By Andrew West
DOVER — It was Muriel Schwartz who initiated the Greater Dover Committee’s
25-year run of civic activism in Dover and Kent County.
In the late 1980s, she grew to admire what was happening with the Greater
Salisbury Committee in Maryland, how civic leaders were putting their time and
resources into making the community a better place to live and work.
The civic-minded Ms. Schwartz, now 97, called together a group of business
leaders to see what could be achieved here. She asked former Delaware State
News editor and executive Frank Fantini to go down and learn more about the
Salisbury effort.
“The gist of what was in Salisbury was an organization of business leadership
dedicated in a non-political fashion — I think that’s important — to enhance
the life of the greater area of Salisbury,” said Tom Burns, an original Greater
Dover Committee member.
The early meetings were a bring your- sandwich gathering at Ms. Schwartz’s State
Street office, he recalled.
“We didn’t know where we were going. We didn’t have any kind of mission
statement, except to make things better for the city of Dover,” said Mr. Burns.
Among the early projects of the Greater Dover Committee were the placement of a
clock on Loockerman Street, the construction of the Dover welcome sign on
Scarborough Road off Del. 1, and the recycling bin purchases that went to the
Delaware Solid Waste Authority “ before they did recycling,” Mr. Burns said.
Former Delaware State News editor and publisher Tammy Brittingham was one of
the key players in the early civic projects of the group. She was among the
people who rallied for the city to do an urban study to identify the needs of
the community.
Another effort was launching First Night Dover, an annual New Year’s Eve
celebration.
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Currently, the committee has been extending its efforts all over Kent County.
On the occasion of its recent 25th anniversary celebration, the organization
changed its name, replacing “Dover” with “Kent.”
“We’re very proud of where we’ve been and where we’ve come,” said Bill
Strickland, current president of the Greater Kent Committee.
“It has blossomed into a true county- wide organization, as evidenced by what
we’re doing with mentoring in the school districts, what we’re doing with the
Kent County Regional Sports Complex, what we’re doing with the business
roundtable — bringing together the municipalities throughout the county to work
together more cohesively.”
Over the last year, the group’s membership has grown from 60
to 80,
he said. A portion of that increase is coming from Smyrna, Milford and
Harrington.
The Kent County Regional Sports Complex has been its most high-profile effort,
playing off the benefits of tourism on the local economy. The Greater Kent
Committee facilitated state and local efforts to bring a major tournament
facility to Frederica.
The county made a promise of land next to its wastewater treatment plan.
By the end of 2015, there will be hundreds of children participating in soccer,
lacrosse, field hockey and other events there, Mr. Strickland said.
Mr. Strickland and the Greater Kent Committee honored the county with its
partner award at the recent celebratory dinner.
In addition to the sports complex support, the county deserves recognition for
its $1 million gift to the new Dover Public Library, Mr. Strickland said.
“We appreciate the way they do business,” said Mr. Strickland.
The committee’s business roundtable is a more recent effort. Bill Andrew of the
Delaware Electric Cooperative leads a partnership that brings leaders from all
of the Kent municipalities together for a stronger, unified voice in economic
development efforts.
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Shelly Cecchett is the current executive director of the nonprofit Greater Kent
Committee.
Members of the committee give her credit for all the behind-thescenes work of
the organization. She said she loves working with the area’s top decision
makers as they tackle community issues.
“What is great and what makes our committee so strong is that we have really
strong leadership sitting around the table,” said Ms. Cecchet. “They’re able to
leave their own agendas at the door so they can strictly focus on what’s best
for the community.”
Mr. Strickland said the mindset of the Greater Kent Committee is always
positive.
“I leave every meeting and every committee meeting very energized because I’ve
been in the presence of some of the brightest people in the area and some
really high- energy types,” he said.
“It’s just always encouraging to me that we never focus on why we can’t do
something. Our approach is always why we can.”
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Another spinoff of the Greater Dover Committee is the CenDel Foundation,
originally known as the Greater Dover Fund, which annually awards charitable
grants.
Its origins, said Mr. Burns, trace back to Eugene O’Raughley, a Dover
businessman who asked his stock broker Sherman Townsend to accept $35,000 and
use it to benefit the city of Dover.
Mr. Townsend brought the idea to the Greater Dover Committee whose members each
agreed to donate another $1,000 a piece. The contributions of committee members
were matched by the Delaware Community Foundation.
Mr. Burns said the CenDel Foundation is now $1 million strong.
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The list of presidents for the committee is a “ who’s who” of Kent County.
In order, from most recent to the first:
•William Strickland: 2012-2013;
•Thomas J. Burns: 2011-2012;
•Alan Kovitz: 2010-2011;
•Gregg Moore: 2009-2010;
•Robert MacLeish: 2008-2009;
•Gregg Moore: 2007-2008;
•Jennings Hastings: 2006-2007;
•Gail Fink: 2005-2006;
•Frank Fantini: 2003-2005;
•E. Bradford Bennett: 2002-2003;
•Melville F. Warren Jr.: 2001-2002;
•Michael J. Malkiewicz:2000-2001;
•Robert Berglund: 1999-2000;
•William F. Holden: 1998-1999;
•Robert L. Edgell: 1997-1998;
•Charlie Paradee: 1996-1997;
•Joseph McDaniel: 1995-1996;
•Thomas J. Burns: 1994-1995;
•Homer “Sonny” Reihm: 19931994;
•Muriel Schwartz: 1992-1993.
The next Greater Kent Committee president will be Ed
Dulin, publisher of the Delaware State News.
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Andrew West is managing editor of the Delaware State News. Email comments to
awest@newszap.com.
