Delmar DustPan

Turner Classics showed "Gilda" tonight. It must be the classic Rita Hayworth film that is most connected with her name. Set in a night club in Buenos Aires Johnny (Played by Glenn Ford) steals his bosses' wife away from him and the two have a deteriorating relationship. The movie was made for Humphrey Bogart but when he found out Rita Hayworth was going to play the female lead he turned it down because as he said no one would look at him playing opposite her. True very true. She does her famous hair tossing scene when she sings "Put The Blame On Mame" (actually sung by Anita Ellis.) Great acting, great scene when she does her breakdown and slaps Johnny.

Of interest, in the play and movie "West Side Story" Arthur Laurents, playwright, in his memoir said the role of Anita was written for and named for, jazz singer Anita Ellis. Of course the role ended up going to Chita Rivera because she was completely and utterly correctly as Anita.


Hayworth made a number of films with Glenn Ford. She was married and divorced five times.

Every man I knew went to bed with Gilda... and woke up with me.
Rita Hayworth


In the 1940's she was so popular and such a bombshell, the atomic scientists put the name "Gilda" on an Atomic bomb that was detonated during the July 1, 1946 “Able” test on Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands. It was reported at the time her picture was also on the bomb but this later proved false.

Hayworth's suffered from alcoholism which hid her Alzheimer's disease. In 1980 she was actually diagnosed as having Alzheimer's. She died May 14th 1987 from Alzheimer's disease and was interred in Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City.

Veteran's benefit workshop Area active and non-active military personnel are encouraged to attend a veteran's benefit workshop at the Laurel Public Library at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, April 25, in the Carpenter Community Room. Sussex County Veterans Service Officer, Laurie White will present an outline of the available federal and state benefits and entitlements for service men and women of all ages. White represents the Delaware Commission of Veterans Affairs which was established in 1987 to provide assistance to Delaware's veterans, their spouses and dependent children. According to White many opportunities are available. The program is free with no registration necessary. For more information visit www.laurel.lib.de.us or call 875-3184.

This week Governor Jack Markell is busy soft soaping and back paddling over the possible pull out of Fisker automotive from the Boxwood plant in Newark Delaware. Showering the companies officials with $21.5 million in 2009 and talking 2,000 union jobs, today Vice President Joe Biden and Governor Markell are keeping quiet and not coming up with any ideals how to get the money back - well it's taxpayers dollars it is not the same as real money. State Officials are pointing fingers to the Department of Energy who also gave them a loan and now says the company is not producing so they are going to stop loaning them money. Fisker automotive does two things; they makes electric cars and they sells the idea of loans to them to any Federal, or State Government that will listen to them.

Experienced Sussex County official Bob Stickels hired as Dewey Beach Town Manager

Bob Stickels, long-time Sussex County Administrator and former Town Manager of Georgetown, DE, has been hired as Town Manager of Dewey Beach, Mayor Diane Hanson announced today.

Hanson said, “With his impressive record of excellence in Sussex County management, Bob brings to Dewey Beach tremendous experience and knowledge and very valuable personal connections that will help our town move forward. We are delighted to have him be part of our community.”

Stickels most recently was Coordinator for Kent and Sussex Counties for the office of Congressman John Carney. He has special expertise in land use planning, and water and waste water issues, and has been responsible for $250 million in infrastructure projects.

Stickels stated, “I look forward to working closely with the Town Council, and the businesses and residents of Dewey Beach, on the many challenges and opportunities facing the town. Since I am familiar with the people and places that make this community special, I am excited to be taking an active part in Dewey Beach’s future.”

Bob and his wife Janice have vacationed in Dewey for 20 years so has a special feeling for the town.

Hanson said Stickels will have an 18 month contract with an option to renew for another year by mutual agreement. He will commence his duties April 9, 2012.

“After the first glass, you see things as you wish they were. After the second, you see things as they are not. Finally, you see things as they really are, and that is the most horrible thing in the world.”
- Oscar Wilde

Town Hall Will be closed tomorrow, April 6th, in observance of Good Friday

Clean-up days in Delmar The town of Delmar will hold spring clean-ups on the following dates: Delmar - April 11-12 and Delmar, Md. - April 17-18. Collection times will be between 7:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. To participate, residents and civic organizations are asked to contact the town's administrative office at 410-896-2777 or 846-2664 no later than the week before collection. The resident's or organization's name, address or location, contact phone number and a brief description of the items to be picked up must be provided to the town. The following items are not eligible for collection: automobiles; oil, gas cans; riding lawn mowers; air conditioners; construction materials; large tree stumps; automotive parts; heavy machinery; tires; freezers/refrigerators; paint; sleep sofas; chemicals; and any item containing freon. Limbs over three feet must be bundled and window frames must have the glass removed. Only one couch and one box spring and mattress will be removed from each household. Contact the town for more information.

Carry Out BBQ Only
Saturday April 14th at the Delmar Wesleyan Church 800 E. East Street Delmar Maryland
From 11 till 2 PM at a cost of $10.50 each
To Benefit Purchase of a Church Power Point System

From the Salisbury Advertiser August 1897

DELMAR-DEL. Last Saturday night several negroes gathered in front of F. L. Buck's store to dance and when they refused to clear the sidewalk a rough and tumble fight ensued between them and the resident of the town, who succeeded in running them out of town.

Mr. Joseph Frasier is erecting a new residence at the corner of West St. and Railroad Ave.

The farmers have shipped several carloads of melons during the past few weeks.

Wednesday morning all kinds of vehicles, neatly trimmed with flags and bunting, came rattling in town to carry the M. E. Sunday-School to pic-nic in Mr. C. H. Wood's Grove. They all met at the M. E. Church and at 10 O'Clock they started for the Oaks, where long tables were awaiting the delicacies prepared for the occasion. While dinner was being arranged, the young folks were passing away the time taking straw rides, plating croquet and courting. After everyone had eaten enough for three, they decided it advisable to break camp and be more convenient to their family physician if needed.

Last week I was scheduled for a routine eye exam at Peninsula Eye Center over on Milford Street in Salisbury. I have been a patient/customer there for about fifteen years. As you know they have an array of doctors there and at various times I have seen Drs Doyle and Luppens. So a little before my appointment time of 9:20 AM I show up and am sent over to the waiting area - the place was packed - as usual. I sit there for a half hour and still was not called backed to be examined so I went up to the receptionist and told her I was leaving and would not be back. I followed up with a letter to Dr Doyle explaining why I was not coming back to him. I don't expect any change in their operation, as I have been telling them how poor their customer service was for 15 years. As I have said I have been going to those people for 15 years and each time it is the same story you wait in the waiting area for half an hour and when you are called back they start with various tests that last an hour and then you spend maybe 15 minutes with the doctor. Bullshit, I don't wait a half hour in the checkout line at Walmart I am sure not going to spend an hour and a half to see a doctor. As I have grown older I realize I have a limited amount of time above ground and sitting in a waiting room waiting isn't the way I plan to spend that time.


I am sure there are people who will give great praise to the service at Peninsula Eye Center and I have never had the slightest issue with the professionalism of the Doctors - once you get to see them. I believe that by over-booking appointment times, which they obvious are, is doing a disservice to their customers. However, I came to the obvious yet incredibly liberating conclusion that I don't actually have to pay good money to put up with -- and be treated like -- total garbage. So I am giving a Big "E" from the Vision Eye Chart to Peninsula Eye Center for their customer service. I am now looking for another eye doctor - will they provide any better service to me? I don't know but I do know I won't put up with it if they don't give good service.

From Did You Know

Marilyn Monroe photographed by Andre de Dienes in 1953

Couponing with the Coupon Lady will be held Monday, April 2, from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at the Delmar Library. If you want to save money and know the tips and tricks to making the most of coupon clipping, join Candi Carey as she presents an informative and fun class.

I came across this photo of Johnny Cash, go and try that pose on the railroad tracks in Delmar.

As I previously posted I had made a date to visit some distant relatives to add to the family tree. The documented family tree currently consist mostly of names, dates and relationships, which is the base for any family tree research however what it needs to come to life is family history and photographs of those individuals. The group of relatives that I spent about three hours with discussing family was one of the better groups, very likeable people. When we started showing photographs they had a large number of them. I finally got to see what the original person I was tracking looked like – he was a man so full of personality and good humor it just showed in every photograph you looked at. Some people are like that.

The photographs are what bring me to the topic I would like to comment on. All of the photos I looked at from the early 1900’s forward were good photographs and in good shape. Frankly the old black and white photographs prior to 1960 were printed on heavy paper and held up much better that the photos today. Some of their photographs were loose, some were in the old black paper scrap book photo albums, and then there were those of more recent original that happily were not those electrostatic photos album of the 1960’s and 1970’s with the thin glue strips.

Many of you may have a photo album from your parents or grandparents that was made of black paper and they wrote in white ink (I hope they wrote in it) the name of the person or event and maybe even if you are lucky the year. Sometimes the photo was glued directly to the paper and sometimes it was put in with those corner stickers. I think the worst is when they used scotch tape to put them in with as it yellows and falls off after a number of years and it leaves you wondering which photo matched up with the white ink label saying “Harold and Maude at beach 1921.” Unless the photo album is in bad shape I would leave it alone (if it is not broke don’t fix it) with the exception of scanning it for a digital backup. The three things I think that are important with these types of photo albums are to store them out of sunlight - don’t leave them out on the coffee table - store them in a closet or box. Second, maybe think about putting archive tissue paper between the pages so the face of the photographs do not touch when the album is closed – it will prevent scratching. Third, remove any staples, paper clips, rubber bands or string as those items can create creases and rust stains.

I always recommend scanning photographs to give you a digital backup. I would not try to remove the photographs to scan them. Scan the entire album page or as much as your scanner can cover. You can always copy that full page photo and crop it down to the single photo later, if you need it. When copying use the maximum DPI setting your scanner has so you capture as much of the image quality as possible. You may want to use a TIFF format instead of a JPEG type format. Remember to always clean your scanner screen every four or five scans as you will touch it with your finger tips placing and removing the photos and you will end up with finger prints on the glass screen.

Odds are your photo album will last longer than the CD you are making your digital backup to. Paper Photographs will last about a hundred years or more, the negative is good for at least 130 years, Color Polaroid pictures are good for 50 years, black and white Polaroid maybe the same but with fading, the CD you are backing up to will last about 20 years if the technology doesn’t change so it is unreadable, video tapes and those 8”, 5” and 3” floppy disk will last about ten years and the magnetic media will start flaking off. So for your backup you will have to recopy with each new technology that comes along.

The one photo album I would recommend removing the photos from (if possible) are those electrostatic photos album of the 1960’s on up to today with the thin glue strips. They are death to photographs for long term storage. I will write about in a future post.