Local

Local book festival features Chasten Buttigieg, Blade editor

Seventh annual Books in Bloom slated for Saturday in Columbia

Published

3 years ago

May 10, 2023

Chasten Buttigieg will appear Saturday at Books in Bloom in Columbia, Md. (Screen capture via ABC/YouTube)

A YouTube video shows Nikki Giovanni leaning on the armrest of a brown leather chair with her layered purple-beaded necklaces reaching past her waist and closer to her knees. Her perfectly manicured afro tilted backwards as she gazes into the eyes of James Baldwin, seated opposite her, as they had a conversation about the state of affairs between Black women and men on a 1971 episode of “Soul!,” a variety show about African-American music, dance, and literature.

“Jimmy, I’m really curious, why did you move to Europe?” she began their segment.

Giovanni, who has been honored with many awards, including the NAACP Image Award, will co-headline this year’s Books in Bloom Festival on Saturday, May 13 at Color Burst Park in Columbia, Md. She will join a host of other authors on the main stage, including co-host and LGBTQ rights activist Chasten Buttigieg, sociologist Eric Klinenberg, and Blade Editor Kevin Naff. Buttigieg is author of the new book, “I Have Something to Tell You.”

The festival, a collaboration between the Downtown Columbia Partnership and the Howard Hughes Corporation, began in 2017 to facilitate cutting edge discussions about diversity and inclusion in Columbia, Md. Authors, chefs, activists, and poets, among many others, have since gathered in the town to participate in programming about race, feminism, equality, and culture, according to the festival’s website.

“Each year we highlight books that can highlight timely conversations that are happening nationally,” said Casey Jones, festival organizer and marketing director for the Howard Hughes Corporation. “One of those speakers is Eric Klinenberg, [and this] is very timely in downtown Columbia as the county executive just announced plans for a beautiful new central library that will be designed by Thomas Heatherwick.”

Klinenberg’s session will center on his book “Palaces for the People,” which focuses on libraries as community anchors. He will also participate in a panel that includes Stuart Wood, a senior designer at Heatherwick Studio.

Though Books in Bloom may follow the template of spearheading relevant discussions each year, this year’s edition is unique because the festival has engaged its local partners “more authentically.” The festival’s theme is “Building Community Through Empathy and Understanding One Another.”

“In prior years, we’ve [asked] our local partners to help market [the festival],” said Phillip Dodge, executive director of the Downtown Columbia Partnership. “Whereas this year from the get-go we sat down and asked what value Books in Bloom can bring to them, and what can we offer them that could raise their profile in the community and help them do their jobs better.”

An example is Howard County Public School System Pride, which will participate in some of the programming and also launch its “Rainbow Vision 2023 Literary Magazine.” Students who contributed to the publication will also read their works, including poems and personal essays, in front of an audience.

“Incorporating our partners makes sure that conversations exist beyond the event,” said Jones. “Libraries aren’t just houses for books, they’re opportunities to hear different perspectives.”

In line with uplifting the LGBTQ community in programming, Kevin Naff, editor and co-owner of the Washington Blade, will be in conversation with film critic and culture writer Manuel Betancourt, discussing his new book, “How We Won the War for LGBTQ Equality — And How Our Enemies Could Take It All Away.”

“I grew up in Columbia, so it’s quite a thrill to be asked back years later as a published author,” said Naff. “I can’t wait to talk about the important and grave issues facing the LGBTQ community in a city with such a long, progressive tradition.”

This progressive tradition dates back as far as the 1970s when Baldwin answered Giovanni’s question on “Soul!”

“I was trying to become a writer and couldn’t find in my surroundings in my country, a certain stamina, a certain corroboration that I needed,” said Baldwin “As far as I knew when I was young, as far as my father knew, there’d never been anything called a Black writer.”

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Baltimore

Popular Mount Vernon gay bar Leon’s to temporarily close after owner’s death

Ron Singer passed away on July 7

Published

2 days ago

July 17, 2026

Baltimore Banner

Leon’s Backroom Bar in Mount Vernon. (Photo by Jessica Gallagher for the Baltimore Banner)

By WESLEY CASE | Leon’s Backroom, Baltimore’s oldest gay bar, temporarily shut down after service on Wednesday night, according to a post on the business’s Instagram page.

The announcement comes a little more than a week after the death of the Mount Vernon bar’s owner, Ron Singer, who died at 66 on July 7.

The rest of this article can be found on the Baltimore Banner’s website.

Local

Comings & Goings

New garden center offers array of products in Rehoboth

Published

2 days ago

July 17, 2026

Peter Rosenstein

Bay Laurel Home & Garden is located just outside Rehoboth on Route 1.

The Comings & Goings column is about sharing the professional successes of our community. We want to recognize those landing new jobs, new clients for their business, joining boards of organizations and other achievements. Please share your successes with us at [email protected].

Congratulations to Stuart Ortel and Scott Marker, and Dave Lyons and Rick Hardy, on the recent opening of their garden center on Route 1 in Rehoboth Beach, in the former Farmer Girl site. It is called Bay Laurel Home and Garden and debuted earlier this year. The four owners are all well known to the denizens of Rehoboth Beach.

Stuart and Scott have been active members of the Rehoboth Beach community since 1999. Stuart is a landscape architect, and has established relationships with many local folks in the building and landscape industry. When this opportunity for Bay Laurel Home & Garden presented itself, and they had the perfect team of people in place, he and Scott were committed to making it a reality. So, when Scott and Stuart introduced this opportunity to create a new garden center to Dave and Rick, they embraced the chance to cultivate a business where beautiful plants, inspiring home and garden products, and outstanding customer service come together. Dave and Rick knew about owning a business in Rehoboth as they previously owned Coho’s Market, where they discovered firsthand the value of serving their community, and the rewards of running a locally owned business.

The garden center launched with a refreshed brand identity, updated merchandising, and expanded product lines, all designed to create an inspiring and welcoming environment for your home. Bay Laurel Home & Garden offers a beautifully appointed garden center and curated home and gift shop.

The new center features a full nursery with annuals, perennials, shrubs, trees, and seasonal selections; a garden center offering pottery, fountains, and garden ornamentation, and essential tools and garden supplies. It has a garden shop featuring unique indoor/outdoor furnishings and accessories, and a gift shop featuring botanical and coastal style items for home and entertaining.

Rehoboth Beach

Celebrate Pride in Rehoboth Beach this weekend

‘A vital space for community, healing, and connection’

Published

4 days ago

July 15, 2026

Thomas Weaverling

Rehoboth’s Pride festivities kick off Friday. (Washington Blade file photo by Daniel Truitt)

Pride in Rehoboth Beach is kicking off this week on Friday, July 17, with events happening throughout the weekend.

“Rehoboth Beach Pride is more than a festival — it is a vital space for community, healing, and connection,” said David Mariner, director of Sussex Pride, which organizes many of the events.

The weekend will begin with the Grand Opening & Community Preview from 1-4 p.m. on Friday, July 17, celebrating the opening of Novus Medical Services and the new Sussex Pride Community Center.

This will be followed by an Interfaith Pride Service at 6 p.m. at the Metropolitan Community Church Rehoboth to gather for healing and the affirmation of queer spirituality with Rev. Carla Christopher, chair of Sussex Pride Faith.

Members of the community are then invited to head over to join the Rehoboth Beach Bears at the Pines to have dinner, mingle, and give back to local initiatives.

End the first night of Pride in Rehoboth at Diego’s Bar & Nightclub with music by DJ Joey P from 9 p.m.-1 a.m.

Rehoboth Beach Pride Festival will take place on Saturday, July 18, 2026, from 9 a.m.- 3 p.m. inside the Rehoboth Beach Convention Center. A full list of events is available at rehobothbeachpride.org.

Roxy Overbrooke will host on the main stage as live performances take place throughout the day, featuring music from DJ MK and Tribe 9 Entertainment.

The festival will include educational workshops, community meetups, and a raffle dedicated to raising funds for unhoused LGBTQ+ youth across Delaware.

Feature workshops include panels discussing topics such as unhoused LGBTQ+ youth in Delaware, the needs of trans and non-binary youth, as well as the increase in HIV and syphilis diagnoses amid federal budget cuts, in a panel moderated by Blade Editor Kevin Naff.

Saturday night will also feature an evening comedy and entertainment show at the Convention Center presented by the Gay Women of Rehoboth. Performers will include comedians Suzanne Westen h oefer and Karen Mills as well as musician Kristen Merlin. Tickets are available at gaywomenofrehoboth.org.

The Rehoboth Beach Pride Ride will take place at 10 a.m. on Sunday, July 19, hosted by the Dykes on Bikes Rehoboth Beach Women’s Motorcycle Club, starting at Lefty’s.

Goolee’s Drag Brunch will also take place on Sunday from 12-2 p.m at Goolee’s Grille. This is a family-friendly event hosted by Regina Cox and Ruby, featuring Aurora Sterling, Michelle Leigh Sterling, Scarlet St. Cartier, and Joanna Blue. Tickets can be purchased online.

Pride in Rehoboth will conclude at 2 p.m. with the official Rehoboth Beach Pride Closing Party at Aqua Bar & Grill, celebrating the venue’s landmark 20th anniversary with DJ Biff until 7 p.m.

Due to an influx of visitors for the summer season, those coming from out-of-town are encouraged to use the Park & Ride.