Fenwick Island

“Every day, CIA employees risk their lives to keep the nation safe. Some make the ultimate sacrifice and give their lives for the mission. On the smooth white marble walls of the CIA Original Headquarters Building lobby, a field of stars serves as a somber, silent memorial for fallen CIA officers.”

A new development is on the horizon in the Fenwick Island area, as Fox Haven, a community of “beach country homes,” will soon be offering 76 lot-and-home packages.

For about a decade now, the Town of Fenwick Island has held a bonfire on the beach during the week of the Fourth of July holiday, and this year will be no different. The bonfire will be held on Friday, July 6, from 6:30 to 10:30 p.m. at Dagsboro Street, with a rain date of Saturday, July 7.

Captain Jack Sparrow may have been the one who first introduced us to the Black Pearl on the high seas, but Bill Fox has brought his own Black Pearl to the streets of Fenwick Island. The customized mini-school bus has been decked out to resemble the fictional pirate ship from the “Pirates of the Caribbean” movies, but there’s nothing treacherous about this ride. In fact, the twin goals of fun and safety were what brought the idea to fruition.

Homeowners in Sussex County are being invited to a free public workshop on June 27 on financial assistance available to replace failing septic systems. The workshop will be held from 3 to 7 p.m. Wednesday, June 27, at the First State Community Action Agency, 308 North Railroad Avenue, Georgetown.

Summer has officially arrived, and with that area’s coastal farmers’ markets are starting up. The Fenwick Island Farmer’s Market will start Monday, June 25, at 8 a.m. The mid-week market at the Marketplace at Sea Colony will open Wednesday, June 27, at 8 a.m. And the market in downtown Bethany Beach will start Sunday, July 1, at 8 a.m.

Sunny afternoons on the beach mean rest and relaxation to hundreds of thousands making their way to the Maryland and Delaware shores each summer, but for a select few, the summertime means hard work. Each and every summer, lifeguards monitor the beaches, putting the lives of total strangers before their own. It’s that dedication and commitment that is handed down, year after year, as local beach patrols host their junior-lifeguard programs.

The Delaware Supreme Court stood in recess on June 13 after hearing arguments in the appeal of Earl Bradley.

Last August, the former Lewes pediatrician was sentenced to 14 life sentences, plus an additional 164 years in prison, on five counts of assault in the second degree and five counts of sexual exploitation of a child.

As the warm summer season approaches, the temperate month of June brings with it the promise of surf, sun and lounging poolside. But what do many find themselves doing on summer nights? Looking for entertainment, of course! And they can find just that at two local platforms: the long-running entertainment venue of the Bethany Beach Bandstand and the emerging performing-arts showcase of the Freeman Stage at Bayside.

In May, the Fenwick Town Council unanimously approved “Fenwick Flicks,” partnering with the Bethany-Fenwick Chamber of Commerce to offer a free monthly movie on the beach in the coastal town.

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 August of 2011, a devastating fire shut down and all but destroyed Catch 54, one of the Fenwick Island area’s most recognized restaurants – one of seven local creations of restaurateur Matt Haley. But, as the saying goes, you can’t keep a good man down, and Haley, founder and head of SoDel Concepts, found a way to turn things around in time for Memorial Day weekend of 2012, and Catch 54 opened its doors again this past Monday, May 21.

The Fenwick Island Lions Club will host its 26th annual Pancake Breakfast fundraiser on Saturday, June 2, from 7 a.m. to 10:30 a.m., at Harpoon Hanna’s on Route 54 near Fenwick Island.

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.

Fenwick Island residents will come together this weekend to help clean the town’s beaches before the 2012 summer season kicks off.

The Arbor Day Foundation this week announced that Fenwick Island had been named a Tree City USA community for its commitment to urban forestry. It is the seventh year Fenwick Island has earned the national honor from the Arbor Day Foundation, the nation’s largest nonprofit organization dedicated to planting trees.

Freeman Foundations Executive Director Patti Grimes spoke with Sussex County Council this week about the Joshua M. Freeman Foundation’s progress over the last five years, and the council put a request for $5,000 for transportation funds for the Freeman Stage at Bayside’s outreach mission on their agenda for next week.

Last weekend Karen Fritz, general manager at Smitty McGee’s, decided to petition the Delaware Department of Transportation (DelDOT) to have the road construction on Route 54 completed by the start of Memorial Day.

The Sussex County Planning & Zoning Commission voted this week to approve a final subdivision plan application by Mandarin Homes for Water’s Run subdivision, north of Route 54 and south of Dirickson Creek.

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.

Last week, the Fenwick Island Town Council held the first reading of a proposed ordinance relating to stormwater management.

The body of missing Maryland man Nicholas R. Townsend, 23, of Ocean City,  was found about 12:30 p.m. on March 17 in the Assawoman Bay off Ocean City.

Fenwick Island has a new face in town. Last week, Merritt Burke stepped in as the new town manager.

As the weather warms and a mild winter transitions into spring, more and more golfers will be hitting the links, and with the opening of Ruddo’s Golf in Fenwick Island, PGA professionals John Ruddo and Bret Marshall are looking forward to another busy and successful season.

An Ocean City, Md., man went missing in the early hours of March 2 after the canoe he was in reportedly capsized in the bay near Fenwick Island.

Nicholas Townsend, 23, was last seen on the Assawoman Bay, 100 yards offshore, behind the Lobster Shanty, about 4 a.m. on March 2, while canoeing with 20-year-old Fenwick Island resident Matthew Bullen.

The Irish are a proud people, as Pat Griffith, owner of Shamrock Shanty, will attest. Her Irish-themed shop, now in its third year at the Ocean Bay Plaza in Fenwick Island, remains open year-round, but it’s the time from late February through early March that yields the most sales. As March 17 barrels down upon us, Griffith reminds us that, “On St.

Fenwick Island’s Sue Studz already knows that oven #19 at the 45th Pillsbury Bake-Off Contest is hers. Surrounding her in the Peabody Orlando Hotel ballroom at the end of March will be 99 other ovens and simulated kitchens — but no running water and none of their own ingredients or cooking utensils.

Each and every day, members of local law enforcement agencies, fire departments and EMS services put their own lives on the line to ensure welfare of members of the community. Oftentimes their deeds go unnoticed except by those who experience their courageous and selfless acts firsthand. But once a year, the Bethany-Fenwick Area Chamber of Commerce takes time to recognize the outstanding individuals from local departments and companies who make local residents’ and visitors’ lives safer.