Lewes Christmas parade to herald the season Dec. 3

The 90th annual Lewes Christmas parade, presented by the City of Lewes and the Lewes Chamber of Commerce, will step off at 5 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 3, with a rain date of Dec. 10.

The parade theme is Celebrating an Old-Fashioned Christmas in Lewes, and its organizing committee is co-chaired by Craig Beebe of NextHome Tomorrow Realty and G.W. Thompson of Canary Point Consulting. The committee has named former Mayor Ted Becker as this year’s honorary grand marshal, recognizing his years of service to the Lewes community.

Jim Smith, Lewes Chamber board of directors past president, and Mike DiPaolo, Delaware Community Foundation vice president, will reprise their roles as parade co-announcers. This year’s parade judges represent three of the organizations Becker has been affiliated with – Delaware River & Bay Authority - Heath Gehrke, DRBA director of ferry operations; Greater Lewes Foundation - W. Joseph Stewart, board chair; and Lewes Junction Railroad & Bridge Association - Randy Voit, board president. The judges’ reviewing stand is provided by Double E Lawn Care owner Tom Engle, and the lighting and decorations are provided by the Lewes Lions Club, coordinated by Chris Russ.

Due to the demolition of Shields Elementary School, there will be new lineup areas for parade entrants, at both parking lots on either side of the Lewes Elementary School building and the Highland Acres neighborhood, accessed by Sussex Drive off Savannah Road. Parade entrants will be notified which location they should go to on parade day and what time to report via a letter mailed the week before the parade.

The parade will step off one block closer to downtown Lewes rather than from Sussex Drive as in years past.

The City of Lewes Mayor and Council members, followed by the chamber board of directors, will lead the other parade entries from the lineup area in the new Lewes School parking lot adjacent to the main school entrance. Parade entries in the school bus parking lot on the other side of Lewes Elementary and the Highland Acres neighborhood on Sussex Drive will be fed into the parade route on Savannah Road and proceed to Second Street.

Prizes will be awarded in a number of categories including one recognizing entrants that include a sound component. The other prize categories are: Marching Group, Band, Clown, Equestrian, Decorated Classic Car (vintage 1967 or older), Decorated Vehicle (1967 or newer), Fire Company, Commercial Float, Community Organization Float and Youth Organization Float. All entrants must be preregistered and need to be decorated. Entrants will be notified of their entry number and parade lineup time via a mailing after Tuesday, Nov. 22. The parade lineup will take place from 3:30 to 4:15 p.m., and the parade will begin at 5 p.m. Entrants are asked to commit to the rain/snow date on the following Saturday should postponement be necessary.

After the parade, everyone is invited to join Mayor Andrew Williams  as he illuminates the Christmas tree in Zwaanendael Park, followed by candlelight caroling in the park led by Christy Taylor with some of her music students. The tree-lighting ceremony will commence shortly after the last parade entry passes the judges’ reviewing stand in Zwaanendael Park.

The Lewes Christmas Parade is the culmination of many special events and activities associated with Christmas weekend celebrations in Historic Lewes. Festivities kick off with the 35th annual Lewes Merchants’ Hospitality Night from 5 to 8 p.m., Thursday, Dec. 1, in the historic commercial district. Second Street will be closed to vehicular traffic from 4 to 8 p.m. Santa will make a brief visit to his Lewes house on the corner of Second and Bank streets prior to his arrival at the Lewes Christmas Parade Saturday night.

To learn more, go to leweschamber.com/events.