Another special event for a good cause

At the risk of possibly boring my readers, although I doubt that this column shall, let me share with you my experience at yet another SoDel venue. This time, my companion and I traveled to Baywood Clubhouse to enjoy a meal and other festivities sponsored by Gals 4 Charity to benefit the Children’s Beach House of Lewes. Let me say at the outset how much I have admired and appreciated CBH since I moved to the area. What this organization does and for whom it does so is remarkable, and worthy of the support of all of us, not only in Sussex County but in all of Delaware. Its goal is to care for and nurture children with developmental challenges from our Cape area, and it does so very well and for a diverse population. In fact, I dare say Children’s Beach House may boast the most integrated population (per capita) of children among the many child care and educational institutions in our Cape community.

Some years ago, yours truly was privileged to have been asked to contribute his expertise as CBH embarked upon a new program to house and treat 3- and 4-year olds with severe developmental issues. I served on the committee for several months before Rich Garrett launched the program full blast at the Lewes waterfront. We are all proud of the program’s progress thus far, with miles to go before anyone sleeps (with a nod to Robert Frost). The Children’s Beach House interfaces with parents and students and the Cape Henlopen School District in a myriad of ways, including participation in the individual educational plan process. The IEP is the means by which a special education student’s instructional path is laid out for all the stakeholders.

But guess what – I am not about to produce a paper about special education. Believe me, I have written my share of those as a graduate student of education.

I shall now share with you the heart of the event held at Baywood in March, the first day of March Madness, to be exact. In previewing the data pertaining to this fundraiser, I somehow failed to note that the event’s target were women of our Cape Region. Yes, actually only women! Have you connected the dots? I was the only male in attendance out of the 140 people there. The males probably had begun watching the NCAA basketball games, or perhaps they were babysitting, or both. But there I was on Route 24, at a golf community, with more than 100 attractive married women. Heaven! I have made many errors in my 70-plus (and I do mean plus) years of life thus far, but none this blatant. After all, I can read, but I never noticed a reference to “women only” when I booked the event.


The women were lovely, and never once asked me to leave or implied that I should, as I sipped my iced tea and ate the bread which was accompanied by buffet treats of chicken and salmon and zucchini. In fact, we were invited to join in all the reindeer games including selfies and cheering as door prizes were awarded. The younger ladies, who had made a conscious decision to sit with us, were just delightful. We even had a double prize winner from what eventually really became our table. Other tables cheered when one of their own’s ticket number was announced, and hugs abounded upon bringing the prize to the table. This was exciting stuff for the female attendees and yours truly, and the mistress of ceremonies enjoyed herself too, despite an occasional tussle with the microphone. Eventually it was time for us to depart as the festivities came to a close. All present appeared to have enjoyed themselves, especially the mothers who got a brief respite from children and daddies.

In the event, my readers, that you have never attended one of these fundraisers at a SoDel or other venue, I encourage you to do so. As you have read for the last month, these events are a lot of fun (and folly) for so many reasons. If you like tasty food and fun people, and also giving, I encourage you to take some time one evening and enjoy a fundraising event with one of our many area nonprofit organizations.