Sports
Stars & Stripes
Unified team shines on the big stage
Millsboro kicks off the holidays
Page A43
Page B1
JULY 3, 2026
THE LOCAL VOICE OF YOUR COMMUNITY.
Bethany officials cancel parade
Volume 23, Issue 27
FREE
‘I like everything about America’
Heat forces decision, but f ireworks, music still a go By Susan Canfora Staff Reporter Due to an extreme-heat advisory, Bethany Beach’s Fourth of July Parade — scheduled for Friday, July 3, at noon, has been canceled and rescheduled for Labor Day weekend, when it will celebrate that holiday, as well as the town’s 125th anniversary, now with fireworks and a drone show. Still planned for this week are concerts at the bandstand and traditional fireworks. The Funsters will perform at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, and the Zac Brown tribute band Uncaged will be there at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, followed by fireworks See BETHANY page A3
Work on post office not to start until June 2027 By Kerin Magill Staff Reporter The first order of business when planning a new building is usually seeking approval from local officials. So, with word last week that the Ocean View Post Office — closed now for more than nine months — will be completely rebuilt, instead of the initially reported repair plan, there’s one thing Millville officials want the United States Postal Service to know: The building is actually in Millville. Still, it has borne the name of its neighbor to the east since its construction decades ago. State Sen. Gerald Hocker and state Rep. Ron Gray announced last week that they had received word from Delaware’s congressional delegation that the post office — which closed abruptly in September of 2025 — will be rebuilt, with construction planned to start in See POST OFFICE page A4
Coastal Point Intern • Bridgette Filano
St. Martha’s Episcopal Church hosted J1 students for their annual picnic recently.
St. Martha’s hosts annual picnic for J1 visitors By Susan Canfora Staff Reporter From across the room, friends who met in Romania last fall recognized each other at the annual picnic for foreign students working in the Bethany Beach area this summer and, both beaming, quickly walked to each other and embraced. “I was shocked. I didn’t know he was coming. He said, ‘I might come,’” said Ioan Mudiu, who is working at Shore Break this summer, while Gerart Ranci said that, after they met, they quickly became friends. At a table nearby, young men — all from Russia and all 20 years old — sampled traditional American picnic foods including pizza, potato salad, french fries, macaroni-and-cheese, chicken nuggets, watermelon, piled high on paper plates, and clowned with each other as they made American friends. Kirill Kataev, Miroslav Dundvliov and Stas Egorov talked about learning to surf and doing pretty well riding skateboards. “I like everything about America — everything,”
Egorov said at the June 23 event at St. Martha’s Episcopal Church. “I love the people. I love the streets, the weather. I like to travel and sightsee, and the girls are so pretty.” Dundvliov said an American woman had kindly offered the young men a ride home from the grocery store. “The people are so kind. Everybody is smiling. It is great,” Egorov said. “They are the kindest people,” Kataev agreed, adding that the beach is “amazing” and that American foods are tasty but not healthful because they contain so much fat and sugar. Oscar Martinez and Saony Mueses — both of the Dominican Republic, and friends who met two years ago — were standing together, talking, at the picnic. Both are working for Harris Teeter this summer. “I love it here. The food is so good,” Martinez said, while Mueses said she is especially fond of the American people. “The beach is good,” he said, while she, dressed in a white Ocean City sweatshirt, said she likes shopping on the boardwalk in Ocean City, “but it’s expensive.” Nearby, Sarah Schaber — a registered nurse at Beebe See PICNIC page A5