Rehoboth Weekend Update #05 of 15

WEEKEND #05, 2023

June 26, 2023

Rehoboth Beach, Delaware

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MESSY GREASE SPILL IN HOTEL REHOBOTH PARKING LOT

A worker trespassing in the Hotel Rehoboth parking lot last Monday morning pumped fryer oil from a nearby restaurant and accidentally spilled a significant quantity on the hotel's parking lot.

Rehoboth Beach police responded around 9:20 a.m. to the rear of the hotel on Lake Avenue. That is where they found hotel management and the Cube Be Gone serviceman dealing with the spill. Since it was on private property, says Keith Martin, whose family owns the hotel, police said it was a civil case.

The Cube Be Gone serviceman made some attempt at containing the oil, but Martin says the hotel invested time and effort cleaning up the grease using a Dawn degreaser and a power washer. He noted that the van left a trail of oil on the city streets as it left town.

Joe Casey, owner of Cube Be Gone, admitted on Friday that it "was a mistake going that way." He said he apologized to the Martin family and has since promised to cover their expenses. Casey points out that Rehoboth Avenue is often challenging for his crew to use because of vehicle congestion.

Casey said he "felt horrible about what happened" but noted that he runs this small local company creating jobs here but struggles with competition from the big companies. His business is "Delmarva focused with a global impact," he said, noting that he sees his company as part of the solution for climate change as the recovered oil is turned into biodiesel.

Casey, who calls himself a "commonsense environmentalist," wanted to make it clear that cooking oil is biodegradable, unlike crude oil and he said he would call the Martin's on Friday to assure them he "won't walk away" from this mess. "It ain't easy being greasy," Casey added.

This isn't the first time cooking oil has spilled in town. This incident in 2021 on Rehoboth Avenue was investigated by DNREC and the Rehoboth Beach police and here was another example from 2006 at Hooters.

Images courtesy Hotel Rehoboth

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BOTH DRIVERS CHARGED AFTER DURANGO T-BONES ALTIMA

The drivers of the black Dodge Durango and silver Nissan Altima started arguing after a crash here at 1st Street and Wilmington Avenue around 10:20 p.m. this past Wednesday.

The Durango proceeded through the stop sign and broad-sided the Altima, says Lt. Jaime B. Riddle, Rehoboth Beach police spokesman. The driver of the Durango was cited for disregarding the stop sign. The Altima's driver was cited for driving while revoked, no registration in possession and no proof of insurance. She was taken to the hospital with minor injuries.

Photo courtesy Henry Bright

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MOPED CRASH ON COASTAL HIGHWAY

A man and woman riding a black 2009 Yamaha moped were injured after a collision with a white 2023 Chevrolet Bolt just before noon last Monday, says Sr. Cpl. Leonard DeMalto, state police spokesman. It happened here on Coastal Highway at Robinsons Drive outside Rehoboth.

Photo courtesy Rehoboth Beach Vol. Fire Co.

The driver of the moped, a 25-year-old man from Rehoboth Beach, was taken by ambulance with minor injuries, but his passenger, a 23-year-old woman, also from Rehoboth Beach, was flown to a trauma center on Trooper 2 with a possible head injury from the Rehoboth Elementary School.

The driver of the Bolt, a 65-year-old woman from Gaithersburg, Maryland, was not injured.

The driver of the moped was ticketed for careless driving and improper passing while the driver of the Bolt was ticketed for failure to yield right-of-way.

Photos courtesy Dr. Thomas Evans

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LEWES AMBULANCE STRUCK BY CAR MAKING U-TURN ON LEWES-GEORGETOWN HWY

Five people were injured, one critically, after a 2021 Ford ambulance from the Lewes Fire Department collided with a silver 2003 Toyota Camry which had been making a U-turn, says Sr. Cpl. Leonard DeMalto, state police spokesman. It happened around 1 p.m. last Monday on Lewes-Georgetown Highway (U.S. Route 9) just east of Nassau Commons Boulevard outside Lewes near the Shell We Bounce Trampoline Park.

The ambulance had its lights and siren activated and was headed to a medical call, Sr. Cpl. DeMalto noted. "For unknown reasons," he added, "the driver of the Camry began to conduct a U-turn on Route 9 and drove into the path of the ambulance which led to the collision."

The roadway was closed for more than three hours while the scene was investigated and cleared. No charges have been filed as of Friday, Sr. Cpl. DeMalto said.

Photo courtesy Leah Greer via Todd McKean

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FLAG BLOWS OFF BANDSTAND POLE, REPLACEMENT COMING SOON!

Around 5:15 a.m. this past Wednesday, during the stormy weather, the American flag was found after it blew off the pole at the Rehoboth Beach Bandstand. Lynne Coan, city spokeswoman, says the "wind broke the rope on the pole that was flying the US flag. We're working to re-rope the pole, probably sometime [this] week."

According to the Rehoboth Beach boardwalk DEOS weather station, wind gusts were reported around 29 m.p.h. during that timeframe.

DOWNTOWN BLUES OPENS IN ORIGINAL NICOLA PIZZA SPACE

Restaurant entrepreneur Steve "Monty" Montgomery of Starboard fame hosted a grand opening last Monday for his first restaurant in the Rehoboth Beach city limits, Downtown Blues.

But as he points out, he is just one of the restaurant's owners. "We are opening this one, amongst others, as we promote long-time employees onto our ownership team of these new establishments," he says. Jessica Nathan, who's been with his company at Bethany Blues in Lewes since it opened, is now a full partner at Downtown Blues, he explains.

Nathan will be responsible for the day-to-day oversight of this new restaurant as well as the other Bethany Blues locations. "Any successful operation takes an amazing team. We are fortunate to have just that," he says, "therefore [we] are rewarding a few of our long-term folks by making them our partners... hoping they will continue working with us for years to come. They are truly the story behind our success. We are fortunate to have lucked out with great people on our teams to promote."

Naming this new restaurant "Downtown Blues" was intentional to grow the Blues brand, but also to give it its own name as they are heavily in the carry-out business and want to make it clear to customers from which location they are ordering. They have had confusion when someone orders from Bethany and picks up in Lewes.

They know they have some tough shoes to fill being in the former space as the original Nicola Pizza. Montgomery hopes that Downtown Blues will help grow the restaurant scene in Rehoboth Beach by bringing his local group with its 20 years of serving the community into downtown, taking over the iconic location from Nicola Pizza and hoping to spend the next 50 years serving the folks here as Nicola's had done previously.

Downtown Blues features a promising menu with a separate carryout menu. More info is on the Downtown Blues website.

Photos courtesy Steve "Monty" Montgomery

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DEWEY'S RUNNING OF THE BULL RETURNS FOR 26th YEAR!
Commentary by Steve "Monty" Montgomery!

The 26th Annual Starboard Running of the Bull went off perfectly Saturday as the "Dewey bubble" (as the locals call it) held out for near-perfect weather despite forecasted thunderstorms.

Harry Gutt, former owner of Mama Celeste Pizza in Dewey for the past 25 years, was the celebrity matador for the event. Here he is on stage with entertainer Kristen.

Thousands of revelers wearing their "red & white" gathered as early as 9 a.m., partying and celebrating in one of the silliest, but most fun events of the calendar year!

Traditions are things that always work out when planned. Most good ones just start, as this one did a mere 27 years ago (missed one with Covid) when Michael McDonell and his friends were at The Starboard one afternoon, watching the Bull Run in Pamplona, Spain on the TVs when they decided to grab a bull costume and chase it down the beach.

That first year they had about 30 participants. The following year it was nearly 100, and now it's in the thousands year after year, pretty much making for a fourth summer holiday weekend for most of Dewey's businesses.

Life can get pretty serious, but this is one of those things that takes everyone away from that with much-needed laughs as they chase the Bull (two kids in a costume) along the beach.

On the beach, Savannah and Brooklyn Montgomery enjoyed the show with the Washington Capitals mascot 'Slapshot!'

Another addition to the Running of the Bull in recent years is the inclusion of a Kids' Bull Run on the same morning. This one takes place on the beach with hundreds of kids and their families, learning about the Spanish tradition of the Bull Run, chasing the bull costume down the beach, even a mock bull-fight, complete with photos with local mascots, free kids T-shirts, and music to dance on the beach.

Here is young matador Brody Godbout as he prepares to 'fight' the Bull.

This event now serves as a fundraiser, raising $10,000 this year for the Rehoboth Beach Volunteer Fire Company.

More photos are on the Cape Gazette website.

Photos courtesy Steve "Monty" Montgomery

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REHOBOTH BEACH MUSEUM UNVEILS POSTCARD BOOK

The Rehoboth Beach Museum hosted a book launch this past Friday for Greetings from Rehoboth Beach, Postcards from the Collection of The Rehoboth Beach Museum. The hardbound 182-page full-color book, by Roland Forster and David McDonald with forward by Nancy Alexander, tells the history of Rehoboth Beach using 419 cards from the museum's diverse collection.

"We think it is a definitive book for Rehoboth postcards," says McDonald, who appears on the left with Forster at the book launch. The book starts with the Horn's Pavilion in 1905 with some of the earliest postcards the museum has obtained. They cover local photographers, local publishers, local views, and then examine various periods pertinent to postcards such as the 1980s, when the actual use of souvenir postcards declined, and people started using them for direct-mail advertising and merchant marketing, McDonald pointed out.

Rehoboth, in particular, has had a well-documented history in postcards. "We cover the gamut from the hotels and the restaurants, the beach and the boardwalk. Of course, at all the sites you get a look at the old bathing suits and the new bathing suits, all sorts of things. So we're very proud of it," McDonald says.

Nancy Alexander, former Rehoboth Beach Museum director, had been a constant positive champion of the project from the initial concept through the early drafts and to the final proofs and final printing and also by securing financial support for the final product, both Forster and McDonald pointed out. "Without her support and encouragement and enthusiasm, this would not have happened," McDonald added.

The museum had a sponsor who covered the printing costs, so all of the proceeds will go to support the museum. This book is available through the museum's gift shop and on the museum's website.

PHOTOS OF THE WEEK

This is a first, three photo submissions for the same Rehoboth sunset taken within a seven-minute period this past Saturday!

8:23 p.m. by Richard Tananis ...

8:29 p.m. by Christopher Darr ...

8:30 p.m. by Rick Ellinghaus via Alice Stockdale ...

Photography contests: Delaware Beach Life, Rehoboth Reflections, Ocean Photo, Delaware Farm Bureau

OTHER NEWS:

THE WEEKLY MERR REPORT--- Suzanne Thurman from the MERR Institute says her organization responded to three dead bottlenose dolphins, five dead loggerhead sea turtles and one live entangled leatherback which they are still unable to locate. The locations went from South Bethany up to Port Mahon, and five of them were at different locations on Slaughter Beach. As for causes of death, she says one of the loggerheads had signs of line marks, so it was a probable "fisheries interaction" death. The annual MERR dolphin count is scheduled for July 15 with dolphin cruises planned for July 9 and August 13. Info is on the MERR Facebook.

THREE SERIOUS WORKPLACE INJURIES THIS PAST WEEK IN SUSSEX COUNTY: