Happy New Year! Celebrate a fistful of firsts in the First State

If you were paying attention, and I’m sure you were, we just celebrated the first day of the first month of the new year in Delaware.  While rumor has it that other states in the Union simultaneously celebrated this event, none of them can call itself the First State.

Through the years, we Delawareans have become accustomed to being the first in a range of social, economic, and political ways.

For instance, as obliquely referenced above, Delaware was the first of the 13 original states to ratify the U.S. Constitution on Dec. 7, 1787.

President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden are joined by members of the Biden family to watch fireworks during a Fourth of July celebration at the White House the evening of July 4, 2022.

The official “First State” designation is of relatively recent origin.  The Delaware General Assembly approved it as the State nickname on May 23, 2002.  Its action was in response to a request by Mrs. Anabelle O’Malley’s first grade class at Mt. Pleasant Elementary School in New Castle County.

Rumor has it that another class request, for unlimited chocolate milk and cookies during break time, did not fare as well.

As a foundational document, the U.S. Constitution has held up well over the past 235 years, requiring only 27 amendments, 10 of which (the Bill of Rights) were adopted together in 1791.  Most recently, the Constitution survived a demand by a prominent resident of Florida that it be terminated.

I suspect the First Staters in Mrs. O’Malley’s class, now Millennials, and many other right-thinking and left-thinking people would object strongly to that demand.

Closer to home, and in the realm of “all politics are local,” a clash is looming between Lewes and Rehoboth as to which will be the first in our region to outlaw certain types of gas-powered lawn equipment, the so-called Battle of the Blades.

The resulting outcome may pave the way for self-driving mowers of the electric type.  On the cutting-edge, so to speak, of this development is a company intriguingly known as Electric Sheep Robotics.

Last year, it received an investment of $21.5 million from a hedge fund (understandably the most likely source of financial backing for lawn equipment). The money was to underwrite the development of a mower called Dexter, as in, “Hey Siri, tell Dexter to mow the front lawn”.

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Transitioning to a different branch of agricultural science, mention should be made of the Tree for Every Delawarean Initiative, probably the first such effort in the nation. It is often known by the somewhat confusing acronym TEDI, a term usually reserved for bears.

In any case, TEDI is jointly administered through the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control’s Division of Climate, Coastal, and Energy and the Delaware Department of Agriculture’s Delaware Forest Service. 

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Printed on enough documents, this lengthy oversight designation may help to explain the need to plant a tree for every Delawarean.  We simply need more wood pulp for paper. 

Moving from greenery to blue waves, Delaware can lay claim to the nation’s First Lady, Dr. Jill Biden.  The woman who holds that title is often referred to as FLOTUS (First Lady Of The United States), a particularly apt abbreviation for someone with a residence in a waterfront community like Rehoboth Beach.

Of course, Delaware is actually home to the entire First Family, and was when its members were only the Second Family, and even before that.  Delawareans love their state, no matter how low on the political totem pole, or poll, they happen to be.

Interestingly, while we were the First State to ratify the Constitution, it took almost 230 years for a Delawarean (Joe Biden) to be elected resident. I think we can all agree that President Rutherford B. Hayes (1877-1881), hailing from Delaware, Ohio, does not count.

Besides, 2022 was R.B.’s (not to be confused with Arby’s) 200th birthday.  So, we’ve already missed the opportunity to celebrate that event with our namesake mid-western cousins.

For our final first, if that’s not a contradiction in terms, let’s briefly mention Delaware First: The Campaign for the University of Delaware.

As of mid-December, the campaign had raised $985,829,265, enough to endow 89 fellowship and graduate funds, underwrite 43 professorships and department chairs, establish 176 program and research funds, bankroll 11 capital projects, and finance 455 undergraduate scholarships.

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By way of contrast, at Major League Baseball’s winter meeting in December, about the same total amount of money ($975,000,000) was allocated for offers to only three players (Aaron Judge, $360 million from the Yankees; Carlos Correa, $315 million from the Mets; and Trea Turner, $300 million from the Phillies).

Makes a rather persuasive argument to put academics ahead of athletics, doesn’t it?

Mike Berger is a freelance writer and retired university administrator with a home in Lewes.  Contact him at edadvice@comcast.net.

This article originally appeared on Salisbury Daily Times: Celebrate a fistful of firsts in the First State