August 1st, 2011
Rehoboth Beach Museum, Rehoboth Beach Historical Society…both call home the Old Ice House, Rehoboth Beach, Delaware Beaches, Skimming the Surface, Exhibits, Beach Ball Fundraising Event, Watermelon Festival
The Rehoboth Beach Museum was opened to the public in 2007. I think that for most of us that love Rehoboth Beach and promote it, the Museum gives us a starting point in order to show our friends and families that visit, what a gem this town has become. A visit to the Museum will show you Rehoboth then; you are already experiencing what it is now. So, why not dive into the local history of our town and see why so many call Rehoboth Beach “The Nation’s Summer Capital”.
Both, the Rehoboth Beach Museum and the Rehoboth Beach Historical Society call home the Old Ice House, which is near the canal. John A. Lingo built the first wooden ice house at that location in 1912. At the time, ice was harvested from Silver Lake, in Rehoboth Beach. While visiting the Rehoboth Beach Museum you will be able to see the Lingo’s Family Bible on display as you come in.
The location for the Museum is 511 Rehoboth Avenue, right by the roundabout, and next to the Rehoboth Beach Chamber of Commerce Visitors’ Center. The tel. is 302-227-7310 and the website is www.rehobothbeachmuseum.org.
The Rehoboth Beach Museum has been busy and these are a few of the upcoming events:
Saturday, August 6th – It is The 6th Annual Rehoboth Museum Beach Ball from 7:00 p.m. until 10:30 p.m. at Kings Creek Country Club in Rehoboth. There will be great food, silent and live auctions, as well as music by Sol Knopf.
This is a fundraising event to benefit the Rehoboth Beach Museum. The theme for this year’s bash is Surf’s Up! The attire is Surfer Chic. For more info., please call 302-227-7310. You can purchase tickets online by visiting www.rehobothbeachmuseum.org.
Skimming the Surface Exhibit
Wednesday, August 10th – Surf Talk at 6:00 p.m. – A lively panel discussion about surfing off the Delaware Coast in the 1960s and 1970s.
Longtime local surfers Gary Revel and Neil Stevenson will be joined by Eastern Surfer shop owner George Pittman and others who made the Delaware surf scene a lively one. The informal discussion will be moderated by Terry Plowman, publisher of Delaware Beach Life magazine.
Light refreshments will be served. Please call 302-227-7310 to reserve a space. Admission will be $3. Free parking available.
Continuing with the “surfing” theme is the Museum’s newest exhibit “Skimming the Surface: Surfing, Skimboarding and Floating Off the Delaware Coast”. The exhibit is a celebration of the surfing community that was along the Delaware coast during the 1960s and 1970s. Some of these surfers made their mark on the regional surf scene.
I stopped to check it out. You will see surfboards and surfing related items from those years; boards that were used for fun and competition in regional contests by local surfers.
Skimboards from the 1940s through the 1980s help tell the story of the development of skimboarding, particularly in Dewey Beach. Photos, surfing accessories, a vintage inflatable raft, among other items, provide a peek into the past. For more information, please check the website above mentioned.
Besides the Skimming the Surface exhibit, the Museum has a Funland exhibit. If you grew up in Rehoboth Beach, have vacationed here with kids, or have had your kids grow up here, then, I am sure you took them to Funland. Lots of rides, food and games, right on the Rehoboth Beach Boardwalk.
Part of the original train is at the exhibit, beautifully preserved.
Information on the Old Ice House is also available. Did you know that before household refrigerators were common, people would store their watermelons at the ice house for 25 cents? They would carve their initials for identification.
The Rehoboth Beach Historical Society celebrates this tradition with the Annual Watermelon Festival, which will take place on Saturday, August 13th in Grove Park from 3 – 6 p.m. Admission is $3 for ages 13 and older, $2 for children 5 to 12. Children 4 and younger are free. Admission to the festival also includes admission to the Rehoboth Beach Museum.
There will music from 3-4 p.m., 4-5 p.m. watermelon eating contests by age and from 5-6 p.m. watermelon seed spitting contests by age. Hula Hooping and Paddle Ball, as well.
The Rehoboth Museum is a very manageable museum. I know you want to be on the beach but I assure you, it will be worth visiting.
Rehoboth Then
Note: Information for this post was taken from the Exhibit itself and from other literature available at the Rehoboth Beach Museum.
Have a good one….talk to you…later…
Tags: Activities, Delaware, Delaware Beaches, Events, Exhibits, fund raising, fund raising for the Rehoboth Beach Museum, Museum Beach Ball, Museum Exhibit, rehoboth beach, Rehoboth Beach Historical Society, Rehoboth Beach Museum, Skimming the Surface Exhibit, Surf Talk, Surf Talk at the Rehoboth Beach Museum, Things to do at the beach, Watermelon Festival, What to do at the beaches
Great info, enjoy your blog…you do get around and it’s helpful to have another perspective. Keep up the good reporting: info & photos!
Thanks so much for your comments. I guess you could say I do get around. I do feel luck that I live here and wanted to share it. I am learning so much as I go about discovering the Delmarva Peninsula. See you, G