CAMP Rehoboth atrium dedicated to Elkins and Archibald

During a dedication event Oct. 8 that had attendees laughing and crying, CAMP Rehoboth’s atrium was dedicated in honor of co-founders Steve Elkins and Murray Archibald. 

Elkins and Murray Archibald co-founded CAMP Rehoboth in 1991. Elkins died in 2018 from lymphoma.

CAMP Rehoboth Board of Directors President Wes Combs said CAMP’s founding mission was to be the heart of the community, and this mission is still the same. It’s not always fun, but today is one of the fun days, he said.

Board of Directors Past President Chris Beagle said he had just begun spending time at CAMP when the nondiscrimination bill was signed in the atrium in 2009. “That bill validated our community, and that CAMP was a place where people could feel safe and welcome,” he said, acknowledging the ceremony was bittersweet because there had been a desire to dedicate space while Elkins was still alive.

Rehoboth Beach Mayor Stan Mills credited Elkins and Murray with not just wanting change, but being a part of the work to get the change. For example, said Mills, CAMP Rehoboth has hosted cultural sensitivity training for the city’s seasonal officers for two decades.

For many years, Mills lived behind CAMP Rehoboth on Maryland Avenue. Now, as mayor, he said, when he walks around town, he sees all the ways CAMP Rehoboth has made a positive influence on the city. And, he continued, he still judges all displays at the convention center to the designs Archibald did for CAMP Rehoboth’s annual Sundance benefit.

Archibald spoke briefly and thanked everyone for coming. He said it had been a lot of hard work and credited all who were in attendance with being a part of the organization’s success. He joked that Elkins would take great pleasure knowing his last name was first on the sign.

Rehoboth Beach was founded by Methodist ministers as a camp meeting association. Archibald comes from a family of Methodist ministers, and said he spent a lot of time as a child at a religious camp his grandfather started where there was a building with his grandfather’s name on it. Now, he said, after starting his own camp in a town started by Methodist ministers, he has a building with his name on it.

“It’s come full circle,” he said.