The life and times of Ben Franklin, as told by Ben Franklin himself.

Lewes Board of Public Works President Tom Panetta made his inaugural appearance dressed as the famous polymath Pennsylvanian Aug. 13, at the Lewes Maritime Museum.

A polymath is someone who has knowledge in multiple areas, which this founding father certainly had.

The first part of Panetta's presentation was focused on what many people know and maybe some didn't know about Franklin.

Panetta reeled off Franklin's firsts, with first postmaster, founder of the first free library and organizer of the first volunteer fire company among them.

He then discussed a topic the BPW president would know something about – electricity.

"A lot of people think he discovered electricity or that his kite was struck by lightning. None of that is true," Panetta said. "Lightning was known. Electricity was known. He was trying to prove that there was static electricity in the clouds."

Franklin did take the research further than his predecessors by writing down the technical aspects to the kite experiments, according to Panetta.

The BPW president used electricity in ways Franklin would have never imagined, clicking slides on his laptop that were shown on a very large LED screen in the museum's new theater room.

For the second part of Franklin night, Panetta flipped the switch to the history of the Lewes BPW.

The utility was founded in 1901, because the arc lamp had been invented to provide street lighting, according to Panetta.

"They put a [steam-driven] power plant in, but only ran the lights on non-moonlit nights," Panetta said. 

He said the 50 arc lamps that lined the streets were so bright they attracted geese and ducks that then flew into the ground.

Eventually, service expanded to two days per week after the washing machine was invented.

The land for that first power plant on Schley Avenue cost $600.

"Such a deal," Panetta said.

Today, the BPW provides electric, water, wastewater and stormwater service for ratepayers in and around the City of Lewes.

The BPW and the city are partners in a night sky lighting pilot. The BPW recently installed new streetlights in parts of three neighborhoods: Highland Acres, Cape Shores and Pilottown Village. They are designed to reduce light pollution while still providing safety.

"Going full circle, we went from arc lights, which kill geese, to night skies which are going to protect wildlife," said Panetta, in character as Ben Franklin.

Panetta said the engagement was a one-and-done, and he plans to retire the Ben Franklin character.