Library banishes news crews to Rehoboth’s Forbidden Forest

This past weekend, President Joe Biden made worldwide news when he announced he will not seek re-election. News of that nature typically doesn’t find its way into the Gazette’s orbit, but he made the announcement while at his home in North Shores. At the very least, I felt it was important to document for the record that history was made while he was here.

I went down to Rehoboth Beach first thing Monday morning to see if there were any photo opportunities. They were limited, but one of the first things I noticed was television news crews scattered around the city – city hall parking lot, Boardwalk, Bandstand, Cranberry Park, in front of the library. I figured it was because they were each trying to get their own individual background for their live feeds.

I took a photo of one cameraman setting up shop in the city hall parking lot. I asked him what station he was from – NBC – and mentioned that I thought it was interesting to see all the news crews around town because of Biden’s announcement.

He quickly corrected me, saying they had set up in the parking lot, instead of their usual location on the second-floor balcony of the Rehoboth Beach Public Library, because the library had a Harry Potter-themed event taking place. The cameraman shook his head and laughed. So did I and immediately checked on my phone to see if the library had such an event on its calendar. It did.

The next day, I spoke with Library Director Lauren McCauley.

“Hogwarts Camp is really popular. Basically, we needed all the space we could get,” she said.

The camp began as a one-day event in 2018, but since 2019, it’s been a three-day camp over the course of one week, said McCauley. There are grandparents who call months in advance to make sure the camp is still happening because they have grandkids coming to visit, she said.

McCauley said the news crews are treated like everyone else – the second-floor space is available to rent, but library events have priority. Almost all the time, it’s not an issue, but this time it was, she said.

“I like to joke that when the president comes to town, he’s supporting the library and doesn’t know it,” said McCauley.

It would be hard to convince me all the news crews in town are usually stationed at the library, but some definitely are. I was glad to see the library stuck to its wands and banished them to the Forbidden Forest of Rehoboth Beach.

“We got to keep the kids happy,” said McCauley.

A nice sing-along tree

I’ve written a few stories recently about the former Delaware State Police Troop 7 on Route 1, outside Lewes. The old two-story building had been vacant for a few years and was recently demolished. Decisions haven’t been finalized, but it appears, at least temporarily, the state is going to construct a salt barn.

In advance of any construction work, and before it gets cut down, I’d like to suggest the large evergreen on the northeast corner of the lot be donated to Rehoboth Beach for this year’s annual holiday sing-along at the Bandstand.

I’m not sure why the tree caught my attention, or why an event taking place four months from now popped into my head, but it is around this time of year that the city typically sends out a notice soliciting the donation of a tree. The tree is installed the week before Thanksgiving, decorated and ready to go for the Black Friday event.

It’s possible site work will begin much sooner than the city would need the tree, but it would be nice to see efforts made to save it. It’s a nice-looking tree, tall and uniform in shape, and definitely worthy of the honor.

Joke of the Week

Next week, Wednesday, July 31, representatives from the Mar-Del Watermelon Association will be on the Rehoboth Beach Boardwalk for their annual watermelon giveaway. The annual event has been taking place for years and is done in honor of National Watermelon Day, which is Saturday, Aug. 3, this year. Here’s a joke about watermelons. As always, send jokes to cflood@capegazette.com.

Q: You know what they say about when life gives you melons?

A: You might be dyslexic.