pride,” one calls to his buddies opposite, and as they respond with “Happy Pride,” I see glints of mirth. Unspoken levels of humor here—at the shared irony in slipping into their countrymen’s language, or possibly because now there is an American among them? I glance across at the MC, and his cheshire smile and arched eyebrows tell me it is likely a combination of both. On Saturday, I visited more booths: Gay and lesbian archivists of Québec; the teachers union representing 65,000 people; Dans La Rue, providing aid to the young and unhoused; Alliance Trans et non-Binaire du Canada; Intersex Canada, informing about sexual traits diverging from the norm; an action group for the prevention of HIV transmission and eradication of AIDS (free condoms!), and their affiliated group Tous Ensemble (All Together), focusing in particular on the Sub-Saharan community; AGIR, serving the refugee and migrant community; Fierté Hautes Laurentides, at which table sat the cutest young man who told me he had ventured from Montréal to the hinterlands and married a lumberjack, now tasked with representing each time he left the house in their small town; and finally, “Divers Gens,” whose booth included an adapted bubble gum machine filled with Continued on page 38

SEPTEMBER 25, 2026

35 Letters

Sounding Off

BY STEPHEN RASKAUSKAS

Pretty in Pink: How to Make Mole Rosa

M

ole is one of Mexico’s most iconic dishes—a thick sauce typically made with chiles, nuts, seeds, spices, and simmered down until it’s thick, rich, and unforgettable. The name comes from the word mōlli, Nahuatl for “sauce.” And much like each one of us, mole can’t be defined easily. And every one is unique. Ask 10 grandmothers for their mole recipe and you’ll get 10 very different answers. That’s because mole isn’t a sauce, it’s a type of sauce. There’s mole poblano, from Puebla, famous for containing chocolate. Mole verde, which is bright with green herbs. Mole negro, from Oaxaca, is smoky and black. And then there’s mole rosa: pink, romantic, and utterly unlike anything else. Very coquette. Very demure. Mole rosa comes from Taxco, a silvermining town in the hills of Guerrero, Mexico. It’s famous for its cobblestone streets and baroque parish church, the Basílica de Santa Prisca, which has been watching over the whole valley for nearly 300 years. Legend says the mole’s color was inspired by that church’s facade, made of pink cantera stone. Food historians, however, doubt the building came before the mole. Either way, this dish, like the church, is iconic. While recipes vary, the pink color usually comes from beets. Optional garnishes like pomegranate seeds, pink pine nuts, or rose petals make it even more romantic still. That’s part of why mole rosa feels perfect for a queer table. Mole already refuses to be just one thing—it shows up brown, green, black, red, yellow, pink… and all equally delicious. And just like mole, there’s a lot that goes into making us exactly who we are. Here’s where we make the presentation of this mole even more distinctively queer. Usually, mole is Letters 36

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Enmoladas Rosas

And much like each one of us, mole can’t be defined easily. And every one is unique. served over a piece of chicken along with rice and tortillas. We’re making enmoladas rosas— tortillas stuffed with shredded chicken, smothered with pink mole, and decorated with sour cream and sesame seeds. To represent the trans flag, divide the sour cream into two portions. Leave one plain. Tint the second with a pinch of blue spirulina. This mole has 19 ingredients in the sauce alone. Not exactly a quick weeknight dish. Between shopping and cooking, plan on a full day. It’s worth every hour. This recipe makes four liters of mole and 24 individual enmoladas— enough to serve eight people, three per plate. Stephen Raskauskas is a Sussex County native who has produced content for radio, TV, digital, and print.

FOR THE MOLE • 6 T vegetable oil • 100 g raw, peeled almonds • 100 g raw, unsalted peanuts • 100 g raw white sesame seeds • 1 medium onion • 1 chipotle chile • 1 stale bolillo (Mexican roll) • 1 plantain • 5-inch piece of Mexican cinnamon • 1 star anise • 5 allspice berries • 2 cloves • 10 raw walnut halves • ½ cup cranberries • 1 medium beet • ½ T salt • 2 garlic cloves • 1 chile güero • 2 L poaching liquid from chicken FOR THE CHICKEN • 4 chicken breasts, pounded out but not too thin • 1 small onion • 2 garlic cloves • 1 inch piece of Mexican cinnamon • 4 bay leaves TO SERVE • 24 corn tortillas • Sour cream, divided • 2 tsp blue spirulina • Extra sesame seeds, for garnish • ½ tsp spirulina powder INSTRUCTIONS 1 Cook the beet. Roast the beet in the oven, wrapped in foil, until fork-tender, then peel and chop. While the beet is roasting, cook the chicken. 2 Poach the chicken. Cover the chicken breasts with about 3 liters of water in a large pot with onion, garlic, bay leaves, and cinnamon. Remove the chicken when cooked through, strain and reserve at least 2 liters of broth. Continued on page 38

SEPTEMBER 25, 2026

37 Letters

Sounding Off Continued from page 36

…mole rosa feels perfect for a queer table. Mole already refuses to be just one thing—it shows up brown, green, black, red, yellow, pink…and all equally delicious. While the chicken is cooking, move onto the next steps. 3 Toast the nuts and seeds. In a dry

skillet over medium heat, toast the almonds, peanuts, sesame seeds, and walnuts separately until fragrant. Watch closely, they all burn fast, and they’ll continue cooking after removing them from the pan. 4 Char and fry. In the same skillet,

char the onion and garlic, then toast the chipotle and güero chiles. In a little oil, fry the bolillo until golden, then the plantain until well caramelized. 5 Grind nuts and seeds. In a food processor, blender, or molcajete, blend your toasted nuts and seeds into a fine powder and set aside. Don’t blend too

much, or they’ll turn into butter. 6 Boil and blend. In the stock left over from cooking your chicken, boil everything for the mole together—except for the ground seeds and nuts. When the vegetables are soft, blend the hot mixture in batches until completely smooth. In each batch, add a portion of your mixture of ground nuts and seeds to get a beautifully smooth consistency (without breaking your blender’s motor!).

7 Cook the mole. Carefully add the blended mixture and cook over medium heat, stirring, a few minutes to fry out the raw flavor. Add salt to taste. Simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. 8 Shred the chicken. While the mole

simmers, shred the poached chicken breasts into bite-sized pieces. 9 Bathe the tortillas. Warm a shallow pan of mole over low heat. Dip each tortilla in, turning with tongs so both sides soak up color—just a few seconds, enough to soften and stain it pink without tearing. 10 Fill and roll. Lay each bathed tortilla

flat, spoon shredded chicken down the center, and roll into a snug cylinder, seam-side down. 11 Plate. Ladle a pool of mole onto each plate first, then arrange two to three rolled enmoladas on top. Ladle more mole over them until fully covered. Then decorate with sesame seeds and sour cream, both natural and spirulina-dyed. ▼

Fierté Montréal Continued from page 34 capsules, each holding info on one of these letters: 2SLGBTQIA+, the community we were apparently now celebrating. “Diverse People,” indeed. The old fogey in me bristled momentarily at yet more letters added to an acronym that used to just roll off the tongue and that now twists and turns. Back when the Q got added to LGBT, my everyday mind balked at the use of the epithet, but my scholar’s mind soon saw the brilliance in talking back to hegemonic discourse and naming a whole body of theory shaping the intellectual landscape for the Q. OK, the Q merits a place. The 2S, I was informed by the kind woman staffing the Fierté Authochtone table, is a nod to two-spirit members of Indigenous communities fulfilling gender-variant social roles in their community. Placing it first in the acronym honors Indigenous histories on the land. Of course. Gotta include that. Then there’s the I for Intersex (I now had pamphlets explaining the range of biological variants). And A for Asexual. Well, yeah, I guess. I mean, we keep Letters 38

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upbraiding reactionaries for wanting to essentialize us based on sexual practices, so it only makes sense to include those who eschew such essentializing quite convincingly. Discrimination, begone!

…Fierté Hautes Laurentides, at which table sat the cutest young man who told me he had ventured from Montréal to the hinterlands and married a lumberjack… Which leaves the +, to cover all other sexual orientations and romantic types (Ah! Romance! How could we have ever left you out?), as well as gender expressions such as nonbinary or a-gender. Cisgenders please take note: you were spared a lot of turmoil just by the roll of the genes. So, if my self isn’t a separate entity, then here I am with all these other enti-

ties, part of me and me of them. That’s the pride I had in mind as I and thousands of others watched the 16-blocks-long parade on Sunday. Led by the mayor, composed of representatives of just about any company or affiliation you can imagine, from Bank of Canada to IKEA, it was quite the rainbow—DEI on steroids. Marching bands, banjoists, folks on bouncing flatbeds with booming speakers, busting moves. Fierté Autochtone. Church groups. Sports teams. The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. Leather queens. Bears (the human variety). Line dancers. Gymnasts. Guys wearing six-inch stilettos. Honest! Guys in six-inch stilettos! And walking 16 blocks! How on earth do they DO that?! Wait. I think we need another letter. ▼ A retired English professor from the University of Hawaii, Jim Henry spends summers in his treehouse, featured last August in Delaware Beach Life. Photo credit: senturkserkan / Shutterstock.com

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SEPTEMBER 25, 2026

39 Letters

Words Matter

BY CLARENCE FLUKER

Seen, Heard, and Affirmed

A

s the first semester of my senior year of college approached, there were a number of things I was excited about. There were also just as many things I was nervous or unsure about. My major was speech communication, which meant I would have to complete a senior capstone paper. I would spend two semesters researching and writing about a single topic, with the end result being a very long research paper, longer than anything I had ever written. I needed to choose a topic that would hold my interest and one that my guiding professor would find acceptable for scholarly research. Dr. Lucia Hawthorne was one of the most well-respected professors, not only in the communications department, but on campus. Her long career in academia was filled with articles published in peer-reviewed journals, prestigious conference presentations, awards for both scholarship and service, and experience as chair of the department. She was known for excellence in all things she did, and for pushing students to be excellent, too. If you weren’t living up to your potential and the standard she set, she was quick to tell you about it in very plain terms. No academic jargon. She was no joke. She was also, to my 21-year-old self, very old and possibly quite conservative. I wondered how I would choose a topic for my capstone that would appeal to both of us. After giving lots of thought to so many topics, the answer became clear to me following the death of my uncle. I was processing a lot of emotions. I decided that I wanted to wrestle with some of those questions and channel them into something that would make me feel less powerless. The cutoff date for submitting our proposed topics was approaching. I wrote mine up and waited until the end of class to drop it off on her desk as I walked out. I was slowly leaning into my vulnerability. Through a scholarly lens, I wanted to explore how communication was playing a role in the HIV/AIDS pandemic, particLetters 40

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For some people, sharing their gender or sexuality can be easy. But depending on the person and the circumstances, it may not always be.

ularly among men who looked and loved like me. My proposed topic was: “HIV/ AIDS: A Crisis in Communication in the African American Gay Community.” I was nervous. I knew that when I returned to class, she would have read my proposal. Because of the topic, I felt as though I was “coming out” in yet another area of my life, and I was apprehensive about how I would be perceived. Coming out is not just a one-time thing. Over and over again, intentionally or sometimes unintentionally, queer people share another layer of themselves where they may or may not be judged. In addition to my concern about how she would react to me, I was unsure what her thoughts would be about me researching and writing about this subject. Days later, I walked across campus headed to class, trying to anticipate what was going to happen when I walked in. Nothing could have prepared me for what did happen when my feet crossed the threshold. Before my butt hit the seat, Dr. Hawthorne started lecturing me. She went on for quite some time, praising my proposal and pontificating on the right to human dignity, equality for all people, and the enormous influence of communication in the world. Suddenly, I had gone from feeling vulnerable to feeling powerful. For some people, sharing their gender or sexuality can be easy. But depending on the person and the circumstances,

it may not always be. Looking ahead to National Coming Out Day, celebrated annually on October 11, I applaud everyone with the courage to be themselves and share their full selves with confidence. I also appreciate and hold close to my heart all those outside the community who create safe spaces for folks like me to come out to. All these years later, I think about how meaningful my experience with Dr. Hawthorne was to me and to my personal and academic development. The week before graduation, I was called into the office of the chair of the communications department. I learned that I would be receiving a special recognition: an award named for Dr. Hawthorne, given to an outstanding senior in the graduating class. This was not an award given every year. I was so surprised and overflowing with pride. Sometimes, the moments when we feel most vulnerable can become the moments that affirm us most deeply. Dr. Hawthorne taught me that being seen, fully and honestly, can be its own powerful form of recognition. ▼ 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 Instagram: @Mr_CJFluker.

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41 Letters

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SEPTEMBER 25, 2026

43 Letters

Write On!

BY CHRISTOPHER MOORE

We Will Always Love You

D

olly Parton built a career in a world that was not designed to make room for women like her. Country music, especially in the 1960s and ‘70s, was commandeered by men: they owned the labels, ran the radio stations, fronted the bands, controlled the tours, and often expected female singers to fit neatly into roles that had already been written for them. Dolly did something bold: She entered that world fully aware of the rules, and refused to let them define the limits of her life. Even her appearance carried that defiance. Dolly has long spoken about the women in her Tennessee hometown whose exaggerated hair, makeup, heels, and clothes fascinated her as a child. Others dismissed those women. Dolly saw glamour. She saw confidence. She saw women creating themselves exactly as they wanted to be seen. Years later, when she became famous for her towering blonde hair, rhinestones, dramatic makeup, and impossible silhouettes, she was not merely creating a stage persona. She was paying tribute to women whose beauty existed outside conventional respectability. There is something radical in that choice. Dolly understood that femininity did not have to be softened in order to be taken seriously. She could be funny, sexy, ambitious, shrewd, generous, and enormously talented all at once. She never accepted the idea that one quality diminished another. Her songwriting told the same story. “I Will Always Love You” is one of the most famous love songs ever written, but its origin makes it something more complicated. Dolly wrote it when she decided to leave Porter Wagoner’s television program and pursue her own career. Wagoner had helped introduce her to a national audience, but Dolly understood that staying with him would eventually limit her. So, she wrote a goodbye. “I Will Always Love You” is tender, Letters 44

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grateful, and affectionate, but underneath all of that is a woman saying: I love you, but I still have to leave. That distinction is important in the context of her life. It is not a song about abandonment. It is a song about independence. Dolly was recognizing what Porter Wagoner had meant to her while refusing to surrender ownership of what came next. The enormous success that followed only makes the song more powerful. One of the most enduring ballads in American music began as a woman politely but firmly choosing herself. And once Dolly had established her own place, she repeatedly made room for other women. She championed fellow singers like Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris, women with singular voices and careers of their own. Their work together on the Trio albums never felt like three stars competing for attention. It felt like three women trusting one another enough to share the center. When Dolly, Linda, and Emmylou

sang together, their voices combined into something about as close to a heavenly choir as country music ever produced. Songs like “To Know Him Is to Love Him” and “After the Gold Rush” are powerful not because one voice dominates, but because each voice makes the others more beautiful. That generosity runs throughout Dolly’s career. She consistently understood that celebrating another woman’s talent did not diminish her own. In an industry that so often treated women as rivals for limited space, Dolly offered another model: admiration, collaboration, and abundance. She championed younger women, too. Her relationship with her goddaughter Miley Cyrus became one of the most visible examples, but it reflects something Dolly had practiced for decades: encouraging women to become more fully themselves rather than asking them to become more like her. That may be one of the most important things about Dolly Parton. She never needed to diminish another woman

Dolly created a public persona built around the freedom to construct yourself boldly, extravagantly, and without apology.

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to ensure her light continued to shine. Instead, she viewed the entertainment industry as a solar system where stars of all types had more than enough sky to shine bright. Similar to her peers Tammy Wynnette and Loretta Lynn, her songs gave women a voice at a time when mainstream country often reduced them to wives, mothers, heartbreak victims, or objects of desire. Dolly wrote about women who were complicated, wounded, funny, angry, poor, ambitious, sexual, resilient, and sometimes desperate. She understood how economic circumstance shaped women’s choices because she came from poverty herself. That empathy never required her to pretend life was prettier than it was. Even her humor often turned assumptions about women back on the people making them. Dolly knew exactly what people thought when they saw the hair, the curves, the glitter, and the heels. She also knew she was frequently the smartest person in the room. She made the joke before anyone else could. Then she negotiated the deal. That combination of self-awareness

and self-possession helped make Dolly much more than a country singer. She was a songwriter, actor, television star, producer, entrepreneur, philanthropist, and cultural institution without abandoning the exaggerated femininity that others might have considered a liability. She did not become powerful by becoming less feminine. She made her version of femininity part of the power. For generations of women, that mattered. And for many LGBTQ+ people, it mattered too. Dolly created a public persona built around the freedom to construct yourself boldly, extravagantly, and without apology. She also consistently expressed affection for LGBTQ+ fans and rejected the idea that difference should determine who deserves dignity or belonging. Perhaps that is why Dolly’s influence stretched so far beyond country music. Some people know her as the woman who wrote “Jolene.” Others know her as the songwriter behind Whitney Houston’s monumental version of “I Will Always Love You.” Some know her from 9 to 5, where she turned workplace sexism into comedy, music, and a fantasy

of women taking control. Some know her through Dollywood. Millions of children know her because books arrived in their homes through the Imagination Library. But beneath all those versions of Dolly is the same woman. A woman who understood where she came from. A woman who understood how easily women could be underestimated. A woman who figured out how to walk into rooms built by men, dressed exactly as she pleased, carrying songs she had written herself, and leave owning more of her future than when she entered. And then, whenever she could, she held the door open for other women; and that may be among her greatest legacies. The hair was big. The clothes were bigger. The voice was unmistakable. But the space she created for other women may have been the biggest of all. ▼ Christopher Moore is a writer, a teacher, and a lover of NPR, yoga, dead malls, reproductive freedoms, and a man and a dog who live in Toronto.

SEPTEMBER 25, 2026

45 Letters

OutTakes

BY SANDY CLARK

Vacation from What?

I

started writing my column a little early this month because we are taking a vacation to Rehoboth Beach in a week. Don’t tell anyone, but September is a great time to be at the beach. It’s like the old light beer commercials, “Tastes great! Less filling!” Only the beach is, “Still the ocean! Less crowded!” Beth and I have been vacationing in Rehoboth almost every one of the 20 years we have been together. But this year is a little different for me. In January of this year, I became an official retiree. Yay me! For the last eight months, I have been doing whatever the hell I wanted. No work to be done. No boss to answer to. No alarm clock. No deadlines. Free at last! So, as I have been getting ready for our stay at the beach, I’ve been feeling a little puzzled. What exactly am I taking a vacation from? So far, 2026 has been one long vacation as far as I’m concerned. Beth has more experience at this since she retired in 2022, so she understands what I’m feeling. But for her this vacation will celebrate the end of her radiation treatments for breast cancer. While I’m celebrating this with her, it’s still disorienting for me to take a vacation when I haven’t been doing anything. I guess that’s really not true. I have been doing stuff. I’ve been drawing and painting. I’ve been writing. I’ve been catching up on my reading. I’ve been cooking more. I’ve attempted to grow some vegetables, albeit unsuccessfully thanks to some wildlife in the nature preserve behind our house. I’ve also been supporting Beth through her diagnosis and treatments. But, with the exception of the vegetables, these are things I would do even on vacation. So, the question remains, what am I taking a vacation from? I’m a word person, so sometimes defining a word helps me to understand things a little better. The word “vacation” is a derivative of the verb “vacate,” which means to cease to occupy a lodging or place. Oddly enough, another definition is to cease to hold a job or position. Well,

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that certainly didn’t clarify anything for me. Apparently, Webster’s isn’t sure that you can take a vacation after retirement either! Perhaps I need to expand my perspective to get the insight I need. In the UK, people don’t take vacations. They go on holiday. The definition of holiday is a day free from work that one may spend at leisure. Holiday also means…wait for it… vacation. OK, this is getting me nowhere.

The music of the water throwing itself onto the sand is the ancient symphony of the Earth.

Maybe a vacation isn’t really about what you do. Maybe, it’s about where you go when you “cease to occupy a place.” My wife and I live near Dover. Our vacation is in Rehoboth. Does it count when the vacation is less than an hour from where you live? I guess distance isn’t really the determining factor. The fact is that the beach is a world away from home. I think I’m getting closer to figuring this out now. At home, we have routine. We have responsibilities. Caring for our cats. Paying bills. Home maintenance. Feeding ourselves. Doing the laundry. Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. Lately, I’ve been more of a couch potato than when I first retired. I haven’t finished a painting in a couple of

months. I haven’t planted the bulbs and tubers I ordered several weeks ago. I fall asleep on the sofa before 10:00 p.m. and, after dragging myself up to bed, I sleep until 8:00 a.m. Do I really need 10 hours of sleep? Beth is worried that I may be depressed. I’m more inclined to believe that it has only just hit me that retirement is not the panacea I originally imagined it to be. The state of the world is still more than disturbing. The weight of Beth’s cancer diagnosis has been difficult for me as well as her. The fact that getting older comes with an entirely new set of issues is now right in my face. I need a time out! And so, we go to the beach. For both Beth and me, the ocean has always been a place of healing and renewal. We breathe in the sea air and can just feel the positive ions cancelling out the negative ones we have been collecting in our bodies. In with the good air. Out with the bad. You can taste the salt. The music of the water throwing itself onto the sand is the ancient symphony of the Earth. You can feel the rhythm of it in your own heartbeat. You can feel the life in the sea as you watch the dolphins swim and the pelicans glide in that space where the ocean and the air touch. Our vacation isn’t about not doing work or not being in our house. It isn’t the same as retirement. Beth and I will remember our childhood selves and feel the joy we have always felt at the beach. We will play at the arcade and eat food that reminds us of the kids we used to be. We will spend time appreciating each other, remembering when we first fell in love, and celebrating another season together at the shore. This vacation isn’t about getting away from it all. It’s a reboot of the spirit, and a homecoming I forgot I needed. ▼ Sandy Clark, retired and living in central Delaware with her wife and two cats, loves sharing her humorous observations on the weirdness of life. Photo credit: Annie Spratt on Unsplash.com

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SEPTEMBER 25, 2026

47 Letters

The Writing Life

BY HUCK SMITH

The Book Apparently Disagreed

T

he thing about writing is that I think I know what I'm going to write. This is adorable. I sit down with an idea. Maybe I have notes. Maybe an outline. I know the subject, the tone, where I'm going. Then the writing develops a mind of its own. Being an essayist adds another complication. My material comes from within—the people I loved, the people I shouldn't have loved nearly as long as I did, the cities I left, the dogs who broke my heart. But the personal essays I love aren't really saying, Look at me. They're saying, This happened to me. Does any of it feel familiar to you? And if I'm going to ask that question honestly, eventually I have to stop believing my own bullshit. I can do all the therapy in the world and still say the right things about growth and boundaries in a room with a stranger. I am never completely honest with my therapist, so there’s that. Once I leave that room, I employ elective selective memory. If my half-truth confession doesn't suit my current narrative, it magically vanishes from memory. Putting those confessions on paper is different. I can be gutturally honest. Now they're sitting there looking back at me. If I'm being honest, the page has an annoying habit of noticing when I'm not. My second essay collection was originally called Raider at the Door. Raider is my dog. This clarification became increasingly necessary because, if you don't know me, Raider at the Door sounds less like a collection of personal essays and more like a thriller in which someone should probably call the police. I knew exactly what the cover looked like before the book existed. My dog sitting at a door, waiting. Because that's what he does. When I leave, Raider doesn't know I'm coming back. He doesn't know whether I've gone to the grocery store or died in a moderately embarrassing accident. He only knows I walked through the door and haven't walked back through it yet.

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This bothers me more than is probably reasonable. I leave the toilet seat up when I go out so he'll have water if something happens to me. I have also made it known that if I die, I want someone to bring Raider to see my body. I know. But I need him to understand that I didn't leave him. I don't want him sitting at the door waiting for someone who isn't coming back. I kept writing around that essay— about people I'd left, places I'd left, people who had left me. Some departures were necessary. Others happened because leaving was easier in the moment than staying and doing the work. A moving target is tough to hit. Then DNA testing handed me a piece of information about my own life that rearranged the furniture. I'd always

looked different from my family. Eventually I learned that my sister and I shared only one biological parent. I found my biological father through Ancestry. He blocked me. And somewhere in the writing, while Raider was sitting at his door waiting for me to return, I finally recognized what I'd been doing. I had been sitting at a door, too. Waiting for a father who wasn't coming back. I thought I was writing about my fear of abandoning my dog. I was writing about abandonment. Worse, I was beginning to understand how being left had taught me to leave. I had gone looking for punchlines and accidentally found a pattern. My first essay collection, Boys Bars Becoming, had plenty of light moments, but it also contained some sucker punch-

Sometimes staying is an act of love. Sometimes leaving is. Sometimes we stay because we're terrified to go. And sometimes we leave because we're terrified to stay. es. This time, I wanted to write a funny book. Lighter. I had already excavated enough of myself, thank you very much. The book apparently disagreed. Raider at the Door became The Leaving Gene: Essays on Staying, Going, and the Cost of Both. Writing it forced me to consider that some departures I'd categorized as courage might have been fear with better public relations. Sometimes staying is an act of love. Sometimes leaving is. Sometimes we stay because we're terrified to go. And sometimes we leave because we're terrified to stay. I don't think I solved the equation. I'm suspicious of writers who answer all their own questions. And then there are the places I left and keep returning to. The first person

NEW BY DESIGN.

who brought me to Rehoboth was an old boyfriend. He was 5'3" and called his penis Godzilla. That's a story for another time. What I remember about Rehoboth is thinking it felt like summer camp if summer camp were for adults, gay, and liquor were readily available. I've been coming back ever since. There's something comforting about returning to a place I've known across different versions of myself. The place changes. I change. Somehow we still recognize each other. Maybe that's why I keep writing essays. I start with something I think I understand—a boyfriend, a city, a dog sitting at a door—and poke at it until it tells me what I was actually writing about.

You'd think I'd have learned by now. I haven't. I still sit down believing I know what I'm going to write. It's adorable. ▼ Huck Smith is an essayist and author of Boys Bars Becoming and the forthcoming The Leaving Gene: Essays on Staying, Going, and the Cost of Both (Quick Draw Press, October 27, 2026). He spends his time writing, lifting heavy things at the gym, being managed by his dog Raider, and occasionally returning to Rehoboth Beach to make more questionable decisions to write about later. Find him at huckysmith.com and on TikTok, Substack, and social media as huckysmith.

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SEPTEMBER 25, 2026

51 Letters

Reflections

BY PATTIE CINELLI

A Spider-Man Skeptic Gets Caught in the Web

I

wanted to see The Odyssey, but my friend was not interested. She countered with, “How about Spider-Man: Brand New Day?” Hmmm. I really had no interest in seeing a Marvel movie. Discovering it was the ninth Spider-Man movie made since 2002 only strengthened my belief that this movie was not my piece of cake. What did intrigue me, though, was that Spider-Man: Brand New Day broke the all-time record for the biggest domestic opening weekend in box office history with $360m in the US and Canada. It was the second biggest global opening in history. “How could that be?” I said to my two doodles. “Why is a silly, superhero action movie so popular?” I was totally baffled. So, I gave my friend the thumbs up and viewed sitting through the movie as a way to satisfy my curiosity and catch up with a dear friend over a meal afterward. Walking into the theater, fidgety squawking kids, lots of animated, nonsensical, fantastical battles, and very little dialogue or storyline were my expectations. Instead, I faced a theater filled with mostly adults (even though it was a late Sunday afternoon), almost thoughtful, on-screen confrontations between ‘good’ and ‘bad’ guys that only sometimes turned to violence as a last resort, and dialogue that tugged at my heart and left me empathetic to the characters. Having never seen any of the eight previous Spider-Man movies was no handicap at all. I didn’t need to know what happened to Aunt May or even know who she was to understand how much Peter Parker missed this woman and how forlorn he was without her. I didn’t need to understand why Ned and MJ didn’t recognize him to know they had been close in the past. It was clear Peter Parker was in love with MJ and felt despair over not being able to connect with her. It didn’t cross my mind to question why Peter Parker was flying solo in Manhattan or wonder what had happened. Given Peter Parker’s unique

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SEPTEMBER 25, 2026

What struck me most was that the movie wasn’t really about superheroes or comic book characters. It was about us right now. talents, it was logical to me that he was alone. He was sad having to navigate life in a New York that no longer remembers him. Even the character of the Punisher, Frank Castle, was surprisingly mellow and compassionate. He actually seemed likable at times to me. Critics remarked that he’s softer and less brutal than his usual self. His personality had changed so much in Brand New Day that fans fill social media with heated discussions about how Frank Castle balanced his darker side with the lighter tone of this Spider-Man film. I loved how Jean Grey, initially portrayed as an evil monster who could possess people’s minds, turned out to be a desperate young woman frantically searching for her sister who was abducted. Grey was not a villain as initially portrayed, but a human with

special powers who was afraid for her sister and obsessed with finding her. She used the only advantage she had, which was her superpower. Grey’s fear and desperation turned to sorrow when she discovered the details of her sister’s demise. The revelation broke my heart in the same way my heart breaks when I witness real life insensitive, cruel treatment of those less fortunate and less powerful at the hands of those in power. I saw the Grey sisters’ story not as a sad tale of two monsters but as a reflection of how those who are different are treated. Grey’s sister was tortured and used for experimentation because she had extraordinary powers. The movie shined a light not only on how people who are different are treated, but also on how they are judged, isolated, and abused. I left the theater with so much more than I expected. I thought I would be bored by a superhero movie. I came out thinking about something far more human. Beneath the spectacular battles, impossible powers, and larger-than-life characters, I saw something remarkedly familiar. I felt people struggling with grief, loneliness, anger, loyalty, and the consequences of feeling powerless and how these feelings can shape the choices we make. What struck me most was that the movie wasn’t really about superheroes or comic book characters. It was about us right now. I may still not be a Marvel fan, but I am now a Spider-Man viewer who got caught in his web and don’t mind being there. I left the theater with hope for the possibility that we have the power to change. ▼ Pattie Cinelli, who had never seen a Marvel movie, is looking forward to the 10th SpiderMan film. Photo credit: Erman Gunes / Shutterstock.com

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53 Letters

More CAMP News Continued from page 10

CROP’s “Fabulous Ladies” at the Food Bank

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Celebrating 100 Years of Broadway

T O

n Tuesday, September 8, the CAMP Rehoboth Outreach Program (CROP) made its regular visit to the Food Bank of Delaware. Volunteer lead Deb Carroll said, "13 fabulous ladies worked hard filling USDA boxes for distribution as well as building backpacks for kids." Earlier this year, CROP increased its site visits to the Food Bank from bi-monthly to monthly, helping fight food insecurity in the state. For more information about CROP and how to volunteer, visit camprehoboth.org/ volunteer. ▼

Letters 54

SEPTEMBER 25, 2026

he CAMP Rehoboth Chorus presents "100 Years of Broadway," a celebration of Broadway's 100th anniversary, September 25-27, 2026. As its final concert of the 2026 season, the Chorus will perform beloved classics from South Pacific, Guys and Dolls, The Lion King, Rent, and plenty more. Artistic Director Doug Yetter will be accompanied by David Zipse and the CAMP Rehoboth Chorus band. ▼ Purchase your tickets at camprehoboth.org/events.

SEPTEMBER 25, 2026

55 Letters

A Vision for Tomorrow

BY NANCY SAKADUSKI

REHOBOTH BEACH’S NEW MAYOR,

Susan Stewart

I

t was just last October when I interviewed Susan Stewart about her new role on the Rehoboth Beach Board of Commissioners. At that time, she said, “I felt like the board of commissioners could use someone with my skill set. I have a financial background, I’m a lawyer, and the board has had challenges with productivity.” Apparently, she was right, because flip the calendar forward to August 2026, and Susan Stewart has been elected mayor, winning more than 60 percent of the vote in a field of four candidates. She will be the first openly gay mayor of Rehoboth Beach, and the first woman elected mayor in decades. It’s both remarkable that Rehoboth has a gay mayor and remarkable that it took so long. “I decided to run because of a lot of things,” Stewart says, “none of which was to make history…because we all think of ourselves as just people.” She credits the strength of the people who came before her—calling out Murray Archibald, Steve Elkins, and CAMP Rehoboth, in particular. “We’re sort of aspirational,” Stewart says when she talks about the fact that people here don’t worry so much about who’s gay and who’s straight. “This is what the world could look like if people came together,” she says, while acknowledging that things aren’t perfect. “I’m not saying that there isn’t progress to be made and there are probably people still struggling, but certainly in terms of being here and living here in Rehoboth, it’s not the first thing people talk about or ask… it’s just a great place to be a person.”

It’s both remarkable that Rehoboth has a gay mayor and remarkable that it took so long. Before building the house they live in now, Stewart and her partner of 20 years, Julie Olson, enjoyed coming to their beach house part-time. Despite being an extrovert in her public life, Stewart says she relishes alone time. “Julie and I are a bit like homebodies, because our best nights are: we’re sitting on the couch, we have a glass of wine, a homemade dinner (we love to cook), and we’re watching the WNBA.” She also loves to read books, especially historical fiction. “I like to be quiet,” she explains. Letters 56

SEPTEMBER 25, 2026

“We’ve hit a tipping point,” [Stewart] says, “where if we don’t plan for the future, we’re not going to be able to preserve the charm and the character of the past that drew people here.”

Becoming a full-time resident altered how Stewart saw Rehoboth Beach. “It changed my understanding of it, and it quickly became clear that there were some things we could work on that would harmonize our existence as residents that were not being addressed.” That led to her joining the Rehoboth Beach Planning Commission. “That was really something that whet my appetite,” says Stewart. “I started to get a real understanding of the tensions created by the fact that 63 percent of our revenues are tourism related and probably 100 percent of the quality-of-life issues that the residents experience are tourism related.” Then, in 2025, two seats on the Rehoboth Beach Board of Commissioners were up for election. “I’ve always been a leader,” Stewart says, “whether it’s a middle school basketball team or a college team.” [Stewart was a college lacrosse coach and played on the US lacrosse team.] She says a wide range of people started asking her to run, and so “it just seemed to me to be a natural fit.” With Stewart already on the fast track, running for mayor was an obvious next step. Although campaigning was hard (and she has now spent two summers in a row doing it), Stewart says she used the campaign as an opportunity to hone her goals for governance. Her experience on the planning board, year as commissioner, and time spent campaigning began to coalesce. She came to understand “this is the way we need to go.” It gave her direction. “So now it’s great, because we’re hitting the ground running. We know what people want.” The other pivotal point for Stewart was Charrette Week, which provided residents, business owners, and others an opportunity to give input that will help shape the future of Rehoboth Beach. “There’s a lot of positive energy,” Stewart says, “and that’s really cool.” An example she gives from the Charrette Week process is that people said they like to dine where they can see the water. “We have a huge boardwalk and a huge ocean,” says Stewart, “but we don’t have a ton of restaurants that are really taking advantage of that.” She says that is just one of many findings that will be addressed. And although Stewart says they don’t want to change everything, “We want to identify those little nuggets that are still here that we love and try to sort of bring those back in a way, a way that deals with traffic, that deals with bike-ability and walkability. And workforce housing is huge for us because businesses lose employees out to Route One because they can’t find parking here. It’s expensive.... We heard loud and clear from the businesses that attended.”

One of Stewart’s biggest concerns is balancing the old with the new. “We’ve hit a tipping point,” she says, “where if we don’t plan for the future, we’re not going to be able to preserve the charm and the character of the past that drew people here.” She adds, “We are becoming a year-round community that’s very populated in the heavy summer season, and we’re looking at how to harmonize that.” This is all to say Mayor Susan Stewart is hyper-focused on the future of Rehoboth Beach and looking forward to consultants from Dover, Kohl & Partners doing a rewrite of the zoning codes. “For the first time, our codes will speak to how buildings look and feel as opposed to just ‘this is the setback’ and ‘build whatever you want as long as it’s set back this far’ without any sort of vision for what these properties look like. And that’s really exciting.” Great things are also happening in other areas. “CAMP Rehoboth bringing Beebe here, and partnering with them, that’s game-changing for the town,” Stewart says, “and that’s great leadership.… And it’s really in keeping with this idea that we’d like to have that 15-minute city [the concept that daily necessities such as work, shopping, education, healthcare, and parks can be reached within a 15-minute walk or bike ride from home]. We don’t have that now, so I think CAMP Rehoboth is a huge part of the foundation we’ll build on as we move forward.” Mayor Susan Stewart is looking to bring all these factors and factions together. “My vision for tomorrow,” she says, “is that five years on, 10 years on, we will have solved this challenge of being a year-round city with harmony between the businesses, the developers, and the residents. And I think we’re on our way toward that.” She returns to Rehoboth’s natural assets. “We’ve got the beach, the boardwalk, and these incredible people. Let’s remove obstacles to realizing a vision of walkability, bike-ability, charming character, all the things that drew us here. Let’s stop them from slipping away. Let’s be proactive about articulating the vision…and then let’s start implementing.” Nancy (Day) Sakaduski is an award-winning writer and proud ally who has provided writing services to CAMP Rehoboth for 14 years. She also serves on the Lewes Public Library Board of Commissioners and the Delaware Art Museum’s Sussex County Advisory Council. Photos by Murray Archibald.

SEPTEMBER 25, 2026

57 Letters

A Floof and a Woofer

BY LYNDA ESPOSITO

Chowder & Miko

T

he silence following the loss of a cherished pet settles into the corners of a home, turning familiar spaces into quiet reminders of what used to be. Two area families, both having recently experienced the heartbreak of losing a beloved animal companion, made a conscious decision to pause, protect their hearts, and remain pet-free for a while to heal. And yet, healing arrived on its own timeline, on four paws…. Fred and Joe were reeling from consecutive losses: their 17-year-old beagle mix and their 16-year-old Chihuahua-Jack Russell mix, Leo. They needed time before even considering another dog. But while taking a break in his workshop, Fred found himself drawn to the Humane Animal Partners (HAP) website. He wasn't looking to adopt; he just wanted the comfort of looking at dogs. That was when he saw Chowder. "I don't know what drew me to him," Fred recalls. "His markings were very similar to Leo’s, even though he was so much larger." After days of hesitation, Fred finally shared the profile with Joe. Though initially reluctant to look, Joe's curiosity won out. As he read Chowder’s biography, one detail stood out: the young dog had already been returned to the shelter twice. While a history of multiple returns is a red flag for many, it resonated differently with Fred and Joe. Years prior, they had adopted a dog with the exact same background who went on to become an incredible companion for 17 years. They understood that a "returned" label does not mean a bad dog; often, it is just a matter of bad timing and a mismatch. Knowing the HAP adoption center in Rehoboth was just two minutes away, they went to meet Chowder. The connection was instantaneous, and they adopted him that very day. Meanwhile, a Philadelphia family spending their summer in Rehoboth was navigating the untimely loss of their beloved cat, Bachi, which had left their remaining cat, Chi Chi, without a comLetters 58

SEPTEMBER 25, 2026

Four months into his new life, Chowder is no longer a shelter statistic—he is a beloved member of a whole family. panion. The family knew Chi Chi would eventually need a friend, but the parents agreed: they wanted another cat, but definitely not right now. The next day, the kids asked to visit the local shelter "just to look." While the first two roomfuls of kittens brought no sudden spark, everything shifted the moment they stepped into the third room. There, they fell in love with a tiny kitten named Frank. After sleeping on the decision and even seeking guidance from a day at the beach, the family returned. While the parents gently leaned toward another kitten, their son, Andre, scooped Frank into his

arms. "This is the cat I want," he said. They brought Frank home and gave him a new name: Amico—Italian for "friend"—or Miko for short. Integrating a new animal into a home is rarely without its challenges, requiring an abundance of patience and faith. For Fred and Joe, Chowder brought a whirlwind of adolescent energy. At just under two years old, he could be a handful, but his gentle nature shone through. He quickly became a favorite at the dog park, playing beautifully with others, before spending his evenings curled up tightly next to Fred on the couch. For Miko’s family, the initial transition was more volatile. The moment the kitten was set on the floor, Chi Chi became deeply upset. They separated the cats for a few days, showered both with individual love and security, and then gently allowed them free rein. Soon, Miko was boldly climbing onto Chi Chi’s back to play, transforming the household with a vibrant, chaotic joy. Four months into his new life, Chowder is no longer a shelter statistic—he is a beloved member of a whole family. "He helped us as much as we helped him," Fred reflects. Miko, too, has proven to be an incredible friend, complete with the loudest, most intense purr his owners have ever encountered. His family is careful to note that Miko isn't a replacement for Bachi; nobody could ever replace the cat they lost. Miko is entirely his own unique spirit. By having the patience to let their pets figure things out, and the faith to open their hearts when they least expected to, these families didn’t just rescue Chowder and Miko. They allowed these resilient animals to rescue them right back. If you are thinking about adding a pet to your life, let these stories be your sign to choose adoption—you might just find the perfect companion waiting to heal you. ▼ Linda Esposito is a volunteer with Humane Animal Partners.

SEPTEMBER 25, 2026

59 Letters

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Letters 60

SEPTEMBER 25, 2026

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SEPTEMBER 25, 2026

61 Letters

Historical Headliners

BY ANN APTAKER

Vogue-ing: Dorothy Todd & Madge Garland

B

efore there was Anna Wintour and her fictional counterpart Miranda Priestly, before there was the Met Gala and all the drama of who’s attending and who’s wearing who, there was a queer fashion revolution going on a hundred years ago in London. The revolution was led not by whom we’d might expect, meaning the gay men who’ve always populated the fashion world, but by two lesbians—Dorothy Todd and Madge Garland—editor in chief and fashion editor, respectively, of British Vogue. Launched in 1916, British Vogue began as a somewhat stuffier version of its American cousin. Its pages—by British Vogue’s own admission—featured mere “hats and frocks.” In order to inject some much-needed zest into the magazine, Condé Nast, Vogue’s publisher (still the publishing company of all Vogue editions worldwide) recruited Dorothy Todd, a very much out lesbian and prominent member of Britain’s Modernist set of writers, artists, performers, and intellectuals. Todd assumed the editor position in 1922 and immediately set about changing the magazine’s direction from a strictly “hats and frocks” publication to a cutting-edge magazine not only of Modernist fashion but of literature and essays on the latest activities in the arts. Todd published poetry by no less than Gertrude Stein, articles by Noël Coward and Vita Sackville-West, photography by Cecil Beaton and Surrealist Man Ray, and the boldest haute couture by adventurous designers. In order to maintain a steady flow of fashion experimentation while Todd saw to the more literary side of things, Todd hired Madge Garland, a 24-year-old lesbian and fashion journalist with Modernist sympathies. At first, Garland seemed an odd choice for the position of fashion editor. She was a rather strange-looking woman with unconventional facial features and slouchy posture due to a childhood spinal condition. Once installed at Vogue, and under Dorothy Todd’s tutelage, both edi-

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Like so many of our queer achievements over the years, though, the surrounding establishment found Todd’s and Garland’s Vogue too avant-garde to tolerate. torial and romantic, Madge Garland transformed from a gawky girl to an attractive, fashionable, and artistically astute young woman. Even Virginia Woolf described Garland, if somewhat cattily, as having “rather excessive charm.” Todd and Garland moved in together and lived openly as lovers. Their relationship had an effect on their stewardship of British Vogue; a queer sensibility became markedly noticeable. Todd’s inclusion of pieces by queer literary figures, and Garland’s choices of avant-garde fashion layouts slyly featuring women in suspiciously friendly attitudes, made British Vogue one of the era’s go-to publications for the queer set. Like so many of our queer achievements over the years, though, the surrounding establishment found Todd’s and Garland’s Vogue too avant-garde to

tolerate. In 1926, after only four years at the editorial and fashion helms of British Vogue, Condé Nast fired Dorothy Todd for making the magazine “too bohemian,” no doubt meaning too queer. Madge Garland resigned in protest. Todd’s firing essentially destroyed her career. Though she contributed articles now and then to various publications, she was never again hired for a senior editorial position. Garland, on the other hand, managed to weather the storm. She wrote influential fashion articles for various publications into the 1930s, and in an ironic turn of events Garland was re-hired by British Vogue as fashion editor, where she remained until retirement in 1940. The brouhaha surrounding Todd’s firing in 1926 and Garland’s resignation had a ruinous effect on their personal lives, fraying their relationship. Nevertheless, as Vogue itself admits on its British Vogue website, the effect of the short stewardship of the magazine by lesbians Dorothy Todd and Madge Garland can still be felt today in all of Vogue’s international editions. Queer sensibility is celebrated in its articles and fashion design choices. Whole editions are even devoted to queer themes, such as Italian Vogue’s “Feminine/Masculine” series. Speaking personally, I find it thrilling that the first heyday of British Vogue’s queer expression was spearheaded by two dykes. In many ways, Todd and Garland opened the door for later lesbian designers such as Hollywood’s Edith Head, Finland’s Ella Boucht, London-based Irish designer Sinéad O’Dwyer, and all the other lesbian, nonbinary, and trans designers currently making their way in the fashion world, changing the way not just how we dress, but how we live. ▼ Ann Aptaker is the author of short stories and the Lambda & three-time Goldie award winning Cantor Gold series. Her latest in the series—Gold for the Dead—was released in October 2025. Vogue Magazine Cover, April 1924. Designer: Harriet Meserole

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63 Letters

CAMPshots

SCENES FROM REHOBOTH BEACH & BEYOND

Sometimes We Dance in the Summer Sun!

SUNFESTIVAL 2026­—Love Out Loud! RB Museum Beach Ball, Battle of the Bachelors and Bachelorettes, Clear Space, Library Garden Party and More! THIS PAGE (left to right) 1 ) at SUNFESTIVAL Concert and Auction: David Archuleta, Teri Seaton, Dottie Outland, Mike Nonemaker, Bryan Warner, Lewis Renoll, Chris Yochim, Jeanne Bertonis, Melvin Frye, Jason Lambert, Blair Cappuccio, Craig Forbes, Matt Rice, Craig Schwartz, Marc Charon, Jamie Kotchek, Debbie Woods, Jennifer Rubenstein, Diane Scobey, Leslie Sinclair. OPPOSITE PAGE 2) at SUNFESTIVAL Concert and Auction: Ashley Williams, Marty Rendon, Robin Brennan, Donald Garverick, Arty Sosa, Aaron Smith, Mike Safina, Tim Bean, Joe Vescio, Bob Horne, Barry Moshinski, Rob Ponzini, Sean Lynch, Peter Garneau, Amanda Carey, Angel Nicholas, Logan Bradan, Kate Chiodini, Peter Bish, Eveyln Maurmeyer, Ellan Hylton, Keith Anderson, Ed Miller, Jimmy Villareale, Glenn West, Max Dick. (More CAMPshots page 66)

1

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65 Letters

SCENES FROM REHOBOTH BEACH & BEYOND

1

(Continued from page 65) THIS PAGE (left to right) 1) at SunFestival Dance: DJ Robbie Leslie, DJ James Anthony, Angel Welborn, Richard Noblett, Michael Welborn, Eric Cylc, Nan Martino, Chi Wu, Cheryl Landry, Simone Fares, Giutier Fry, Lorne Crawford, Scott Tazbin, Marvin Miller, Frank DelCampo, Matt Rice, Blair Cappuccio, Charles Bounds, Mary Beth Ramsey, Sondra Arkin, Brittany McCunney, Derrick Kelley. OPPOSITE PAGE: 2) at SUNFESTIVAL Dance: Chad Stover, Timmie Cash, Paul Pfizenmayer, Robert Simpson, Vincent DeLissio, Jordan Nally, Jimmy Kane, Bryan Trieble, Rachel Carson, Autumn Baylis, Colleen Malloy, Paula Sydenstricker, David Gifford, Fran O’Brien, Brian Lanoutte, Brian Gifford, Mark O’Connor, Scott Wistner, Bruce Clayton, Nicholas Bigioli, Angelo Ciro, Lon Miller, Kevin Fletcher, Scott Silber, David Sacco, Albert Drulis, Dale Campbell, Joe Decollibus, Jeff Byrdzinski, Mark Switaj, Tyler Prete. (More CAMPshots page 84) Letters 66

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Everybody Dance Now!

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67 Letters

Man of Many Faces

Solution on Page 108 ACROSS 1 Taylor of I Shot Andy Warhol 5 “Snail-mail” org. 9 Closet item 14 Straight ___ arrow 15 Personal lubricant ingredient 16 Slowly, to Sondheim 17 Tim Curry’s It clown 19 Capital of Ghana 20 Actress Pfeiffer 21 From, in France 22 “Suzanne” composer Leonard 23 Homeland of the Singing Nun (abbr.) 25 Tim Curry’s operatic villain in Legend 27 Goes the way of bad milk 30 Number of bulbs 31 “___ live and breathe!” 32 Top draft level 34 Faust author 37 Tim Curry’s character in the movie Clue 40 More like a virgin 41 Breakfast waffle brand name 42 Jam ingredients 44 Foam at the mouth 45 Handle on a machine that cuts leaves of grass 47 King of Crete 49 Dick, for short 50 Ivy Leaguer in New Haven 52 One of the Village People

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wears one 54 Tim Curry’s most iconic role 58 Make more potent 59 Gallo portrayer in And the Band Played On 60 Stand next to Cassatt 64 Rock Hudson’s A Farewell to ___ 65 Not even once, to Dickinson 66 Copland composed for it 67 Ball-bearing items 68 Not hard to get in bed 69 Stick your nose in DOWN 1 “Crash” org. 2 Frasier’s response to a client 3 Connector of continents 4 Wanting much 5 Motor City org. 6 Got some dirt in the skirt, in A League of Their Own 7 Sat for Diana Davies 8 Playground piece for a couple 9 Paving material 10 Storyteller 11 Emulate Leonard Bernstein 12 Shrek and others 13 Lovemaking responses 18 Gutless 24 Type of salami you can put in your hero 26 Disdained newspaper

27 Sounded like Scarecrow’s foe 28 The way we word 29 Hospital fluid 33 Motivation affecters 35 German philosopher Georg 36 With blood rushing to the head 38 Cause for a massage 39 Like some degrees 43 “Chim-Chim-Cheree” residue 46 “Horny” animal 48 Beds, with “with” 51 Totally ridiculous 53 It makes waves 54 Apartment, to McKellen 55 One way to have one’s meat 56 Top 57 Bitch botherer 61 Word on a Brazilian map 62 Bowie collaborator 63 Cut

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69 Letters

Be A Sport!

BY MARY JO TARALLO

Hook, Line, and Sinker

A

ccording to a special report published by the Recreational Boating and Fishing Foundation last year, nearly 58 million Americans fish. The report also found that a little over 5 million Americans tried fishing for the first time in 2024. The terms fisherman and angler often are used interchangeably but there are differences. An angler is a person who catches fish using a rod, reel, line, and hook for sport or recreation. A fisherman is a broader term that includes anyone catching fish by any method, including commercial nets or traps. In other words, every angler is a fisherman but not every fisherman is an angler. It’s probably safe to assume that most of those who fish in this area would be considered anglers. Lewes resident Lisa Mosley is one of the lucky anglers. She can fish right behind her house thanks to a man-made pond that is stocked with bass, blue gills, sunnies, and minnows. She and friend Dee Marlin did just that recently. Dee learned to fish at the age of six, thanks to her father and some friends. There are plenty of fishing options in Sussex County—from a pier, a boat, the beach, and the rocks at Indian River. Some of these are known as bank fishing, which is what the two women were doing.

I fell in love with the water and fishing at the same time and they are my favorite memories as a child.” Bank fishing means catching fish from a shoreline, riverbank, or dry land next to a body of water rather than from a kayak, dock, or boat, including head boats (groups) and charter fishing boats. It is an accessible, budget-friendly way to enjoy the sport using a basic rod and reel, live bait, or artificial lures. Letters 70

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Some of the more popular local saltwater fishing venues are in or near Cape Henlopen State Park, including the Park’s fishing pier and Herring Point. The fishing pier is located toward the north end of the park. It overlooks Delaware Bay, a prime source of flounder and blue fish. Indian River also is a good spot to snare flounder. More than 30 Delaware freshwater lakes and ponds are open for fishing and other recreation. Nineteen are in Sussex County including Abbotts Pond, Millsboro Pond, Trapp Pond, and Wagamons Pond in Milton. Most are managed by Delaware’s Division of Fish and Wildlife; they range in size from five to 189 acres. They support a variety of game fish. A Delaware ponds map is located on the Delaware.gov website; it includes more options, such as the Nanticoke River and one of its tributaries, Broad Creek, in Laurel.

The public Facebook Delaware Fishing page enables experienced anglers and newcomers to connect with each other and share information. This public group has almost 23,000 members. According to the US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), a significant number of anglers learned to fish when they were children. The FWS notes that fishing among children has remained popular since it surged during COVID. In 2020, “13.5 million youth ages 6 to 17 hit the water, a crucial indicator for the future as 88% of current anglers began fishing before the age of 12.” Suzanne Reisinger fits that demographic. She started fishing with her grandparents when she was six years old. “They had an Airstream and were snowbirds to the Keys in Florida,” she said. “Sport fishing is amazing down there and both of my grandparents were avid fishermen. I fell in love with the water and

“When the blues are running it is an incredible thing to watch and fish if you are physically able to deal with the rocks and the current.”

fishing at the same time and they are my favorite memories as a child.” Fifty-five years later, she is still at it. She has learned to read seasonal weather changes that affect what fish are plentiful and where. “It changes all the time with the temperature of the water to recent storms stirring up the surf.” She likes fishing from her boat in Rehoboth Bay in the early summer for spot and croaker and the canal for flounder. “As the water starts to warm, fishing in bays slows down. Fishing Indian River is fun and challenging. When the blues are running it is an incredible thing to watch and fish if you are physically able to deal with the rocks and the current. Surf fishing is lots of fun and relaxing,” she said. In any case, doing some research or talking to someone about the tides and bait and rods for surf are keys to success—but only part of the equation. Equipment plays a significant role. There are six to eight main types of fishing rods commonly used by anglers. They are categorized primarily by their design, the type of reel they pair with, and the specific style or environment of fishing. There are spinning rods (com-

mon and versatile), casting rods (built for accuracy and heavier lines), fly-fishing rods (long and flexible), and surf rods (extra-long for casting out from a beach or shore), just to name a few. There basically are two choices when deciding on how to attract fish—live bait and artificial lures. There is a dizzying array of choices with the latter that might be confusing to neophytes. Fishing has a language of its own. Lisa has a rather meticulous approach that combines both. When fishing in Rehoboth Bay and Indian River for flounder, she uses minnows, squid, and plastic gulps, a type of soft plastic artificial lure. For bass fishing in ponds, she opts for spinner baits, rattle traps, and plastic worms, all of which are types of artificial lures. In short, attracting fish requires a basic knowledge of what appeals to different kinds of fish and a strategy. Suzanne recommends that beginners get to know someone at a bait and tackle shop because they know what people are catching, what they are using for bait, and where people are catching fish. Another information source is the Fishing Booker Blog.

Many local anglers return the fish they catch to the waters. Suzanne notes that she learned to release fish gently till they can swim away. Dee releases her catch unless she knows they will not survive. A general fishing license is required for fishing, crabbing, or clamming in tidal and non-tidal waters throughout the state of Delaware. A fishing license may be obtained in person at DNREC headquarters (89 Kings Highway, Dover), through more than 40 licensing agents statewide, or online by visiting the Delaware fishing license web page—just follow the link. A fishing license is good through December 31 for the calendar year in which it was issued. There are exemptions to the license requirement, e.g., children under the age of 16 do not need a license, and Delaware residents age 65 or older also are exempt (but need to be able to prove residency and age). Detailed exemption information can be found at: dnrec.delaware.gov/ fish-wildlife/licenses/exemptions/. Surf fishing requires a special permit. A Delaware surf fishing vehicle permit allows you to drive onto designated state park beaches for active fishing. Permits cost $90 for Delaware residents and $180 for non-residents. You must display the sticker on an official surf fishing license plate and watch the state’s instructional safety video before driving on the sand. Suzanne has a couple of thoughts that she loves to share: “My advice to beginners would be ‘don’t expect to catch anything’—so when you do catch something you will be pleasantly surprised. I just love being and doing activities outside and being on the water is my idea of heaven.” ▼ 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. Photos: Opposite page Dee Marlin; this page Lisa Mosley. Photo credit: Mary Jo Tarallo

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71 Letters

M A K E A M E A N I N GF UL D I FF E R E N C E WI TH

Your Required Minimum Distribution If you’re 73 or older, your Required Minimum Distribution (RMD) can be more than just a financial obligation. To Learn More or Make Your RMD Gift: Call us! Contact Laurie Thompson, 302-227-5620, or via email at laurie@camprehoboth.org

37 Baltimore Avenue, Rehoboth Beach, DE 19971 302.227.5620 | camprehoboth.org

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Hockessin Colored School #107

Rescuing History Community Transformation Growing Community Medical Achievement Quiet Philanthropy Rescuing History Statewide Innovation

The historic Hockessin Colored School #107 was facing demolition. Stepping in to stop the wrecking ball was the African American Empowerment Fund of Delaware at DCF, which loaned $100,000 to the project, buying vital time to raise additional funds. Today the school is a center for diversity, inclusion and social equity, and the loan has been repaid.

delcf.org

302.571.8004

YEARS

SEPTEMBER 25, 2026

73 Letters

arts+entertainment

BY LOGAN FARRO

SPOTLIGHT SPOTLIGHT ON ON THE THE

arts

CAMP Rehoboth Puts Art at the Heart CAMP Rehoboth Puts Art at the Heart of Our Community of Our Community

Claws, Paws, and Creativity! The Bears are Back in Town! September 17-October 2, 2026

C

AMP Rehoboth is thrilled to announce that the Rehoboth Beach Bears are back! This annual exhibition shows the incredible range of creative talent from the Rehoboth Beach Bears group. This year, we are showcasing works from 19 different artists and featuring an impressive array of mediums, including stained glass, photography, and paintings. This exhibition not only displays art by members who identify as a part of the Bear community but also includes general bear-themed artworks. Shout out to the following artists who are exhibiting in this year’s show: Russell Stiles, Adam David Bencomo, Scott G. Brooks, George Farrah, Deb Payette, Leslie Sinclair, Julian Harbaugh, Dennis Harr, Les K. Wright, Stained Glass by Yona, Tej Goorah, Craig Simmons, Robert Fleming, Brad Cox, Ernest Hollowak, Tim Goecke, Don Twine, Brendan J. Gray, and Xin Ray Penland Obrien. Claws, Paws, and Creativity! will be on display until Friday, October 2; be sure to check it out! ▼ Logan Farro is CAMP Rehoboth’s Visual Arts Coordinator. He may be reached at logan@camprehoboth.org.

Images, clockwise: Bizarre Love Triangle by Craig Simmons, Noir Stache by Don Twine, When Bears Dream of Ice Cream by Leslie Sinclair.

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.

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arts+entertainment

BY JOE GFALLER

PERFORMING ARTS

A

s the summer crowds taper off and parking season ends, there is a certain calm that settles over our beachfront communities. Fall is here—and with it, a whole new slate of live performances to enjoy. There are a few Halloween season staples that play time and again across our region’s stages, with different companies producing their own takes on each of these stories every year or two. Whether it’s an old favorite or something fun and different, there’s plenty of great fall favorites to enjoy in the months ahead. Here are a few highlights you might consider:

MARK YOUR CALENDARS!

Upcoming Exhibit: Active Imagination October 7-27 | Opening Reception: Sunday, October 11

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ogan Farro opens his first solo show, Active Imagination, on October 7 at the CAMP Rehoboth Gallery. The exhibit features a collection of paintings, illustrations, and other mixed media works, Logan, an active member of the CAMP Rehoboth community, is a Delaware Division of the Arts Individual Artists Fellowship recipient, and with this award has worked to expand his own creative practice. Exploring new mediums and techniques, Logan has been able to further both his art process and his creative expression. Active Imagination will be on display from October 7-27, with a reception on Sunday, October 11, from 3:00-5:00 p.m. We hope to see you there!

Image: Sinner by Logan Farro.

SWEENEY TODD

Sept. 24-Oct. 11 The demon barber of Fleet Street takes the stage again in Sussex County, this time at Milton Theatre, where Delaware native James Verderamo (Leo Frank, Parade, Omaha Playhouse) plays the title role opposite Caitie Moss (regularly seen at Dutch Apple Theatre) as Mrs. Lovett, his partner in crime. This bloodthirsty musical offers up one of Stephen Sondheim’s most powerful scores. THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW

Oct. 9-31 This all-new production at Clear Space is the first full production directed by the company’s new Artistic Director, Wes Drummond. Late-night shows include audience call backs and prop bags. Attend the October 22, 7:00 p.m. performance and 50 percent of box office proceeds go to the Rehoboth Beach Bears’ scholarship fund. Starring Justin Autz, fresh from the off-Broadway run of the Seinfeld parody musical, as Frank-NFurter and Darrien Wilcox as Brad. BEETLEJUICE, JR.

Oct. 9-18 This youth production at Second Street Players features young people from Milford and beyond retelling the story of the blockbuster motion picture about an unusual teen named Lydia who finds

herself moving to a house haunted by the ghost with the most. While Lydia yearns to experience the afterlife, Beetlejuice can’t wait to be back in the land of the living. It’s no surprise that pandemonium ensues. THE BECHDEL TEST

Concert reading: Oct. 21, 7:30 p.m. In anticipation of next year’s world premiere of Clear Space’s newly-commissioned play The Bechdel Test, playwright Suehyla El-Attar Young and director Ashley Williams bring a concert reading of the play-in-development to the stage. Attend the reading and your feedback may help shape the final version of this hilarious script. Three women, a tire iron, a lot of wine, and a dead man’s body in the kitchen—what could possibly go wrong? HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH

Oct. 21-Nov. 1 At Milton Theatre, local drag royalty Magnolia Applebottom takes on the title role of the cult classic show that is at once an electric glam rock concert and an introspective and touching examination of identity. Hedwig’s botched gender reassignment surgery in East Berlin leaves behind angry inch—and a life of yearning and regret she pours into her music. SHE LOVES ME

Nov. 13-22 This sparkling musical is the classic romcom that eventually was adapted into the 1998 Tom Hanks/Meg Ryan movie You’ve Got Mail. As pen pals, they are in love, but in real life, they think they hate each other. Steven Dow (Bobby in Possum Point’s Company) and Sarah Rose (Heidi Hansen in Dear Evan Hansen at Clear Space) star as the show’s unexpected lovers. Joe Gfaller is Managing Director of Clear Space Theatre Company. SEPTEMBER 25, 2026

75 Letters

arts+entertainment

BY MARY JO TARALLO

CAMP REHOBOTH ARTIST PROFILE ⊲ LeAnn Erickson

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et’s just say that local filmmaker LeAnn Erickson has a whimsical streak. Take one look at her website home page (leannerickson. com) with its cartoonish hero shot. Notice the titles of some of her films: Grapefruit Paris, Bun Bun and Skippy Go to NYC, The Computer Wore Heels, or I (heart) Jack Lalanne: A Cartoon Memoir. That last title has a personal meaning for LeAnn. She describes herself as a storyteller, and she has some stories to tell. Her video styles—video art, animation, and documentary—are as diverse as her life experiences. LeAnn knew as a child that she wanted to be an artist, but with a slight detour as a “white Wilma Rudolf,” an Olympic champion she admired. Her father thought she would grow up to be president. She aspired to be all three but ultimately settled on a career as a filmmaker and she has been making films for 40 years. She learned her trade as a graduate student at the University of Iowa. LeAnn was born in Bemidji, Minnesota, grew up in Waterloo, Iowa, and lived for several years in Philadelphia where she served as a professor of film and video production in the Department of Film and Media Arts at Temple University. She has been an independent media artist and filmmaker for over 30 years. Her films have aired on public and cable television, been exhibited in media and art galleries, and they have received national and international recognition at video and film festivals. LeAnn cites the early first-person documentary work of Errol Morris for challenging her to explore creative ways of bringing an individual’s experiences to the screen. She also credits what she calls the “confessional approach” of Sadie Benning for exposing her to the “expansive possibilities of personal documentary.” Both Morris and Benning are well-known in the world of independent filmmaking.

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LeAnn says she has no favorite approach to filmmaking; rather, she utilizes a variety of techniques that she feels best serve the subject. For example, she might use experimental montage and animation techniques in a documentary film project. She also loves to adapt written forms of storytell-

“Over many years and many film projects, I am humbled and grateful that so many people willingly trusted me to help share their stories.” ing (poetry, journal, diary, letters) into her film work. “I seek to elevate little-known or marginalized human stories through my craft,” she says. Her motivation? “I was surprised in college to learn about important women I had never heard about in a history class.” She realized that there are many untold stories that shape our lives and society. “I'm interested in unearthing them and bringing them to an audience,” she said. LeAnn has no problem plunging into long-term projects. She is in the midst of a long-running collaborative

video art project that she co-founded, called HomeGrown Stories. She launched it in 2013; in its 13 years of existence, more than 40 artists have collaborated on over 160 short, experimental videos. Her ventures in animation combine old-school techniques and computergenerated animation. A 2022 animated film is a personal documentary; I (heart) Jack LaLanne: A Cartoon Memoir shares her coming out story with the help of the late fitness guru Jack LaLanne. The film won Best Short at the Rehoboth Pride Festival (2023) and has screened in international film festivals. Animation is just one of LeAnn’s passions. She has been making documentary films for over 35 years. Her latest feature is in distribution by PBS, Inc. Called Top Secret Rosies: The Female Computers of WWII, the film has screened internationally and is streaming through Kanopy, Google Play, and Apple TV. And, she has parlayed her more than 35 years of experience into advising others in the areas of fundraising and distribution for any type of film or media project. Currently, she is in production on a feature documentary film titled The Bear and the People, for which she is seeking production partners. The film chronicles North Carolina artist Marica K. Moore. (LeAnn met Marcia in college. They rediscovered each other during COVID.) As LeAnn explains: “Following the devastation of Hurricane Helene [in 2024], Moore had a vision—to create a life-size statue of a grizzly bear (Grizzly 399, the iconic Yellowstone mother bear) and gift it as part of her healing process.” Hurricane Helene hit western North Carolina hard, especially the Asheville area, home to hundreds of artists. Moore lives in Pisgah Forest, less than 30 miles away. “Townspeople embraced her quest, bringing their skills and energy to help Moore realize her dream,” LeAnne said.

arts+entertainment

one day be president. “Dad and Mom were worried that I wanted to study art in college. They thought I'd never make a living at it, so to appease them, I became an art teacher,” she said. “Once I finished graduate school and became a university professor, my dad was thrilled. He thought this was much better than being president!” ▼

Pictured: Marcia K. Moore works on the grizzly bear. Photo credit: LeAnn Erikson, thebearandthepeople.com

She stressed that Marcia’s quest is both a physical task and an emotional journey, as Moore, and the people who have rallied around her, turn to art as their healing process. “In a way, I have also been pulled into her community and her quest as the film will document her creative journey as well as mine,” she explained. Popular musician Colleen Clark is one of the local talents involved with The Bear and the People. The musical score is her contribution. LeAnn moved to Lewes three years ago and began following Colleen. “I was impressed with her musical talent and virtuosity but also saw that she was an amazing and generous collaborator on stage with the other musicians with whom she played,” LeAnn said. This past spring, she approached Colleen about

coming on board with the project as a film composer and she agreed. “I have never worked with a filmmaker before, but LeAnn approached me after seeing me perform with Christine Havrilla,” Colleen said. “When I heard her describe the project, I thought it could be a good fit for me. She was looking for guitar-centered music with some folk, blues, and Appalachian influences.” LeAnn reiterates that filmmaking is the art of storytelling. “When someone trusts you with their story, that is an awesome responsibility. Over many years and many film projects, I am humbled and grateful that so many people willingly trusted me to help share their stories.” LeAnn even won over her mother and father who thought she would

LeAnn is a recipient of regional and national production grants for her work from such funding sources as NEA, AAUW, the Jerome Foundation and The Leeway Foundation. Her international awards include recognition by the Next Generation Independent Film Awards (Los Angeles, CA), the MEDEA Awards (Brussels, Belgium) and the Exis Awards (Seoul, South Korea). Her films have also garnered many top festival prizes including Best Animated film, Best Experimental film, Best Short film, and several Audience Awards. She describes her experimental and personal documentary work as moving poetry. She explains that her body of work is grounded in the exploration of belonging and one’s place on the land.

Mary Jo Tarallo is a former journalist and public relations professional for various non-profits including a ski industry trade association. Photo of LeAnn Erikson above, credit: Mary Jo Tarallo

SEPTEMBER 25, 2026

77 Letters

arts+entertainment

BY ERIC PETERSON

INTERVIEW WITH AUDREY SMALTZ

A

udrey Smaltz is a towering legend in the fashion industry, and not just because she’s six feet tall. She began her career as a model, then rose to prominence as the commentator for the Ebony Fashion Fair, a touring fashion show that brought haute couture to the Black community across the country. Later, she founded The Ground Crew, which staged fashion shows in Bryant Park and elsewhere for designers such as Donna Karan, Oscar de la Renta, Vera Wang, and Calvin Klein. She was born and raised in Harlem, New York. Today, she resides in Millsboro, Delaware, with her wife of 14 years, Olympic basketball player Gail Marquis. Her memoir, Every Inch a Lady, was published in July 2026. ERIC PETERSON: Thank you so much for sitting down and talking with us today. AUDREY SMALTZ: Oh, you’re very welcome. EP: You're often described as a woman that has broken a lot of barriers. So, what's the “first” that you achieved that you're proudest of? AS: I don’t know if this makes me most proud, but I was one of the first women to be Miss Transit in 1955, working with the Black men who worked the NYC transit system. And I was Miss New York City. I was born in Harlem, so that was nice to be Miss New York City. EP: So, I’ve been reading a bit about you.… AS: Uh-oh! EP: And one of the things I read that I thought was so delightful was that you said you were “born, bred, toasted, jellied, jammed, and honeyed in Harlem.” AS: Oh my God, you said it right! That’s it. EP: Tell me a little about that. I assume you meant that your experience growing up in Harlem still lives within you in a lot of ways. AS: It does, it really does. Well, look, I grew up in the Harlem River Houses. It was a project. It wasn’t a big project; it only had four and five stories. It went from 153rd Street to 151st Street on 7th Letters 78

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Avenue, and it went from the Harlem River over to McCombs Place. So, it wasn't very big. But I knew everybody, and everybody knew me, because I was out there playing all the time. And I just loved Harlem and all of my friends. I still have some of those friends. I like telling people I'm from Harlem. They say, “What?” They can't believe it.

I’m very bossy. And I’m honest. I tell you what I know, and I tell you what I don’t know. I’ve always been honest. EP: Because your life turned out to be

so glamorous?

AS: Yeah, I did lead a glamorous life. EP: There was one thing that I was just

thrilled by when I read it. I'm a huge movie buff, and I actually host a podcast about movies. About four years ago, we did a whole series on the movies of 1967. In quick succession, I watched In the Heat of the Night and Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?, and I read that [Oscar-nominated actress] Beah Richards was one of your early teachers.

AS: I met Beah Richards at the Ophelia DeVore School of Charm on 125th Street. I’d just turned 16. She taught there, and she taught me how to walk. She taught me how to sit. She taught me how to cross my legs. I mean, she was very, very particular about everything. I learned how to enter a room. I learned how to eat properly. She was so fabulous, she really was, and I really loved her. And I learned so much from her. We had a lot of respect for Miss Richards. We never called her “Beah.” She was Miss Richards. She knew so much. She was just incredible. EP: When you were working at the Ebony Fashion Fair, you toured the segregated South on a bus with 13 models, a three-piece band, and over 200 couture garments you often had to procure yourself because top designers at that time wouldn’t supply clothes to Black businesses. Was that a dangerous time? Were you scared? AS: No, we weren't scared. We had our own bus, the Greyhound, so we were comfortable. And in the South, it was fabulous! Those ladies were fabulous in the South. Oh, they got dressed up, honey. They were going to a fashion show, and so they wanted to be the fashion show themselves! It was nice. EP: You were the commentator and known for your wit and sense of humor. AS: Well, I used to read Vogue and Bazaar and all the magazines. And if I saw a line that I liked, I would write that down and I would put that into my commentary. I didn't always have to tell them that this is a brown skirt. They could see that it was a brown skirt. I’d say, “What to wear on Sunday when you don't get home till Monday.” That was one of my fun lines. People can relate to that. EP: After the Ebony Fashion Fair, you managed a company called The Ground Crew. You founded The Ground Crew and led it for almost four decades. AS: Well, we were the backstage people who ran a fashion show. We had Fashion Week in New York City, and I didn't like the way the fashion shows

arts+entertainment

BY TERRI SCHLICHENMEYER

BOOKED SOLID Every Inch a Lady: My Amazing Journey from Dear Harlem to Haute Couture & Beyond by Audrey Smaltz with Alina Mitchell, foreword by Michael Kors © 2026, Amistad, $27.99, 256 pages Snaps, zippers, buttons, ties. Toss that garment on, pull it up, wrap it around, you know what you like and how to wear it. The color is perfect for your skin tone, the fabric enhances your form. Yep, you always look your best and, as in the new book Every Inch a Lady by Audrey Smaltz (with Alina Mitchell), that best is fabulous. “Born, bred, toasted, buttered, jellied, and honeyed in Harlem” in 1937, Audrey Smaltz was a force to be reckoned with almost from the time she could walk. Her parents imbued confidence in her, they nurtured her creativity and sent her to charm school, but they never allowed her to create a stir. “That,” says Smaltz, “is not what ladies did.” By the time she was a teenager, Smaltz was modeling for New York City designers. Shortly thereafter, she started working for a married man with whom she had an affair, and whom she loved very much. She broke up with him, attended college, worked a series of jobs that taught her about fashion, and jobs that didn’t seem to fit her. An ill-fated marriage took her to Chicago where she ultimately landed a position that sent her to work in Ebony magazine’s New York office. Working at Ebony was a career-changer, in a way. Smaltz

was able to travel the world and learn more about fashion, but she didn’t exactly get along with her boss. Finally, seizing an opportunity, Smaltz decided to launch her own company, Audrey Smaltz, Inc., a “fashion production business,” but she couldn’t get any designers to take a chance on her. Undaunted, she reorganized, re-branded, hit the streets, and knocked on doors until she finally found one client, which led to many others. Through it all, her personal life was a whirlwind. She dated “more men than you can shake a book at,” settling down occasionally, briefly. Fashion had always been her first love, but she accidentally found real love, “the love of a woman,” at a leadership course.… There’s an old saying that writers need to add lots of “color” into their stories. Read a little of Every Inch a Lady, and you’ll notice immediately that author Audrey Smaltz (with Alina Mitchell) quite literally takes that to heart by mentioning nearly every color of the spectrum here. Hmm. That oddity aside, Smaltz is a wonderfully lively storyteller, speaking with the energy of a woman much younger to the heart of anyone who loves fashion. That glee extends to collectors of vintage clothing, who will be delighted to read about the industry long ago and the way things worked then. Smaltz says she experienced racism, which is not unusual for pre-Civil Rights America, but doors were surprisingly closed for other reasons that will astound anyone who’s savvy about the fashion industry, even today. There’s quite a bit of name-dropping in this book but most of it belongs in the anecdotes, so you likely won’t mind. If you’re a fashionista, too, find Every Inch a Lady, and snap it up. ▼

Interview with Audrey Smaltz Continued were running. They were unorganized. So, I decided I'm gonna show people how to run a fashion show. We dressed the models, and I was the one who sent those models out, and they'd be out there on time, and come back on time. We got to be very famous. People wanted to use us because they saw how smoothly our shows were running. And we made certain nothing was missing! Because models do like to hold onto things. EP: What was your motivation to write your book? AS: Well, I was reading a book, The Color of Beauty, about the Ophelia DeVore School of Charm. I loved the book, and they asked me to write the

foreword, and I did. I was in touch with the author, Alina Mitchell. As we talked, I decided I needed to write my own book, because I have a story. And she wanted to work with me, and I said, “Great, because I’m a talker and you’re a writer.” I just told her my stories. EP: Tell me a little bit about the title. What does Every Inch a Lady mean to you? AS: That came from my junior high school in Harlem, P.S. 136. I was in the 7th and 8th grades there, and that was our motto, “Every Inch a Lady.” Because they wanted us to be ladies in Harlem. I always remembered it. When it was time for me to write the book, I knew the title already.

EP: Your accomplishments are so wide

and varied, and they speak for themselves. But what are people going to learn about the more private you when they read this book? AS: The private me? Well, I go to church. I’m a Christian. I like people. I’m very bossy. And I’m honest. I tell you what I know, and I tell you what I don’t know. I’ve always been honest. ▼ Eric Peterson is a Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) practitioner, pop culture junkie, and sometime novelist. His debut novel (Loyalty, Love & Vermouth) is available at Broweseabout Books and online.

SEPTEMBER 25, 2026

79 Letters

OCTOBER 17 OCTOBER 17 HUDSON FIELDS HUDSON FIELDS || Milton, Milton, DE DE EVENT TIME EVENT TIME - 2:00 2:00 PM PM to to 7:00 7:00 PM PM

LIVE MUSIC | FREAK FREAK SHOWS | FOOD TRUCKS | KIDS FEST | ZOMBIE MAKEUP STATIONS | UNIQUE VENDORS | COSTUME CONTESTS | AND MORE!

FREE PARKING FIREWORKS SHOW FIREWORKS SHOW - 7:00 7:00 PM PM FREE PARKING

TICKETS: Advance TICKETS: Advance Pre-Sale Pre-Sale -- $5 $5 || Kids Kids 12 12 & & Under Under -- FREE FREE

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ENTERTAINMENT SCHEDULE LIVE MAINSTAGE PRODUCTIONS

SUEDE

Pop/Jazz/Blues Vocalist

September 30 - 7:30 PM

THE NEW ADVENTURES OF AUNT MARY PAT

October 11 - 7:30 PM

SWEENEY TODD: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street 17 SHOWS: September 24 to October 11

MISS RICHFIELD 1981 DEANNA FITZPATRICK Comedy Drag Show

October 15 - 7:30 PM

Psychic Medium October 18 - 7:00 PM

HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH 10 SHOWS: October 22 to November 1

ELF: THE MUSICAL

23 SHOWS: November 19 to December 13

MORE EVENTS

SEPTEMBER 27 - PRINCESS TEA: Interactive Show For Kids SEPTEMBER 27 - DUELING PIANOS: With The Flying Ivories OCTOBER 4 - EARTH JAM BAND: Delmarva Beach Favorite OCTOBER 16 - HOCUS POCUS & HILARITY: Comedy Meets Conjuring OCTOBER 17 - SUPER TRANS AM: Super 70's Rock Show OCTOBER 25 - OH THE HORRORS!: Horror Trailer Challenge OCTOBER 28 - MONSTER MASH MURDERS: Mystery Dinner Theatre; Presented by Ovation Dinner Theatre NOVEMBER 1 - THE McCARTNEY EXPERIENCE: Tribute To Sir Paul

NOVEMBER 4 & 6 - THE BRITISH INVASION: Musical Theatre Ensemble Fall Showcase NOVEMBER 5 - TRIBUTE TO ELVIS: With Jesse Garron & Band NOVEMBER 7 - SINGER/SONGWRITER SHOWCASE: With Sol Knopf, Ed Schockley, and Keith Mack NOVEMBER 7 - GREAT AMERICAN SONGBOOK CABARET: Live Cabaret Show NOVEMBER 8 - TARKUS: Tribute To Emerson, Lake & Palmer NOVEMBER 13 - MAGNOLIA APPLEBOTTOM: Comedy Drag Show NOVEMBER 14 - JUNGLE BOOK Jr: Kids Fall Show

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

www.MILTONTHEATRE.com

302.684.3038 | 110 Union St. Milton, DE

SEPTEMBER 25, 2026

81 Letters

View Point

BY RICHARD J. ROSENDALL

Perfect Pitch from an American Muslim El-Sayed Rejects the Politics of Fear

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e needed good news to calm our passions in the summer heat. It came from an unexpected source. It did not come from our president. His administration continues its attacks on vaccines. ICE is acquiring electric shock gloves. Trump doesn’t know how to get out of the war he started. He is increasing his efforts at voter suppression. The best news from Trump, in a backhanded way, was his sneaking off Air Force One in a catering truck to avoid an assassination threat while leaving cabinet officers, staff, and reporters as unwitting decoys. This indifference to the lives of others will not soon be forgotten. Instead, the good news emerged during the Democratic primaries, which saw greater liberal boldness this year. My favorite example is a Muslim doctor from Michigan who is the Democratic nominee for the US Senate. Abdul El-Sayed is attractive, confident, and smart, a gifted communicator, and an energetic campaigner who defies stereotypes. He is a Rhodes Scholar and served as director of the Department of Health, Human, and Veterans Services of Wayne County, whose county seat is Detroit. He is an LGBTQ+ ally. El-Sayed says he is running “to get money out of politics, put money in your pocket, and pass Medicare for All.” He was born in Michigan. He is just as eligible to run for president, should he wish to, as Trump was. The bigoted “Go back where you came from” line does not apply to him. MAGAs should be careful. They can holler and laugh and claim he is a gift to the GOP. But their hatefulness and incoherence, and their deafness to the suffering of ordinary voters, will not serve them well against this sharp-witted epidemiologist who does not fear them. Republican nominee Mike Rogers has, according to Heather Digby Parton of Salon, “tacked so far right that he has Letters 82

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become a Midwestern hologram of the president.” Recently on a Facebook group for El-Sayed supporters, a woman said she strongly supported the Democrat, but was disturbed that his wife, Dr. Sarah Jukaku, wears a hijab, which the writer said reminded her of the oppression of women.

We need to use all our gifts, and recognize the humanity of all our people, if we are to repair the damage being done to our country… That comment brought a flood of rebukes from people saying it was Dr. Jukaku’s choice and nobody else’s business. Some asked if the writer had the same reaction to Amish women covering their heads. I attended a Catholic elementary school where the Sisters of Charity wore what later became known as “Flying Nun” habits. No one thought they subverted the social order. The emergence of prominent and successful Muslim candidates has provided an opportunity to educate ourselves. Republicans may be exploiting cultural differences more egregiously, but as that woman on Facebook illustrated, the GOP has no monopoly on leaping to conclusions. After the terrorist attacks on 9/11, many Muslim women were terrified of wearing their preferred garb in public for fear of being targeted for hate crimes. Hardly a proud moment in our history. Now we hear people like Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) absurdly claim that “our granddaughters will be wearing burkas to school” if one Muslim is elected to the Senate. This is a reminder of the need for more mental healthcare funding.

El-Sayed has been falsely accused of saying that America deserved the 9/11 attacks. As some will recall, right-wing Rev. Jerry Falwell made that very claim in September 2001: “I really believe that the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle…I point the finger in their face and say, ‘You helped this happen.’” For the sake of our country, we need to stop the false accusations and the group blame. In the present case, we need to stop the “far-left Democrat” caricatures that some moderate Democrats are indulging. El-Sayed does not identify as a socialist. Nor do I. We are progressive Democrats. But I celebrate the fact that enthusiasm has been stirred across the Democratic spectrum. Only purposeful political participation will enable us to defeat fascism. We need to use all our gifts, and recognize the humanity of all our people, if we are to repair the damage being done to our country by MAGA Republicans. Abdul El-Sayed is not all Democrats. Of course not. But I thank God—by whatever name you call him—that he is one and has overcome the stifling politics of fear to step up and offer his leadership. America is already the better for it. ▼ Richard Rosendall is a writer and activist who can be reached at rrosendall@me.com.

OCTOBER

EVENT CALENDAR

OCT 02-04

OKTOBERFEST WEEKEND German beer & food specials all weekend FRI 10.2 German Happy Hour | 4 PM DJ Fixed Rate | 8 PM - 12 AM SAT 10.3 DJ Malachi | 8 PM - 12 AM SUN 10.4 - Wear your lederhosen! Oktoberfest Closing Party DJ Biff | 2 PM - 6 PM THU 10.8 Greyhound Weekend Beer & Biscuit Happy Hour | 6 PM - 9 PM

LEATHER WEEKEND FRI 10.16 Leather Happy Hour | 5PM - 7 PM DJ Vince Christopher | 9 PM - 1 AM

16-18

OCT

SAT 10.17 Mr. Rehoboth Leather Contest DJ Malachi | 9 PM - 1 AM SUN 10.18

Leather Weekend Closing Party | 12 PM - 4 PM

Rehoboth Beach Zombie Bar Crawl SAT 10.17 | 12 PM - 4 PM

OCT 24-31

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HALLOWEEN WEEK SAT 10.24 SEA WITCH WEEKEND Parade After-Party DJ Niko | 1 PM - 4 PM Down the Rabbit Hole Theme Party DJ Biff | 9 PM - 1 AM SAT 10.31 HALLOWEEN PARTY Costume Contest: Rocky Horror Picture Show Night DJ Malachi | 9 PM - 1AM

57 BALTIMORE AVE, REHOBOTH BEACH, DELAWARE - PHONE (302) 226 -9001 SEPTEMBER 25, 2026

83 Letters

SCENES FROM REHOBOTH BEACH & BEYOND

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(Continued from page 67) THIS PAGE (left to right) 1) at SUNFESTIVAL Dance: Aiden Bruno, Mason Beall, Tony Zacchei, Alex Oalauf, Greg Huete, Dave Mazzulla, Garrett Miles, Juan Pablo Chavez, Todd Gerdes, Clarke Griffith, Tina Grube, Chip Hatchell, Earl Harvey, Michael Yousko, Alex Petrino, Sierra Spaulding, Jefferson Rougeau, Candice Conrad, Jennifer Wisowaty, Lori Fox, Alli Brennan, Robin Brennan, Susan Beck, Alia Fox, Heather DeLong, Tony Burns, Clarence Pineda, JoAnn Glussich, Suzanne Krupa. OPPOSITE PAGE 2) at Battle of the Bachelors/Bachelorettes at Aqua: Elyse Montague, Petro Savkanifen, Cole Larkins, Tim Langan, Mel Damascana, Bob Cartwright, Katie Lydell, Lorne Crawford, Logan Goodling, Al Drulis, Joe DeCollibuss, Scott Silber, David Bartholomew, Etienne Pilon, Scott Burdette, Michael Solonoski, Derrick Kelley, Rick Perry, Ashley Williams, Brittany McCunney, Joe Petrone, Eloy Del Toro, Shawn Evans, Andy Staton, Sal Leone. (More CAMPshots page 86) Letters 84

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85 Letters

SCENES FROM REHOBOTH BEACH & BEYOND

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2 (Continued from page 85) THIS PAGE (left to right) 1) at RB Museum Beach Ball 2026: Howard Menaker, RB Commissioner Patrick Gossett, RB Mayor Stan Mills, Rick Stellhorn, Annette Stellhorn, Murray Archibald, Abraxas Hudson, Dale Lomas, Roger Truitt, Heidi Nasstrom Evans, Suzie Martin, Rick Perry; 2) at Clear Space Theatre: Joe Gfaller, Wes Drummond, Candice Jewel, Jaide Fisher, Ashley Williams, Kelly Kravchenko, Tavien Goodson, John Swift, Ron Bowman, Matthew Doyle, John McDaniel. OPPOSITE PAGE 3) at Children’s Beach House Summer BBQ: Peter Pizzolongo, Jerry Filbin, Heather Stitik, Barb Shelton, Jonathan Freeman-Coppadge, Ted Lauzen, Darren Freeman-Coppadge, DE State Senator Russ Huxtable, Matthew Rogers, Dan Wainright, Tom Jamison, Scott Button, David Streit; 4) Friends of RB Library Garden Party: Terry Gardner, Nick Caggiano, Ginny Daley, RB Commissioner Chris Galanty, James Apistolas, RB Commissioner Mark Saunders, Bob Thoman; 5) at Cape Henlopen Senior Center 60th Celebration: Brian Shook, Derek Thomas, Ron Bowman, Greg Murphy, Linda Bonville, DE US Senator Lisa Blunt Rochester. (More CAMPshots page 98) Letters 86

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87 Letters

Celebrity Interview

BY MICHAEL COOK

Britani Bateman

B

…Is Ready for Her Broadway Moment! ritani Bateman may be best known to Bravo audiences for navigating the icy friendships and shifting alliances of The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City, but reality television represents only one chapter of her story. Long before joining the franchise, Bateman trained in musical theater and toured professionally in productions including Miss Saigon. She returned to the stage with her own show at New York City’s famed 54 Below, in her aptly-titled cabaret show, “What About Me?” (also the title of her new single), and is setting her sights on an especially glamorous Broadway role. Speaking with me from Sundance on the day the new RHOSLC trailer dropped, Bateman reflected on the LGBTQ+ community’s embrace, her experiences as both a popular teenager and a social outcast, and why she would endure almost anything if it allowed her to continue connecting with fans.

MICHAEL COOK: Britani, “What About

Me?” being the luckiest boy in Rehoboth Beach to have this chat tonight?! You have a new show and single with the same name! BRITANI BATEMAN: Oh, I love you already! MC: Your Broadway show “What About Me?” is fast approaching and the Real Housewives of Salt Lake City trailer dropped today; everything is certainly coming up Britani! BB: I’m sitting at Sundance—Robert Redford’s Sundance. I came up here to look at a house for a potential real-estate deal, and then I thought, “You know what? I’m just going to stay and enjoy the afternoon.” Then the trailer dropped today. It’s all so exciting! MC: The LGBTQ+ community has truly fallen in love with you, and I think I may have an idea why: so many of us were once the kids who tried to fit in, but weren’t allowed to sit at the cool kids’ lunch table. We see you as our underdog. Letters 88

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For most of my teenage years, I was the straight-A science nerd/cheerleader. I don’t know how that combination worked, but it did!

BB: That’s so sweet. I’ve actually been

on both sides of that table. For most of my teenage years, I was the straight-A science nerd/cheerleader. I don’t know how that combination worked, but it did! I was also an outcast for a time. I don’t tell many people this story, but I grew up as a teenager in the ’80s. The good part was that we had fantastically funny clothes, but there was very little tolerance for being different. MC: Now you’re standing onstage at 54 Below in the middle of New York City with your own show, “What About Me?” What does that feel like, and what can audiences expect? BB: The first time I performed the show, last December, I cried onstage. I couldn’t believe how much love I felt. We’re all made of energy, and we give that energy to one another. Standing there, I felt so much love coming toward me that it became overwhelming. I just started crying. MC: In the cannon of Real Housewives vocalists, you truly stand out; your voice is phenomenal, you can genuinely sing! That puts you in some rarefied air within the Bravo universe. BB: Thank you, Michael! MC: Your cast member Lisa Barlow has

“Baby Gorgeous,” you have “What About Me?” Quite the musical cast in Salt Lake City! BB: Lisa does have a pretty tone, we’ll give her that. She has that smoky voice without even smoking. How does she get that? MC: I think your destiny might also involve touring the country with the swoon-worthy John Hill. Everyone loves your friendship, and the two of you are fantastic together. BB: We got to perform together! It was insane. MC: What role would you most like to play now? BB: The show that moves me more than anything right now is Death Becomes Her. It is so good. I am going to play Madeline Ashton someday. You heard it here first: I will play Madeline Ashton in a Broadway tour of Death Becomes Her. We are manifesting it! She is me—a middle-aged woman who still thinks she’s an ingénue? Hello! A slightly delusional theater girl? I love that. MC: You would be perfect. That sense of delusion and your tongue-in-cheek humor are exactly what keep audiences coming back to you.

Standing there, I felt so much love coming toward me that it became overwhelming. People always say every Housewife needs something specific to define her—a snowflake, a peach, or a diamond. I think Britani should remain exactly where she is. You can wade into the mud without necessarily having to live in it. BB: And yet, I still find myself all the way in! MC: I was going to say—you can’t reveal much, but I imagine this season will have its share of highs and lows. What is it like returning to the show now that you have developed such a massive following? BB: It feels so good. Honestly, connecting with fans is the best part of my job. That’s the positive side of getting screamed at on the show. The number

of people I get to touch with my heart is extraordinary. I wouldn’t trade that for the world. I will take a beating day after day if it means I get to love more people. MC: Britani, fans want a new man for you on the show, and to see you get your happy ending! BB: So do I! MC: You’re starring as Madeline Ashton in Death Becomes Her. Which member of the Salt Lake City cast is playing Helen Sharp? BB: Let me think…. Madeline and Helen are adversaries, but in the end, they become best friends. I think Bronwyn (Newport) and I could very well become besties, even though we’re polar opposites.

Mary (Cosby) is another possibility. Mary and I started as extreme adversaries, but I could see us eventually becoming besties and living out our destiny as perpetual vampires with broken bodies. MC: You would spend eternity putting up with each other because you’re all you have left. BB: Exactly! ▼ Follow Britani Bateman on Instagram @britanibateman. Michael Cook has been a part-time resident of Rehoboth Beach for over a decade. He is currently a contributor to WERRRK.com., OUTSFL, & The Philadelphia Gay News.

Best Bank. Six Years... Thank You!

countybankdel.com SEPTEMBER 25, 2026

89 Letters

oth m

CAMP Rehoboth is a MEDIA SPONSOR OF THE 2026 REHOBOTH BEACH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL!

Celebrating 28 years with the best domestic & international feature films, documentaries and shorts!

rehobothfilm.org l info@rehobothfilm.com l 302-313-4032 Letters 90

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SEPTEMBER 25, 2026

91 Letters

Visiting View

BY ROBERT DEDOMINIC

Single and Fabulous Exclamation Point

G

reetings, Letters readers, Robby from Brooklyn here writing to you the day before kids in NYC return to school and classes begin. That is how I categorize the end of summer. Officially, the end of summer is Tuesday, September 22; unofficially, to many of us, it was Monday, September 7—Labor Day. This Labor Day weekend on Sunday, I attended—as I have many Labor Day Sundays in the past—our annual family clambake in Sound Beach, New York, on the North Shore of Long Island. This is approximately the 80th one; the tradition was started by our grandparents. Now my cousins Linda and Laura are keeping it alive. An allday smorgasbord of seafood including clams, steamers, mussels, lobsters—and fried chicken! Ping-pong and cornhole tournaments (Laura and I made it to the semifinals!) abound, plus the beach a couple hundred feet away. All in all, a great day and tremendous fun was had by all. BUT this year and this clambake felt a tiny bit different for me: you see, out of all my cousins in my generation, I was the only single one there. This year it just stood out to me more. Maybe no one else even noticed it, but being single at 50 hits different than being single at 30. It's hard to put into words, even for a writer, but surrounded by my beloved cousins and their kids, I felt somewhat on my own. I have always tried to pride myself on being an uber-single gal like Carrie Bradshaw from Sex and the City. I mean, there are obvious similarities—we both live in NYC, we both write a column, and we both strive to be “single and fabulous exclamation point” (SFEP). SFEP was the subject of a classic episode where Carrie gets booked for a cover shoot for New York magazine about being single and fabulous. But when she sees the final product, it is a horrid photo of her with the title, “Single Letters 92

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and Fabulous?” with a question mark. “Single and fabulous question mark,” she says, “I never would have agreed to that. Single and fabulous exclamation point.” I have been trying to be SFEP for as long as I can remember. Sure, I have had boyfriends in the past; they just never seemed to work out. A few have blown up so disastrously I still have the battle scars. It’s my own fault for finding myself alone at 50—let me revise that. It’s my own fault for finding myself single at 50. There is a difference between being single and being alone.

I have always tried to pride myself on being an uber-single gal like Carrie Bradshaw from Sex and the City. I never made a romantic relationship a priority in my life. One of my first therapists gave me a visual for life, using burners on a stove. He said we have four burners: family, friends, career, romantic relationship. And you can’t have all four burners aflame at the same time. I just focused more heavily on my friends, family, and career burners. My good friend Frank, 65, echoes these thoughts when I discussed being single with him. “There’s a profound difference between being alone and being on your own,” he told me. Frank also found similarities between himself and the ubiquitous Carrie Bradshaw, though he was referencing And Just Like That, the much-loved, much-hated sequel that just wrapped its three-season run. “I loved Carrie’s reframing solitude as independence rather than loneliness. Like Ms. Bradshaw, I’m not alone in the sad, abandoned sense. I’m on my own and living my best life.”

I asked him to expand on that thought, and he continued, “I’ve been single most of my life, but that has never stopped me from doing things. I travel to Europe. I go on vacation by myself, and I have a great time. I love the times when I am dating someone, but I don’t wait around for someone to be with to start living.” And maybe that is where I have landed at 50. Yes, being the only single cousin at the clambake made me feel a little different. I can admit that there are moments when I wish I had someone to share things with. Those feelings don't cancel out all the wonderful things I have in my life. And wanting companionship doesn't mean I have somehow failed at being independent. So perhaps I need to retire the question mark from “Single and Fabulous?” once and for all. I may not know what the next decade will bring—or whether there will eventually be someone sitting next to me at the clambake—but I do know I’m not going to put my life on hold waiting to find out. There will be more family clambakes. More vacations. More cornhole tournaments (and hopefully fewer semifinal losses). And if someone happens to come along who wants to join me for all of it, well, that's fabulous too. But for now? Single and fabulous exclamation point! ▼ Robert DeDominic is a queer freelance writer living in Brooklyn, NY. Follow him on Instagram and Threads at robb_dedo.

SEPTEMBER 25, 2026

93 Letters

A Lover, Not a Fighter

BY NANCY SAKADUSKI

It’s 10:00 p.m. Do You Know Where Your Tofu Is?

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et me just get this out there. I happen to like tofu. I eat it relatively frequently, and my recipe database includes 18 recipes that contain tofu. But I am aware that not everyone shares my enthusiasm. So, for those who have not yet stepped aboard the tofu train, this article is for you. Tofu is a cheese-like product made by adding a coagulant to soy milk. Tofu is what is left over after the soy milk curdles. But I’m guessing this isn’t helping my case much. Unless you are a fan of curdled milk and coagulants. Maybe you’d prefer tofu skin, made by soaking, grinding, squeezing, and simmering dried soybeans to create thick soy milk and then simmering that until a layer forms on the surface. Lift out that layer, drape it over a chopstick to dry, and you end up with something akin to the skin that forms on the top of pudding. Yum? If you don’t like it, you’ve certainly gone to a lot of work to find out. I admit it was easy, while doing my research, to find negative reviews for tofu. I saw comments such as “it tastes like a wet sponge” and “you might as well eat chalk.” Other remarks included “It tastes like nothing” and “Saying you don’t like eating plain tofu is like saying you don’t like eating cake flour.” I even found a critique that claimed tofu “lacks masculinity,” which I think raises more questions than it answers. We can, I suppose, agree that tofu is the ultimate blank slate of the food world. It’s a lover not a fighter—never starting a confrontation, just absorbing whatever aggression is around it. It can be tarted up, cooled down, flattened out, or puffed up. Tofu can be sliced, diced, baked, shaked, pressed, dressed, marinated, caffeinated, microwaved, scrambled, crumbled, frozen, fried, pureed, grated, stuffed, or even eaten raw. Rah, rah, rah—that’s the spirit! (Yes, that’s a Firesign Theatre reference.) So, I could ply you with tantalizing recipes such as the one for the Sweet Chili Tofu Buddha Bowl once served

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at the gone-but-not-forgotten Hobo’s Restaurant and Bar that used to grace Baltimore Avenue. But as it happens, when I gamboled down the Google gangway researching tofu, I slipped and stumbled into the strange world of nonfood uses for tofu.

I admit it was easy, while doing my research, to find negative reviews for tofu. I saw comments such as “it tastes like a wet sponge…” That’s right. It turns out, you don’t have to eat it. Here are a few creative ways you can invite tofu into your life, without ever having it pass your lips. Linger too long in the sun? Cold silken tofu straight from the refrigerator makes a cooling, anti-inflammatory compress. Out of wood polish? Rub a small amount of plain, mashed soft tofu onto minor scuffs on unfinished wooden surfaces, let it sit for a few minutes, and then buff. (This was not included in the instructions, but it seems to me that if

you added a bit of soy sauce, it might even cover those small scratches in the wood.) Want to retain (or reclaim) your youthful complexion? Mashed silken tofu mixed with honey, oatmeal, or yogurt makes a hydrating, soothing face mask. The soy proteins and natural oils help moisturize and calm irritated skin. Attention artists! Use pureed tofu to get oil-based paint out of your natural-bristle paintbrushes. The natural proteins and oils help lift the pigments without harsh chemical solvents. Tired eyes? Place thin slices of chilled firm tofu under your eyes for 10 minutes to help reduce puffiness. Haters may have inadvertently discovered this one on their own, but tofu makes an excellent plant fertilizer. Plain, expired, or leftover raw tofu can be buried in garden soil or blended with water to make a nutrient-rich slurry. As it breaks down, the soy protein releases nitrogen and other organic nutrients to feed plants. Last, but certainly not least, here’s a great way to entertain the kiddies. Make tofu playdough! Mix crumbled firm tofu with cornstarch and a bit of flour. Then knead it into a moldable, non-toxic dough. Tofu playdough is described as appropriate “for kids’ tactile play or temporary sculpture modeling,” so it would seem to have some possibilities for creative adults as well. In summary, my highly scientific research proves that tofu should be ranked only just below duct tape and WD-40 as an essential, multi-purpose, shouldnever-be-without-it item for your home, whether you are a doomsday prepper or a Michelin-level chef. Now go out and celebrate National Tofu Day—oh, wait. Too late; it was September 1…. ▼ Nancy (Day) Sakaduski is an award-winning writer and proud ally who has provided writing services to CAMP Rehoboth for 14 years. Photo credit: Maryam Sicard on Unsplash.com

SEPTEMBER 25, 2026

95 Letters

The Sea Salt Table

BY ED CASTELLI

Lemon & Feta Rice

E

very first day of school, we were asked to write an essay describing our summer vacation. I imagine it was a good icebreaker. Especially when we had to read it aloud. Mine were always very similar. Variations of went to the pool, Atlantic City, and vacation bible school. As adults, we don't get summers off. But they still have a very special vibe, especially in southern Delaware. As much as I love fall, September can find me a bit melancholic that the fun's over. And oddly, all these years later, I still feel the need to buy new notebooks, pens, and a shirt or two. My husband and I had a great summer, including a trip to Yellowstone and the Tetons. We tore those parks up, hiking many miles of unadulterated land under glorious blue skies. Seeing wildlife like bison and elk roaming in their natural habitat is quite moving. Before and after travel isn't easy. I hate packing with a passion. And reentry isn't a picnic. Reality and the daily grind hit hard. No one enjoys flying anymore. OK, maybe up in first class? It certainly isn't white gloves and pillbox hats back in coach. Or whatever they're calling it these days. To make matters worse, our flights were cancelled in the eleventh hour. Just as we were enjoying our dog and yard one last time. Mad scrambling ensued. Our easy 6:00 a.m. flights through Chicago to Wyoming became a 5:00 a.m. triple to Charlotte, then Los Angeles, then Jackson Hole. But still, it was an amazing trip. For sure, we did all the touristy stuff, like Old Faithful. But we also drank in tips from our wonderful park rangers. Tips that took us further off grid (there's next to no cell service out there). And wow, did we see some things. Did you know Yellowstone is as big as Delaware and Rhode Island combined? You can really get yourself lost. For instance, we hiked the Lamar

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STEPS

 Bring the following to a boil: • 2 cups chicken broth • 1 Tbl extra virgin olive oil • ½ tsp kosher salt

 Stir in:

• 1 cup basmati rice

 Reduce heat to low, and simmer, covered, for 15 minutes.

 Stir in:

• 1 cup crumbled feta cheese • ¼ cup chopped fresh basil • ¼ cup chopped sundried tomatoes • Juice of half a lemon

 Let stand 5 minutes, and serve. TIPS Valley. Miles and miles alone. Just us and our bear spray. Eventually, we encountered two men coming back from Montana. They kinda scolded us for not wearing bells "to warn wildlife you're approaching." Hmm. Meanwhile, the next ranger we saw said "Never ever wear those. We call them 'dinner bells' because they tell the grizzly bears where to find you." Honestly, being unplugged was quite joyful. We both leaned into the lack of texts, emails, and social. I even made it a no-shave sort of week. And came home to personal forests of ear hair. Very butch. Very Grizzly Adams. Speaking of hiking makes me think of our recovery meals. Carbs baby! Both liquid like beer, and starchy like fries. Sometimes you just wanna quick boost of energy that only a white roll can deliver. So, this month I'm highlighting my Lemon & Feta Rice. You can indulge, even if you didn't just hike 10 miles. It's a bit healthier with a more complex carb provided by the rice. Let's get started, shall we?

• Use any rice you'd like but adjust the liquid and simmering time accordingly. • Swap the feta for goat or any other cheese that has a mild flavor. • This dish is just as good cooled to room temperature. Fluff before serving. ▼ Ed and his husband Jerry split their time between homes near Harrisburg Pennsylvania and Bethany Beach. Ed builds websites to pay the bills but loves to cook, garden, hike, and dote on their dog Atticus.

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97 Letters

SCENES FROM REHOBOTH BEACH & BEYOND

1

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THIS PAGE (left to right) 1) at Caftans & Cocktails: Jed Ross, Josh Levie, Jim D’Orta, Eric Engelhart, Eric Gannon, Matt Walker, Chris Beagle, Lynden Armstrong, Greg Oehme, Noah Cohen, Tony Sowers, Mike DeFlavia. 2) at CAMP Families Sunset Cruise: Xander Emel-Firestone, Luke Emel-Firestone, Keith Riley-Spillane, Adam Emel-Firestone, Kaden Riley-Spillane, Rowan Emel-Firestone, Brydon Emel-Firestone, Quinn Emel-Firestone; 3) at 59 Restaurant Grand Opening: Karl Zoric, Mark Pipkin, Neva Richardson, David Kneller, Cassie Plummer; 4) at The Pines: Lisa Schlosser, Nate Alligaier, Sherri Brown, Dakota Fritts. OPPOSITE PAGE 5) at Diego's: Emilie Paternoster, Monica Parr, Dave Thomas, David Tiburzio, Darryl Ciarlante, Edmund Bagnell, Mark Hartman, Joe Zuber, Grant Oines, Victor Madrigal, Danny Haile, Josh Levie; 6) at Aqua: Brandon Dart, Michael Fassbach, Todd Mosko, Artie Valequez, 7) at Blue Moon: Randy Haney, Tim Ragan, Eric Smith, Greg Baran, Alan Ragan; 8) at Jam Bistro: Matt Rearden, Matt McKinnis, Jeff McCracken, Geoff Shopard; 9) at McWilliams Ballard Opening Art Reception: Maggie Ottato, Angela Pierce.▼

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99 Letters

The Real Dirt

BY ERIC W. WAHL

When the Garden Begins to Let Go

T

here is a moment in southern Delaware when summer finally begins to loosen its grip. It is not one particular day, but a collection of small signs. The evenings arrive a little earlier. The humidity breaks. The light changes, taking on that warm, golden quality that makes even an ordinary field along a Sussex County road look like a painting. And then, almost overnight, the garden begins to let go. Fall is approaching, and with it comes one of my favorite times in the garden. Not because there is less to do, but because the work changes. Summer gardening is about growth—watering, weeding, mowing, pruning, harvesting, and trying to keep everything alive through Delaware’s heat and humidity. Fall gardening is more contemplative. It is about preparing, planting, observing and, perhaps most importantly, knowing what not to do. We have been taught that a successful garden is a tidy garden. When the flowers fade, we cut them down. When leaves fall, we rake them away. When perennials turn brown, we remove them. But nature has never been particularly interested in being tidy. This fall, consider leaving a little mess. Those dried stems of black-eyed Susans, asters, and goldenrods are not dead in the way we often think of dead. They are winter homes for insects, sources of seeds for birds, and places where the next generation of plants is already beginning its quiet work. Native grasses catch the autumn light and continue to provide structure long after their green leaves have faded. And then there are the leaves. I have always thought that one of the great miracles of gardening is that trees spend an entire growing season manufacturing their own fertilizer, only to drop it at our feet for free. Instead of hauling every leaf to the curb, use them. Chop them with a mower and return them to the lawn, add them to compost, or allow some to remain beneath trees and shrubs. Leaf Letters 100

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We are leaving seeds for birds, leaves for insects, roots for plants, and possibilities for ourselves. litter becomes organic matter, protects soil, and provides habitat for countless small creatures. Fall is also an excellent time to plant. The warm soil and cooler air create an ideal combination for establishing roots. Trees, shrubs, and many perennials planted in autumn can spend their energy developing roots before the demands of next summer arrive. In southern Delaware, where our sandy coastal plain soils can dry quickly, proper planting and watering are especially important. Choose plants for the conditions you actually have—sun, shade, wet, dry, sandy, or compacted—and plant accordingly. Fall is a particularly good time to think about native plants. Perhaps add an American holly, winterberry, inkberry, serviceberry, red maple, sweetgum, sassafras, or one of our native oaks. Think

beyond flowers and consider fruit, bark, fall color, winter structure, and wildlife value. Native plants are adapted to our region and provide important habitat and food for insects and birds. The vegetable garden has work to do as well. September does not have to be the end of the growing season. Lettuce, kale, and other cool-season crops can extend the harvest well into autumn. Harvest the last tomatoes and peppers, save what is worth saving, clean diseased material from the garden, and consider rotating crops next year. And don’t forget the spring garden. Fall is when we plant our hopes for spring. Daffodils, tulips, crocuses, and other bulbs disappear beneath the soil, seemingly forgotten, only to emerge months later as one of gardening’s great surprises. There is something wonderfully optimistic about planting something in October that you know you will not see until March or April. Perhaps that is what I like most about fall gardening. It asks us to slow down. We are not simply cleaning up the garden. We are helping it transition. We are putting the landscape to bed without putting it to sleep. We are leaving seeds for birds, leaves for insects, roots for plants, and possibilities for ourselves. Here in southern Delaware, where fields meet forests and freshwater wetlands meet the bays, the changing season is always visible if we take the time to notice. The garden is simply another place where that larger natural cycle reveals itself. So as September turns toward October, grab your gloves—but don’t grab the rake quite yet. Walk the garden first. Look closely. There is still plenty happening in the dirt. ▼ Eric Wahl is a landscape architect at Pennoni, artist, author, and president of the Delaware Native Plant Society.

SEPTEMBER 25, 2026

101 Letters

Together We Thrive SCAN FOR INFO

Join us! Become a member today!

Support our mission. Join with others to continue our mission

of celebrating diversity and building a strong community for all. Contact Development Manager Laurie Thompson at 302.227.5620 37 Baltimore Avenue, Rehoboth Beach, DE 19971 | camprehoboth.org Letters 102

SEPTEMBER 25, 2026

CAMP REHOBOTH MEMBERSHIP Join today to support our mission! CAMP REHOBOTH RAINBOW MEMBERS RECEIVE:

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103 Letters

LGBTQ+ YOUTH LGBTQ+ YOUTH EMPOWERMENT EMPOWERMENT PROGRAM PROGRAM

LGBTQ+ YOUTH LOW-COST OR NO-COST INDIVIDUAL THERAPY

LGBTQ+ YOUTH LOW-COST OR NO-COST INDIVIDUAL THERAPY Now taking clients!

Providers at Delaware Psychological Services (DPS) now offering sessions for LGBTQ+ youth at their office in Lewes, DE. Mention CAMP when you reach out to access low/no-cost options!

SCAN THE SCAN THE QR QR TO TO LEARN MORE LEARN MORE

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SEPTEMBER 25, 2026

MAKE AN IMPACT TODAY

Whatever brings someone to CAMP Rehoboth, your gift helps ensure they find a place where they belong.

REASONS TO GIVE Connection

Helping people find friendship and community

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WAYS TO GIVE Bequests Retirement Accounts & Life Insurance IRA Charitable Rollover

Appreciated Stock & Bonds Gifting Real Estate or Personal Property

“We’re honored to stand on the shoulders of Steve Elkins and to join this society to ensure CAMP Rehoboth’s future is as bright as both he and Murray envisioned.” — Chris Beagle & Eric Englehart

GIVE NOW

Contact our Development Manager, Laurie Thompson, at Laurie@CAMPRehoboth.org to learn more about these ways to give. CAMPRehoboth.org/PlannedGiving EIN # 51-0331962 © CAMP Rehoboth 2026

SEPTEMBER 25, 2026

105 Letters

We Remember

Norma Jean Eckard

N

orma Jean Eckard (she/ her), 54, passed away unexpectedly on August 27, 2026. She was born on December 17, 1971, in San Antonio, Texas, to Mary Fuentes and Francisco Subealdea. The youngest of four siblings, Norma was preceded in death by her father, Francisco. She is survived by her mother, Mary; her beloved child, Vienna Cavazos; her siblings, Conni, Frank, and Jesse Subealdea; her niece, Desiree; her nephews, Alfonso, Nick, Tim, and Zach; her dog, Winston; and her cats, Lilith and Victoria. She also leaves behind extended family members, treasured friends, and a community whose lives were brighter for having known her. She graduated with the class of 1990 from Winston Churchill High School in San Antonio, Texas. She went on to Texas A&M University briefly, before attending the University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies and Religious Studies and a master's degree in Elementary Education later in life. She held many skills and talents that led to a rich and varied work history. She served as an insurance adjuster, a special education teacher, a case manager for a foster care agency, and as congregational administrator at the Unitarian Universalists of Southern Delaware. Throughout every role she held, she dedicated herself to helping and serving others in whatever way she could. She was a fearless, unwavering advocate for LGBTQ+ rights. She moved from Texas to Delaware with her child to ensure their safety from Texas’s anti-trans laws. She also dedicated herself to supporting other parents of transgender children as someone

who understood doing anything to protect your child. She was the founder of PRIDE 365, a grassroots LGBTQIA+ advocacy organization established in Texas, and a co-founder of Trans Fam, a support network dedicated to uplifting and protecting transgender individuals and their families. She actively engaged and advocated with organizations including Sussex Pride, CAMP Rehoboth, Speak Out Against Hate (SOAH), Bulletproof Pride, and the Working Families Party. She was immensely proud of her Latina heritage. After moving to Delaware with her child, she began organizing small Día de los Muertos celebrations in Salisbury, Maryland, and Lewes, Delaware, teaching others about the meaning of the holiday, connecting with cultural traditions, and offering education and activities for all ages. Those who knew Norma know that she expressed her love through creativity, making intricate plans, crafts, and handmade gifts for the friends and loved ones she cherished. She took great joy in making others smile, and her own wonderful laugh was impossible to forget. She appreciated life's simple pleasures and encouraged everyone around her to pursue whatever brought them happiness. She knew her share of difficult seasons, but she refused to let them diminish her joy or define the way she lived. Instead, she met life with strength, resourcefulness, and determination. Above all, Norma deeply loved her child, Vienna, encouraging them at every turn to pursue their passions and their purpose. The two were an inseparable political pair in Delaware’s legislative hall and LGBTQ+ advocacy spheres. Norma will be remembered for her loving heart, her stubborn spirit, her sense of humor, her devotion to her family, her creativity, her faith, and her unwavering ability to find hope, despite life’s challenges. She will be deeply missed by her family, friends, colleagues, and all whose lives she touched. A Celebration of Norma’s Life will be held at a later date. ▼

Dennis R. Liphart

D

ennis R. Liphart passed away peacefully Monday, August 3, 2026. Born July 30, 1945, in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, Dennis was the beloved son of the late Ray and Betty Liphart. He lived in Silver Spring, Maryland, before relocating to Rehoboth Beach with his longtime companion, Michael Moshos, in 1998. Together, they made Rehoboth Beach their cherished home. Dennis was known for his exceptional eye for interior decorating and design. He had a remarkable talent for transforming ordinary spaces into something truly beautiful and special. His creativity

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and vision were evident in everything he touched. Also a gifted hairstylist, Dennis owned and operated Dennis Coiffures in Silver Spring, Maryland, where he spent many years building lasting relationships with his clients and earning a reputation for both his skill and warm personality. Family meant everything to Dennis. He especially treasured family beach weeks, where laughter, good food, and cherished memories were always in abundance. He loved to cook and was known for his generosity and hospitality, and especially for making everyone who entered his home feel welcome.

Dennis is survived by his sister, Donna Wolford (the late James); his brother, Del Liphart (Barbara); and many other beloved extended family members and friends. In addition to his parents, Dennis was preceded in death by his longtime partner, Michael Moshos. Dennis will be deeply missed by everyone who had the privilege of knowing and loving him. To honor Dennis's final wishes, no services are planned. Take a quiet moment to remember him in your own meaningful way. Visit Dennis's Life Memorial webpage at parsellfuneralhomes.com. ▼

We Remember

Jody Tavss

J

ody Tavss succumbed to complications from multiple myeloma Sunday, August 2, 2026, at Johns Hopkins Hospital, surrounded by her wife, Helaine Harris, her brother, Sid Tavss, and sister, Lynn Lantz. Jody was genuinely interested in knowing and connecting with people. She had many meaningful friendships and was beloved by all. She was gracious, kind, comforting, and supportive to all her friends and family. She was known for her sense of humor, her creativity, and her dedication to her friends. She never forgot a birthday. Jody’s kind heart and humor masked a calm fierceness, demonstrated by her extraordinary grace in her courageous and uncomplaining fight against cancer. Jody was a devoted Washington Nationals fan, knowledgeable about all

aspects of the team and the game. She loved dogs unconditionally, especially her beloved French bulldogs, Fanny and Olive, and her English bulldog, Toad. She was a loving partner to Helaine for 33 years, supporting all of her work and projects. Jody was a talented and creative designer, winning a number of design awards throughout her career. Her calm, artistic, and playful personality was reflected in the warm and aesthetic home environments she created. Jody’s love of art and creative expression was a constant throughout her life, and she freely shared her appreciation and knowledge with those around her. Jody was born in Danville, Virginia, to Norman and Florence Tavss. She graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University in 1975 with a BFA in communication arts and design. She moved to

Washington, DC, a few years later. An accomplished senior art director, Jody worked at various advertising and design firms, including Morgan Burchette/ The Morgan Agency, Earle Palmer Brown, Leigh Lessard, and Computer Sciences Corporation. She also owned her own company, Jody Tavss Advertising and Design from 2006 to 2018. She is survived by her spouse, Helaine Harris; her brother, Sid Tavss; her sister, Lynn Lantz; and her niece and nephews, Avery, Matt, and Jesse Lantz. She will be sorely missed by all who knew and loved her dearly. A Celebration of Jody’s Life will be held in Lewes at a later date. Those wishing to make a memorial donation are asked to consider donating in her name to a charity of choice. ▼

we’ve got you covered - literally!

Free condoms and safer sex tools like dental dams and lubricant are available at CAMP Rehoboth! 37 Baltimore Ave, Rehoboth Beach, DE 19971 302.227.5620 | camprehoboth.org/campsafe SEPTEMBER 25, 2026

107 Letters

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SEPTEMBER 25, 2026

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Join us on Tuesday, September 29, at CAMP Rehoboth for our quarterly Volunteer Opportunities Meeting! We’re unveiling the exciting volunteer roles available for Block Party—this is your chance to be part of the magic! Whether you’re brand new, looking to jump into Block Party, or just need a quick refresher on CAMP Rehoboth and general volunteer training, this gathering is for you. Come connect with fellow volunteers, learn where you can plug in, and enjoy dinner on us. We can’t wait to see you there!

CROP: CAMP REHOBOTH OUTREACH PROGRAM The CAMP Rehoboth Outreach Program (CROP) is constantly working to cultivate community and strengthen relationships and the connections between us all. Check the site for monthly volunteer opportunities.

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thank you CAMP REHOBOTH ACCESSIBILITY Hope Vella CAMP REHOBOTH ADMIN Sherri McGee CAMP REHOBOTH ADVOCACY COMMITTEE Daniel Bruner David Garrett Leslie Ledogar CAMP REHOBOTH CHORUS LEADERSHIP COMMITTEE Bill Fuchs Karen Gantz Rob Jasinski Sue Pound Gloria Richards Dave Scuccimarra Rose Verona

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Bob Malara Jim Mease Jean Metzar Kim Nelson Lori Rocheleau Pamela Rule Maria Scannapieco Patricia Stiles Linda Tiano

CAMP REHOBOTH FACILITIES Carol Brice Lisa Evans Eric Korpon

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COMMUNITY RESOURCE FAIR Maggie Ottato CROP SUPPORTS FOOD BANK OF DE AUGUST Deb Carroll Mark Conheady Karen DeSantis Sue Ebbitt Mark Eubanks

Pete Gulas Stephanie Hoenig Chip Logan Jim Mease Beverly Miller Doug Sellers Lorraine Stanish Dave Walker CROP SUPPORTS FOOD BANK OF DE SEPTEMBER Catherine Balsley Kathy Board Deb Carroll Karen DeSantis Cathy Skeet Forthuber Lauren Ghidotti Stephanie Hoenig Maureen McGeough Beverly Miller Tammy Mundie Mary Jo Piarote Elizabeth Powell Holly West

“FIND A WAY OR MAKE ONE” THEATRICAL PRODUCTION Mary Backer Kim Nelson Kim Witmer LETTERS DISTRIBUTION TEAM Jim Mease LETTERS MAILING TEAM Nancy Hewish Joanne Yurik

To all the CAMP Rehoboth Volunteers for the period: Aug. 7 – Sept. 9, 2026

Patty DiModugno Shawn McHugh Diane Scobey Linda Yost

SUNFESTIVAL SEWING PARTY Jefferson Rougeau Kim Schlipp

RBL FRIDAY FLICKS Barb Ralph Larry Rosen

THIS MONTH IN QUEER HISTORY Beth Shockley

RISING TIDES ART RECEPTION Mary Backer Mark Conheady

LETTERS PROOFING Barb Ralph RAINBOW THUMB CLUB Chris Bowers Carol Brice Robin Cunningham Linda DeFeo Karen DeSantis

SEPTEMBER 25, 2026

109 Letters

AD INDEX Accent On Travel..........................................................27 Amanda Valcik, Barrows & Associates Real Estate....45 Aqua Bar & Grill............................................................83 Atlantic Jewelry...........................................................41 Beebe Healthcare........................................................33 Beebe Medical Foundation.........................................32 Brand g Vacations........................................................55 Brandywine Urology....................................................25 Brandywine Valley SPCA.............................................63 Café Azafrán............................................................. 103 CAMP Rehoboth Accessibility.......................................9 CAMP Rehoboth Annual Sponsors..............................12 CAMP Rehoboth Atrium.................................................9 CAMP Rehoboth Block Party.......................................15 CAMP Rehoboth Chorus 100 Years of Broadway.......11 CAMP Rehoboth Development Ways to Give...............2 CAMP Rehoboth Healthy Fall Activities.......................13 CAMP Rehoboth Letters Subscription...................... 109 CAMP Rehoboth Library........................................... 104 CAMP Rehoboth Membership.................................. 102 CAMP Rehoboth Membership Sign Up.................... 103 CAMP Rehoboth Mental Health Support Program.. 104 CAMP Rehoboth Online Store.....................................72

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CAMP Rehoboth Planned Giving Legacy Society.... 105 CAMP Rehoboth Required Minimum Distribution......72 CAMP Rehoboth SUNFESTIVAL Thank You.......... 18, 19 CAMPsafe.................................................................. 107 Clear Space Theatre....................................................97 Coastal Concerts.........................................................60 Collaborative Mental Health LLC.................................54 County Bank................................................................89 Debbie Reed Team, Realtors.......................................49 Delaware Community Foundation..............................73 Dogfish Head...............................................................60 Freddies Beach Bar & Restaurant............................ 111 go fish go brit...............................................................91 Gregory Kompes, Author.............................................91 Humane Animal Partners.............................................59 iHeart Media......................................................... 42, 50 Jack Lingo, Real Estate................................................51 Jenn Harpel, Morgan Stanley......................................23 Jolly Trolley..................................................................91 Kendall Furniture & Patio.......................................... 112 Law Firm of Brockstedt, Mandala, Federico...............29 Lee Ann Wilkinson Group, Realtors.............................47 Lori’s Café....................................................................68

Loves Liquors...............................................................21 Maplewood Dental Associates....................................91 MCC of Rehoboth........................................................43 McWilliams Ballard Real Estate...................................53 Mid-Atlantic Symphony Orchestra...............................43 Milton Theatre....................................................... 80, 81 Olivia Travel..................................................................39 Radio Rehoboth........................................................ 110 Rehoboth Beach Bears............................................. 101 Rehoboth Beach Dental..............................................54 Rehoboth Beach Independent Film Festival...............90 Rehoboth Guest House...............................................95 Rigby’s Bar & Grill........................................................93 Sea Bova Associates, Realtors....................................43 Stuart Kingston Gallery................................................35 Top Notch Heating and Air..........................................37 True Blue Jazz..............................................................69 Volunteer Opportunities........................................... 109 Volunteer Thank You................................................ 109 Vote for Claire Snyder Hall..........................................23 Where 2 Next Travel....................................................61 Windsor’s Flowers.................................................... 108

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111 Letters