That's Italiano: Lewes toasts Italy with new fest

Second Street went Italian last weekend as the Lewes Chamber of Commerce ushered in the fall season with the city's first Italian festival.

The Sept. 23 event was the chamber's second Fun Friday of the year. In April, the chamber held a celebration tied to the Royal Wedding in England, where everything was English or wedding themed.

The Buttery General Manager Lisa McDonald, who helped spearhead the events, said the two Fun Friday events were scheduled to generate extra buzz in town before and after the summer season.

“It's like welcoming in the summer and then ushering it out, punctuating the season,” she said.

The festival featured Italian-themed activities and entertainment throughout Second Street, live Italian music and Italian food from Lewes restaurants. McDonald said the event was for-profit, so nearly all expenses were paid for by the businesses. The chamber contributed a small amount, she said.

Chamber Executive Director Betsy Reamer said the rain discouraged attendance just as the event kicked into gear. However, it didn't stop many from having fun.

“There were hardy souls out there walking around with umbrellas and rain coats on and still standing in line getting food from restaurants,” Reamer said. “I think it would've been phenomenally successful had the rain not started.”

Much of the planned entertainment for the evening was moved inside because of the rain. Wilmington-based singer Mario Rocco went on as scheduled and performed Dean Martin-style songs. Opera singer Nadine Rubanoff then serenaded passersby from the porch of The Buttery.

The event also featured a children's play at the Hotel Rodney as well as Italian-themed dishes for attendees available all along Second Street. If a restaurant was not located on Second Street, it was permitted to set up a tent on the closed road, Reamer said.

Reamer said the Fun Friday committee will meet soon to begin planning next year's events, which may include the Italian Festival again. However, nothing is set in stone, she said.

“The committee will decide,” she said. “I had a lot of feedback from people who went to it. I really hope to be able to do it again next year.”

McDonald said she's convinced the event would be far more successful the second time around.

“Now that we know all that's involved, I'd love to make it a weekend-long event,” she said. “It's a good thing to build on. Other cities and other towns do it annually. I'm quite certain the second annual would be much more popular than our first.”

Fest highlights unveiling of Verrazzano plaque

The Lewes Italian Festival was held Sept. 23 on Second Street in downtown Lewes. The festival, one of the many events in the Fun Friday Series, featured Italian food, music and entertainment and, unfortunately, rain.

As part of the festival, a monument and plaque commemorating the Giovanni da Verrazzano was unveiled by the Lewes Historical Society behind the Cannonball House at the corner of Front Street and Bank Street in Lewes. A stone from explorer Giovanni da Verrazano's castle in Italy sits atop the monument, courtesy of the Delaware Commission on Italian American Heritage Association.

Verrazzano is the earliest documented European to explore the east coast of this country.  His explorations date back as far as the early 1520s.  For this reason, Russ McCabe, Nick Caggiano, Rick DiLiberto and others from the Delaware Commission on Italian Heritage and Culture met with the Lewes Historical Society and found it appropriate for Verrazzano to be recognized in Lewes, specifically at the Lewes Maritime Museum location, behind the Cannonball House.

The plaque on the monument reads, “This stone is from the Castello di Verrazzano, the explorer’s ancestral home in Val di Greve in Chianti, Italy. He was engaged by the King of France in 1524 to lead a voyage of discovery to North America aboard his ship Dauphine.”

That voyage is recognized as the first-known European exploration of the Mid-Atlantic coast, where Verrazzanno observed the natural beauty of the Eastern Seaboard and the vibrant culture of America’s native peoples.