Budweiser Clydesdales to return to Dewey

The Budweiser Clydesdales are coming back to Dewey Beach.

Scheduled to appear at a Wednesday, July 12 parade through town, the Clydesdales attracted nearly 8,000 people to Route 1 in Dewey during their trip to the area last summer.

Once again, the Dewey Business Partnership is putting on the parade. The group announced the one-ton animals were returning May 27 on its Facebook page.

Kelly Ranieri, Dewey Business Partnership executive director, said the business organization approached Budweiser and they were more than happy to return.

“So excited!,” wrote Ranieri in a June 17 email.

Ranieri said the theme this year is The Great American Summer Celebration with the Budweiser Clydesdales. Everything will be red, white and blue, she said.

“We will be celebrating this year in true American Style,” said Ranieri. “[It will be] a special tribute to our first responders and military!”

Steve Montgomery, partnership president, said it’s an event the whole family can enjoy.

“It was such a success. Anytime someone from ages 3 to 93 can have fun, it’s a win for everybody,” he said.

Montgomery said the only real change this year from last, is the event taking place on a Wednesday instead of a Thursday.

Dewey Beach Mayor Dale Cooke said he was overjoyed the Clydesdales are coming back to Dewey. He said he was also happy the event was moved to a Wednesday night.

“More and more people are coming down on Thursday night, and holding up traffic was not a good idea,” he said.

According to the official website, the original six-horse Clydesdale hitch was a gift in 1933 to former Anheuser-Busch President August Busch Sr. from his sons to commemorate the repeal of Prohibition. The hitch was increased to eight shortly after being introduced.

To qualify to be part of one of the traveling hitches, a gelding must be at least 4 years old, stand 72 inches at the shoulder, weigh 1,800 to 2,300 pounds, have a reddish-brown bay coat, four white legs, a white blaze, and a black mane and tail.

Ten horses, a beer wagon and other essential equipment are transported in three 50-foot tractor-trailers, and weigh more than 12 tons when ready to roll.

Dalmatians have traveled with the Clydesdale hitch since the 1950s.

The parade is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. in the parking lot of the Starboard, 2009 Highway One, and head south to the Rusty Rudder, 113 Dickinson Ave.

Ranieri said more information on parade participants will be released closer to the parade.