Governor Jack Markell discusses the meaning of Return Day and other examples of cooperation in Delaware.
Governor’s Weekly Message
Governor Jack Markell discusses the meaning of Return Day and other examples of cooperation in Delaware.
Full text of Governor Jack Markell’s weekly message:
This election, Delaware got more national attention than any year I can remember.
It felt at times like the world’s eyes were fixed firmly on our great, small state during what was, on every side, an emotional and sometimes difficult election.
But the world’s eyes were on us again this Thursday for one of the great Delaware traditions – one of our defining events as a state.
It’s a moment every two years when we make clear: as committed as candidates were to their campaigns -with elections over, Delawareans remain committed most of all to making a difference for one other.
At our traditional ”Return Day” celebration in Georgetown, candidates who just days before were running against each other instead walk or ride together down the street to the middle of Georgetown.
Once there, they literally bury a hatchet and with it, the divisions and derision of the campaigns.
What the world saw on Thursday was exactly what Delaware is about – how our state pulls together and rises to challenges – how we truly are a state of neighbors.
It’s about how – right before the Return Day festivities kicked off, we were able to go to Mountaire Farms in Millsboro and join their announcement that we’re helping them increase their number of employees while decreasing their plant’s impact on the air. A win for the company, a win for those employees and a win for neighbors – because everyone worked together.
It’s about how, the day after Election Day, a new business called LOMA Coffee opened in Wilmington with a conversation about working together as a community to get things done. Leaders from local businesses - small and large- joined with non-profit leaders, public officials, teachers and professors from our states’ schools and colleges; religious leaders and others to make clear that we’re fighting alongside each other – not against each other – to keep making a difference.
It was great to see new employees get to work as such a broad and diverse group of Delawareans figured out how to keep working on some of the most critical issues our state faces – issues like creating more jobs, improving our schools, and looking for ways for government at every level to save money.
So whether it’s over coffee in Wilmington, or after a parade in Georgetown, or at any kitchen table in any home in Delaware– we find that working together through election season and all seasons helps us keep Delaware, moving forward.
