Fourth of July weekend in Rehoboth: A time to celebrate, for many reasons

The Fourth of July weekend is, in fact, a different holiday for every American.

It's frequently a time to celebrate the nation’s birth, but it's also a time to mingle with and enjoy the crowds at your locale of choice and, perhaps, it's even a great time to do business.

For Dick Sabia, 86, of Rehoboth Beach, the holiday weekend heralds something particularly special — his 65th wedding anniversary.

In 1952, Sabia had just completed basic training in Kentucky for the U.S. Army and had come home, temporarily, before shipping off to Austria, when he begged his girlfriend to marry him.

“I said to her, 'Tell your mom we're going to get married on the Fourth of July,’” he told his girlfriend, Barbara, now the one-and-only Mrs. Sabia.

Dick Sabia laughed as he recounted the story, his weathered, but still somehow youthful grin curling up at the memory.

“She didn't believe it," he said. "I told her I was shipping out soon and that we had to get married before I left.”

They weren’t able to get married on the nation’s birthday like he'd hoped, he said, but they were wed as close to that as possible, and close enough was totally good enough for him.

On Sunday, July 2, they’ll be in Rehoboth Beach, celebrating their 1952 union.

This year, he’s having family come to visit. His two sons and his daughter (all area residents), along with friends of theirs, will be joining him for his and Barbara’s — and the nation’s — anniversary.

“It’s nice, having the family there,” he said. “There’s nothing stronger than a family’s love for their kids. It comes over everything else.”

The U.S. flag still flies high at Sabia’s home every year, he said.

“As a little kid you respected it, and you grew up with it,” he said.

For others on the beach, the Fourth of July is just as impactful — if perhaps more pragmatic — than it is for the Sabia family.

Lynne Henschke is a fourth-generation owner of Rehoboth Beach’s Funland, an arcade and amusement park that has been a boardwalk fixture since 1962.

She said the “100 days of summer” — now about one-third of the way through — are going into “overdrive” with the Fourth of July weekend, and she's anticipating record sales for her business.

“The excitement's all there and we have families that come here generation after generation,” she said.

“We have the grandparents who bring their children who bring their children, and it's been great so far.”

She said because schools are all out of session at this point in the year, this weekend is a particularly fantastic holiday for Funland.

“All the schools in Maryland, Pennsylvania and Delaware are out at this point,” she said. “That means that not only is everyone coming here for vacation, but we also have a ton of eager, young staff members ready to help us and themselves out for the season.

“It really works out for all of us."

But for Rehoboth Beach Patrol Capt. Kent Buckson, it’s all about safety. He said the patrol is more than prepared for anything that might happen, but he's still urging locals and visitors alike to be careful over the holiday weekend. 

Although he has an average of 45 patrolmen and women on hand for the holiday weekend on the 2-mile stretch of beach that encompasses Rehoboth Beach, he still wants everyone to be cautious.

"Obviously, the Fourth of July weekend is going to be busy, but we have everyone out here that the population is going to need," he said.

A big thunderstorm — such as what might potentially come through over the weekend — might drive his patrol to clear the beach if need be, but he doesn't see that as being a likely issue.

"We're mainly concerned about rip currents, especially for kids," he said.