Lewes chamber honors Sen. Tom Carper
The Lewes Chamber of Commerce honored outgoing U.S. Sen. Tom Carper at its annual installation dinner Oct. 1 at the Lewes Yacht Club.
Carper, 77, announced his retirement from the Senate last year. But, he said, he does not plan to sit still.
“I want to be involved. I want to be able to help and continue to serve in other ways,” Carper said.
Carper attributed his longevity to the leadership he learned from his parents and from his service in the U.S. Navy.
“Leaders should be humble, not haughty,” he said. “They should share the credit with the people who actually did the work.”
Carper recognized two longtime members of his team who were at the dinner – Karen McGrath, Sussex County director, and John Kane, director of infrastructure and deputy director on the Environment and Public Works Committee.
McGrath listed some of the senator’s accomplishments for the City of Lewes, which she called his favorite town in Delaware.
They include the recent beach nourishment at Roosevelt Inlet, getting the Ryves Holt House included as part of Delaware’s only national park and securing the transfer of the U.S Army Reserves armory on Savannah Road to the city for a future municipal campus.
The chamber presented Carper with a framed, aerial photo of the city taken by Tony Pratt, a local photographer and former DNREC administrator, who worked with Carper for decades.
“The nice thing about Lewes is we have a core value, a historic relationship with the sea, that we covet,” Pratt said. “You can remember the First Town in the First State and coastal environment, and have joy looking at it.”
The Lewes Chamber of Commerce formally installed its 2024-25 board members at the dinner. Those include: Ray Book, president; Ted Becker, vice president; Jeff Fried, treasurer; Mark Carter, corporate secretary; Maggie Lingo, recording secretary; Nikky Fisher, past president; Lisa McDonald, director; Jen Mason, director; and Gavin Radka, director.
Betsy Reamer, who has been with the chamber for 28 years, will continue as executive director.
Book reported that the chamber ended its fiscal year Aug. 31 with an $8,500 deficit.
He said the biggest factor is that they did not receive as much in revenue sharing from the Sussex County room tax.
Book said the chamber is still strong financially.
He said one of the highlights was that the chamber formed a group of Lewes heritage destinations in collaboration with Southern Delaware Tourism.
Those destinations include the Lightship Overfalls, the Harbor of Refuge Lighthouse and Fort Miles.
