Zeal Goolseby
This year, the MERR team worked tirelessly on crafting a new whale species - the MERRback whale - as its float for the 92nd Old-Fashioned Lewes Holiday Parade on Saturday, December 7, in Downtown Lewes, joining more than 100 entrants for the annual event.
Float artists had some big flippers to fill, after MERR took home top honors in last year's parade. However, the MERR volunteers delivered once again! For several months prior to the event, MERR volunteers gathered together to create a spectacular float with a powerful message: Make Some Commotion for a Plastic-Free Ocean!
The handcrafted Humpback whale features a mother and calf swimming languidly through the ocean. Bottle caps were used for the tubercles (the bumps on the head and flippers on Humpbacks), corn husks for baleen (teeth), and rope was used for the mouths and throat pleats.
The mother had a stomach filled with trash picked from local beaches to visualize the dangers of marine debris toward marine life. Lights outlined both whales, and blue illuminated ribbon rolled in waves underneath them as they swam down Savannah Road. Additionally, actual whale song was piped in through Bluetooth speakers to serenade onlookers as the float passed by.
Our volunteers, donned in plush dolphin hats, chaperoned the whales down the parade route, all the while passing out marine life tattoos to the crowd and taking in the warm reception from the residents and guests along the route that vigorously applauded MERR when spotted in the lineup.
MERR would like to give a big "THANK YOU" to the devoted and hardworking parade float team, who helped MERR win Second Place in the "Community" category and the First Place Award for "Clowns" category.