Pretty is easy, but a beautiful soul is precious

Beautiful girls, beautiful people - There were no male runners among the field of 200 at the Delaware Hospice 5K June 27 who were older than the photojournalist covering the race. And as many times as I spun my head around like a roulette wheel, it still came up Fredman. That didn’t stop me from interviewing Miss Hockessin Rebecca Gasperetti and Miss Atlantic Coast Jenna Hitchens before the race. “You get to talk to all the pretty girls,” someone said. And I thought, “Pretty is easy, but a beautiful soul is precious.” Rebecca is a St. Thomas More and University of Delaware graduate who is now a teacher at St. Thomas More. “My mom was a hospice nurse for a few years and nurse for over 30 years,” Rebecca said. “I volunteered for three years. Hospice offers friendship and companionship to all people, especially when some don’t have it.” Later she sang the national anthem for the 55th time since she began her reigns as Miss Milford, Miss Wilmington and now Miss Hockessin. She is great. And no, she didn’t move three times; a contestant can run in any chapter. Jenna is 24 years old, a graduate of Sussex Central High School with a degree in communications from Delaware State. “Counting my teen years, this is my 13th year doing pageants,” Jenna said. “I’m running this race because both my grandmother and my grandfather were here before they died. So it’s in their honor.” She works in marketing at Century 21 Emerald in Long Neck. With tears in my eyes, I ambled off to interview Einstein, a rough collie described as “jumpy” by his owner, who was born March 16. I had a collie named Waffle, which falls into the “I can tell it, but not sell it” book of endless short stories, so I spared all around me who never asked. “How did you know Einstein, the physicist, was born on March 14?”

Bob Paulen - I stood on the rim of Cape’s bermuda fields June 26 after taking photos of the blue track that had been skinned and plopped into dumpsters like my coaching career. I was talking to Vaughan “Cuzzy” Trammell (old school Cape) and Roy Jones (current Cape) who stopped to share a moment and some memories. Masters runner Bob Paulen, 80, was doing sprints training for next month’s USA Masters Nationals. I pointed: “Dude is 80.” Cuzzy said, “​No he ain’t. You need to stop, coach.” “And not only 80, but a hurdler, sprinter and jumper, and when he goes to nationals, he is coming back with medals,” I said. A track attracts athletes from all sports, and when the new surface goes down – I really don’t care if it’s red or blue – the facility should be open to the public because once you start going into lockdown mode, the Cape welcoming atmosphere of hospitality gets blown out to sea like a one-winged tern. 

Snippets - The Phillies are 3-3 versus the Nationals and Yankees with the Nats coming to Philadelphia for a four-game series. And then the evaluations and decisions: could the Phils make a run for the playoffs? And, if so, should they go after summer rentals like a Rehoboth tourist? Messing with chemistry always runs the risk of the new mixture blowing up in your face. France is my pick to win the World Cup, but my sentimental choice is Mexico. Imagine if American football players flopped like World Cup soccer players. Actually, some wide receivers do exactly that on deep balls thrown over their heads, often drawing a pass interference call. I’m surprised how many people have weighed in – what’s this, a walk-in clinic? – protesting Cape’s soon-to-be resurfaced track, which is scheduled to be red, replacing the blue because red holds up better to the sun – don’t tell the devil – and is just cheaper. Travel ball to me means all the sports. I would like to write a book, “Confessions of a Travel Ball Kid,” a series of interviews with athletes whose careers are over and they get to answer questions without their parents finishing the sentences. Tim Slade is a new vice principal at Cape. Slade was part of an iron five that included Doug Reed, Johnny Gibbs, Donnie Polk and Robert Ruffin that led Sussex Central basketball, coached by Jerry Peden, to the state basketball final in 1988. Coach Ralph Baird, who led Cape to state titles in 1975 and 1976, just turned 75, and so did Jack Beckett, a former Indian River coach and longtime basketball official. Go on now, git!