Sports
Fourth
Sussex All Stars return to World Series
Bethany celebrates the Fourth
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JULY 10, 2026
THE LOCAL VOICE OF YOUR COMMUNITY.
‘It could have been a huge mess’
That’s a lot of accordion
Stolen cars lead chases over weekend By Kerin Magill Staff Reporter
Volume 23, Issue 28
FREE
Wolek plays world’s largest accordion on family trip By Catherine Bunting Point Intern
Two car chases that involved stolen cars with juvenile drivers kept law enforcement agencies busy over the Fourth of July holiday weekend. The first occurred around 4:30 p.m. Saturday, July 4 — during the height of holiday celebrations. Fenwick Island Police MCpl. Christopher Story said this week that the chase began after Ocean City, Md., police reported to surrounding agencies that a car reported stolen from Baltimore, Md., was in the vicinity. Initially, the car was tracked to South Bethany, where South Bethany Police Chief Jason Lovins was patrolling Coastal Highway, according to Story. Lovins reported the car was traveling at speeds over 100 mph and “almost hit a pedestrian,” Story said. “Our guys tried to stop it,” Fenwick See CHASES page A3
Millsboro ready to accept downtown business ideas By Laura Walter Staff Reporter Want to tackle a project in downtown Millboro? The Town is about to accept project proposals from organizations or other individuals who’d like to purchase or lease Town-owned properties. That includes the current Greater Millsboro Chamber of Commerce building, the old police station, the old train depot and some empty parcels around Main Street. Local governments commonly own land throughout a municipality. There might be water treatment plants, sewer plants, parks, police stations or even See IDEAS page A9
This past April, local lifelong accordion player Carole Wolek traveled to Italy to play the world’s largest accordion. Sized up, at more than 8 feet tall and more than 6 feet wide, the Fisarmonica Gigante, or “Giant Accordion,” has been recognized as the world’s largest accordion by Guinness World Records for the past 25 years. Both playing the accordion and visiting Italy were longtime dreams of Wolek’s. Growing up in New York state, she started playing the accordion at the age of 7 and later joined a music studio, where she performed in a quartet and gained experience. When she was 12, the quartet won a national contest to perform on TV every Sunday morning for one year, on NBC’s broadcast of “Children’s Hour.” Continuing on with her musical development, Wolek attended the Manhattan School of Music, where she majored in music for her undergraduate education, and later graduated with a master’s degree in music education. From there, Wolek spent years teaching music in public schools, adult education classes and private lessons in the state of New York. Since moving 26 years ago from New York to Southern Delaware, Wolek, along with her husband and fellow musician, Leonard, have been members of various local musical ensembles. Immediately after moving, the duo started performing with the Back Bay Strummers, a banjo band based in Long Neck. They also performed World War II-era music every Friday night for 10 years in Snow Hill, Md., as half of the quartet known as the WWTunes. When it comes to the Fisarmonica Gigante, Wolek recalled, “I said to my daughter one day: I’d like to go play that big accordion,” to which her
Special to the Coastal Point • Submitted
Carole Wolek, left, plays the Fisarmonica Gigante, or ‘Giant Accordion,’at the Museuo de Fisarmonica, with her daughter, Lenora Grackin. daughter, Lenora Grackin, replied, she said, “We took a train … and we “Mom, why don’t we plan that trip to got to see scenery like you wouldn’t see Italy?” in any other place.” For 12 days, Carole Wolcek, her During her trip, Wolek visited three husband, Leonard Wolcek, her daughdifferent accordion factories in the ter, Lenora Grackin, and her son-inarea, as well as the Museo della Fisarlaw traveled from the western region to monica (Accordion Museum), where the eastern region of Italy. Starting she got a close look into how the with sightseeing in Rome, the group world’s best accordions are made. eventually made their way to CastelfiWhen the group visited the Museo dardo, a small town close to the Adride Fisarmonica, they met Giancarlo atic Sea, which Wolek described as “the accordion mecca of the world.” Speaking of the Italian landscape, See ACCORDION page A4