Local
Rehoboth’s Pamala Stanley raises $2,725 for Beebe Healthcare
Online tea dance to become weekly event
A one-time concert to raise money for Delaware’s Beebe Healthcare has turned into a weekly show for singer Pamala Stanley.
Owners of The Pines Rehoboth Beach restaurant and nightspot announced the singer’s first concert on April 26 was so successful that she’ll perform a virtual tea dance to benefit Beebe every Saturday until The Pines can open again.
“We raised a lot of money for a very fantastic cause,” said Pines co-owner David Gonce, during a break in the show. “We’ll be doing this every Saturday until this terrible pandemic is over and our beautiful town reopens.”
“The beauty of a local community is what we’re doing here tonight,” added Tom Protack, president of the Beebe Medical Foundation, the fundraising arm for Beebe Healthcare. “Local singer, local restaurant, local supporters making it happen…What better way to spend a Saturday night?”
Pines representatives said the concert raised $2,725 for the medical foundation — $2,150 in cash and $575 from the sale of $25 gift cards to be given to first responders. They said future benefits will be held on Saturdays from 7-9 p.m. on Facebook and may have guest performers joining Stanley.
Located in Lewes, Del., Beebe Healthcare serves Sussex County, which includes Rehoboth Beach, Bethany Beach and other communities in lower Delaware.
Saturday’s benefit, which drew hundreds of viewers, was Stanley’s first virtual tea dance after years of live performances in Rehoboth Beach and elsewhere. Dressed in a sparkling red jumpsuit, she sang from The Top of the Pines, the second-floor piano lounge above the restaurant at 56 Baltimore Ave.
The Pines isn’t open for table service during the COVID-19 pandemic but was offering prix fixe dinners and drinks to go, with a portion of the proceeds going to first responders. It also had gift cards that viewers could buy and donate to first responders, as well as gifts that viewers could bid on, including designer face masks and a “COVID relief package.” Sponsors included Jack Lingo Realtor, Visit Rehoboth and Jungle Jim’s water park.
Stanley, who has a large gay following, walked out on stage wearing a face mask but took it off once she started singing. She sang nearly two dozen songs during her two-hour performance, told stories between songs and even showed off her fan-dancing skills.
Stanley dedicated one of her biggest hits, “Coming Out of Hiding,” to all her fans who are getting restless after weeks in quarantine: “This is for everybody,” she said, “because we have been in hiding for way too long, don’t you agree?” She said she’ll be taking requests in future virtual shows and expressed hope that The Pines will be able to be open for more than curbside service by Memorial Day.
At one point, Stanley demonstrated a new option for when the bars are open again: a “COVID drinking mask” that enables the wearer to have a drink in a bar or on a plane without potentially endangering the lives of others.
“Just because we have to wear masks does not mean we shouldn’t enjoy a drink,” she reasoned. “Am I right?”
The drinking mask comes from Totes of the Town, an online accessories shop (totesofthetown1.com) that’s based in Rehoboth Beach and features “seasonal and coastal” wine totes, pillows and other items, including face masks. Owner and resident mask designer Joseph Scott joined Stanley online, QVC-style, to demonstrate the mask and explain how it works.
Scott showed that the drinking mask has a small grommet strategically located where the mouth is, so wearers can stick in a straw and sip their Rose Kennedys or Cosmos without fear of spraying respiratory “droplets” in the air, one of the ways COVID-19 can spread.
“Everybody has been wondering how they’re going to drink in COVID,” Scott told Stanley. “So here we have it.”
Although Totes of the Town offers a variety of face masks for sale online, Scott said the drinking masks aren’t on the market yet. But he hinted they may be soon.
“These are not COVID-compliant,” he warned. “They’re not for sale. They’re not yet. Let’s be COVID compliant for a while. These will be coming, shortly.”
Rehoboth Beach
Rehoboth Beach’s iconic Purple Parrot is sold
Popular restaurant/bar purchased by local entrepreneurs
After 25 years of success, owners Hugh Fuller and Troy Roberts recently sold Rehoboth Beach’s Purple Parrot restaurant and bar.
During those 25 years, they built it into an iconic establishment in Rehoboth Beach, Del., popular with locals and tourists alike.
“I think you know that this has basically been my entire adult life,” Fuller said. “Selling wasn’t something I was even contemplating until my health took a turn after contracting COVID, which took a toll on my everyday health. I went from working almost every day to barely going in.”
Fuller added that when local entrepreneurs Tyler Townsend and his partner Drew Mitchell reached out, he knew it was time to sell.
“We knew we made the right decision going with some young blood that knew the staff, the restaurant, and us,” Fuller said. “We know that our baby is in good hands and will breathe for another 25+ years with them at the helm. I plan to take some time and bring my mom back to her hometown in Germany to visit her family, which she hasn’t seen in over 30 years.”
Roberts added, “It is bittersweet selling a business you created, nurtured, and ran for 25 years. It is much easier knowing who is going to love it next. More importantly, we really wanted our staff to be OK and again picking the right guys offering that security to them was a major plus. I’ve learned so much being in the restaurant business for 30+ years. You meet so many great people, so many loyal customers, amazing locals, and even better staff. It truly does become a family situation. I will always be grateful to every single one of them past and present. I cannot wait to see what the next chapter of the Purple Parrot Grill has in-store.”
The new owners, Townsend and Mitchell, are already a big part of the Rehoboth scene. Townsend is a successful restaurateur, part of the Second Block Hospitality Group, which owns The Pines, Drift, and Bodhi Kitchen. Townsend is also one of the owners of Aqua Bar and Grill. Townsend and the other three partners in Second Block Hospitality, were named restaurateurs of the year by the Delaware Restaurant Association earlier this year. Mitchell has a company that does corporate branding, but is no newcomer to hospitality. He is the owner of the Fathom Gallery on 14th Street in D.C., a popular event space.
Townsend told the Blade he and Mitchell are not planning any big changes for the Parrot. The staff will remain the same and the food and drinks will continue as they are now. They will continue to be open on Thanksgiving and Christmas, as a home for those looking to have a great place to spend the holidays with old, and new friends. While the Parrot is independent of Townsend’s other businesses, he believes there can be some synergy among them, and if the time and event are right, there will be collaboration.
Reaction to the news from locals has been overwhelmingly positive.
Christopher Chandler, who has worked as a bartender and manager at the Parrot for years, is well respected in the community and has been voted best bartender in Rehoboth Beach a number of times by Blade readers. Chandler said, “Hugh and Troy were, and are, like family to me. They treated me and the staff of the Parrot as part of theirs. I’m sad they are gone but if anyone is capable of continuing their legacy it is Tyler and Drew.
“In the short time since their purchase of the Purple Parrot they have continued on that tradition. I’m excited about continuing into the future what the Parrot has been to the community, and to the employees, just with new owners.”
Bob Suppies, who is a partner with Townsend in Second Block Hospitality said, “I couldn’t be more excited for Tyler and Drew having purchased The Purple Parrot. When Tyler, Kevin McDuffie and I bought Aqua Bar & Grill from the famed Bill Shields, it was important for us to honor the brand and legacy of a great Rehoboth Beach institution. I know Tyler and Drew will do an outstanding job protecting what Hugh and Troy have built and given to our community.”
Steve Fallon, owner of local retail store Gidget’s Gadgets, said, “The Purple Parrot is a monumental institution produced by the hard work of Hugh, Troy, Cathy, and their loyal staff. We will be sad not to yell “Hey Hugh!” across the street. But I also know that Tyler and Drew will carry on the history of the Parrot with a fresh approach and always keep the customers happy. I wouldn’t fear that they would do as others have done and try changing a functioning landscape into a horror show.”
Maryland
Hate crime charges dropped against most Salisbury students in off-campus attack
Suspects allegedly used Grindr to target victim
BY MIKE HELLGRIN, CHRISTIAN OLANIRAN, AND ELLIE WOLFE | Prosecutors in Wicomico County are dropping felony assault and hate crime charges against at least 12 of the 15 Salisbury University students charged in an off-campus attack in October.
Misdemeanor false imprisonment and second-degree assault charges remain for most of the defendants, and many trials are set for late January.
The rest of this article can be read on the Baltimore Banner’s website.
District of Columbia
D.C. Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs moving to new location
LGBTQ community center also set to leave Reeves Center
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs, which is currently located at the city’s Reeves Center municipal building at 14th and U Street, N.W., was scheduled to move during the week of Dec. 9 to a new location at 899 North Capitol St., N.E., according to Japer Bowles, the office’s director.
Bowles said the LGBTQ Affairs office will be located on the seventh floor of the privately owned office building in which the city has rented space for several other city agencies, including the D.C. Department of Health.
The move comes about amid longstanding plans to demolish the Reeves Center and replace it with a redevelopment project that will include a mix of housing, office space, a hotel, and retail stores along with a public plaza and a 200-seat amphitheater.
The D.C. LGBTQ+ Community Center, which has been located in the Reeves Center for about 10 years, also expects to be moving out of the building in the spring of 2025, said Kimberley Bush, the LGBTQ center’s executive director.
Bush said the LGBTQ center looks forward to moving into its new, larger space in a building at 1827 Wiltberger St., N.W. in the city’s Shaw neighborhood, which is located one block away from the Shaw-Howard University Metro station.
The LGBTQ center entered a joint lease to rent space in the Wiltberger Street building with the Capital Pride Alliance, the group that organizes most of D.C.’s LGBTQ Pride events, including the upcoming World Pride 2025 events set to take place in D.C. May 17-June 8.
In response to a request by Bowser, the D.C. Council earlier this year approved $1 million in funding for fiscal year 2025 to support the build-out and construction of the LGBTQ Center’s space in the Wiltberger Street’s converted warehouse building.
But shortly after the Council approved that funding, the D.C. Center and Capital Pride Alliance announced the launch of a fundraising campaign called “Welcome Home – Building Together, Thriving Together” to raise an additional $1.5 million needed to complete the renovation of the new building.
“This endeavor is more than just the construction of a building; it represents a commitment to carve out a generous 7,000 square feet of space devoted to nurturing unity, empowerment, and support across the LGBTQ+ spectrum,” a statement announcing the fundraising campaign says.
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Rehoboth Beach’s iconic Purple Parrot is sold