Skip Purnell has been given the second annual Governor's Heritage Award by Governor Minner. It's a well-deserved award for a man who, in a quiet way, has been an important leader in Delaware.
Skip and his wife Til are among the first civic leaders Karen and I got to know when we first came to Delaware. Til is a leader in the environmental community and has been active in community theater. I covered her environmental efforts as a reporter and worked with her on theater projects. We met Skip, a less public leader than his forthright wife, through Til.
As I settled in as a state employee over the years and became more aware of the larger governance and public data-sharing issues, I've come to realize how much of a force Skip has been. His has been a constant, strong voice for sharing data and information with the public we serve and for taking full advantage of technology to do so.
In person, Skip is a craggy, bemused, and intense presence. His interest is always piercing. A conversation with Skip is a fascinating seminar on whatever you are talking about, but without being all long or tedious.
I'm glad for Skip. I have long held both skip and Til Purnell in high honor. It's good to see the rest of the state agrees.
Saturday, December 11, 2004
Thursday, December 9, 2004
Could This Be Our Lost Colony?
A dredge working the Delaware Bay off the Roosevelt Inlet hit something this fall and, according to a story in today's News Journal, ended up spewing out slightly chewed bits of history onto Lewes Beach. Could this be the long-lost Swanendael settlement that made Lewes the "First Town in the First State?" Or is it another of the many shipwrecks that lie on the bottom of our bay?
UPDATE (12/10/04): A follow-up story in the News Journal now suggests that the artifacts pumped onto Lewes Beach are likely from a bit later in the 17th century than would indicate the Swanendael settlement. Still, whether this is a shipwreck or another early settlement, it's a fascinating story. I hope we make a careful study of what's been pumped onto the beach, find the off-shore site and study that, and present what's been found -- and what's been learned -- somewhere like the Zwaanendael Museum in Lewes.
UPDATE (12/10/04): A follow-up story in the News Journal now suggests that the artifacts pumped onto Lewes Beach are likely from a bit later in the 17th century than would indicate the Swanendael settlement. Still, whether this is a shipwreck or another early settlement, it's a fascinating story. I hope we make a careful study of what's been pumped onto the beach, find the off-shore site and study that, and present what's been found -- and what's been learned -- somewhere like the Zwaanendael Museum in Lewes.
Tuesday, December 7, 2004
Thinking Snow, Making Flakes
It's about 60 degrees outside this evening, but stormy and cooling down. I'm thinking about snow. Seems like a fine time to make a few snowflakes!
I made the flake at left (Posted by Hello) at the fine Make-A-Flake site by Lookandfeel New Media. That's also where I made the one posted on 12/5 (below), which I played around with in PaintShop as well.
I found that site through MetaFilter last winter. This year, I thought I'd poke around and see what other flake-maker sites are out there.
Snowflake Designer is a nice little flash site that shows you the changes to the flake as you cut from or add to the folded "paper."
Snowflake and Snowflake II are freeware Windows 32 applications provided by AM Software, a programmig outfit that appears to be in Russia. I'm not sure I want to download these, but there they are.
Make a snowflake pattern online is a more scientific sort of site, but fun to play around with.
My favoriate of the crop I've found so far is SnowDays, by PopularFront. It is similar to Make-a-Flake, but with a cooler way to cut the flake paper.
Sunday, December 5, 2004
Saturday, December 4, 2004
2004 Lewes Christmas Parade
The Lewes Christmas Parade, by tradition, rolls off at about 5:00 p.m., usually on the first Saturday of December. It caps a festive day that features tours of Christmas-decorated homes in this historic town. It's usually followed by carols around the town Christmas tree. Small town life.
This year, our daughters marched in the parade in costume to promote next weekend's performance of The Nutcracker, by the Sussex Dance Academy. There were also the usual other suspects, the car club, the Nur Temple mini-car guys, and Punkin' Chunkers too!
Geoff Walker (as the Nutcracker) and Rachel Southmayd (The Mouse King) in the 2004 Lewes Christmas Parade.
Posted by Hello
This year, our daughters marched in the parade in costume to promote next weekend's performance of The Nutcracker, by the Sussex Dance Academy. There were also the usual other suspects, the car club, the Nur Temple mini-car guys, and Punkin' Chunkers too!
Geoff Walker (as the Nutcracker) and Rachel Southmayd (The Mouse King) in the 2004 Lewes Christmas Parade.
Posted by Hello
2004 Punkin' Chunkin' champ Joe "Wolfman" Thomas rolls down Savannah Road with his trophy as part of the 2004 Lewes Christmas Parade.
Posted by Hello
Wednesday, December 1, 2004
Naming a Theater
I'm on the Board of Directors of the Rehoboth Summer Children's Theatre. At a Board Meeting the other night, we started a (long term) discussion on the idea of coming up with a new name for the theater. It has been the Rehoboth Summer Children's Theatre for more than 20 years. I had a clean sheet of paper, and a pen, so I started power writing to see what came out.
I decided to post the list that a 15 minute scrawl produced. Then I thought to google those names; some seem to be taken.
I doubt any of these will see the footlights of day, in the end, but it was fun....
I decided to post the list that a 15 minute scrawl produced. Then I thought to google those names; some seem to be taken.
Rehoboth Family Theater
Beach Family Theater
Teatro Famiglia Del Mar
The Family Theater at the Beach
Beach Theater Bingo
Beach Theater for Kids
Culture, But Cool
Theater of Sand
StageBob SquareKids
Seaside Stages
We Stage Sea Shows
Playhouse Beach Side
Playhouse Seaside
Coastal Playhouse
Theater at the Cape
We Stage Kids' Shows by the Sea Side
Cape Kids' Shows
Shows for Kids
Cape Regional Theater
Summer House Stock
SunStock
Rehoboth Summer Stock
Cape Kids' Stock
Cape Kids' Summer Stock
Cape Henlopen Summer Stock
YoungStock
Kids' Theater at the Beach
Kid-Focused Theater
The Children's Theater at Rehoboth
A Young Person's Guide to the Theater
Plays for the Young (at Heart)
Rehoboth Kids' Theater
Kid Stages
Kids, Theater, The Sea
Theater for Kids, by the Sea
I doubt any of these will see the footlights of day, in the end, but it was fun....
Sunday, November 28, 2004
Vaguely Troubling: Covert X-Ray Screening on the Cape May/Lewes Ferry
A story in Saturday's Boston Globe on using covert X-rays scans as security tool notes that such a system has been in a testing phase in the last month on the Cape May/Lewes Ferry.
The story explains that many experts feel that these x-ray scans are not of a high-enough intensity to cause any ill effects, and that they may be an important security tool.
Granted. But that doesn't change the fact that just a mile or so down the road from where I sit, folks driving onto the ferry were hosed with x-rays, without their knowledge or consent.
Where are we going with all this?
The story explains that many experts feel that these x-ray scans are not of a high-enough intensity to cause any ill effects, and that they may be an important security tool.
Granted. But that doesn't change the fact that just a mile or so down the road from where I sit, folks driving onto the ferry were hosed with x-rays, without their knowledge or consent.
Where are we going with all this?
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