Chickens and Mosquitoes
From Selbyville to Fort DuPont, Chickens and Mosquitoes tells the story of resilient hearts during the uncertain times of the Great Depression. Author Carol Psaros recreates life in the camps of the Civilian Conservation Corps and inside the early Sussex County chicken houses when the broiler industry was in its infancy.
Jim, a young man from Delmar, is forced to drop out of college and joins "Roosevelt's Tree Army" to survive. He soon finds himself fighting blister rust in Idaho and mosquitoes in Lewes. Carolyn, a young woman from main line Philadelphia, accepts a teaching job at the Selbyville School and soon learns more than she ever imagined about chicken mash and Rhode Island Reds.
Chickens and Mosquitoes, The Art of Uncertain Times is a time capsule that transports the reader back to the riverside playgrounds of Oak Orchard, Riverdale, and Rosedale Beach where jazz greats Duke Ellington, Fats Waller, and Louis Armstrong performed. It resurrects daily life in the C.C.C. barracks of Camp 1224 in Lewes, at Fort DuPont in its busiest season, and at the Seaford Nylon Plant as its employees work around the clock to produce nylon for the war effort.
Most poignantly, Chickens and Mosquitoes, The Art of Uncertain Times, depicts the lifelong friendship between Jim and young C.C.C. artist, Jack Lewis, who is assigned to paint the scenes of Delaware's Mosquito Control Camps. Perhaps it is in Jack Lewis' paintings and through his philosophies that the resilient spirit of the "We Can Take It!" generation shines more brightly.
About Carol
Author Carol Psaros is a retired Delaware educator with experience as a high school and community college teacher, counselor, coach, and public school administrator. She began her career teaching English, health, and physical education at Dover High School in 1966 and retired in 2000 as Assistant Secretary of Education for the State of Delaware. She and her husband, Perry, reside in in Bethany Beach and are the proud grandparents of two. Dr. Psaros is also the author of Come Back to Bethany (2008), a story of families who live in Bethany Beach , DE during three different centuries.