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Ruth Hayes of Rehoboth Beach to receive Arzt Award during jazz fest
Cape Gazette
Ruth Hayes of Rehoboth Beach will be honored as the 2001 Arzt Award winner during Autumn Jazz 2001 opening night festivities, Thursday, Oct. 18, at the Bay Center in Dewey Beach.
First issued in 1997, the annual Arzt Award honors individuals for their consistent determination and innovative efforts to educate and inspire the young musicians in the community.
As program director for Rehoboth Beach Bandstand entertainment, Hayes coordinates scores of service and youth groups, including military and school organizations. Hayes, now 79 years young, said her job is a labor of love.
“I have over 400 people on the waiting list (to perform at the bandstand),” she said. “Many of the groups that perform have been with us since the very beginning.”
The beginning for Hayes was also the beginning for the bandstand. Her late husband, Bill, a Navy lieutenant, professional cellist and music teacher at the former Rehoboth High School and Later Cape Henlopen High School, designed the boardwalk in 1962.
“I remember it like it was yesterday,” she said. “We walked out on the green and Bill said, ‘You know what I’d like to see here?’ I said, ‘I bet it’s a bandstand.’”
Ruth Hayes speaks of her late husband and his work with the bandstand and the community with great affection.
“We’d have celebrated our 58th wedding anniversary this past year,” she said.
“There isn’t a day that goes by when I don’t miss him. He was a great man.”
Ruth and Bill Hayes moved to Rehoboth Beach form Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1957. The couple immediately became involved in the community – Bill as a teacher; Ruth as the secretary of the superintendent for Cape Henlopen School District. After the creation of the Rehoboth Beach Bandstand the couple became involved in planning programs and lining up entertainment for the weekends. Decades later, the bandstand’s schedule has grown to include entertainment throughout the week beginning with the Easter sunrise service and ending Dec. 1 with World AIDS Day.
“When we first moved here, everybody went home after Labor day,” said Hayes. “Now, it’s so busy that we have events planned almost all year.
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