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March For Our Lives set for March 24

Rehoboth event begins at 9 a.m.; Lewes begins at 10 a.m.
March 23, 2018

A national day of action against gun violence will be marked in the Cape Region as the March For Our Lives takes place in Lewes and Rehoboth Beach.

In Lewes, marchers will gather in the parking lot of Shields Elementary School off Savannah Road, where the Rev. Earle Baker of Bethel United Methodist Church will welcome participants. Organizer Elizabeth Grove said marchers can bring posters or use posters provided by the national March For Our Lives, which will be available when the march begins at 10 a.m.

"The reason I organized this event is that I'm a mother, grandmother, a teacher of 35 years – and I'm fed up," Grove said. "I'm fed up with the legislators for not standing up to the NRA. The thought that someone would walk into a school classroom and start firing on the children within is absolutely preposterous, and yet it is happening. It's about time we stand up and are counted against the travesty of school shootings."

Grove said the march will head east on Savannah Road, down to Second Street and end at the fellowship hall of St. Peter's Church. Marchers will be escorted by police, she said.

A rally with refreshments will follow at St. Peter's. Grove said people who are not registered to vote will be able to register at St. Peter's Church, where she said League of Women Voters volunteers will be on hand to help.

"All of us marching are asked to be peaceful in honor of all the children and adults lost in school violence," Grove said. " We've had enough!"

Rehoboth march

The Rehoboth event will begin at 9 a.m. when marchers will gather at the tot lot on Silver Lake, off Stockley Street. Marchers will be able to park at Rehoboth Elementary School and walk across the footbridge to the park.

Co-organizer Elyse Moore said just before the march kicks off at 10 a.m., a student will sing the national anthem and two students will speak. From there, the march will go down Stockley Street to the Boardwalk and then to the Bandstand.

Moore said at 11 a.m., there will be a moment of silence followed by speeches and musical performances before the event ends at noon.

While not a March For Our Lives march, the Bethany Beach Christian Church will hold a support rally for sensible gun control from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. Participants will stand on the sidewalk along both sides of Route 26 near Grotto Pizza. Attendees should bring a poster, but the event is advertised as nonpolitical; there will be no speeches. Parking will be in the Grotto parking lot and the neighborhood side streets.

The March For Our Lives was organized by student survivors of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Fla., where 14 students and three staff members were killed Feb. 14. There are 837 events planned for March 24, with the main march taking place in Washington, D.C.

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