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103rd Return Day set for Georgetown Thursday

Delaware Public Media

Now that the midterm elections are over, all eyes are on Return Day in Delaware.

 

This year's event features a special Grand Marshal.

 

Sussex County Councilman George Cole, who is stepping down after 32 years on council, will be the grand marshal for the 2018 Sussex County Return Day Parade Thursday.

Cole calls the honor a “highlight of his political career.”

“I just….all I can tell you is, I’ve been to a lot of Return Days. I’ve probably….I probably haven’t missed hardly any. I had a connection, a family connection to Nutter Marvel, which when I think of Return Day, I think of Nutter Marvel on the farm and all those buggy’s. My mother was born in Georgetown and my father graduated from Georgetown High School,” Cole said.

 

 

Return Day is a traditional festival held the Thursday after Election Day in November -- to literally and figuratively “bury the hatchet” after a long campaign.  

Winning and losing candidates ride together in the Return Day parade which starts at Sussex Central Middle School at 1:30 p.m.

 

“When you ride through any Return Day parade, the streets are lined, primarily with people who come from all over Sussex County. It’s really enjoyable and it’s just a big honor to be able to go through that parade and be in the first buggy; my God, I’ve longed for this,” said Cole about leading this year's parade.

Following the parade the election results are announced from the Courthouse Balcony on The Circle and there is a ceremonial burying of a hatchet.     Following the parade and other festivities, the day concludes with an ox roast.

 

This the 103rd edition of Return Day.

 

You can get more information about Return Day here.

 

Kelli Steele has over 30 years of experience covering news in Delaware, Baltimore, Winchester, Virginia, Phoenix, Arizona and San Diego, California.