This Year, Marking a Scrappy Start

"With that sense that things have happened here, people can find their roots here," Lancto said.

Like Miller, Lancto's favorite Del Ray stories tend to the funky, like the constable who rode a moped in the years after World War I.

When called upon by the feds to help stop bootleggers running rum up Route 1, the constable confiscated the booze and brought it to the Town Hall, where the usual poker game was underway. By the time the feds showed up to retrieve the contraband booze, they found only empty cases.

It's in telling stories such as these and honoring the past, Lancto said, that Del Ray has retained what it means to be Del Ray. A neighborhood of front porches. An artist's haven. A main street with one-of-a-kind restaurants and stores such as Artfully Chocolate, Cheesetique and the Clay Queen. A place where Michelle Vaughan can kiss her 10-year-old daughter goodbye on their front porch and watch her walk two blocks by herself to her singing lesson at Acoustic Axis. Where Marcia Call can spot a neighbor and student walking to school and offer a ride.

"We live so close to Washington, and yet we retain that rural feel," Lancto said.

Over the years, Miller has seen the neighborhood change, with new people moving in all the time. The community events, such as the potluck at the old Town Hall and current fire station on New Year's Day, are a way to keep the conversation going between old-timers with the memories and newcomers with the thirst for belonging.

"We want people to understand the roots of what this community was all about," Miller said. "Del Ray was a funky neighborhood, and it continues to be a funky neighborhood."