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Lewes launches 250th party with two lights and one bonfire

Celebration of Paul Revere’s ride is backdrop for kickoff
Councilwoman Amy Marasco, center, who will soon become mayor of Lewes, joins in the marshmallow roasting at the April 19 community bonfire on Savannah Beach. The city hosted the event to commemorate Paul Revere’s historic ride and to kick off the celebration of the nation’s 250th birthday. BILL SHULL PHOTOS
Bill Shull
April 30, 2025

A late-afternoon bonfire held April 19 celebrated the midnight ride of Paul Revere and officially kicked off Lewes’ America 250 party.

The community bonfire was one of two events that marked Revere’s historic journey through Boston on April 18, 1775.

The other commemoration was a national initiative called Two Lights for Tomorrow.

The city asked residents and businesses to display two lights in their windows April 18 and 19.

It was an ode to Revere’s “two if by sea” signal of two lanterns in Boston’s Old North Church to let everyone know the British were coming.

The bonfire took place on a summer-like Saturday at Savannah Beach, which inspired some people to roast marshmallows.

Visitors who were gathered around one of two fire pits held a group reading of “Paul Revere’s Ride,” a famous poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

Members of the New Hope Canoe Club Ministry Team Atlantic had their own take: They paddled two of the their outriggers onto the beach, illustrating “two if by sea.”

Tara Schmitt, who recently moved to Lewes from New York, took it all in from under a beach umbrella near the bonfire.

“This place is chock-full of amazing history,” she said. “I like the idea of having more of these sorts of activities here so it would be more of a cultural magnet for people.”

The city is part of a committee that is currently planning more events for the United States’ 250th birthday, or semiquincentennial.

The panel, led by the Greater Lewes Foundation, includes city leaders along with members of Historic Lewes (formerly the Lewes Historical Society), the Lewes Chamber of Commerce, St. Peter’s Episcopal Church and various nonprofits. 

 

 

Bonfire attendees formed a circle and read Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s famous poem, “Paul Revere’s Ride,” aloud from their phones.
Two if by sea. The New Hope Canoe Club Ministry Team Atlantic paddled two of their outriggers to Savannah Beach to take part in the celebration.
Tara Schmitt, who moved to Lewes from New York, has a front-row seat near one of the two bonfire pits.
Eli, Hannah and Emma Funk roast marshmallows at the community bonfire.
Trina Brown Hicks, left, talks to visitors about the history of Johnnie Walker Beach. Brown represented the Lewes African American Heritage Commission, one of several groups that set up tables at the beach bonfire.
David Schofield, founder and head coach of the New Hope Canoe Club Ministry Team Atlantic, carries two lanterns to represent Paul Revere’s signal in the Old North Church that the British were coming by sea.
Two candles are displayed in the window of Lewes City Hall to mark the national Two Lights for Tomorrow initiative.

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Bill Shull has been covering Lewes for the Cape Gazette since 2023. He comes to the world of print journalism after 40 years in TV news. Bill has worked in his hometown of Philadelphia, as well as Atlanta and Washington, D.C. He came to Lewes in 2014 to help launch WRDE-TV. Bill served as WRDE’s news director for more than eight years, working in Lewes and Milton. He is a 1986 graduate of Penn State University. Bill is an avid aviation and wildlife photographer, and a big Penn State football, Phillies and PGA Tour golf fan. Bill, his wife Jill and their rescue cat, Lucky, live in Rehoboth Beach.

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