Bethany Beach

Anyone who has lived in or visited the Delaware shore for any length of time likely knows that international students make up a large portion of summertime employees in the area. With the workers coming from all over the world, it can be difficult for them to acclimate to a new area, new food, new customs and new laws. But that’s a problem some local businesspeople are hoping to eliminate.

After months of limited traffic, the Indian River Inlet Bridge appears on track to fully open all four lanes by Memorial Day weekend.

In a resort community where the majority of the business is concentrated in four to five months each year, finding success that will last for decades can be tricky. Maintaining a steady and successful “mom-and-pop” operation for a half-century, amid surging competition, could be daunting. But that’s precisely what Kathy Dryden has been doing, carrying on the family tradition at Shore Foods in Bethany Beach since 1962.

Bethany Beach Town Council is looking at acquiring South Coastal Library land for the new water tower. At the workshop May 15, Town Manager Cliff Graviet reviewed the cost-effective plan with council.

On Sunday, May 6, more than 2,000 people joined me to celebrate the history and the future of the Charles W. Cullen Bridge at the Indian River Inlet. The history of this location is one of several different bridges, an ever-changing environment and the emergence of Delaware as one of the East Coast’s premier resort locations.

With the summer season nearly upon us, plenty of locals and visitors to the area will be gearing up for plenty of rest and relaxation, and Dianna Moesle, owner of Bethany Massage and Healing Arts, hopes to reverberate that tranquil and soothing ambiance through the business. Having worked there for a year before taking over in late February, Moesle, along with a staff of nationally certified, licensed massage therapists, emphasizes the personal and comfortable experience that Bethany Massage and Healing Arts provides for their clients.

It can seem like moms can do it all, but sometimes even the best mom needs a helping hand. And the Bethany Beach Mom’s Club International was formed last September to help give local mothers the added support that they might need.

Why did the turtle cross the road, you ask? Perhaps the reason is to participate in the 4th Annual Greene Turtle Diamondback Dash 5K.

If you’re looking for a fun family night out that will also help support the Bethany Beach Volunteer Fire Company, consider a family night of magic at Dickens Parlour Theatre.

Delaware officials welcomed the public to a once-in-a-lifetime event atop the new Indian River Inlet Bridge on Sunday, May 6. Nearly 2,000 visitors walked, bicycled or scootered across the unopened roadway at the official dedication of the new Charles W. Cullen Bridge.

Over the last half-century, fishing along the Delaware and Maryland coastline has been a growing business, and very few, if any, can say they know it better than Amos “Butch” Evans, owner of Old Inlet Bait and Tackle, just north of the Indian River Inlet. This year marks the business’ 50th year, and Evans has been around for each one.

With only about eight weeks left before summer arrives, the Town of Bethany Beach is revving up for the 2012 season. Repair of the town’s dunes and dune crossings, as well as its lifeguard headquarters, and enhancements to the Garfield Parkway streetscape and to wireless Internet access are complete, or nearly so, with a new entertainment option also set to debut in the weeks to come.

Musicians eager to entertain at the shore could get to enjoy the spotlight at Patsy’s restaurant in Bethany Beach.

Owner Patsy Dill Rankin is inviting musicians to audition for the summer season, to “give people a chance to play in front of customers, and give us a chance to see what’s out there and have live music,” she said.

With the summer season looming, the focus in Bethany Beach is turning to getting the town ready for the arrival of vacationers and the entertainment the town offers to the entire area. And Town Manager Cliff Graviet is looking to add an offering to that slate of entertainment this summer.

The Bethany Beach Nature Center will be hosting an Earth Day celebration on Saturday, April 21, from 10 a.m. to 2 p .m.

Who knew?

For the better part of the last decade, the Blue Crab in downtown Bethany Beach has been dishing up heaps of the tasty crustacean for customers who keep coming back, again and again. But as they enter their ninth summer, owner Tim Haley has big plans for the restaurant, in the form of another shelled favorite. After an offseason expansion added 2,000 square feet to the already 4,000-square-foot restaurant, Haley is now readying for the unveiling of Bethany Oyster House & Raw Bar, a fully-functioning oyster bar.

There is a multitude of dining options at the beach. So why not try them all?

The Inland Bays Foundation is up and running and ready to recruit members. They had their first official meeting as an established 501(c)3 organization in October 2011 and have a mission “to advocate and promote the restoration of the Inland Bays watershed by conducting public outreach and education, tracking restoration efforts, encouraging scientific inquiry and sponsoring needed research, in order to establish a long-term process for the protection and enhancement of the Inland Bays.”

Whether one is driving over the new Indian River Inlet Bridge, attending Delaware Tech, visiting the Veterans Home in Milford or kayaking the Assawoman Canal, it is hard not to feel the impact of state Sen. George H. Bunting and his 28 years in public office. Bunting’s tenure will come to an end this November, though, as he is not seeking re-election. And while these accomplishments are just the tip of the iceberg of his time in office, Bunting is particularly proud of them and the collaboration that turned them into reality.

Local Civil War historian Tom Ryan will present the first talk of a two-part series titled “The Impact of the Civil War in Cities and Towns Across America” at the South Coastal Library on Thursday, April 5, from 6 to 7:30 p.m.

The weather has been warming up, but Bethany Beach residents gave a cold shoulder this week to a proposal that would offer another active recreation option to the town’s residents and visitors.

The turn of the year brought out plenty of ambitious individuals who wanted to get a head-start on their resolutions. More than 600 runners and walkers turned out in downtown Bethany Beach on New Year’s Day for the 1st Annual Hair of the Dog 5K and 10K, put on by the Quiet Resorts Charitable Foundation (QRCF).

Many motorists were excited to begin driving over the new Indian River Inlet Bridge in late January when it initially opened to limited traffic, but roadwork will continue throughout spring, and locals got a progress report from Delaware Department of Transportation’s (DelDOT) monthly Community Advisory Group meeting on Feb. 23.

As the saying goes, “If it’s not broke, don’t fix it.” And Liz Hammond, long-time employee and manager of Sea Crest in Bethany Beach, knew a good thing when she saw it. The boutique and gift shop in downtown Bethany was up for sale briefly earlier this year, but Hammond was determined to keep things the way they were.

Bethany Beach citizens will get the chance on March 13 to offer their input on a proposed pedestrian pathway that is aimed at adding even more active lifestyle options for those living in and visiting the town, and it’s not the Assawoman Canal Pathway project that has already netted considerable input from town residents and property owners.

Bethany Beach Town Councial members this week approved expending $55,000 in town funds to pay for the town’s portion of a study on the ways – if any – that the persistent flooding problems in the areas around Route 1 on the north side of the Route 26 intersection could be addressed.

The Bethany Beach Board of Adjustment on Feb. 8 denied an application for a variance to the maximum 40 percent lot coverage requirement.

“You made Mary real with your stories about your favorite images of art, photography and film. Suddenly she was no longer a statue or an image in a flat painting. She became a living and breathing woman that I could relate to. Thank you.”

The word “free” catches people’s attention. I spend lots of time in the South Coastal Library in Bethany Beach. I no longer purchase cooking magazine subscriptions, because so many of the recipes are for chicken; since I’m allergic to chicken, I realized that I was wasting money. I now sign out back-issues of cooking magazines from the library and copy recipes that work for me.