Boast the Coast Day set Oct. 1 with modifications
The 21st annual Boast the Coast event will take place Saturday, Oct. 1 with some modifications to the schedule due to the one-year cancellation of the other event associated with the Lewes Maritime Festival weekend. Boast the Coast was conceived in 1996 to showcase Lewes' nautical heritage and to feature activities that complemented the previously established Coast Day event that annually takes place on the first Sunday in October, sponsored by the University of Delaware's College of Earth, Ocean, and Environment. This year, due to a major construction project on the Lewes campus, it will not be taking place.
The annual Lewes Merchants' Fall Sidewalk Sale has long been associated with Boast the Coast. It is a three-day event, wrapped around Saturday's Boast the Coast Day events, running from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday, Sept. 30, Saturday, Oct. 1 and Sunday, Oct. 2. The Lewes Historical Society's maritime history museum in the historic Cannonball House will be open for tours Oct. 1 and they will be free on that day only to showcase Lewes' nautical heritage. The society's Life Saving Station on the Lewes-Rehoboth Canal will also be open Saturday for free tours. Another Lewes nautical treasure, The Lightship Overfalls, adjacent to the Life Saving Station, will also be open for free tours on Saturday and Sunday if the vessel is on-site, pending its maintenance schedule.
Lewes Canalfront Park will be bustling with activity Sunday, Oct. 2, because the Friends of the Lewes Canalfront Park's fundraiser Picnic in the Park will be taking place. The original date in June had to be rescheduled due to inclement weather. The Picnic in the Park will offer an alternative activity on the day after Boast the Coast.
Many of the activities previously staged as part of the Boast the Coast Day on Saturday have been linked to Coast Day. Because of Coast Day's cancellation, the activities previously staged at Boast the Coast Day in 1812 Park on the canal will not take place this year, including the boat tours, entertainment under the tent and the seafood tasting. The Lighted Boat parade that was the culmination of previous years' Boast the Coast activities was discontinued in 2013 due to lack of entries.
Other events associated with Boast the Coast Day are taking place either on, in or adjacent to Delaware Bay. The Lewes Historical Society's Fall Craft Fair is taking place this year from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on the grounds of the Cape May-Lewes Ferry terminal overlooking Delaware Bay, due to construction on the society's campus at the end of Second Street. Admission is $5.
Another event taking place beginning at 11:15 a.m., Saturday, Oct. 1, is also being staged at the Lewes Ferry terminal. The inaugural Escape to Lewes Open Water Swim Classic, presented by chamber member Delmo Sports, takes place in and on the water when entrants will begin their races by jumping off the deck of a ferry and racing 3-mile or 1-mile courses.
Several other Lewes Chamber members have scheduled events on Boast the Coast Day. They are the Historic Lewes Farmers Market at George H.P. Smith Park from 9 a.m. to noon; the Friends of Lewes Public Library Book Sale at 111 Adams Ave. from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m; the Cape Artists Gallery Open House at 110 W. 3rd St. from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; and The Artists' View by multiple artists at Peninsula Gallery at 520 E. Savannah Road from 5 to 7 p.m.
