Fenwick Island

Summer officially kicked off last Monday and, with that, the Bethany Beach and Fenwick Island farmers’ markets got under way. Each week this summer, through early September, farmers, growers and other local providers will bring their wares to the much-anticipated markets, providing shoppers with freshness and taste that can be hard to find in the produce section of the grocery store.

The Town of Fenwick Island went to settlement this week on the purchase of a lot on Cannon Street that will allow the town to expand its park amenities.

In the Washington, D.C., suburbs, Ellen’s Futon Wholesalers is well known as a furniture retailer. Now, they’ve taken their popular product to Delaware for the first time, with their recent opening in Fenwick Island.

A harsh and brutal winter has yielded to a welcome spring and a sunny summer, and local farmers and growers have been at the benefiting end of it all. Later this month, they will come together for another summer of farmers’ markets, offering the fruits (and vegetables, flowers and other products) of their labor in Bethany Beach and Fenwick Island.

Lifelong local residents Clarence “Bud” Tingle and his wife, Diane, have made a habit out of serving their community: both are members of town councils in separate towns in southeastern Sussex County.

The Freeman Stage will feature the musical “It’s Not Mean to be Green,” based on the book by Jamie Kleman, on June 19 at 10 a.m. The show is free and open to all ages.

Sláinte Pub and Restaurant – a new eatery and bar on Route 54 in West Fenwick Island – boasts both authentic Irish cuisine and traditional Irish hospitality. The restaurant held its soft opening over Memorial Day weekend, with a packed house by word of mouth alone, and plans are to hold an official grand opening June 25 and 26.

At 3:35 p.m., National Weather Service Doppler radar indicated strong thunderstorms moving into central and southern Delaware. Officials said the storms will be capable of producing small hail and gusty winds. In addition, very heavy rain will fall from these storms and will cause water to pond on roads and fill poor drainage areas.

After months of holding out hope and prayers, the worst fears of a family and an entire community have become a reality, but more questions remain to be answered. The remains that washed up onto Ocean City, Md.’s beach in late April were identified as that of Greg Forte, a 29-year-old Selbyville man who went missing in early February.

The Fenwick Island Town Council at their council meeting on May 21, discussed “the Wedding House” – a house in the town that has since been cited for advertising as a wedding reception facility.

National Safe Boating Week runs from May 22 to 28 this year, and the traditional opening to the summer boating season will start this weekend, so the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control’s Boating Safety Office is encouraging people to practice safe boating.

Fenwick Island’s Public Safety Building Committee has narrowed down their search for architectural and engineering firms to five. Town Manager Win Abbott said they received 21 total proposals, and the choice has been narrowed down in recent weeks. All of the firms are from either Sussex County or from Worcester County in Maryland.

Last week, the Bethany-Fenwick Area Chamber of Commerce welcomed business owners to their monthly membership breakfast meeting, held this month at Mango’s in Bethany Beach. The meeting featured a presentation by Doug Robb, project manager for the Indian River Inlet Bridge construction project, and the meeting was kicked off with an introduction by Carrie Subity, who was recently named executive director of the local Chamber.

The Fenwick Island Town Council held and approved three second-readings of ordinances at their April council meeting last week.

Since the age of 12, Janilyn Elias recalls the family trips to the Delaware beaches throughout the summertime, and working at the then-and-now, well-known establishments, like The Right Angle and Dirty Harry’s. This spring, she’s brought a little bit more to Fenwick Island, too, with Indulgence, the newest head-turning gift shop in the Village of Fenwick. Once inside, shoppers will notice an array of products for themselves and their four-legged friends. As Elias describes, Indulgence sports unique gifts for pets and their people.

Facebook and Twitter and blogs. Oh, my!

Fenwick Island residents recently heard from Greg Hughes, from the State of Delaware, regarding the advantages of municipalities having social networking accounts – specifically, Facebook.

Sunny skies and warming temperatures are headed this way, which will pair nicely with the Bethany-Fenwick Area Chamber of Commerce’s 21st Annual Ocean to Bay Bike Tour, set to ride on Saturday, April 17, starting at 8 a.m., through the Quiet Resorts. Cyclists of all ages and skill levels are being encouraged to choose between 25-, 35- and 50-mile routes, starting and ending in downtown Bethany Beach.

The Fenwick Island Town Council officially re-named West Essex Street Extended as Ebb Tide Cove with a resolution passed on Friday, March 26. It was the end of a year-and-a half project with Sussex County Mapping and Addressing to rename some streets whose designations were found to be of concern because of redundant or confusing names.

According to the Fenwick Island Police Department, three subjects have been charged in a string of residential burglaries that occurred along the beachfront in late October of 2009.

The Fenwick Island Building Committee will solicit bids for architectural services as their next step in the public safety building process. The committee came to the consensus that a two–story, free-standing building was their best bet, as costs with tying it into the building currently leased by the Bethany Beach Volunteer Fire Company, such as for an elevator and a sprinkler system, would be excessive.

Fenwick Island has officially launched its new Web site. At last month’s town council meeting, Town Manager Win Abbott explained that Town Clerk Agnes DiPietrantonio had entered the town into a competition, and they had won first prize, which was a total overhaul of the town’s Web site at no charge to the town.

This past winter, the Shamrock Shanty made a move for Fenwick Island, and with St. Patrick’s Day nearly arrived, store owner Pat Griffith won’t even need the luck o’ the Irish this season, as business is already taking off.

On Friday, Feb. 19, Nogiko Kertesz took her two shih-tzus, Skoshi and Daise-Mae, for a walk in their neighborhood in Bayside.

A designated public safety building is a little closer to reality in the Town of Fenwick Island, although much still needs to be decided on the issue. Mayor Audrey Serio noted that it is something the town has talked about for years, and on Monday, the town’s Public Safety Building Committee had a meeting to discuss their next steps to make it a reality.

A coastal storm, combined with astronomical high tides and a full moon, has resulted in the National Weather Service issuing a coastal flood warning and a hazardous weather outlook for the Bethany Beach area. Minor coastal flooding during Wednesday morning’s high tide may elevate to moderate flooding on during the next high tide into Thursday.

Although snowflakes are few and far between in Delaware as of 3:30 p.m., Thursday, the National Weather Service predicts that snowfall will gradually increase over the state and continue through Thursday night into Friday. However, forecasts for accumulation have been lowered since early Thursday morning.

Friends and family of Greg Forte, the Selbyville man who went missing more than two weeks ago in Fenwick Island, this week retained their hope and continued their prayers as state police and investigators searched for more clues.

This week saw new developments in the case of Earl Bradley, and the pain that has been felt in the community in the wake of allegations of child sexual abuse by the Lewes pediatrician has only become more far-reaching.

West 54 Café, one of the area’s breakfast and lunch hotspots, this Sunday is debuting their monthly art show, which will feature some of the area’s most respected and emerging artists. On Sunday, Feb. 28, the Fenwick Island coffee shop’s first free show will kick off at 5 p.m., and organizers are inviting the public to enjoy food and drinks while getting to know some of the community’s artists.

Search efforts to find a Selbyville man who went missing from a Fenwick Island condo on Feb. 9 have been scaled back, according to Delaware State Police, but friends and family remain optimistic and hopeful for his safe return. Police said 29-year-old Gregory Forte was last seen at a condo with friends on South Carolina Avenue in Fenwick Island last Tuesday night, and his family is now offering a $25,000 reward for information leading to his safe return.