Wintertime merriment by the Boardwalk
In my capacity as one of the newest members of the Rehoboth Beach Main Street Board of Directors (along with fellow new kids Pete Borsari from The Pond and local businessman Bob Derrickson), I had the honor of a front-row seat for Friday’s Christmas tree lighting. In fact, I couldn’t have gotten much closer - the board members got to sit on the Bandstand!
When I arrived downtown around 5:45, it was like a July weekend (except for the cold and darkness). Most every restaurant was packed, and the stores were full of people. It was unquestionably a Christmas miracle that I found a parking spot in front of Yolanda Pineda’s Mariachi restaurant where people were already out into the vestibule waiting for tables.
Temperatures are generally a few degrees warmer a mile or so from the ocean, so when I left home I thought I was warm enough. But as I cut through the festive and twinkling Penny Lane, it became all too obvious that it was going to be a lot colder up there just a few feet from the water. That realization came as I was passing The Sunglass Company, just a few doors from the Rehoboth Avenue end of the bustling little mall.
Penny Lane Mall Manager Joe Kirk was manning the counter, and tonight The Sunglass Company might as well have been The Scarf Company: The place was full of people buying great-looking scarves at bargain prices (some as low as 10 bucks!). Scarf expert Joe outfitted me with something polite in cashmere and off I went to receive my marching orders from Main Street Executive Director Krys Johnson.
From my bird’s-eye view (assuming the bird was on the Bandstand, of course) I was pleased to see August-like lines in front of Louie’s Home of the Grinder (their last weekend until the spring), Dolle’s, and of course Thrasher’s. People were pouring into Semra’s Mediterranean Grill, Grotto Pizza, Nicola Pizza, Nonna’s Sweet Treats and all the stores in the first block.
I was joined by Chris Rausch, president of the Main Street board, accompanied by his wife Alice Bavis (always photogenic in WBOC’s stunning HD!) and their ultra-bundled daughter Abby. Mayor Sam Cooper, City Manager Sharon Lynn, and city commissioners Toni Sharp, Patrick Gossett and Kathy McGuiness joined the Magee family, who had donated the huge tree to Rehoboth Beach. Main Street board member and Bad Hair Day? boss Drexel Davison was the quintessential master of ceremonies, looking particularly Christmassy in his long black coat and signature silk top hat.
‘Tis the Season sing-along booklets were distributed (courtesy of Cape Gazette, by the way) just in time for Clear Space Theatre Company’s Doug Yetter to conduct the crowd through a repertoire of Christmas carols. He was ably reinforced by the talented Jerry Birl, Bethany Lennox, Danny Keenan and Lorraine Steinhoff.
At 7 p.m. sharp (Krys Johnson is nothing if not punctual!) Drexel and the Magee family led the countdown and the tree burst into light, courtesy of the behind-the-scenes efforts of Rehoboth Beach streets crew Mike Peterman, Joe Fuller, Don Richard and Glen Vess. The season was off and running. And so was the crowd - into toasty warm restaurants and stores up and down Rehoboth Avenue.
My plans were to join Local Buzz writer (and Realtor of note) Deb Griffin and friends at Mariachi, but as I retraced my steps through Penny Lane I could already see people in line all the way out into the street. I guess Rehoboth’s ghost-town days are over! Always a forward thinker, Deb saved the day by arriving early to secure a table. She had been waiting at the bar for a while and was feeling quite … festive. It wasn’t long before I was warm again (I’m not sure if it was the nachos or the margarita).
It was fun hobnobbing with the glitterati on the Bandstand. I haven’t been a member of Main Street nearly long enough to qualify as glitterati, but I have to say my new scarf was a hit. Thanks, Joe.
