Thanks for great Tulip Festival support

The Lewes Chamber of Commerce and its co-sponsoring partners -- The Lewes Historical Society, Lewes in Bloom, City of Lewes Parks & Recreation Commission, Historic Lewes Farmers Market and the Zwaanendael Museum -- would like to thank the many individuals and organizations who made the our 5th annual Lewes Tulip Festival a great success. This year, we are very grateful for the financial sponsorship provided by Fulton Bank with special thanks to its president P. Randolph Taylor, Judy E. Johnson and Sandy Chandler for their participation in the event.

In the five year history of the event, the timing of the when the tulips will be in bloom has been variable, to say the least! This year, they again made it exciting and waited until the weekend of the event to make their beautiful arrival. Our thanks to Tulip Festival Chairman Ted Becker, who conceived the event and his talented organizing committee, who did an outstanding job of creating the attractions and activities that comprised this year’s event.

Thanks to committee members – Sharon Dardine, Linda Davison, Mike DiPaolo, Sue Eberhart, Warren Golde, Louis Papp, Carol Richardson and Bridget Warner. Lewes in Bloom volunteers are to be commended for their herculean efforts to plant blooming tulips in the beds to augment the “yet-to-open” tulips!

The Plein Air artists from the Cape Artists’ Gallery had beautiful weather on Saturday to capture the beauty of the tulips in Zwaanendael Park. Our thanks to Ellen Serafini for coordinating the other artists who painted with her: Jean Bowers, Ruth Ann Kaufman and Marjorie Weiss. The Photography contest attracted 90 entries by 28 photographers and was judged by Chamber members –Dave Koster, Ginny Stominksi and Carolyn Watson. Congratulations to Grand Prize winner Leslie Ruhe Lesko and People’s Choice Award winner Barbara Moulinier who were presented their awards by Mayor Jim Ford. We appreciate all the photographers who entered and the volunteers from the Coastal Camera Club who served as docents in the tent where the entries were displayed and helped set up and take down the exhibit every day. Special thanks to Sue Eberhart for coordinating the photography display, to the University of Delaware College of Earth, Ocean & Environment for use of their tent and the Children’s Beach House for the display racks.

Thanks to Maryann McFee of Mare’s Bears for coordinating the Spring Flowers Quilt Exhibition and the Beacon Motel for providing the venue. The Tip Toe To The Tulips Trolley Tour was a perfect way to see the tulips and to showcase Lewes’ historical sites. Thanks also to The Lewes Historical Society docents – Connie Benko, Rose Marie Patin and Estelle Stevenson as well as Warren Golde, co-chair of Lewes in Bloom - for their excellent commentary on the trolley tours and to Nikky Fisher for coordinating the Cape May - Lewes Ferry trolley tours.

The hand-made tulip signs that were fabricated three years ago by Bob Brady and Debbie and Michael Burns with help from Lewes Printing and augmented two years by artist Jean Doran, who hand painted Tulip Festival on each of them, helped visitors locate the tulip plantings and activities. The artwork for the “Your Dutch Faces Here” cutout by Mickey Vessels with fabrication by Jack Vessels was a huge hit again this year It gave our festival-goers the opportunity to be photographed “wearing” Dutch costumes with the Zwaanendael Museum as a backdrop.

Thanks to Mayumi Williamson for the flower arranging demonstrations in her shop, Flowers by Mayumi. We appreciate the efforts of Lewes in Bloom volunteers Maddy Coss, Linda Davison, Jane Allan Golde, Sandy Mooney and Elaine Vadas to decorate the window in the Lewes Library promoting the event and Citizens Bank for providing their front window, decorated by Sue Eberhart, to showcase the photography contest. The chamber businesses supported the promotional map by stamping the Tulip Ticket with the coordinating map and by donating gift certificates for the ticket drawing.

Last fall, in advance of the 2014 festival, 10,000 new tulip bulbs were planted in the city’s parks by volunteers organized by the City’s Parks & Recreation Commission, Lewes in Bloom and committee members. With Fulton Bank’s support, we were able to have many of the bulbs planted by a professional landscaper. The chamber is very grateful to the City of Lewes and especially the Parks and Recreation Commission for their support of the Tulip Festival. Commission member Louis Papp did an outstanding job of beautifying Zwaanendael Park in advance of the festival.

Our Dutch ancestors would have been proud of the efforts that were made to honor our heritage and we look forward to the 6th annual festival April 9 - 18 next year.

Betsy Reamer
Lewes Chamber of Commerce executive director