WEEKEND #13, 2024
August 19, 2024
Rehoboth Beach, Delaware
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FIREFIGHTER DIES ASSISTING AT CRASH SCENE
A tragic accident on the Lewes-Georgetown Highway this past week ended up claiming the life of a firefighter and Sussex County EMS logistics technician who had stopped to assist.
Around 4:20 p.m. last Tuesday, Thomas "Tommy" Wilson Berry III, 23, radioed the Sussex County fire dispatcher that he was on the scene of a crash near Peninsula Paving, which is just east of Georgetown.
About five minutes later, he calls the dispatcher to prepare to "copy a pole number." It is common for first responders to advise their dispatch of specific identifiers and location markers on damaged utility poles and other infrastructure. But that's the last he is heard on the radio and further attempts to reach him are unsuccessful.
Firefighters from Georgetown arrive about five minutes later and report a "firefighter down" and one can hear from the emotion and stress in their voices that this had become a tragedy. A short time later, the Georgetown fire chief in charge of the scene relinquishes control to the Milton chief, clearly overtaken by the grief.
Berry had been the logistics technician for the county's EMS division since 2022 and a volunteer firefighter with the Georgetown and Ellendale fire companies.
Photo courtesy Sussex County Government
He comes from an amazing family dedicated to the fire service as documented in this post on the Ellendale VFD website.
A procession of public safety personnel and vehicles lined the streets of Georgetown last Tuesday evening just after sunset, making their way past the fire hall, as his body was taken from the incident scene to the Delaware Medical Examiner's Office.
State police said the crash happened when a driver attempted to pass another auto, causing the one vehicle to lose control and crash into a pole that later snapped after Berry arrived at the scene. The medical examiner will determine the cause and manner of death.
County flags have been lowered to half-mast in Berry's honor. His funeral will be this Thursday, August 22, at the Crossroads Community Church. Visitation will be from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., with services at 1 p.m. County offices will be closed in his memory.
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COASTAL HIGHWAY WASHED OUT BY ROUGH SEA WITH FULL MOON
The ocean breached the dunes just north of the Indian River Inlet last night.
Choppy seas from Hurricane Ernesto, high tide and a nearly full moon likely contributed to the washout.
Photos courtesy DelDOT
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MULTI-VEHICLE PILE-UPS TWICE ON COASTAL HIGHWAY ON SATURDAY
On northbound Coastal Highway outside Rehoboth first responders handled two multi-vehicle crashes this past Saturday.
Just before 3 p.m., troopers responded to the area of Coastal Highway, just north of Church Street for this four-vehicle crash.
Cpl. Amina Ali, state police spokesperson, says the green 2012 Ford passenger vehicle was stopped in traffic in the left lane of Coastal Highway. A 2020 white Chevrolet Express Van was stopped behind the Ford, and a 2011 green Honda CRV was stopped behind the Chevrolet van. The 2019 black Jeep Compass was approaching the rear of the Honda CRV and did not stop in time. As a result, she says, the Jeep Compass struck the rear of the Honda CRV, which pushed the Honda CRV into the Chevrolet van, and then the Chevrolet van into the Ford.
There were no injuries reported. The driver of the Jeep was issued a ticket for following a motor vehicle too closely.
About five hours later and a few miles north, around 8:25 p.m., Cpl. Ali says troopers responded to the area of Coastal Highway and Seaside Outlet Drive for a three-vehicle crash. The vehicles involved were a 2019 gray Lexus NX, a 2023 blue BMW 3-series and a 2012 red Jeep Wrangler.
The driver of the Jeep was issued a ticket for following a motor vehicle too closely.
Northbound Coastal Highway was closed for about 45 minutes and backed traffic into downtown Rehoboth Beach.
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SUSSEX LIFEGUARDS ARE NATIONAL CHAMPIONS!
GoFundMe has been established to help get them
to the World Lifesaving Championships
The Sussex County Lifesaving Association (SCLA) won its first United States Lifesaving Association (USLA) National Lifeguard Championship which was held earlier this month in South Padre Island, Texas.
This is the first time that the SCLA team from Delaware won the national championship and the first time that a team from outside of California or New Jersey has won. "We were really good over the last six years getting second or third, but this year all of the teams in Sussex County sent their best and enabled us to put the First State on the trophy," says RBP Chief Derek Shockro, the SCLA team captain.
The SCLA team included athletes from the following Delaware patrols: Delaware State Beach Patrol, Rehoboth Beach Patrol, Dewey Beach Patrol, Sussex Shores Beach Patrol, North Bethany Beach Patrol, Bethany Beach Patrol, Sea Colony Beach Patrol, Middlesex Beach Patrol and Fenwick Island Beach Patrol.
The Delaware lifeguards earned 1465 points to place first. Los Angeles County finished in second place with 939 points, and Monmouth County, NJ came in third with 759 points.
The SCLA is now focused on preparing for the 2024 World Lifesaving Championships in Broadbeach, Australia that will take place from August 20 to September 8. They need help getting there and have started this GoFundMe for donations.
Chief Shockro likens the USLA National Lifeguard Championship to the Super Bowl equivalent of competitive lifeguard surf racing. The SCLA had 79 lifeguards swim, paddle, row and run in individual and relay events this year. Events like surf rescue, board rescue and landline simulate real-life rescue techniques used in lifeguarding every day throughout the world, he points out.
This was Chief Shockro's 20th national championship and this will be his 4th world championship. He was first in masters, coached and managed the athletes!
"I am just happy to be coaching and managing the team from Delaware which includes Sophia Gulotti (RBP) and Konner Knarr (RBP). They are also on the USA National Team which will represent the USA against select athletes from around the world," he said.
Chief Shockro's daughter, Lainey Shockro, a Deauville guard for Delaware State Beach Patrol (DSBP), Ashlynn Roselle (NBBP) and Rachel Kline (SSBP) will compete in the inter-club companionships.
"We have amazing lifeguards in Delaware. They also happen to be amazing athletes that like to surf race," he adds.
Here's Lainey Shockro on the women's beach flags in the preliminary rounds.
Women's Landline National Champs: Dionn Stevenson (Lifeguard of the Year this year), Maddie Tonn (Lifeguard of the Year last year), Meredith Lockwood, and Liz Perry.
Here's a complete list of SCLA winners.
That's Coleman Woodward (DSBP) with the green-tip board.
Photos courtesy SCLA
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OCBP, RBP LIFEGUARDING STRATEGIES
The lifeguarding techniques between Rehoboth Beach and Ocean City differ significantly despite the ultimate goal of rescuing swimmers.
Ocean City has 90 single-guard stands covering 10 miles of beach while Rehoboth has 16 stand locations with typically two guards on each stand. Some Rehoboth locations even have two stands, especially this summer with the loss of Deauville.
When Rehoboth Beach guards respond on a rescue, Chief Derek Shockro explains, they use the "cover down" system which was conceived decades ago by then-RBP Capt. Frank Coveleski. When the guards from a particular stand go on a water rescue or medical emergency they radio or signal to both adjacent stands for a "cover down." One guard from each of the two neighboring stands responds to assist, Chief Shockro says. The first to arrive backs up the two making the rescue, if necessary, while the other typically climbs on the vacant stand to continue coverage.
If the stands have only one guard, such as during lunch or afternoon workouts, a spare guard from Baltimore Avenue provides that extra guard needed as guards from each stand move over one chair, south or north, to fill in for the assist.
Ocean City uses a "covered system" when a guard goes in from any of the 90 stands to make a rescue. When the guard decides to intervene, the guard blows two whistles, Capt. Butch Arbin explains. Even if the guards on both sides can't hear because of the wind blowing, they should see the neighboring guard go and the buoy is gone, they then know something's going on. They have the responsibility to get down, get their buoy and head that way as the "covering guard," he says. Once they get halfway between their stand and the incident location, they stand there and hold their buoy up and stand guard, he says.
If the guard making the rescue requires assistance, perhaps for a neck injury, then the "covering guards" know that they need to come the rest of the way and join the rescue. The next guard south of that and north of that are holding their buoys up while standing in their stands. If something happens and the initial guard requires additional assistance, the neighboring guards move in and keep feeding into that area.
Coverage at the other stands is maintained by guards who "slide" into the area as needed. OCBP has 15 ATVs that also respond. "As the stands get further apart we do not cover in the same way," Capt. Arbin explains, "We rely on our ATVs as the primary cover."
During workouts or breaks the lifeguards are required to remain in the area of their crew (OCBP has 18 crews) so that in an emergency they are available to respond, Capt. Arbin points out. In addition to a lunch rover who is not assigned to a stand in the crew, there is often an additional unassigned surf rescue technician (SRT) for the crew. This provides an additional SRT for most of the day.
OCBP also has a guard deployed much of the time on a personal watercraft with an attached rescue sled.
Except for the three surfing beaches, all of Ocean City's 10 miles are designated swimming beaches. "We do the one-per-stand and then we guard all 10 miles of beach. Whether we have 10 stands or 90 stands, we guard 10 miles of beach, which is hard to do, because sometimes the guards are a mile apart. But everybody pays taxes, everybody gets a guard," Capt. Arbin says. "We'd have to have over 300 people to staff two per stand," he points out.
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RBP GUARDS RECOGNIZED FOR VALOR AWARDS FOR LIFESAVING
As reported by the City of Rehoboth Beach's Facebook page, four Rehoboth Beach Patrol guards received valor awards for handling medical emergencies this past summer.
Photo courtesy Hunter Knarr/hyperkineticvp.com
Tori Blakenship, left, and Dionn Stevenson, right, with RBP Capt. Jeff Giles were honored along with Ellis Jack and Charlie Roth at last Tuesday's annual lifeguard ball with valor awards for their lifesaving actions this season. They also shared the "lifeguard of the year" award for the first time in the patrol's 103-year history.
They are seen here off Hickman Street treating a man with a suspected neck injury on July 4. He was later taken by ambulance to the Rehoboth Elementary School where he was flown to a trauma center.
"The other guards were able to get on the same page to help stabilize the victim because of their experience," says RBP Chief Derek Shockro. "It was not just this rescue," he pointed out. "It's what they do every morning. They wake up. Put on their gear. Come to work and do their job to the highest level. They demonstrate excellence and they help lead the future of the Rehoboth Beach Patrol." he added.
Jack and Roth received valor awards for helping a visitor who collapsed on the beach who was suspected to be in cardiac arrest.
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SMOKING MARIJUANA IN PUBLIC IS STILL ILLEGAL!
Smoking marijuana in Rehoboth Beach in public is illegal much as is public consumption of alcohol.
The recently changing laws in Delaware and elsewhere and the perception concerning marijuana have not changed the ordinances.
Rehoboth Beach police have issued 14 citations since May for smoking marijuana in public, like this man who was stopped on Rehoboth Avenue on July 19.
Police also have made two arrests for possession of marijuana, one juvenile and one adult.
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WATCHING A LAUNCH AT WALLOPS!
Photos and Story by Greg
Guise
My trip to Wallops Island, Virginia this past Tuesday to the NASA launch site was one of curiosity and pleasure and not necessarily a working or photographic trip.
What do I mean by that? Well, it means sharing time with family members and watching a new experience for many of them. We understood that this wasn't going to be a Saturn 5 launch from the Kennedy Space Center so expectations were muted for this relatively small scientific experiment-driven rocket that would shoot 100 miles into the atmosphere to collect data for several experiments.
So how does all of that relate to photography? It relates directly because the equipment for a so-called professional shoot is very different than what you might want to trek to a relatively remote area with family in tow. Think tripod, several bodies and several lenses. I shoot Sony so the choice would have been a Sony A7iv and a Sony A7siii. The lens choice. The Tamron 35-150 and the Sony 200-600mm zooms. A tripod to shoot a long exposure or a sequence for later stacking in post-processing.
The publicly released information indicated the viewing area was approximately seven miles from the launch site. The launch window was 6 to 9 a.m. with sunrise at 6:23, an early launch would be in relatively low light and the viewing angle being to the south to the launch pad any vibrant colors in a pre-dawn sunrise would be muted because you would be looking away from the east-northeast. Too bad the viewing area was north looking south. The deep red pre-dawn sky would have made a great canvas for the launch if viewed from the southwest.
So what equipment did I use? A Sony rx10 m4. The camera is a so-called bridge unit that combines some of the attributes of a large sensor camera, such as the ability to control many aspects of the exposure and look including picture profiles and raw acquisition. The camera also has fast contrast and phase detection auto-focus and a super sharp full frame equivalent 24 to 600 mm f:4 lens, essentially a 1-in sensor version of a television ENG camera. With the capability of shooting very nice high frame rate video, this camera is a sort of Leatherman tool. It can do almost anything but specific-purpose cameras are often better.
The lift-off occurred at 6:01 a.m. The lack of light was challenging. It was a very quick event. Not more than 20 seconds until the rocket was out of view. The camera has a relatively small 1-in sensor that directly relates to its mediocre performance in low light. However, at ISO 1000 I was able to shoot a nice burst sequence of the rocket lifting off.
About 200 hearty souls arose in the middle of the night, traveled to the Chincoteague area and filled the bleachers of the visitors' center to watch the lift-off. I only wish I had the beautiful orange and red hues from the pre-dawn sky as a background tapestry.
One of the more interesting mornings for me on Delmarva.
Here's the Wallops launch schedule.
CRISS HOSTS 5TH OUTDOOR ART SHOW
Andrew "Andy" Criss held his fifth art show this past weekend at his home outside Rehoboth. Criss started this tradition five years ago during Covid.
He worked in Austin, Texas and Washington, D.C. in the 1990s as an illustrator and art director. But he wanted to work for himself and be a painter, just fine arts, and not be stuck in the corporate design world.
So he moved here exactly 25 years ago, in August of 1999, and this has been his home ever since.
When it comes to his art, he says "My whole thing is to walk around the world and celebrate anything that I think is beautiful, that I'm grateful for, and so I spend the year hiking and traveling and being wherever I'm living and looking for beautiful places or situations or experiences and making paintings about it."
Criss is an oil painter who typically works from sketches and photographs he takes. The majority of the paintings in this show are local landscapes.
He says his style is a version of American Impressionism known as California Impressionism which features broader strokes that was inspired by William Wendt, one of his favorite artists who incorporates that kind of heavy brushwork. "Celebrating a kind of physical rugged space is kind of my angle," Criss explains.
He says he likes it here because the community has been so supportive and encouraging. People buy his work and he has made a living doing it. "I've been very grateful to be doing what I do here," he adds.
Among other places, you can find his art on his website and Instagram.
PHOTOS OF THE WEEK
Assateague Sunset by Greg Guise ...
Bald Eagle at Henlopen Acres Beach Club by Molly Hildahl ...
Dewey Beach Sunset from North Beach by Jeff Grizzel ...
Photography contests: Delaware Beach Life, Rehoboth Reflections, Ocean Photo, Delaware Farm Bureau, O.C. Photo
OTHER NEWS:
THE MERR REPORT--- Suzanne Thurman from the MERR Institute says her organization investigated dead loggerheads found at Kitts Hummock and in Broadkill. Both appeared to have been killed by boat propellers. She says more than half of the sea turtles that MERR investigates die from boat propeller injuries. "We are working on some educational materials regarding cages that fit over the motor, somewhat like a house fan has, and hope that we can make boaters more aware of better options," she adds.
LAWSUIT FILED OVER REHOBOTH CITY MANAGER HIRE--- Tom Gaynor and Steven Linehan are plaintiffs in a lawsuit filed against the City of Rehoboth Beach last Thursday. "This undertaking is about holding elected officials accountable to their oaths of office, their fiduciary duties and their responsibility to their constituents," Gaynor said. "We hope that the court will find that the voice of the people is still a governing lodestar here and that our charter still matters as governing the conduct of our elected leaders in Rehoboth," he added. The 26-page document is posted here.
WOMAN CAUGHT WITH OPEN ALCOHOL CONTAINER RUNS FROM POLICE, GETS ARRESTED--- It is not unusual for police to stop people on the beach or boardwalk with open containers of alcohol, check them for "wanted" and then write them a citation. What is unusual is when one of them takes off on foot. That happened around 4 p.m. last Thursday at Baltimore Avenue and the boardwalk when a woman wearing a sports bra and shorts tried to flee police. Lt. Mark Sweet, police spokesman, says an officer arrested Eteri Arganashvili, 37, of Manassas, Va. She ran from Baltimore Avenue to Wilmington Avenue until police finally caught her. Arganashvili was charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest both of which are misdemeanors and was also issued a civil citation for possession of an open container of alcohol.
NEWS RELEASES / NEWS REPORTS:
Automatically move Gmail messages from Promotions to Primary tab
Crisscrossing the Chesapeake Bay without a bridge? Proposal for ferries might make it possible
Substation hearing morphs into US Wind debate
U.S. Wind addresses comments made at county hearing
US Wind floats compensation package to local fishermen
Bidding underway in central Atlantic US offshore wind lease auction
Equinor, Dominion win U.S. central Atlantic offshore wind lease auction
Milton Garden Tour set Sept. 15
Design firm presents study of Lavinia Street walkway in Milton
Lewes bans retail sales of marijuana
Lewes police honored for accreditation
Lewes neighbors oppose dog-grooming business
Lewes project aims to add workforce housing east of Route 1
Tanger Outlets launches grants program for teachers
Comments sought on dredging of Lewes-Rehoboth Canal
Former Md. Gov. Larry Hogan held fundraiser in Rehoboth Sunday night!
Five teens face hate crime charges in Rehoboth Beach
Lawsuit filed against Rehoboth Beach over city manager hire
Freddie's remodels as Rehoboth's only music video bar
Dewey Beach K9 Smoke receives protective vest
Saga of Read Avenue continues in Dewey
Anchor Way shoreline improvements
Millsboro committee discussing redistricting
Trucks driving through Millsboro still a concern
McHugh runs for Bethany Beach Town Council
Calef running for second term on Bethany Beach Town Council
Evans makes another run for Bethany Beach Town Council
Van Horn appointed to South Bethany Town Council seat
Surf Bagel to open new location in Fenwick Island
Fenwick Island explores pedestrian and driver safety enhancements
Ocean Pines validates board election; Incumbents to begin new 3-year terms
Online process eyed for Ocean City police recruitment
Ocean City reports decrease reported in police calls in July
Ocean City convention center parking study nears finish line
Tourism officials say travel in Ocean City 'faring comparatively well' for '24
O.C. Air Show kicking off next weekend with Italian demo team headliner
Calling all Jeep owners: Sign-ups still available to participate in '24 OC Jeep Fest
O.C. fire staff, paramedics donate Stop-the-Bleed kits to OCBP after life-saving incident
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