Coastal Point • R. Chris Clark: The staff at Turtle Beach Café includes, from left: back row, Jason Whaley, Tristan Smyth and Tony Smyth; front row, Joey Ciriello and Zoe Richard.“I’m as all in as you are.”

That’s what Tristan Smyth told his mother, Tamara Smyth, when she approached him during lacrosse season with the idea to launch Turtle Beach Café along the Bethany Beach boardwalk, now some four years ago.

A sophomore at Indian River High School then, and helping pioneer the Indians’ lacrosse program as a defenseman, Smyth already had a lot going on. However, like his father, Tony Smyth, he had faith not only in his mother’s vision, but her culinary gifts, experienced firsthand.

“She was always the ‘go to’ on the holidays. She’s always been a great cook,” Tony Smyth said. “She’s always been the one that could always pull it together, no matter who showed up. Whether it was five or 15 that showed up, Tamara had it down, always had fantastic food.”

Four years later, and currently in their fifth summer of business, Turtle Beach Café has become a Bethany Beach tradition for locals and vacationers alike.

After a complete revamp of the restaurant’s former space — painting the walls in the now-signature Turtle Beach teal and white, setting up a brand new kitchen and offering a few well-placed palms and outdoor seating to go along with their oceanfront boardwalk view — the Smyth’s turned to the menu, and to making some of Tamara Smyth’s former family-exclusive favorites available to everyone.

The theme throughout the menu is undoubtedly fresh, local, homemade and an alternative to the usual boardwalk staples.

“We found our niche,” said Tristan Smyth of the concept. “There’s so many places around here for burgers, fries, milkshakes, fried food — we’re trying to do the healthy aspect.”

Starting in the morning, TBC offers boardwalk-goers a way to wake with a cup of fresh organic coffee from Grounds for Change, ranging into other day-starting beverage options, including cappuccino, lattes, iced mocha, espresso and frappuccinos.

Breakfast food offerings include an array of fresh fruit smoothies, fresh fruit cups with yogurt and granola, New York-style lox and bagels, Belgian waffles and breakfast paninis, sandwiches and croissants among others.

“We get their sandwiches, because they’re wonderful,” said longtime patron Sandy Sengstack while enjoying a cup of coffee with her husband, Jim, at their favorite outdoor table. “It’s our treat. We go to the boardwalk and walk up and down, and then this is our treat after.”

“Usually I’ll have the crabcake for breakfast. They’re fresh — extremely fresh made — very little filler; probably one of the best crabcakes I’ve ever had, definitely the best in town,” said Blair Parler, who frequently makes his way up from Fenwick Island for breakfast. “Great food, great service — it’s just a great place to go first thing in the morning.”

Not only have the crabcakes become so much of a local favorite that customers including Parler sometimes order them for breakfast — and that Tristan Smyth frequently makes early trips back from West Virginia University when they become available for the season — but it’s become the café’s signature dish.

“Crabcakes and shrimp salad are definitely my specialty,” Tamara Smyth said. “The biggest thing is using the local jumbo lump crabmeat — it’s all jumbo lump.”

Other lunch and late afternoon offerings include that shrimp salad, plenty of sandwich and gluten-free wrap options, quesadillas, quick and healthy snacks including homemade salsa and hummus for beachgoers, and signature homemade salads, such as the Chicken Avocado.

“I’ll do a specialty salad every day, and then you just come in and build your own,” Tamara Smyth said. “We do beautiful salads — great big salads. You could always do the shrimp salad on a salad. There’s all sorts of things that we can make work gluten-free.”

While smoothies and Bindi gelato round out the menu, and the afternoon — equally important to the TBC experience is the atmosphere and customer service.

Since opening, Turtle Beach has always offered summer jobs to local kids, who the Smyths said extend the family-friendly atmosphere and are a large part of their success.

“It’s all local. It’s always been local,” Tamara Smyth explained. “When I opened, I actually went to my son — he was getting ready to drive on his own, but I was still driving him — and we took him to school that day, and I said, ‘Kid, this is what’s going on. But I can’t even think about doing it unless you’re on board, because I cannot work 100 hours a week and not see you.’ So I picked him up after lacrosse practice, and he said, ‘Mom, let’s do this.’

“He and his friends have worked with me since Day 1. It’s like a great big happy family.”

“I’m in there just as much as she is. We run it together,” Tristan Smyth said. “It’s a more personal aspect. We’re there dealing with everyone. We’re trying to support the local system, support all the kids and give them a good job. It’s kind of family.

“It’s grown every year. Every year it just keeps getting better and better.”

Of course, while Tamara Smyth will say that she couldn’t do it without her family — and the local kids and customers that have become family — they’ll all tell you the same thing about her, too.

“Tamara is wonderful. She remembers us every time, and she’s just so friendly. She’s just really delightful,” said Sengstack. “We’ve tried all the other places around for breakfast, and we keep coming back here. The other places are fine, but there isn’t that friendly atmosphere, like you’re part of the group.”

“She is the backbone of this place,” Tony Smyth said. “She’s the personality of this place. There wouldn’t be a Turtle Beach without her.”

Turtle Beach Café is located in Blue Surf building on the Bethany Beach boardwalk, at 98 Garfield Pkwy, Suite 102, next to Water Lili and Bethany Beach Ocean Suites. They are open year-round, and seven days a week, opening at 7 a.m. in the summer. For more information check out www.facebook.com/turtlebeachcafe or call (302) 616-1036.

Coastal Point photos • R. Chris Clark: The Three Blonde Bakers, from left, Brittany, Ann and Cassidy Baker — gather in front of their new shop in Bethany Beach.It was late last spring when Brittany Baker returned home from Puerto Rico, expecting to tend to someone else’s bar.

Spending the better part of her life’s so-far quarter-century in South Bethany, and after graduating from the University of Delaware, it was just something that she had always done — sticking together a routine résumé of winter world travel and growing up on sunny-season jobs along the Bethany boardwalk, swirling Dickey’s Frozen Custard, working at Breakers Surf Shop and slinging gin at area restaurants.

Then, she got a phone call.

“It was very random,” Baker said of the unexpected suggestion from long-time friend Erin Ternahan — whose family owns Breakers and, at the time, also owned the shop adjacent, formerly known as “The Parlour.”

“We were kind of joking — she was like, ‘Buy it — we’ll be neighbors. It’ll be like old times — like we’re 14 again.’”

No longer 14, when Baker brought the idea up to her parents, Ken and Ann Baker, one supper-night, it didn’t seem as funny as it did functional.

The family had long been boiling on ideas for a business in their hometown, never quite finding one cooked with enough consistency to stick to the fridge.

Until that night, when that one finally did.

The concept was to continue what had worked for “The Parlour” and, before that, “The Fudge Factory,” but to also offer fresh local products, ranging from Vanderwende Farm Creamery ice cream out of Bridgeville to Notting Hill Coffee out of Lewes, to go along with some healthy options, including açai (ah-sigh-EE) bowls made with local fruit from local farms and, of course, the Baker sisters’ infamously off-centered homemade fudge, milkshakes and homemade doughnuts.

First, however, they’d need a name.

Three Blonde Bakers

Run by three flaxen-haired ladies with last name appropriate, it might seem like giving the shop title was pretty much self-explanatory and pretty much a no-brainer… now.

But, perhaps surprisingly, it took the only non-(currently)-blonde Baker to embody the brand.

After many Facebook contests and much conversation, it was Ken Baker who coined the now-notorious handle “Three Blonde Bakers.”

Former captain of the Bethany Beach patrol, a career-CPA and the family patriarch, Baker handles the finance side of the business. His wife, Anne — the first blonde Baker — is a Realtor at ResortQuest and, knowing practically everyone in town, tosses on an apron whenever she gets a distress call.

Then there’s Brittany’s sister, Cassidy Baker — the youngest of the Baker bunch — who joined the team last spring, as a soon-to-be graduating senior at Indian River High School with a love for the culinary arts refined at the former Ruthie’s Bakery in Bethany.

Of course, Sally Baker — Brittany’s grandmother, who she said was not only the “OG Baker,” but taught her everything she knows, baking-wise — is perhaps the shop’s MVP.

“My mom comes in and starts moving everything. We’ll need something, and she’ll put it in a completely different spot,” Brittany said with a laugh. “My grandmother comes in at the most crucial moments, somehow — when I’m slammed, she’ll walk in and gets right back behind the counter and starts cutting the fudge.”

The Vanderwende Effect

There have been customers who have literally almost cried and/or fainted — or have at least fanned themselves to attempted-calm, as if for the first time meeting The Beatles — and made emergency-type cellular phone calls to friends and immediate family members upon visual confirmation of the shop’s 32-flavor ice cream counter displaying a familiar smiling green-spotted cow and 32 recognizable flavors of Vanderwende Farm Creamery ice cream.

According to those who spend any sort of significant time hanging around the boards, the “Vanderwende Effect” happens more often than one might think.

Upon first opening, 3BB had originally carried Hersey’s ice cream, which Baker said was certainly also a fine product in itself.

However, with Ken Baker originally from Bridgeville — where the Vanderwende dairy farm is located along Route 404, sporting a large sign with the same familiar smiling green-spotted cow — the Bakers were able to form a working relationship with the Vanderwendes, who themselves are also a local family-run business.

“They actually made flavors to fill the freezers,” Baker said, noting that the entire family, spanning three-generations of Vanderwendes, had come down from Bridgeville to help install the freezers.

While it’s a hard product to keep stocked, 3BB offers all of the Vanderwende’s classics, including house favorites: “Cow Poop,” a Mouse Tracks-comparable blend of vanilla swirl, fudge swirl, and peanut butter cups, “Cow Tracks,” “Mint Chip,” “Salted Caramel” with chocolate covered pretzels, and all the rest — all made with Vanderwende’s signature and sought-after farm-fresh style.

The ‘Original’ Fudge Factory

It’s either funny or surreal, or perhaps both, that as a tow-headed child, Baker use to ride her bike to what was the original “Fudge Factory,” located at 3BB’s current location, and raid the wall of penny candy, returning always — and especially after landing her first job at Breakers next door at the age of 14 — for half-priced milkshakes and Fudge Factory homemade fudge.

“We would always come over here for fudge and milkshakes, because we got half off, and Steve, who owned it then, was awesome — he was like the town grandfather,” she explained.

Along with Cassidy, the Baker sisters are not only continuing that legacy but adding their own unique Indigo expression to every batch’s batter.

“Each batch of fudge is personal. When you make it and you put your time into it and you put it out there for people,” said Cassidy Baker — who, almost opposite her father Ken’s handling the finances, acts as a very different type of CFO (chief fudge operator).

“We’re able to make it from scratch, and we know that it’s the best around. People appreciate it so much and they love it so much, so it’s rewarding. It adds to the whole experience.”

Notable Baker sisters inspirations include their famous “Tiger Butter” with a layer of vanilla, real peanut butter, another layer of vanilla and a layer of peanut butter chocolate fudge on top; “Crabby Chocolate” with Old Bay; “Sea Salt Caramel;” “Margarita;” and “Strawberry Margarita” fudge that tastes so authentic that customers have actually inquired about possible tequila-shot chasers; and recent hit, “Watermelon,” with appropriate color and flavor.

Their “Fudge Suggestion Box” keeps the recipe revelations rolling in, with new flavors constantly debuting and keeping up with the culture, as made evident by last summer’s “Breaking Bad” tribute, “Walter White Special,” made with a light-blue base and blue Pop-Rocks and rock candy; an “Orange is the New Black” on the block currently; and, most recently, a “Rainbow Swirl” homage to Orlando; with a red-, white-and-blue batch set to make an appearance just in time for next week’s fireworks.

Doughnuts and healthy stuff

Equally as off-the-wall are 3BB’s fresh-daily doughnuts, pastries and muffins, sundaes, shakes, cookies, brownies, coffee and crumb cakes, gourmet chocolates and more.

However, as a bit of a health-nut, and inspired by her frequent travels to Rincon, Puerto Rico, and her favorite coffee and açai bowl stop, “Cafe 2 Go,” the shop also caters to those looking for some healthy morning options.

In addition to all the fudge being gluten-free and gluten-free baked goods, such as blueberry muffins, the shop’s açai bowls, made with fresh Parson’s Farms blueberries, have been just as much of a hit.

“I probably get coffee and an açai bowl here like four times a week,” said local yoga instructor Sarah Shoemaker, while wielding both after teaching a class on the beach.

“Then I’ll come and get ice cream — it’s the best strawberry I’ve ever had in my entire life. My mom comes, and she’ll get doughnuts and everything. [The Bakers] treat everyone like they’re part of this town, and they’re not bad on the eyes, either.”

Fudge family

Now in their second season and hitting their stride, the Baker sisters have learned a thing or two about running a business and, sporting a six-year age gap, about working together.

“It’s surprisingly brought us closer together. I never thought that Cassidy and I would be working together,” Brittany Baker said. “She’s been so awesome. She’s been the biggest help that I could ever imagine. And she’s super-creative with the fudge. She’s so creative artistically, which helps a lot. She did all of our boards, too.”

“It says ‘Three Blonde Bakers,’ but it almost should now say ‘’Two Blonde Bakers,’ because the two of them are running it,” Ann Baker said of her daughters. “They’re so different, but they have strengths and weaknesses, and they balance each other out.

“I am so proud of these girls — they’ve never gotten along so well; they’ve never appreciated each other so much.”

Three Blonde Bakers is located at 108 Garfield Parkway in Bethany Beach, right across from Breakers Surf Shop. The store is open seven days a week during the summer. For more on 3BB, check them out on Facebook at www.facebook.com/thefudgefactorybb, on Instagram @threeblondebakers, or call the shop (302) 539-7502. For online orders, head to www.threeblondebakers.com.

Coastal Point • Tyler Valliant: Innkeeper Debbie Keefe (left) and co-owner Jane Errett Vincenti smile in the lobby of Woodsong Inn and Retreat near Assawoman Wildlife Refuge.A tree-lined driveway leads to Woodsong Inn & Retreat. It rests on a quiet back road. No one drives there unless they’re looking for the peaceful bed-and-breakfast near Roxana and Ocean View.

But that countryside seclusion makes the inn and event venue special, said co-owner Jane Errett Vincenti. Although she’s originally from Chester County, Pa., Vincenti’s family still owns the Bethany Beach cottage her ancestor, William Russell Errett, built around 1902 when helping to develop the new town.

Now, less than seven miles from Bethany Beach and Fenwick Island, Woodsong’s two buildings are hosting everything from quiet weekend getaways to full weddings and parties.

“It is so relaxing back here,” said Debbie Keefe, innkeeper at the grassy, waterside property at 37269 Dirickson Creek Road, Frankford.

Woodsong offers multiple indoor and outdoor venue options, between the hall, the inn and the lawn. That is perfect, owners said, for weddings, reunions, anniversary parties, birthday parties, business retreats and more.

“I love the setting,” said Caryn McIntyre, who manages bookings and special events for the venue.

Her company, Mac’s Catering, provides all food for the special events. To make it a “one-stop shop” for weddings and other events, Woodsong offers special pricing packages with other local venders.

“You have a built-in safety net in case of bad weather,” McIntyre stated. That’s because a few feet from the inn the Woodsong hall holds a bandstand and dance floor, ready to welcome guests for any major event.

Interestingly, it is the bar that is the visual focal point of a venue that holds more than 100 people. It’s made from eye-catching slabs of black walnut, organically shaped, but smoothed for service by Charlie Muller of Virginia’s eastern shore. The 135-year-old walnut tree once stood next to a Virginia church, said Martin “Marty” Kappel, Vincenti’s partner in life and business.

After any event, overnight guests can get a room at the inn or drive back to their hotels.

Outdoor weddings can be officiated under a handmade arbor, created by local contractor Charles Dirickson. The arch overlooks a small branch of water, where a kayak could be dropped in and paddled to Dirickson Creek and the Little Assawoman Bay.

“People love to be next to the water,” even this soft creek, Vincenti said.

Dragonflies dart among the reeds, and small animals rustle, sing or plop into the water.

“We just had a family of plover born. … We’ve seen deer and groundhogs. It’s so beautiful to just sit here and see all that,” Keefe said. “If you want to get away from the city, this is the place to go.”

“It’s a country setting at the beach,” McIntyre said.

Although the team is still upgrading the grounds and venue, “If someone were to call tomorrow to host an event there, we are ready to go!” McIntyre said.

Room at the inn

At the inn, guests have full access to a parlor, or lounge, not just a lobby.

The seven bedrooms each have their own sitting area or porch, overlooking large trees and honeysuckle. Each room has a private bathroom, plus a separate exit.

There are king-, queen- or twin-bed suites. Various rooms have special features, such as an electric fireplace or handicapped-accessibility.

With a bird and nature theme, guests will stay in rooms such as the Osprey Room, Blue Heron Room and Bluebird Room. They can relax in the downstairs lounge, cozy upstairs living area or outdoor deck.

“They liked the fact that it was off the beaten path, but it’s not too far” from the beach, Vincenti said. Or they can visit the Assawoman Wildlife Refuge around the corner.

That includes out-of-towners looking for a weekend escape or local folks needing a room while remodeling their house.

And they can all feel at home.

“When our guests came down here, they came down in their own pajamas,” said Keefe, who has helped pajama-ed guests plan their days over morning coffee and breakfast. “Just make ’em feel like they’re in their own home, make ’em feel comfortable.”

Breakfast seals the deal. The cook makes allowances for dietary preferences when planning menus: baked Western omelet, pineapple upside-down pancakes, spinach quiche, homemade bread for toasting, fruit, coffee and cereal.

“It has a family feel to it,” Vincenti said.

Eastern Shore artists fill the house. Guests first see a large bronze seabird by Turner Sculpture, then discover paintings by Vincenti’s daughter-in-law, Leora Sheridan Vincenti.

Guests are encouraged to stay two nights, and room rates vary by size and season, from below $100 to $199. Rates include breakfast, and discounts are available for AAA and AARP members and returning guests.

Woodsong also helps people plan their day, partnering with local businesses for further discounts on kayaking, horseback riding, in-house massage and more.

In future, they want to open the house to more events, such as fundraisers or wine tastings.

Why an inn? Vincenti and Kappel had been building and renovating homes, as well as managing vacation rental units for years, as Errett Enterprisises. They first bought the property as a home base for their carpenters and other subcontractors to work and house equipment.

The idea of a B&B grew in their minds until the early 2000s, when they converted the house to an inn and extracted themselves from property management.

After a recent hiatus, they double-downed and had an official ribbon-cutting in April for the inn and event space. That’s when McIntyre first saw the space and got involved.

“The whole team here is a very special group of people. Everybody has clicked; everyone has the same vision,” she stated. “It’s an incredible group to work with.”

For details on the inn, contact Woodsong Inn & Retreat at (302) 537-1000, woodsonginn@gmail.com or online at www.woodsonginnretreat.com.

For details on hosting an event, contact Mac’s Catering at (443) 880-2567 or caterbymacs@aol.com.

Coastal Point • Tyler Valliant: Guest barre-tender Kolby Scott, front, instructs a class at Beach Body Barre in Bethany while Marni Gorman, second from left, and Emma Sheain, third from left, get a workout.Linda Durfee sat in her car in front of the newly-opened Beach Body Barre studio in Bethany Beach, trying to work up the nerve to go in. Through the car’s windshield, she watched all of the 20-, 30- and 40-somethings walk through the door with only the workout clothing on their backs and seemingly without another thought.

Now in her 70s, she wondered if she could, too.

“I was sitting in the parking lot. My husband brought me down here, and I said to him, ‘OK —take a look at all those young bodies. I’m not going in there!” Durfee recalled with a laugh. “It’s kind of intimidating to walk into it.”

However, just like most newcomers to the growing exercise movement simply known as “barre,” despite her initial concerns, once she went in for one workout, she was hooked.

While Durfee is somewhat of an outlier in terms of the age of the average barre-fly, Beach Body Barre owner and longtime exercise advocate Sue Sheain said that making barre both approachable and enjoyable for all of her clients regardless of their age, experience or physical limitations, was really her main focus in opening the studio.

Put simply, Beach Body Barre, she said, is for everyone.

“Bring yourself and be yourself,” said Sheain. “We’re trying to make it approachable and make people feel comfortable. We want you to come have fun.”

What’s barre?

Getting its start now more than 50 years ago in London, the method eventually made its way across the pond to 1971 Manhattan and has been around the States ever since. However, it didn’t start to gain steam until the latter part of the past decade.

Despite its ballet-inspired beginnings, barre also combines aspects of Pilates, dance and yoga — all carefully mapped out by instructors and cued up to motivational music, with playlists ranging all the way from Beyonce to Bowie.

“It’s always a different class. It’s always something new,” said Melanie Pauley, who attends multiple classes every week, along with the rest of “The Fenwick Island Girls.”

“We’re getting more out of it each time and working different muscles — you just don’t know what you’re gonna be in for that day.”

While each instructor brings their own idiosyncratic tunes and routine that keeps classes curious, it’s the method’s unique process that maintains the physical variation in the exercise.

“You can do this every day,” said barre-tender Barbara Becker, who spent most of her fitness career with Brick Bodies before joining the BBB team.

“It’s a ton of core and a ton of arms and a ton of legs. There’s so many options you can do — you can do barre with the ball, with the rings, with the weights — you can get all the different muscle groups.”

“It never gets easier. That’s the beauty of barre — it’s always challenging,” added instructor Marni Gorman.

Gorman went for her first barre workout in 2006, eventually going on to become a certified instructor and to start her own studio back in Baltimore. She explained that barre is based on slight isometric movements, working with one’s own body weight to create resistance.

“You can always get a little deeper; you can always get little lower. It’s that isometric movement that really makes the change in the muscle.”

The barre beach body

Aside from the studio’s approachability, it’s the results that keep clients returning to Beach Body Barre.

From former weightlifters, such as Becker, to lifelong runners, including newcomer JoAnne Armstrong, the method has proven itself even more quickly than typically expected.

“After the second class, my stomach felt flatter. I’ve been working out my whole life — I just noticed change immediately,” said Armstrong, who went from getting dragged to her first class at 3Bs, to “becoming addicted to barre,” and finally going on to start training to become an instructor.

“After that, I was like, ‘Alright, there’s something in this,’” she went on. “I’m definitely in better shape. I stretch now, and I never used to stretch. I definitely feel like it’s just a different workout, and I like it a lot better.”

For seniors, such as Durfee, the method has increased her strength noticeably.

“Especially with a senior, you need a lot of strength — I was looking for something that really had a punch,” Durfee said. “I’m stronger, more flexible, I have tons of energy, I just feel like I have no limits.”

The barre-stars

From local instructors such as house-favorite Beth “The Body” Parady to guest barre-tenders from Baltimore and beyond, there’s always someone new to try out at Beach Body Barre.

Some of the usual suspects going along with both Gorman and Becker include recent Broadway “West Side Story” star MaryJoanna Grisso, Brazilian crowd-pleaser Nanda Oliveira, instructors from Soul Body in Baltimore, such as co-founder Ann Marie Barbour, and some former-clients-turned-instructors, including newcomer Kolby Scott.

“I always wanted to do it,” said Scott of getting certified. “It’s really satisfying when you love what you’re doing — you’re trying to give people what you’ve gotten out of the class.”

“We were like, ‘We gotta try her,’” Jackie Ferry said of when she and the Fenwick Island Girls heard that Scott would be guest barre-tending one weekend. “They all have a different way of teaching, different methods of instructing, so you get a different class every time which is great.”

Ferry said that she and the “FIG” crew typically sign up for classes in advance, keeping tabs on guest appearances via the Beach Body Barre Facebook page.

More than just a workout

A writer, producer and attorney, when Sue Sheain decides to do something, she gets it done.

When she decided to open Beach Body Barre, she made it happen in just 30 days. Orchestrating a complete DIY build-out of the space next to Ba Roos Ice Cream in the Sea Colony Marketplace and lining up the instructors to make it all work — all on a budget, all of it “eco-friendly.”

“It was so exciting when they opened that door and people walked in,” Sheain said of the studio’s Memorial Day grand opening. “We had a full house, and we didn’t even have a sign yet. The support from everybody — it’s amazing. It’s been absolutely amazing.”

While Sheain has owned a place in Sea Colony for years and is by no means a stranger to the Bethany Beach area, originally from Baltimore, she’s now embracing both calling Sussex County home and getting more involved in its tight-knit community.

“Fitness is a social life, and we want to be part of that,” she explained. “You meet new people — that’s the thing that’s been really wonderful, is just meeting new people and understanding how great everybody is around here.”

As made evident by the famous Fenwick Island Girls — who decide on classes via group text and start off at barre class before hitting their next stop, whether it be the beach or brunch — Sheain believes that barre should be about more than just working out. She wants her clients to feel at home. She wants her clients to get a chance to meet new people. And above all, she wants her clients to have a good time.

To accommodate that, Sheain has big off-season plans for Beach Body Barre that are set to include frequent networking events and other social gatherings.

However, for now, she just wants the community to get to know her and Beach Body Barre, while she gets to know them in the process.

“You just put yourself out there, and I think that’s what I’m trying to do here,” Sheain said. “You just put yourself out here and hope that you have something that people can appreciate and enjoy.

“There’s no judgement here. We’re gonna keep you safe, we’re gonna work you out, and you’re gonna feel like you accomplished something. Being a writer, I know that everyone has got a story — and I look forward to getting to hear every last one of them.”

Beach Body Barre is Bethany’s first exclusive barre studio and is located at 33550 Market Place, just south of Bethany Beach, next to Ba Roos Ice Cream. The studio is open seven days a week. To see a class schedule or to sign up, visit www.beachbodybarre.com. To keep up with guest barre-tenders, check out their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/beachbodybarre.

Special to the Coastal Point • Submitted: Pete ‘Pierson’ Roenke sits in his office while dealing with his business, Delaware Apparel.He may be in California, but Pete “Pierson” Roenke’s heart will always be in southern Delaware; and he has just launched a new business to pay tribute to his roots in the First State.

Delaware Apparel is an internet-based company that sells T-shirts, hats, jackets and stickers with Delaware-related slogans. The company has also been featured in “pop-up” displays at local stores, including the Lululemon outlet in Rehoboth Beach.

Roenke, a 2007 graduate of Indian River High School, grew up a few yards from the ocean in Fenwick Island, with all that entails — surfing, bodyboarding and just enjoying the beach lifestyle. He graduated from Virginia Tech in 2011 and joined the U.S. Marines that same year.

Now stationed with the Marines at Camp Pendleton, Roenke said it can be challenging juggling his new venture with his military responsibilities. He is a captain; his current assignment is as a logistics officer.

“There have definitely been some frustrating times trying to balance work with the business, but you just accept that some things will take a little longer to get done since you can’t dedicate the whole day toward it. We are growing slowly, but that is just fine for us,” Roenke said.

Delaware Apparel launched its website in June; Roenke’s family has been his “boots on the ground” in Delaware from the very beginning. His mother, Michelle, he said, is the “backbone” of Delaware Apparel.

“She is really what lets me focus on my ‘great ideas’ while she keeps everything running in the background — inventory, shipping, keeping everything organized at our ‘headquarters’ in Fenwick and keeping us all grounded when ideas get a little too bold,” Roenke said.

He said his younger sister Alex, meanwhile, is the “brains” behind the Delaware Apparel women’s collection. Roenke said Alex also “helps me make decisions in general — she is much more decisive than me, so when I’m on the fence on something, she is always there to help.”

Roenke’s father, Peter, has been at the helm of his own business, Coastal Images in Fenwick Island, as long as the younger Roenke can remember. In fact, his parents still live above the “shop” on Coastal Highway.

“I grew up watching my father run his own business and thought that someday I would like to do that myself,” he said. “So, when Delaware Apparel came to me, I thought I could start small and maintain it that way until the Marine Corps gig is over,” he said. “If and when I separate from the service, I could then take the ideas that had evolved and develop the business in a bigger, full-time way.”

The inspiration for the clothing is the uniqueness of the “Delaware way of life,” he said. As much as that can be translated to clothing, Delaware Apparel’s simple designs and styles meant for comfort are intended to convey an ease and a design flair that Roenke said he hopes resonate with those who have lived in Delaware all their lives. The brand won’t be found between the Old Navy and Nike stores at the mall, won’t be sold at Walmart.

Roenke said the clothing line, with its simple, strong graphics, is the result of a desire to create Delaware-centric attire that the transcends politics; appeals to outdoorsy folks and urbanites, business people and farmers alike; is “extremely comfortable”; can’t be found in chain stores; and can be enjoyed by “everyone that lives in, visits or has any connection to the First State.”

Roenke credited photographer Jessica Nowacki with illustrating on the company’s website and Facebook page what makes Delaware special.

“Sometimes, when I am having a tough time describing what the company is all about, I can refer someone to our social media accounts, and Jess’ work can show anyone why we all love Delaware… Pictures truly are worth 1,000 words,” he said.

Nowacki’s work “has caught the attention of several retailers and offered us many opportunities,” he said. “I can say without a doubt that her work is the largest contributor to our success thus far.”

Nowacki’s photographs show off some of Delaware’s most photogenic sights, with a decided emphasis on Sussex County. In her photos on the Delaware Apparel sites, pastel skies melt into luminous ocean and bay waters, and bright red barns are flanked by hay bales lined up like so many soldiers. And, of course, no company whose aim is representing the Delaware lifestyle would be complete without an artful photo or two of chicken houses.

Startup has local irons in the fire

Roenke, who has completed tours of duty in Japan and, most recently, the United States Embassy in Amman, Jordan, said he fits his Delaware Apparel duties in before and after work on the base and on the weekends.

He said his time as a Marine “has provided me with opportunities I would have never had otherwise. Traveling the globe and helping people that are in need around the world has been very rewarding.”

He said he hopes to continue to serve his communities, both local and otherwise. Through Delaware Apparel, Roenke has sponsored the sports-related endeavors of several Delawareans, including Rocky Whitely, whose Super Truck teams can be seen at tracks in Delmar, Georgetown and all over Delmarva this summer.

Delaware Apparel is also working with bass fishermen and recent Wilmington University graduates Tyler Hawthorne and Anthony Pistoria as they compete in tournaments across the region. The company also sponsors Delaware native P.J. Barch, who now lives in San Diego and competes in jiu jitsu tournaments across the country.

Also in the works is a partnership with duck-call maker Ian Thomas of Newark, for production of hand-made duck calls. Plans are to release them in the fall, just in time for hunting season, according to Roenke.

Roenke said he hopes that as Delaware Apparel grows, the company can continue to serve the community, which he said “has been so good to me growing up and is a huge part of who I am. It is very rewarding to receive positive feedback throughout the process as we attempt to give back in some way.”

He said that, while his military service has afforded him the ability to travel the world, he misses all that he grew up with in coastal Delaware.

“We definitely don’t have the best hunting, the best fishing or the best surfing in the world,” he admitted, “but the fact that you can do it all in one day, and there is a huge part of the population that does, makes us different.”

Trying to describe that difference to those who aren’t from Delaware, he said, “is tough. I usually have to get past the ‘Dela-where?’ joke or the ‘Wayne’s World’ reference first, but then when I really try to describe why we’re so special, I still have a hard time putting it into words.

“How do you describe an early morning scrapple-, egg-and-cheese [sandwich] on the way to a duck blind on a cold morning in December, or riding down Route 1 in the summer with the windows down on the way to the drive-on beach?” he pondered.

Delaware Apparel’s early forays into the retail market have provided an opportunity to spread that experience to the world — starting last month with a “pop-up” store at the Tanger Outlets Lululemon store.

“The company was less than a month old at the time, so working with a company as large as Lululemon seemed pretty daunting at first.” Roenke said. However, he added, the experience “couldn’t have been further from daunting” thanks to the support from the team at the store, and even “a couple shout-outs from (Lululemon’s) big corporate Twitter account leading up the event, which he said definitely helped to spark interest.

“Everything about the experience was awesome, and we couldn’t have asked for a better place to officially unveil our products to the Delaware community,” he said.

That opportunity has led to others for the startup company, including an invitation to the Bayside Town Center Market west of Fenwick Island, where Delaware Apparel will now set up on Thursdays.

The company will have another pop-up event at Lululemon at Tanger Outlets in Rehoboth Beach in late August, at the height of back-to-school shopping, and another for holiday shoppers in December.

In addition, look for Delaware Apparel at the Apple-Scrapple Festival in Bridgeville in October and at Punkin Chunkin in November.

“We are currently working on our fall collection,” Roenke said. He added that he and his team have “some great ideas to celebrate autumn in Delaware,” and that there is another “small release” in production that is top secret, but he gave a hint: “Think scrapple.”

For more information on Delaware Apparel, check out the company’s website at www.DelawareApparel.com or their page on Facebook at www.facebook.com/DelaWearApparelCompany or on Instagram at @delaware _apparel.

Coastal Point photos • Shaun M. Lambert: Jennifer Wojcik, center, and the new crew at Ocean View Seafood gather outside the shop.Jennifer Wojcik knows fish.

Since moving to the area some 20 years ago, if she wasn’t working behind the bar, she had most likely gone fishing.

In fact, just last year, Wojcik and her crew on the Reel Passion even took first place in the Wahoo Division at the annual Poor Girl’s open in Ocean City, Md.

So when Ocean View Seafood went up for sale this past spring, with owners Dave and Beth Long ready to retire, combining her love of fishing with her experience in customer service just made sense.

“It worked out perfect. The place found me,” said Wojcik, who has been the proud new owner of Ocean View Seafood since purchasing the business in May.

“I’m lucky enough that the Longs chose me. I want to make sure that I do the best I can. It’s a family-run business.”

Midway through her first summer at the helm, she said that, so far, business has been smooth sailing.

Ocean View Seafood has continued to offer an array of fresh seafood items, ranging from fresh-catch favorites such as local tuna, mahi-mahi, flounder, rockfish, halibut, salmon and grouper, to to clams, scallops, softshells, shrimp, lobster and mussels, and, of course, the largest local crabs that they can find.

“I go through every one of the crabs myself, hand-sorted. I’m not going to send a crab out that I wouldn’t eat,” Wojcik said.

“I haven’t seen crabs this beautiful, this big, in 30 years,” added chef/steamer “Uncle John.”

All of the items offered are ones Wojcik has caught before herself. And, along with her team of chefs and steamers, they pride themselves on not only serving up the freshest and finest, but sending customers home knowing how to prepare each dish.

“When people come in here, we always ask them what they’re going to do with the seafood, because we want them to cook it the right way,” Uncle John explained. “We’re actually telling people how to cook the softshells, how to cook the scallops, not to close the bags on the crabs, letting them know what we do with the fresh tuna we’re getting out of the Atlantic, the salmon, and how we cook it so that they can do the same thing.”

What’s new?

Not only is the team at OV-Sea letting customers know how to prepare market items, but with head chef Larry Bland and chef Mary Lou Mumford coming on board, they’re whipping up some original menu items as well.

House favorites include some of Mumford’s made-from-scratch soups, including cream-of-crab, Maryland crab and seafood chowder, Mary Lou’s shrimp salad, and side dishes such as her homemade red-skin potato salad, macaroni salad and cole slaw.

“I’ve been doing this for 20 years,” said Mumford, who came over from Magnolia’s in Ocean View, of her recipes. “I’m enjoying myself. Everybody gets along great. It’s a team effort.”

Also a Magnolia’s veteran, Bland is bringing his own culinary creativity to the menu, whipping up a variety of appetizers, sandwiches and platters to go along with some of Ocean View Seafood’s unique sauces.

Some of the hits so far have included the crab imperial-stuffed deviled eggs, blackened tuna skewers, flounder or rockfish tacos with homemade mango salsa and pressed parmesan encrusted tortilla, crabby pretzels, bacon-wrapped barbecued scallops, coconut shrimp and Larry’s Seafood Platter — consisting of flash-fried flounder with house-secret seasoning, homemade crabcake, fried shrimp, scallops and clam strips, and served up with choice side and sauces ranging from Hawaiian BBQ, “Boom Boom” and Thai Chili, to the standards, including cocktail or tartar.

Working together for the better part of 20 years, when their kitchen chemistry was compared to that of Jordan and Pippen on the basketball court, Bland said it was more like Magic and Kareem.

“I’m blessed to have Larry and Mary Lou. They’re everything,” said Wojcik. “Without them, I wouldn’t be able to do it. They are awesome.”

“I tried to bring out some dishes, so that we’re known for food, as well as crabs,” Bland explained.

Wojcik said that Bland and Mumford were already working on a catering menu for the off-season, going on to explain that some of the best seafood comes from October to December, and that Ocean View Seafood is looking forward to helping cater some holiday parties.

As for right now, however, her next day off won’t come until next month, when she’s looking to defend her wahoo title at this year’s Poor Girls’ Open.

Planning on spending her only day off of the summer catching fish, rather than serving it up, she also said that she wouldn’t have it any other way — aiming to continue the Longs legacy at Ocean View Seafood while adding to her own.

“I’m looking forward to it,” she said. “I want to be the best. I want to be the best at the beach.”

Ocean View Seafood is open seven days a week, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. during the week and until 8 p.m. on holidays and weekends. The market is located at 42A Atlantic Avenue in Ocean View, next to the Ocean View Diner. To call in an order, call (302) 537-7511. To find out more, check out their website at www.oceanviewseafood.com.

Coastal Point • Kerin Magill: Tom Wilhoit, Robyn Wilhoit and Eric Moyer keep the Red Barn resale shop stocked with goodies.Whether someone is looking for a special piece of furniture, a unique something to fill that corner in their beach house or just want to feel like they’re in Grandma’s attic for a little while, the Red Barn in Dagsboro could be just the ticket.

Robyn and Tom Wilhoit, the new owners of the Clayton Avenue resale shop, are settling into their first summer at the 100-year-old building. With goods literally hanging from its well-aged rafters, the couple said they finally feel like they have sufficient space to spread out and properly showcase the wide variety of items they have gathered.

Native Delawareans, the Wilhoits began their resale shop adventure after years in other fields. Initially, they opened Three Good Things in Oak Orchard — and quickly realized they needed more space.

“We outgrew the building on Route 24 in about three months,” Tom Wilhoit said.

When they were looking for a new spot, the Red Barn stood out because of its history, and because it offered three times the space of the Three Good Things spot, he said. As it turned out, one of the Wilhoits’ mentors in the resale business, George Ritter, was an owner of the former business located in the Red Barn.

Whether they’re working with the vendors who rent space in the Red Barn, helping families deal with emptying a home of decades’ worth of treasured items, or greeting regular customers and newcomers, the Wilhoits said they are having fun in their new spot.

“We like what we do,” Tom Wilhoit said.

A grand-opening celebration, scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 13, will give the couple a chance to properly kick off their own grand adventure in style. Plans for the day include specials, such as a 1-2-3 sale, where goods are marked $1, $2 or $3. In addition to giving customers a chance to snag some great finds for very little money, it will give the Wilhoits a chance to bring in some inventory they currently don’t have room for.

Unlike Grandma’s attic, where things tend to gather dust for years, the Red Barn’s inventory changes often — sometimes daily, Tom Wilhoit said. That is why fans of the Red Barn have learned to visit frequently.

“A lot of our customers do come in at least weekly,” Robyn Wilhoit said.

In order to make more room for the ever-growing and ever-changing stock, the Wilhoits have made the barn’s second floor into additional retail space. In order to do so, Tom Wilhoit had to build stairs into the former feed store’s loft space, where there had previously only been a hatch. That added an extra 1,000 square feet, giving the store about 6,000 square feet of retail space.

A unique feature of the new space is Tom Wilhoit’s “chandelier” creation. Made of an old metal Montgomery Ward box spring, mason jars and blue lights, it’s an unusual combination that showcases the couple’s creative side. Also on the second floor are a number of barn-board paintings and plaques that are made by both Robyn and Tom Wilhoit.

The couple said they feel their efforts so far have been well-received.

“People have been very warm and inviting and welcoming,” Robyn Wilhoit said.

For now, the Red Barn staff consists of the Wilhoits and Eric Moyer, who helps with whatever happens to need doing at any particular time. The couple’s rescued greyhound, Anubis, might also venture out from his comfy spot behind the counter to say hello.

Embracing all aspects of their new venture, the couple readily admits neither is an expert in antiques or any field encompassed by their inventory. Robin Wilhoit is a former nurse; Tom Wilhoit has a background in business. They both say they are enjoying the learning process. Tom Wilhoit shows off a rare 1940s Dumont portable television, for example, reeling off facts about the company and its TVs as he walks through the store.

That is just one example of the things the two have had a chance to delve into as they bring their ever-changing collection of things, both historical and hysterical, to their customers. From new-with-tags Vera Bradley purses to a collection of circa 1800s Bibles, from a mirror bearing the logo of the 1970s rock group Styx to a 20th century Hoosier cabinet — it’s all part of history and culture, all tangible pieces of shared lives and all lovingly displayed at the Red Barn.

As much as each piece is cherished, there is, of course, the bottom line in such a business, which brings up the question of just how to arrive at prices for such a crazy-quilt of inventory. For the Wilhoits, it’s kind of a gut feeling.

“We kind of know what things go for,” Robyn Wilhoit said. “It also depends on what we paid for it,” she said.

The Red Barn is located at 28336 Clayton Street in Dagsboro, across the street from the Dagsboro fire hall. Hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday to Saturday; the store is closed on Mondays. The phone number at the shop is (302) 927-0369.

Coastal Point photos • Submitted: Bikes, ready to rent from Fenwick Bike Shop are available at the Town Center Market in Bayside. This summer brought a new addition to the bustling Bayside community near Fenwick Island, with the incarnation of the Town Center Market.

The open-air pop-up market is open from 4 to 7 p.m. on Thursdays and Fridays, and from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturdays, until Labor Day weekend. With vendors changing every night, homeowners and visitors are being treated to a rotation of local artisans, businesses and food trucks.

According to Bayside Director of Marketing Jeff Evans, the market was conceived out of the desire to “enhance the experience for the community” by bringing offerings from local businesses to residents.

“It was Michelle Freeman’s vision to provide some retail opportunities here in Bayside,” Evans said.

This summer, the idea was to bring a temporary, open-air market to the community, with the hope of eventually evolving it into a permanent retail space within the community.

Since kicking off on June 23, Evans said, the market has featured vendors including the Fenwick Bike Shop, which for the first time has been on-site offering bike rentals all summer; sea glass artist Nancy LaMotte; and community T-shirt and apparel sales from Troon.

The market has also featured a rotation of food trucks, bringing in local favorites such as the Frozen Farmer, Drifting Kitchen, Rosenfeld’s Jewish Delicatessen and Sea Hogg, a rolling branch of Zogg’s Raw Bar & Grill in Rehoboth Beach.

“We’re constantly changing. The vendors change every week, and we’re always encouraging people to be here,” Evans said.

One of the market’s new vendors, Steven Lehukey, is bringing his new business — a snowball stand called Beach Balls — to Bayside for the latter part of the summer season.

Lehukey, a Bayside resident and member of the Homeowner’s Association Finance Committee, said that he is passionate about the idea of Bayside being a self-sufficient community and believes the market is key to achieving that goal.

Ahead of his market debut, Lehukey said, “I’m hoping, as a new vendor, as silly and simple and basic as it is, it’s kind of taking kids and their families back to just getting a good ol’ fashioned snowball at a reasonable price.”

He added that he’s hoping to catch some of the traffic that comes to the market when it overlaps with concerts and events at the Freeman Stage.

Lehukey said, “I never got to meet Josh Freeman, but I feel that I’m living vicariously through him and his vision.”

He plans to donate a portion of his sales to the Carl M. Freeman Foundation, in an effort to give back to the community that he says he is so passionate about.

In addition to a rotating offering of vendors and food trucks, visitors and residents alike can stop by the market to relax at one of the picnic tables or join a game of cornhole.

The goal of having the market in the center of the community, according to Evans, is to encourage local businesses to be a part of Bayside and to give residents an opportunity to conveniently patronize those vendors.

This Friday, visitors and market patrons can taste the offerings of Sea Hogg Street Eats, which will be on hand from 4 to 7 p.m. with some of their specialties, including pulled pork, jerk chicken and fish tacos.

On Saturday, the Vittles food truck will roll in from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. to serve up everything from Chorizo quesadillas to Reuben sandwiches and fresh-squeezed lemonade.

Evans said they’re always looking for new vendors to be a part of the market, whether they have an established business or are just starting out, like Lehukey. Potential vendors should contact Twig Burton for more information, at twig@cmfa.org.

To check out the schedule of upcoming vendors and food trucks, head to www.livebayside.com/bayside-area-events/events.

Coastal Point • Tyler Valliant: From left, owners and stylists Angela Hutton, Amy Smith, and Kira DiSabatino recently launched Pin Up Girls Salon in Ocean View.It was their moment.

So much so that, on the morning of Aug. 25, upon entering the newly renovated space above Ocean Vayu Yoga and Pivot Physical Therapy, on what was to be the day of their grand opening, Angela Hutton, Amy Smith and Kira DiSabatino — the proud new owners of Pin Up Girls Salon in Ocean View — took full advantage of it, very literally jumping for joy to mark both the occasion and the milestone.

“I won’t lie — we walked in this morning, and we just collided and hugged. We acted like a bunch of little girls, screaming,” said Hutton with a laugh. “It feels amazing. It finally feels like we’re at home.”

PUG’s three co-owners may be embarking on a brand new venture but they are by no means strangers to the scissors and chair, each with an extensive salon résumé, having worked together at a salon in Millville for the past seven years. That’s where they not only honed their craft, but spent days dreaming about eventually going out on their own.

“We were always talking about our own salon. There were so many things that we wanted to offer,” explained Hutton. “We wanted to give our clients more of an experience, not just the service.”

“We just wanted something a little bit different, something we could put our spin on,” added DiSabatino. “This whole vintage vibe just clicked with all of us and snowballed into this awesome opportunity.”

As the name suggests, Pin Up Girls Salon is all about vintage style — bringing together the space’s sleek atmosphere with elements of what they like to think of as the Golden Age of hair in the 1950s and 1960s.

Hanging on the shop’s soft green pinstriped walls is evidence of their homage to those decades: classic depictions of the time’s perpetual beauty in the form of artwork and framed photographs.

“I feel happy here. It’s sunshine, it’s glowing, it makes you feel up. And I am glad they do have an elevator,” said Ginny Johnston, an Ocean View resident and a long-time client of Smith’s, with a laugh. “What more could you ask for?”

“Up-to-date, modern, sophisticated, catering to a new generation of young retirees,” added Vicki Cook of what she was looking for in a salon after poking in a curious head to check things out on that Thursday.

Recently moved to the area from Northern Virginia, Cook went on to explain that she had been anxiously awaiting the opening and had previously been traveling as far as Newark in her search for a new hairstylist.

Of course, just because the motif says “retro” doesn’t mean that Hutton, Smith and DiSabatino aren’t keeping up with modern styles and trends.

Frequently, the three PUG proprietors hit the road for hair shows to do just that, all the while keeping up with the in-vogue and keeping tabs on the latest in style-related social media hashtags.

The shop offers an extensive list of services, specializing not only haircuts for men, women and kids (mothers themselves, they made sure to include a play center for children), but almost anything else that caters to the coif.

Blowouts and stylings, coloring and contouring, perms, specialty treatments, hair extensions and even waxing are all combed out by appointment. And as for damaged hair, they can handle that, too.

“We know how to treat your hair, protect your hair. We can rebuild your hair if it’s been damaged,” Hutton said of the team. “We all have a very high base clientele that’s been following us for a while.”

After the ’do is done, freshly clipped clients can get the skinny on an array of hair and beauty products offered at the shop, all which have been tried and trued by the stylists themselves.

One of those featured products includes Beauty & Pin Ups — a haircare company centered around “beauty with a purpose” that donates a portion of its sales to charity organizations, such as Best Buddies International.

Other Pin Up perks include refreshments, such as coffee, danishes and muffins, with the aim being to pamper patrons on what Hutton, Smith and DiSabatino each said should always be a special experience.

“This isn’t something that you do at your house. You’re not going to get your hair blown out every day. This is something special,” DiSabatino explained.

“You really get to know people. They become part of your life. You become part of their life. Our clientele has been super-supportive in this whole transition. I’m excited for all of them to come and see this, just as much as I’m excited to be here for them.”

While right now it’s just the three of them, Hutton said they have big plans for the future. There’s plenty of room for more stations and in the coloring room for future additions to what she likes to refer to as “the Pin Up Girls team.”

For right now, however, that team of three is just happy to have gone from daydreaming, to living the dream daily, enjoying a moment that has been a long time in the making.

“It’s more exciting, because it’s ours now. I’m super-pumped to just get started,” DiSabatino said, noting that when she started hairdressing was her “a-ha moment,” when she finally found her calling.

“I have a daughter that I really just wanted to show that you could do anything you wanted. If you want something, you just go get it. You just do it. You work really hard, and you do it. I think that’s exactly what we’ve done, and I’m really excited about it.”

Pin Up Girls Salon is located at 29 Atlantic Avenue, Unit 6, in Ocean View and open Tuesday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. To schedule a consultation or appointment, call the salon at (302) 537-1325. For more information, visit their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/pinupgirlssalonllc or check out the “P.U.G. Life” on Instagram (@pinupgirlssalonllc).

Coastal Point • Tyler Valliant: 16 Mile ‘Beer Slinger’ Joe Botchie and Cottage Café/Bethany Boat House Bar Manager Melanie Petrie show off some of 16 Mile’s signature beers in front of the Cottage Café in Bethany.Over the course of the past 22 years, the Cottage Café restaurant near Bethany Beach has more or less written the book for “the second season.”

Shoulder-season specials — including the Friday fish fry, Monday fried oysters and the always-popular roast turkey dinner on Sundays — have long been tradition for a legion of the area’s locals, and a way for the restaurant and pub to not only stay open throughout the winter but to show appreciation for the community that helps make it all possible.

While they’ve nailed that recipe down practically to a science after nearly two decades of R&D, this off-season, they’re cranking things up to 11 by teaming up with 16 Mile Brewery.

“It was like a match made in heaven,” said Cottage Café business manager Tom Harman, with a laugh, of when 16 Mile “Beer Slinger” Joe Botchie first came down to meet with Cottage Café/Bethany Boathouse bar manger Melanie Petrie and the rest of the Cottage crew.

“We’re all excited. It’s just worked out very well.”

Serving as bar manager for the past few years, Petrie said she’s been aiming to step up the pub’s “beer game,” bringing in and testing out a variety of local craft brews.

So, when she approached Botchie — whom she’s known for years, from both of them growing up in the area — the idea of pairing a local establishment with a local brewing company just made sense.

After all, the Georgetown-based brewery’s favorite social media slogan just so happens to be “#localsupportlocal.”

“Personally, 16 Mile is my favorite, so I got with Joe and told him that I really wanted to represent a local product,” Petrie explained. “That’s something that I was really interested in doing. I feel like, when you’re born and bred a Delawarean, it’s easy to share the love of the area.”

“Up and down the beach here, growing up in this area is a blessing,” added Botchie, who joined 16 Mile this past summer after a career with the Off the Hook Restaurant Group.

“Going back and working with great people and great businesses and being right in your back yard — to have such a local brand support such a local establishment like the Cottage Café is something I think is really cool.”

The idea was to not only offer up a wider selection of 16 Mile flagships but to be able to suggest specific beers with the night’s specific special, similar to how a cabernet is paired with a porterhouse, or a sauvignon blanc with a piece of fresh halibut.

To make it all happen, Botchie met with the Cottage’s service team for a series of trainings and tastings, eventually molding them all into 16 Mile sommeliers.

“I love this type of stuff,” he said. “I was able to come in and actually do a beer education for the staff — taste the beers, talk about them, and come up with multiple pairings for everything that they’re doing.”

The Cottage is currently featuring three different 16 Mile drafts, in addition to three by the bottle, including the brand new “Curvy Blond” — a Belgian-style golden ale with a mellow-hop finish and blood orange bite.

Along with the Blues Golden, it’s one of the pairings for Monday’s fried oyster night, also popping up as an ideal choice to go along with Friday’s fish fry.

Of all six of the specials, however, both Botchie and Petrie said they are particularly enamored by the complement that the Amber Sun pays to the Cottage’s barbecue sauce for Tuesday’s barbecue ribs special, as well as the Oyster Stout with Monday’s bacon-wrapped salmon.

Using actual oysters over cherry wood in the stout’s brewing process, along with smoked barley, they explained, the flavor profiles match perfectly, and the malt-driven Amber Sun creates an ideal balance of sweet and bitter alongside the ribs.

They’ve also found a home for 16 Mile’s Inlet IPA and Tiller Brown Ale, the overall six-brew selection carefully hand-picked in the hopes of being able to offer something for everyone.

“We’ve got something for every beer drinker,” Petrie said. “I love the Blues Golden because it’s a great introduction to craft beer. It’s not real hop-forward and it’s got a clean finish, which is great for people who want to try craft without having to go high-ABV (alcohol by volume).”

The Cottage has furthered their mission of local supporting local by getting their sales team invested and excited, beginning a contest that will extend five weeks, through Oct. 31, and finishing with a pizza-party celebration and raffle drawing for prizes and a chance to win a free brewery tour at 16 Mile.

Not only has the contest ended up bringing together local people with local product, but local people with local people as well.

“It’s a way for our salespeople to really get involved with the guests here,” Petrie said of the ancillary benefit of sparking flavor profile discussions between servers and their guests. “We’ve been able to branch them out, too. They all have a favorite 16 Mile now, which is awesome.”

While the contest will conclude at the end of next month, there are no signs that the new and budding partnership between the Cottage and 16 Mile, or their #localsupportlocal philosophy, will be ending anytime soon.

“16 Mile has offered a lot of support for us. Not only are we supporting them, but they’re supporting us as well,” said Petrie. “I think this will open the door for us to do a lot more in the future.”

“We’re very hands-on and a small family as a brewery,” added Botchie. “Working with local businesses is the one way that we are now, as a community, as a state, and even as a country, going back to the way that it should be.

“That’s why I’m so behind something like this — local community supporting local community.”

For a full list of the Cottage Cafe’s off-season specials, visit their website at www.cottagecafe.com. For more on 16 Mile, check out their website at www.16milebrewery.com, or find them on Facebook and Instagram.

Coastal Point • Submitted: Past presidents of the Bethany-Fenwick Area Chamber of Commerce got together last week to celebrate the Chamber’s 40th anniversary.It started, as do many things in small towns, with a conversation at the post office. Then there came a letter from the CIA.

And with that, 40 years ago, the Bethany-Fenwick Area Chamber of Commerce was born.

So says the organization’s first president, Clayton Ringler. Now 87 years old and living in Hayesville, NC, Ringler fondly recalled the chamber’s early days in a phone conversation last week.

The post office conversations, Ringler said, led to meetings of the first of the chamber’s organizers at Murray’s Topside Restaurant in Ocean View. Soon, the local newspaper, the Delmarva News, picked up on the chamber’s formation and published an article about it.

That’s where that letter comes into play. It was actually from Odette May, who at the time worked for the Central Intelligence Agency but was looking to retire in Bethany Beach. May, it seems, had seen the newspaper article and was writing to tell Ringler she wanted to get involved in the chamber.

“She said she liked what I said about everything,” Ringler recalled. “I said, yes, you can be our first director.”

And that’s how the first chamber office came to be in May’s bedroom.

On Wednesday, Oct. 26, Chamber Executive Director Kristie Maravalli told those gathered at Bethany Blues for a special 40th anniversary event “there are so many reasons to be proud. So many stories.”

Richard Mais, out-going Chamber president, recognized the growth of the chamber into a group that represents the variety of businesses in the Quiet Resorts. “We have a very diverse group of businesses that are members,” said Mais, who owns McCabe’s Gourmet Market in South Bethany with his wife, Rebecca.

Mais also praised the Chamber staff, which he said “has planned and executed our events and activities flawlessly.”

As he turned the gavel over to new chamber president Ron Derr, Mais said “we want to be sure we are on the right track, with services, events and educational programs we are providing.”

Derr, president of the accounting firm PKS & Co., takes the helm of an organization that now has 733 members – 34 of those new to the Chamber in the past year. He said at the anniversary celebration that he hopes to lead the chamber in focusing more attention on the parts of its service area beyond Bethany Beach and Fenwick Island as well as broadening the “shoulder seasons” – the seasons that bookend the already popular summertime in the beach areas.

Both Ringler and Kenny Crooks, the second president of the Chamber, were awarded the group’s highest honor, the Lighthouse Award, at the anniversary gathering. Although Ringler could not attend due to a broken leg, his cousin as well as fellow Chamber past president Kevin Lynch, owner of Selbyville Pet & Garden in Selbyville, accepted his award for him.

Crooks, longtime owner of Treasure Island Fashions in Ocean View, took the podium to remark that “it’s amazing it’s been 40 years,” recalling the early days of meeting first at May’s house and then at the former Baltimore Trust Bank in Bethany Beach, where Ringler served as executive vice president.

In an interview at his store next to G&E Supermarket on Cedar Neck Road, Crooks said he was “shocked” to hear that the Chamber now has more than 700 members. “The last I remember, it was around 100, maybe” Crooks said.

Both Ringler and Crooks recalled that in the Chamber’s early days, many of the town officials in the beach towns had much more of an “anti-business” attitude than they do today. Ringler said there was an attitude, particularly among those who had moved to the beaches from cities like Washington, D.C., that “we’ve got ours and nobody else needs to come,” so they failed to see how successful businesses could benefit the area.

Ringler said the chamber made its presence known as an advocate for the business community, which led to some tense moments between Chamber officials and the towns. “We would just stick our nose in there,” he said. “We didn’t fight, we just argued.”

Even businesses such as the now gone but long-beloved putt-putt golf course on Garfield Parkway initially found resistance in the town. “It was a long time before we got that straightened out,” Ringler said.

There were, in fact, far fewer full-time residents in the area than there are now. Ringler said that in his early days at the bank, the town had a year-round population of 39. “People thought we were crazy” to open a business like a bank in such an area, he said.

Crooks agreed that the towns have become more “business-friendly” in their policies and actions over the years.

“We’ve had our ups and downs” Ringler said, “but we all just worked together.”

Far from being all business, the Chamber has organized many popular events in the area. One of the first Crooks recalled was a canoe race between the Bethany-Fenwick Chamber and the Milford Chamber. Ringler recalled the early days of the Chamber-sponsored Boardwalk Arts Festival, which at first didn’t extend past the bandstand. Today’s festival fills the entire boardwalk and spills onto area streets for one of the most popular “shoulder season” events.

The chamber office itself has also come a long way from its beginnings Odette May’s bedroom. Thanks to generous donations and work by Frank Raskauskas and William Murray, the Chamber now has an oceanfront office and information center in Fenwick Island which makes it a convenient resource for businesses and visitors alike.

As the chamber celebrated its 40th anniversary last week, current director Maravalli urged members to “Be proud of how far you have come, and have faith in how far you can go.” Maravalli marveled at how an idea of a few business people 40 years ago has prospered and grown along with the area itself.

“Thank you to all who carried the torch,” she said.

The Sussex County Today & Tomorrow Conference was held last week, with the mission of providing “insight and identify opportunities in Sussex County to promote economics, partnership and collaboration.”

Micheal Meoli, owner/operator of The Meoli Companies, was the conference’s keynote speaker, and discussed what it takes to be successful in business.

Meoli’s family owns 14 McDonald’s restaurants across Maryland and Delaware.

“People have to eat, but they don’t have to eat at McDonald’s,” he said. “No business has a divine right to succeed.”

Three important points Meoli said he hoped to impress upon those in attendance were listen to your customer, embrace chance and build the trust bank.

Meoli said they had heard for years that McDonald’s needed to be more sustainable, offer breakfast all day and offer healthier food options for children.

Having listened to those customer suggestions, Meoli said McDonald’s took action. Now healthier food options are available for children and breakfast is served all day.

Meoli also said that it is important to invest in those who work for you. His restaurants employ 850 people, and pay $11 million in payroll. Employees are given the opportunity to take ESL classes and receive their high school diplomas, and even college tuition assistance.

“Change isn’t bad,” he said. “Change is inevitable, progress is optional. If you don’t like change, you’re going to like irrelevance even less.”

Karen and Tony Sposato, known for their landscaping business, gave a 1 Million Cups presentation regarding their new venture — an Argentinean vineyard.

The husband and wife team, who have five landscaping locations, and 350 employees, purchased a 250-acre plot of land in Argentina in 2012.

“Basically, it became a really big landscape project for us — so we felt right at home,” said Tony Sposato.

The wine, Sposato Family Vineyards, is currently distributed in Delaware (and can be found in all liquor stores in Sussex County), Maryland and Washington, D.C., and was just picked up in Pennsylvania. Sposato said they now want to go to Florida, and work their way back up the coast.

Benjamin Gray, manager of Microtel Inn & Suites by Wyndham in Georgetown, also gave a 1 Million Cups presentation.

“We have a culture of excellence here in Georgetown,” said Gray. “I truly believe this county is the best in the U.S. This county is something special.”

According to Ed Simons’ quick facts presentation, Sussex County unemployment has gone down, from 7.7 percent to 4.5 percent, with jobs in the county increasing by 28 percent.

In 1990, the 55-plus age group accounted for 28 percent of Sussex County. By 2030, according to Simon, that figure is projected to rise to 43 percent.

“It’s up to each of us to take what we learn today and act upon it to improve our county,” said Dr. Ileana M. Smith, Vice President and Campus Director, Delaware Technical Community College.

Coastal Point • Darin McCann: Mike Cummings, center, with sons Sean and Patrick, look toward the future with Miken Builders.There was a look of pride on the face of Mike Cummings as he sat in his conference room earlier this week.

The driving force and CEO of Miken Builders in Millville was enjoying the fact that his company was celebrating 30 years of doing business, and that their spinoff, BetterLiving of Delmarva, was in its eighth year of constructing sunrooms, porch enclosures and awnings.

He was proud of the fact that his average employee has worked with Miken for more than 10 years, that he has worked with Contractors for a Cause for nearly 20 years and was actively involved in the construction of Justin’s Beach House — the respite home in Bethany Beach for families affected by cancer. And he was most certainly proud of the two young men who shared the conference-room table with him.

Patrick is the sales manager at BetterLiving, and Sean is a project manager for Miken. They are both well-versed in the ways of Miken and know that each project they take on must live up to the high standards long-attributed to the company.

They are also Mike Cummings’ sons.

“We’re here preparing for the future of Miken’s management,” said a smiling Mike Cummings. “I enjoy the business more than ever now, working with them, and it really gives me peace of mind seeing how they’ve grown up and taken to responsibility. We’re in good hands with them.”

Cummings started the family business as a 26-year-old in 1986 in Wilmington. He and his wife, Kathy, bought their first home in this area in 1989 and decided to relocate Miken to the beach in 1993. His daughter, Katie, is now married and living in South Carolina — working in the medical field, just as Kathy Cummings has done in her career.

They maintained an office in Wilmington until “five or six years ago,” according to Mike Cummings.

And things have changed.

“There was a time when we were probably doing 70 percent commercial work and 30 percent residential,” said Mike Cummings. “Now, we’re probably at 80 percent residential, though we do still do some commercial projects for local people.” He cited the Bethany Boathouse restaurant and GiggleBugs Early Learning Center in Millsboro as some recent examples of their work.

And the reputation of quality work at Miken is only a benefit to the sons as the company goes forward.

“It’s a great situation,” explained Patrick Cummings, talking about BetterLiving. “The reputation of our work has already been established through Miken. We hold ourselves accountable to that higher standard, and now it is our job to build that reputation further down the road.”

“It really is,” added Sean Cummings. “And now, as we move forward, we are keeping an eye on the trends in the building world. It’s our job to identify those trends, figure out what our customers really want and make that happen. People can see our homes and projects and know it is a Miken job.”

BetterLiving has seen substantial growth in its relatively-short history as well. According to Mike Cummings, the company’s first year saw them employ one work crew, and they brought in approximately $300,000. BetterLiving employed three crews this past year and billed out more than $1 million.

“We’re always learning things we can do better, but we’ve come a long way since the start,” said Patrick Cummings.

He said that the majority of their customers spend the majority of their time at home in rooms built by BetterLiving and that the company only uses materials made in the United States. He also suggested that a 50-year warranty on their work — one that can be transferred to a new homeowner — is a major plus to their customers.

Both branches of Miken face different kinds of challenges building in the area, as opposed to other places, because of the basic elements.

“Up north, there are trees or other buildings to block a lot of the wind, but here you just get salt water and high winds really hitting homes and businesses,” explained Mike Cummings. “You have to take that into account in your building.”

They also have to take into account that they are often building homes or sunrooms for people who see this as a second home and aren’t within an easy drive to meet or observe the status of a project.

“[Customers] are often surprised when I tell them we can be available over the weekend,” said Sean Cummings. “But, you have to answer your phone at any time. You have to be there for the customer every step of the way. It builds trust.”

Miken also uses a Basecamp site, where customers can monitor the progress of their homes online. If a customer has a question, that query automatically goes to everyone on the job, from electricians to drywallers to superintendents to the Cummings family. Someone will be able to answer that question quickly. It’s a changing time, and the company appears to be embracing that change.

As for the future of Miken?

“We’re going to be in good hands,” said Mike. “These two are the future here, and there are a lot of good, experienced people we have on staff. I feel real good about where we’re going.”

As soon as the New Year, part of Bethany Beach will have a new look, with Pie restaurant owners Dan Lewis and Robin Rankin and Artful Bean owners Rose O’Hanlan and Kim Warner reaching an agreement last week that would allow Pie to expand, while the Artful Bean looks for a new home.

“I think that it’s good opportunity and it puts us in a good position,” said O’Hanlan of the decision to move the coffeehouse. “We can keep the name, we can keep what we’ve built — we get to keep the business, and now we can pick what we want to do and how we want to do it.”

“We saw the need to expand,” added Lewis of Pie. “Bethany is huge in our lives — we weren’t trying to leave Bethany, so this is what we had to do.”

After setting up shop in August of 2014, Pie has quickly become a Bethany Beach staple, serving up gourmet pizza at its Central Boulevard location.

Next door, O’Hanlan and Lewis took over the Artful Bean in November of 2015, seeing similar success and quickly establishing themselves as part of the community.

But with Pie looking to have some additional seating and offer up its homemade dessert pies, in addition to pizza pies, and the Artful Bean ready to get into roasting their own coffee, the move just made sense.

“We were just very well received in town. We had a line out the door every day all summer long,” said Rankin. “It just made sense for us. This just kind of seems perfect.”

“It’s the perfect time of year to make a transition. I feel like I’m playing for the Eagles right now,” said O’Hanlan with a laugh. “It could turn into a more year-round business, compared to what it is now. There’s some other opportunities we want to explore with coffee roasting — that, to me, is very exciting.”

Just as Lewis and Rankin ultimately decided to stay put and find a solution in Bethany Beach, O’Hanlan and Warner have the same philosophy on the area and are determined to keep their employees, their regulars and their roots.

“It’s the people. We can replicate the structure somewhere else,” said O’Hanlan. “In the summertime, people come in here and they’re jogging or they’re running and they don’t have their money on them, and we say, ‘Oh, just bring it back.’ And they do.”

As for Pie, they’re also aiming to keep their changes to the aesthetic variety only, emphasizing that, while they may be gaining a bigger space, they’ll still keep their signature setting.

Currently having around 30 seats, Lewis and Rankin said they’ll most likely only go up to 50 seats and use the rest of the additional space for a pie display case.

“The fireplace isn’t going anywhere,” said Lewis. “Everything is going to stay the same. We’re going to keep it clean, we’re going to keep it cozy. We just need a little more space to be able to work.”

Renovations and expansion are slated to begin Jan. 1, with Pie aiming to stay open Thursday through Sunday during the project, if possible, and aiming for a grand re-opening in the spring of 2017.

The Artful Bean will hold a moving sale in the coming weeks and will pack up on Dec. 31 while they continue their search for a new space.

Both businesses will be keeping their customers updated on the changes via their Facebook pages.

The Artful Bean can be reached at (302) 541-8160 and Pie at (302) 539-2600.

Coastal Point • Kerin Magill: Cindy Stevens and C.J. Mears display some of the produce they have grown through aquaponic farming.At the entrance to a greenhouse at Bearhole Farms near Roxana sits a blue tank about the size of a small hot tub. Orange-finned flashes flit around the bottom and a pump emits a constant thrum.

“That’s the engine,” says Bear Hole proprietor Cindy Stevens. The heart of the engine, which produces a perpetual harvest of 3,000 lettuce plants inside the 1,700-square-foot greenhouse, is fish. About 350 koi, common goldfish and channel catfish, to be precise.

In addition to swimming around the tank, the fish eat... and then when that food turns to fish waste, it is released into a system of channels that run under the lettuce plants, watering and feeding the plants. It’s the perfect symbiotic relationship.

“You can’t under-water or over-water and you can’t over-fertilize or under-fertilize,” said C.J. Mears, who is partnering with Stevens in the Bearhole aquaponics operation.

“We are farmers in every sense of the word, but we don’t need a tractor,” Mears said. “In fact, we don’t even need dirt.” Even though the lettuce is grown in nothing but water fertilized with fish waste, it uses one-tenth of the water used in soil-based gardening, and even less water than a hydroponics operation.

Instead of soil, the lettuce plants float on foam mats. No pesticides or chemicals are used to grow the lettuce. As the water becomes enriched with “fish poo” it is processed through a moving bed “bioreactor.” Solids are removed from the water by “swirling the nitrogen” out, Mears said. “It is like a fast moving composting system,” he explained.

Then water, rich with the remaining nutrients from the fish waste, is transferred to the plants. The plants also serve as a natural filter, preparing the water to return to the fish tanks, where the cycle begins all over again.
Coastal Point • Submitted: Koi, goldfish and catfish are the ‘engine’ at the Bearhole Farms aquaponic lettuce operation.
Even the fish themselves cycle out of the farm operation — once they reach a certain size, they are sold and replaced with smaller fish. Stevens and Mears are also in the process of having the sludge certified as organic fertilizer, which would allow them to sell it for use on farm crops. Stevens already uses it on plants in her garden center.

“It’s just another by-product of the system,” Mears said.

Still in its first year, Bearhole Farms has already found a steady market for its lettuce in local restaurants, Stevens said. A challenge initially was trying to assess the market, as far as which varieties would turn out to be the most popular. For a time, she said, Bear Hole Farms’ Swiss chard was so popular she considered only selling that variety.

Ultimately, she decided to grow a variety of lettuces, from Swiss chard to romaine, as well as a mix of complementary greens that grow in the beds together, similar to a wildflower seed mix in a garden.

Stevens said she is hoping to try “micro-greens” soon — which are seedlings of a variety of greens and vegetables. Since lettuces and greens are cool weather crops, they are a natural extension of Stevens’ warm weather business, Natural Creations landscaping. Having also run restaurants, Stevens said producing lettuce for area eateries seems like a natural progression for her. “I feel like I’m going back home,” working with restaurants, she said. “It’s like a full circle.”

Mears, on the other hand, comes to aquaponics from a more technical background, having retired as a food safety professional, specializing in food-borne pathogens.

The two have been friends for years, and were introduced to aquaponics by mutual friends who own a large facility in Hilliard, Fla. “We were both amazed,” the first time they visited their friend’s Traders Hill Farms, Stevens said. They were sold not only on the process, but also on the quality of lettuce produced. Not only does it taste better than conventionally grown lettuce, the two say, but it also has a shelf life of four weeks if stored properly. “It’s unbelievable,” Stevens said. “The restaurants that use our product are very pleased with it.”

Mears said he feels their business has great potential for growth, as the farm-to-table movement begins to take hold in the area, as it has in other regions across the country. “We’re hoping we’re in the right position,” he said.

With advice from their friend Angela TenBroeck at Trader Hill Farms, Stevens and Mears built their own system — on a much smaller scale than Trader Hill Farms, but using the same principles. The gravity-based system is quite simple, consisting of two pumps: one water pump and one air pump.

For animal-lover Stevens, one of the most stressful parts of setting it up was getting the huge fish tank just right. At first, she said, her catfish were dying at an alarming rate, but she resolved that and “in the last four or five months, we’ve only lost one goldfish.” The water in the tank is tested three times a week for pH, ammonia, nitrites and nitrates to ensure the health of the “engine.”

Through the winter months, the Bearhole greenhouse continues to produce lush heads of bright green lettuce. With a seed-to-harvest time of 45 days, the little greenhouse produces 12,000 heads of lettuce in a year, cycling through the growing process four times.

Soon, Stevens and Mears will begin offering their lettuce to retail customers, with a monthly market day at the farm. The markets will begin Saturday, Jan. 7 and the two hope to continue them on the first Saturday of each month from 9 a.m. to noon. In addition to their lettuces and greens, they hope to offer fresh local eggs and local honey, adding other items seasonally.

The farm is located at 37765 Bearhole Road, Selbyville. For more information on the lettuce farm or the market, call Cindy Stevens at Natural Creations, 302-436-4856 or 302-542-1885.

A couple from Pennsylvania started 2017 with a $121.6 million prize after matching all five white balls plus the red Powerball in the Dec. 17 lottery drawing. The man and woman, who wished to remain anonymous, purchased the winning ticket at Selbyville Goose Creek, a subsidiary of Cato Gas & Goose Creek Food Stores, located at 38452 DuPont Boulevard in Selbyville.

According to Delaware Lottery officials, the man, who has been playing the Delaware Lottery since its inception in 1975, normally plays Powerball and Mega Millions when the jackpots get large. For years, they said, he has played the same numbers. He originally bought a Powerball Quick Pick ticket a long time ago and liked those numbers, they said, so he stuck with them ever since. It finally paid off.

“I figured it only takes one ticket to win,” said the man. “I went to the machine and scanned my ticket, and all these numbers came up. I have never seen that many zeroes in my life! Once reality set in, my first reaction was to cry. I walked out of the store in tears and returned to my wife, who was waiting for me in the car.”

“He came to the car and had tears on his face,” said the woman. “I didn’t know what to think at first, but then he said anxiously, ‘We are millionaires!’ I was so confused I didn’t believe him and thought he was joking, so I made him double-check the numbers on his phone, and we got the same results.”

The winners selected the $72.1 million cash option and told Delaware Lottery officials they already have big plans for their prize money.

“This is just such a great experience, and we don’t want to spend the money foolishly,” said the woman. “I have strong feelings toward education and would want to make donations to schools or other charities in the future. We’ve also had our eyes on an RV. Since we travel a lot, it would be perfect for our family.”

In addition, the man told Delaware Lottery officials it has always been a dream of his to own a hotrod, and he may get one down the road.

The drawing represents the second-highest Delaware jackpot winner on a single ticket. The highest was in 2004, when a winner of the $214.7 million jackpot took the cash option of $116.9 million.

“Winning is not going to change me,” said the woman. “I told him I don’t want us to be different because of the money. We are very blessed to win.”

The winning numbers for the Dec. 17 drawing were 01, 08, 16, 57 and 67. The Powerball number was 09. The winners claimed their prize (less 25 percent, after federal tax) at Delaware Lottery Headquarters in Dover on Friday, Jan. 13.

Coastal Point photos • Tyler Valliant: Catherine Peterson grins at her family's new Selbyville quilt shop, where she helps finish new quilts and restore old ones.Quilting may be an old art, but Catherine’s Quilting uses technology to transform the basic craft into a finished heirloom piece. Catherine and Tim Peterson just recently opened their quilt shop on Church Street in downtown Selbyville.

Quilting can be a very personal craft, whether it’s a long-term labor of love by a group of friends, or maybe one woman, perhaps given for a wedding or baby gift. Whether hand-stitched in centuries past, or by a machine today, each scrap is carefully pieced together for a grander masterpiece.

Catherine’s Quilting helps with the final steps, attaching the thick batting, which transforms a decorative sheet into a cozy blanket for the home.

“I make it easy for you. Not only is it efficient to do, my turnaround is usually less than a month,” Catherine Peterson said. “I know, some places, it’s a six-month turnaround. I wouldn’t want my quilt gone for that long. I try really hard to do it really fast.”

Standard sewing machines can’t easily handle much more than a lap blanket or baby quilt, but Catherine’s Quilting can handle large-scale projects.

“Doing that at home is really hard on a home machine. There’s not enough space. Trying to fit all that fabric under there is hard,” Peterson said. “Usually people bring in twin, king, queen… because those are the larger ones that you can’t do at home.”

Customers can choose from about 100 styles of stitching, from simple swirls to complex feathers and flowers.

“Most people want a fairly simplified but elegant pattern” based on their quilt design, Peterson said. “We talk about what they want to show off, what they want to bring out. You want it to complement it and show the strengths of the piece. … I’m there to complement them.”

The professional finishing touch lets customers enjoy more detail, so they can put “a little more heart into it,” she said.

Catherine’s Quilting uses an Innova longarm quilting system.

“It’s a computerized machine that runs with robotics,” but Peterson still threads the needle and bobbin herself. The machine automatically sews a complete row before Peterson positions it at the next block. It automatically knows when a thread breaks or stitch skips.

She stitches the final binding by hand.

Peterson said she always enjoyed sewing but was inspired by her own mother (a quilting guild founder) and quilting shows with hands-on demonstrations.

Peterson has quilted for more than 20 years, including professionally for the past six years from her home, as Cladagh Quilting. This is her first freestanding storefront.

After decades as an electronics shop, the Church Street property re-opened as the Petersons’ quilt shop in December.

“It’s been a fantastic experience,” Peterson said. “Everybody that comes — people just come in to say hello — they’ve just been so friendly. The town has been so wonderful. It’s been a really, really good experience. I’m glad I jumped into it.”

On a Clarksville farm, the Petersons are raising their own boys, some chickens, donkeys and a herd of Shetland sheep (a heritage breed whose wool Catherine Peterson hopes to someday use for yarn). The Selbyville shop opened with help from the whole family.

Of why she loves quilting, Peterson said, “It’s my therapy. … I’m also a nurse. I’ve been in critical care, ICU, for over 26 years now … and I find myself coming back to this, as I need to slow down and re-focus.”

Her goal is to retire from nursing to do quilting full-time.

Prices begin around 1.5 cents per square inch, or higher, based on complexity. People can bring their own backing or buy some there.

She also creates T-shirt quilts with the special-event shirts people collect, from local high school athletes to Harley Davidson bikers.

For the “do-it-yourself” crowd, people can rent a second longarm quilting machine — a freehand machine, allowing people to make their own designs.

“Some people want to do it themselves. They say ‘I want to say I made this quilt completely,’ but they don’t have room at home,” Peterson said. “They come in and rent it.”

Other services include repair and restoration of vintage/antique quilts.

“It stabilizes them and makes them usable again,” Peterson said.

She’s also an Innova machine retailer, for Delmarva’s diehard quilters.

The shop is open Sunday through Tuesday by appointment; Wednesday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; and Saturday 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Customers can use the municipal parking at Selbyville Town Hall.

Catherine’s Quilting is located at 64 W. Church Street, Selbyville. For more information, call (302) 524-8378 or email CathsQuilting@gmail.com. The business is online at Facebook and www.CathsQuilting.com.

Coastal Point • Submitted by Delaware Public Archives : Devon Cooper, dance instructor at X-Squad Dance Studio in Selbyville, models one of the newest handbags in the collection of Jules K. The locally-owned company sent 26 handbags to be included in ‘swag bags’ offered to Oscar nominees by a promotional firm.What do anteaters and actresses have in common? The answer involves handbags, swag, a local woman’s childhood love of a certain insect-eating mammal, and a big night in Hollywood.

Ten actresses, in particular — the ones who will be vying for the Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress statuettes at Sunday’s Academy Awards in Hollywood — will receive handbags imprinted with an anteater pattern.

The bags, produced by Bethany Beach resident Julie Kypreos’ company, Jules K., are part of “Everyone Wins” promotional “swag bags” provided to Oscar nominees by the promotional company Distinctive Assets.

Through the Distinctive Assets promotion, packages of “swag” are delivered to the homes of nominees for Best Actress, Best Actor, Supporting Actress and Supporting Actor, as well as Best Director nominees and host Jimmy Kimmel.

Kypreos, whose handbags are sold online, said she came up with the idea of submitting her handbags for consideration while researching ways to get the word out about her unique handbags.

“I’m a start-up,” she said, adding that she recognizes that her handbags are so unique that they require some creative marketing. “No one is probably going to do a Google search for ‘anteater handbags,’” she said with a bit of a chuckle.

The swag bags include gifts for the nominees that range from a tube of ChapStick to a three-day stay at an 18-bedroom beachfront mansion in northern California, valued at $40,000. Kypreos’ handbags range in price from $370 to $395.

While all of the nominees for Best Director are men and, obviously, the 10 Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor nominees are men, they — as well as Kimmel — will also receive Jules K. bags. Kypreos said she tried to take the men’s significant others into consideration when choosing which bag to contribute for them, when applicable.

For all the bag choices, she gathered a trusted group of friends, one of whom contributed a spreadsheet, listing each of the 26 bag recipients, featuring a picture of each one (the photographs of female nominees showed them with a handbag, ostensibly to help choose one of Kypreos’ bags that they might prefer), height (again, for the women, to help choose bags by size and strap length) age and number of children. The men’s listings included the names of their significant others, if they have one.

Kypreos said she hopes the men who receive the bags will pass them on to women in their lives, whether they be wives, girlfriends “or even their sisters.”

The process of getting her handbags into the nominees’ swag bags began last summer, when Kypreos found information about the promotion online. She received word in June that she had been chosen as the only handbag company to be represented in the swag bags. Once she signed her contract with Distinctive Assets, she was “locked in” to her status as the sole handbag offered to the nominees this year.

On Jan. 24, when the nominees were announced, Kypreos and her group of friends quickly went to work choosing which bag to send for each nominee, with the help of the spreadsheet developed by her cousin, Lennea Downs. Within a week, the handbags were on their way to be packaged with the rest of the celebrity swag.

“It was a group effort,” she said.

Kypreos said that the handbags, which are made in New York City, are “highly finished and take many weeks for a small order to be completed.” She added that, in the entire swag-bag process, “heading toward the deadline and trying to determine how much inventory to carry was the hardest part.”

Meanwhile, Kypreos has started another project that follows her overall goal of keeping her company as local as possible. This year, she has developed a partnership with Cape Henlopen High School’s Textile & Fabric program, in which students are cutting and sewing zipper pouches that she has added to her product lineup. Of the proceeds from the pouches, 65 percent goes back to the school’s Textile program.

“I thought it would be a great opportunity for the students to learn about what it costs to market a product,” Kypreos said. “It’s a win-win for everybody.”

One thing is for sure: Kypreos, her friends and family, and now a group of high school students with a stake in the success of Jules K handbags, will be watching for photos of the likes of multiple-time nominees Emma Stone, Viola Davis, Natalie Portman, Octavia Spencer, Michelle Williams, Nicole Kidman and Meryl Streep — as well as newcomers Ruth Negga, Naomi Harris and Isabelle Huppert — hoping for a glimpse of anteaters on their shoulders.

For more information on Kypreos’ product line and her company’s cooperation with Cape Henlopen High School, visit www.julesk.com.

Coastal Point • Tyler Valliant: Jay Moffit Esq. has joined the Law Office of Susan Pittard Weidman. A graduate of Cape Henlopen High School, Moffitt said he is excited to be back in Sussex County.After spending 16 years away from Sussex County, working in corporate law, Lewes native Jay Moffitt Esq. has returned, joining the Law Office of Susan Pittard Weidman.

Moffit graduated from Cape Henlopen High School in 1992 and went on to receive a bachelor’s degree in business management from the University of Delaware in 1997. Upon graduation, he matriculated to Duke University School of Law, from which he graduated in 2001.

“When I graduated from the University of Delaware, I thought it sounded like an interesting field,” he said. “It’s academically challenging, in a way, to be a lawyer.”

During law school, Moffitt clerked at Morris, Nichols, Arsht & Tunnell LLP in Delaware, as well at Simpson Thatcher & Bartlett LLP in New York. Upon graduation, he went to work for Simpson Thatcher, focusing on corporate transactional work and corporate litigation.

“I kept in touch with some of the partners I met at Morris, Nichols after that summer. When I decided I wanted to come back to Delaware, I reached out to them, was interviewed, and I got the job,” said Moffitt, who worked in Wilmington from 2005 to January 2017.

During his time at Morris, Nichols, Moffitt focused on corporate and commercial litigation, and he was made partner in 2011.

Looking for more balance in life, Moffitt decided to make the move to Sussex County.

“My job in Wilmington was very demanding and a bit unpredictable. I’m married and have a 2-year-old son, so I was looking to have more time to spend with them. I was also interested in trying new areas of the law. Here, I’m doing real estate and estate planning. I had done corporate law for so long, I wanted to do something different.

“We wanted to raise our son down here. It’s a slower-paced, more rural setting. I have family down here still, so it was nicer to be back closer to them. “

As the second attorney currently on staff, Moffitt said he’s happy to have joined the Weidman team.

“There has been a lot to learn since I’ve been here. Susan Weidman, who owns the firm, has been a great teacher. I’m trying to learn both areas as quickly as I can. It’s been a bit of a whirlwind, but I’m learning a lot and getting up to speed.”

Moving back to Sussex County has been a “huge change,” but Moffitt said he’s excited to work in different areas of the law.

“Down here, those are two very busy areas of practice… With retirees coming down here, there are a lot of people with estate-planning needs. So, when they move down here, we’re able to help them with establishing wills, trusts and powers of attorney.

“With real estate clients, you’re helping them meet their new goal of buying a new home or buying a second home. With estate planning, it’s the same thing — you’re helping people protect their wealth and find the most efficient way to pass along what they’ve worked hard to accumulate to their children and the rest of their family. It’s rewarding to help people with those things.”

Along with working in real estate, Moffitt will also assist in estate planning.

“It never hurts to start when you’re young. A tragedy could strike at any time, and you want to make sure your assets are passed on to your family in the manner that you desire. That need is always there, no matter how old you are,” he said.

“As the population of Sussex County trends older,” he added, “there are more and more people who need their estate planning done. When they move here, if they’ve had estate planning done in their native states, such as Maryland or Pennsylvania, it is a smart move to have their estate planning documents redone. That’s where we come in and help them out, once they’ve settled here.”

Moffitt will also help with advance healthcare directives and durable powers of attorney.

“That document is helpful because, if you’re incapacitated, you can have someone you trust to make financial and legal decisions for you. Again, that can happen to you at any stage of your life, so it’s important to have someone you trust designated to assist you.

“We also draft advance healthcare directives. That document is helpful because it allows you to let doctors and loved ones know your preferences for what kind of medical attention you will receive if you’re incapacitated.”

Although it is a different pace than that of Wilmington and New York, Moffitt said he is happy to have returned home to friends and family, and start this new chapter of his life.

“It’s great to be home; to come back and establish roots where I grew up. I’m looking to raise my family here and be closer to my family and friends,” said Moffitt. “I’m excited to be here at Susan Weidman’s office.

“When I was looking to make the change, I knew she had a strong practice in real estate and estate planning. We met and hit it off, and I thought it was a great opportunity for me to make the transition down to Sussex County and join her firm.”

To contact Moffit, visit spwdelaw.com or call (302) 539-1388. The Law Office of Susan Pittard Weidman has three locations, in Millville, Millsboro and Rehoboth Beach.

The Greater Millsboro Chamber of Commerce has couples-to-be covered this weekend, as the Chamber will host the 22nd Annual Central Sussex Bridal Show this Sunday, March 12, from noon to 3 p.m. at Cripple Creek Golf & Country Club.

“Every year, we see more vendors, new vendors who have never been in,” said Amy Simmons, the Chamber’s executive director.

This will be the first time the show has been held at Cripple Creek.

“They have a great space,” said Simmons, noting they had moved the show from Millsboro Town Center because they are currently not renting that hall for weddings. “We felt maybe it was best to move it somewhere where brides who were looking for a venue could talk to them about renting.”

Simmons said there will be a bevy of vendors in attendance, including invitation designers, photographers, cake bakers, deejays and photo-booth vendors. The event is sponsored by Chardon LTD Jewelers, who will also be in attendance that afternoon. Candlelight Bridal will also be in attendance and present their annual bridal fashion show.

“This is going to be something very different,” said Simmons of the fashion’s changes from years past. “This is going to be a strolling fashion show, with the girls walking along with the attendees.”

Admission costs $5 per person, with brides-to-be attending free of charge. Brides will receive a bag and a special pin, and will have the chance to win one of many door prizes.

Simmons said she hopes the change of venue will also encourage couples from other areas of the county to attend the bridal show and get a little help planning their big day.

“I just hope everybody has a good time!”

For more information, contact the Greater Millsboro Chamber of Commerce at (302) 934-6777. Cripple Creek Golf & Country Club is located at 29494 Cripple Creek Drive, near Dagsboro.