In this issue of Middletown Life, we profile some extraordinary people like Dr. Aisha Ryan, who runs her own business while also completing a year serving as Mrs. Middletown, and Appoquinimink High senior Ryan Nkongnyu, who was named the national president of the Business Professionals of America (BPA). We feature stories about Our Daily Bread, which has been serving meals to those in need for more than a decade, and about the Gilbert W. Perry Jr. Center for the Arts, which has long been a home for the arts on Middletown’s Main Street. This issue also includes the amazing work of Jane Mruk, an Odessa photographer who focuses on preserving images of families and bringing nature to light.

Clients of ALL Therapy in Middletown know Dr. Ryan for her practice as a physical therapist, helping people relieve pain and regain movement. But there is much more to Dr. Ryan, who has held the titles of Mrs. Middletown, Mrs. Delaware America, and Mrs. Trinidad & Tobago World. We talk to her about her platform, “movement is freedom.”

We talked to Mruk, the photographer, about her recent exhibit, “A Wealth of Nature,” which was showcased at the Historic Odessa Foundation’s Visitor Center.

Nkongnyu’s stint as the national president of the Business Professionals of America has a teary and triumphant genesis story about his involvement with the group.

The story about the Gilbert W. Perry Jr. Center for the Arts focuses on how it became a vibrant showcase for the region’s artists, a place to learn, and a place to engage with creativity.

The subject of the Q & A is Dr. John Green, who has been the head baseball coach at both the collegiate and high school levels.

Fort Delaware is featured in this issue’s photo essay titled “The old fort, slightly up stream.”

We hope you enjoy these stories as much as we enjoyed working on them for you. We wish you all good health and happiness, and we look forward to bringing you the next issue of Middletown Life in the spring of 2021.