A mouse, a fortune teller, and even a ringmaster were part of the College of Marine and Earth Studies’ (CMES’) winning entry in the Lewes Lighted Boat Parade, held Oct. 4 on the Lewes Canal front.
The parade was sponsored by the Lewes Chamber of Commerce and was part of its annual Boast the Coast Festival. The CMES team, which dressed up the University of Delaware’s 30-foot R/V Donna M as “CMES Under the Big Top,” took first place in the 25-foot and over powerboat class. A team of circus elephants (toys strung along the bow) led the ship down the canal as circus music played and each character on board played his or her part — a weight lifter pumped iron and a dancer shook her hips.
The college’s 2007 entry won first in the same class, aboard the 26-foot R/V Captain White dressed as 1920s-style gangsters and flappers.
The parade took place the day before CMES’ Coast Day event at UD’s Hugh R. Sharp Campus in Lewes.
“(The parade) is in keeping with the town spirit,” said Assistant Director of Marine Operations Captain Art Sundberg, who competes in the parade with CMES students each year. “It’s fun. The students like doing it. It gives them a change of pace.”
Pictured above (left to right) are: Matt Grossi, oceanography master’s student; Vanessa Michelou, marine biosciences doctoral student; Maddy Russell, marine policy master’s student (red shirt); Ellen McGuiness, oceanography master’s student; Jill Brown, marine biosciences doctoral student; Julie Anderson, marine biosciences doctoral student; and Sundberg; (kneeling) Erick Geiger, oceanography master’s student and Izzy Russell, daughter of Maddy Russell.
Not pictured are several students who helped prepare this year’s entry: Tiffany Straza, oceanography doctoral student; Emily Maung, marine biosciences doctoral student; Yoana Voynova, oceanography master’s student; Catherine House, research technician; and Kelly Peeler, research associate.
Coast Day, which is organized by CMES and the Delaware Sea Grant College Program, annually attracts thousands of visitors to celebrate Delaware’s coastal resources and experience marine research. For more information about the event, which will be held next year on Sunday, Oct. 4, visit www.deseagrant.org/coastday or call 302-831-8083.
To learn more about the Delaware Sea Grant College Program, visit www.deseagrant.org.
For more about CMES, visit www.ocean.udel.edu.