The big white house at 112 Front Street is humming with history. It is the home of Sand N Stones owned by Michele Buckler and Marsha’s owned by Marsha Holler. Michele designs and crafts wire-framed jewelry. Typically customers in her shop pick out the stone from among hundreds of different semi-precious stones in her collection and she custom wraps in silver or gold wire to form a pendant, pin, earrings, or ring. Upon researching her craft, Michele discovered roots in some of her designs in the 17th century Holland. To commemorate Lewes’ Dutch heritage, she designed a ring made entirely of wire using a braided pattern from this time period. Marsha Holler is a graphic artist who like to say all her designs tell a story. When Michele mentioned she had an idea for a graphic design that brought together Lewes’ Dutch English and American heritage, the girls brought it quickly to life. The earliest European settlers of the Sussex County coast were 32 Dutch men who arrived aboard the ship “Walvis” in April 1631. They called the spot Swanendael, later spelled Zwaanendael, or Valley of the Swans. The second settlers called the place Hoorn, after their home in Holland. The name changed often in the beginning. In 1682, Delaware was conveyed to William Penn by the English Duke of York and Lewes received its present name in honor of the town of the town of the same name in England. It is pronounced Loo-iss. The Coat of Arms that the City of Lewes uses on its police cruisers and on City Hall is actually from Lewes, England. It’s origins date back to the Norman Conquest a thousand years ago. The gold and blue checkers are the arms of the de Warenne family who held the Barony of Lewes from the time of the Norman Conquest until 1347, when the last de Warenne died. A nephew, Richard FitzAlan, Earl of Arundel, succeeded to the barony and added the gold lion on the red ground. The introduction of the silver crosslets has never been satisfactorily explained they will probably remain a subject for speculation. Tulips were first sold in the 17th Century Netherlands by way of trade from Turkey and Russia. Where they had been cultivated for a long time. New varieties developed quickly including ones with flame like petals that were a result of disease. Whether solid color or patterned, their relative ease of cultivation made the demand for tulips far greater than the supply. Thus the “Tulipmania” phenomena where ridiculously high prices where commanded for bulbs of the once humble wild tulip flower from Central Asia. The Netherlands are still today, after almost 400 years still identified with growing and supplying the world with the greatest variety of tulips. Millie Rust-Brown's second grade class from Lulu Ross Elementry School in Milford, Delaware studied state insects, and discovered that Delaware did not have an insect. After much discussion, they wrote then-governor Sherman Tribbertt with the request that the Ladybug become Delaware's State Insect. With the help of some local high schoolers they took it to the Legislators. Rep. Lewis B. Harrington inroduced the House bill number 667, on March 9, 1974. On April 25,1974 the Ms. Brown's class dressed up as ladybugs, and walked the halls of Leg Hall. The vote was unanimous the lady bug was adopted as our state bug. The idea of combining these three elements the Lewes Coat of Arms, the tulip and the ladybug to form a visual link to Lewes’ past. Separately it is just a shield, a flower, and a bug, but after reading about Delaware’s and Lewes’ fascinating past the three elements are symbolic. The shield is official governance, the tulip is agriculture and the ladybug is natural beauty; all still present in Lewes.” The inspired graphic design is available on various merchandise exclusively at Sand N Stones with apparel at Marsha’s. © 2006 Lewes Insigniawas designed and Copyrighted by Michele J. Buckler |
