This week’s hot topics: Biden and Dolle’s

The big question in Rehoboth Beach this week is not when will President-elect Joe Biden be back in town. Rather, it’s what’s going to happen with the iconic Dolle’s sign when the business moves down the street a ways?  Orange or pink or a combination of the two, depending on your point of view, Dolle’s has been a blazon over the Boardwalk and Rehoboth Avenue for the past almost-60 years.

No matter the sign’s ultimate outcome, its exposure to the world has moved into an entirely new dimension as Biden takes his place among the most prominent and important people on Planet Earth. News outlets from around the nation and the world focus on the resort when he is in town. Images of the Dolle’s sign, captured as part of portraying the flavor of his summer residence, are showing up everywhere.  

As Rehoboth Beach-Dewey Beach Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Carol Everhart said this week, Biden’s stature, along with the entourage of 60 to 70 people he brings, is good for the resort’s hotels and restaurants. “With all of our marketing, we could never get the media coverage that he’s bringing to Rehoboth,” said Everhart.  “It’s a positive regardless of your politics.” 

The president-elect is bringing ultimate truth to Rehoboth’s longtime tagline: The Nation’s Summer Capital. His parade-length motorcades – coming and going – have already become a staple of local conversation.

Meanwhile, our editorial board thinks the Dolle’s sign could and should ultimately find a place either atop or on the Rehoboth Avenue side of the Rehoboth Beach Museum. Cape Gazette Graphic Artist Teresa Rodriguez has also conjured some of her magic to portray another exciting possibility which we are pleased to present here.