Delaware State alumni seek Rosedale Beach remembrances

Delaware State University alumna Stephanie Collick, left, and Delaware State University Alumni Association Sussex County Chapter President Robert G. Draine show off an old Rosedale Beach concert poster procured from the artifact collection of Dara Laws-Savage. SOURCE SUBMITTED

This poster advertising a Ray Charles concert bears witness to the prominence and pull of Rosedale Beach and offers a glimpse of its wondrous past. The poster is from an artifact collection of Dara Laws-Savage. SOURCE SUBMITTED

July 2, 2015

Event Date:

The Sussex County Chapter of Delaware State University Alumni Association is seeking friends from the old school patrons of Rosedale to support a remembrance of Rosedale Beach and for some with initiative to render a performance characteristic of the legends of Rosedale Beach.

Individuals wishing to remember Rosedale with an instrument, a song, a dance or an oral presentation may contact Manuel Davis at m302davis@yahoo.com or 302-684-8657, or Robert Draine, 302-947-4580.

The stroll down memory lane is set for 5 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 1, at American Legion Post 28 at John J. Williams Highway and Legion Road in Millsboro.

Rosedale Beach is now remembered by an historical marker placed at Gull Point on the Indian River.

Do you remember Rosedale?

Back in the day when separate was unequal, we sat upstairs at the theater; we had our food served in a brown paper bag, and we used our cars for lodging when traveling the highways. We got our praise on Sunday mornings in our churches, and on Sunday afternoons we got our groove on at Rosedale Beach.

The musical legends who performed at Rosedale were the source of our social and cultural being. They put a bounce in our step and a source of pride in our hearts. They were Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Lionel Hampton, Ella Fitzgerald, Ray Charles, James Brown, Lloyd Price, Faye Adams, Fats Domino, Sam Cooke, Cab Calloway, Louis Armstrong, Thomas “Fats” Waller, Jackie Wilson, Stevie Wonder, Chick Webb, the Ink Spots and Blues great John Lee Hooker and many more.

- Robert G. Draine, president, Sussex County Chapter DSUAA