CHEER Beach Day honors late founder Eleanor Cain

Hundreds of senior citizens converged on Rehoboth Beach Sept. 24 to celebrate the return of Senior Beach Day in Rehoboth.

Coming from senior centers in Wilmington, New Castle, Kent and Sussex counties, as well as neighboring Maryland counties, seniors enjoyed a beautiful, sunny day at the beach that featured a health vendor fair, a stroll through the side streets of Rehoboth and entertainment at the Bandstand.

The event was sponsored by CHEER Inc., a nonprofit senior services agency, with help from supporting partner, WSFS Bank.

The day was dedicated to the memory of Eleanor Cain, former director of the State Division of Services for Aging and Physical Disabilities and founder of Beach Day. CHEER helped the division produce Beach Day until taking complete control of the production 20 years ago. The event had been in Rehoboth for over 30 continuous years before it was put on hold three years ago when the Rehoboth Convention Center was closed for remodeling. This year saw Beach Day’s return.

“For the past three years, seniors have been asking us when Beach Day was coming back,” said Carolyn O’Neal, event chairperson. “CHEER has wanted to bring it back for a long time, and we are very happy to finally be able to do that.”

The day began with a special memorial tribute to Cain, who passed away last spring. Her family was on hand to accept accolades from several state government entities, and to lead the annual Beach Day Stroll which, this year, was titled the Eleanor Cain Memorial Walk. Walkers solicit donations from personal supporters which were donated to CHEER’s Cooking for Sussex Seniors kitchen capital campaign to build a new central kitchen for the agency. Receiving recognition for having the largest group of walkers in the stroll was the SLICE exercise group from Georgetown, and the individual walker getting the most donations was Janice Weiner of Georgetown.

Inside the convention center were dozens of healthcare organizations that provided valuable information to the seniors. At the bandstand, the Sussex Community Gospel Choir and the band Hot Sauce entertained seniors who relaxed by the ocean. CHEER also supplied a nutritious bag lunch to seniors 60 years and over.

“Beach Day has seen sunshine and hurricanes,” said CHEER Chief Executive Officer Ken Bock. “Today couldn’t have been more beautiful. Beach Day is back!”