Lewes 250 launches website
Like Paul Revere riding through the night, the Lewes 250 celebration is coming quickly, and organizers are getting ready.
Mary Alice Kelly, Lewes 250 committee chair, said 2026 will be filled with a variety of events. She said their goal is to share the full legacy of the American Revolution and how it has continued to shape the First Town in the First State.
“It’s not just picnics and fireworks on the Fourth,” Kelly said. “The celebration will reflect the shared story of all populations who have lived and worked in Lewes.”
Lewes 250 has a list of events planned, with more to come:
• Second anchor drop early on New Year’s Eve
• New Year’s Day church bell ringing and handbell choir performance at St. Peter’s
• May 30 re-creation of the Happy Day Club and blue moon event
• July 3 Declaration of Independence arrival on horseback and declaration reading.
To help keep everyone aware of what’s happening with the Lewes 250 celebration, the group has created a website, Lewes250.com.
The website will have a calendar of events, information on sponsors, and details on how to donate and get involved.
Lewes 250 will soon be selling merchandise – hats, car magnets, yard flags and more – at Historic Lewes’ Ryves Holt House, 218 Second St.
Kelly, who is a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution Col. David Hall Chapter, joined other group members to honor Lewes Mayor Amy Marasco at the Oct. 22 city council workshop.
DAR presented Marasco with its Women in History Award, because she is making history as Lewes’ first female mayor.
The mayor serves on the Lewes 250 steering committee.
Bill Shull has been covering Lewes for the Cape Gazette since 2023. He comes to the world of print journalism after 40 years in TV news. Bill has worked in his hometown of Philadelphia, as well as Atlanta and Washington, D.C. He came to Lewes in 2014 to help launch WRDE-TV. Bill served as WRDE’s news director for more than eight years, working in Lewes and Milton. He is a 1986 graduate of Penn State University. Bill is an avid aviation and wildlife photographer, and a big Penn State football, Eagles, Phillies and PGA Tour golf fan. Bill, his wife Jill and their rescue cat, Lucky, live in Rehoboth Beach.
