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Watermelon queens hand out refreshing fruit on Boardwalk

Annual event in Rehoboth Beach celebrates sweet national holiday
Representatives from the Mar-Del Watermelon Association and the National Watermelon Association handed out fresh-cut slices of watermelon July 31 on the Rehoboth Beach Boardwalk. Pictured are 1-year-old Alice Beattie and her grandmother Diane Kane. CHRIS FLOOD PHOTOS
Chris Flood
July 31, 2024

Story Location:
Rehoboth Beach Boardwalk
Rehoboth Avenue
Rehoboth Beach, DE 19971
United States

In honor of National Watermelon Day, representatives from the Mar-Del Watermelon Association and the National Watermelon Association handed out freshly cut slices the juicy fruit July 31, on the Rehoboth Beach Boardwalk. National Watermelon Day is Saturday, Aug. 3.

Four watermelon queens – National Watermelon Queen Jules Singley, Mar-Del Watermelon Association Queen Karli Abbott, Florida Watermelon Queen Elanie Mason and Illiana Watermelon Queen Maya Snider – donned their tiaras, pageant sashes and appropriately themed accessories to hand out samples from a few dozen watermelons that had been cut into handy triangles. A line formed as soon as the watermelon-themed tent was up and the large green spheroids were sliced.

Missed this year’s giveaway? National Watermelon Day 2025 is Sunday, Aug. 3, which means the queens will be on the Boardwalk somewhere near that date.

For more information on the Mar-Del Watermelon Association, go to mardelwatermelon.org.

Local and national watermelon queens hand out the watermelon slices. Pictured are (l-r) Mar-Del Watermelon Association Queen Karli Abbott, Florida Watermelon Queen Elanie Mason, National Watermelon Queen Jules Singley and Illiana Watermelon Queen Maya Snider.
Beachgoers and Boardwalk walkers were all enjoying the watermelon.
Kel Gibson keeps the fresh slices of watermelon coming.
There might not be another single event on the Boardwalk that brings so many smiles.
Sat Kumar from Nashville, Tenn., enjoys his watermelon.
Matt and Evelyn Barr, father and daughter from York, Pa., smile with National Watermelon Queen Jules Singley.
The watermelons were from DMC Farms out of Laurel.
It was easy to tell who the watermelon representatives were because they almost all had on watermelon-themed items. Pictured from Easton, Md., are (l-r) mom Annette Clougherty, son Daniel Clougherty, grandmother Linda Brown and daughter Amanda Clougherty.
Bo Gibson is from Florida, but he makes the special watermelon trip with his mom every year. This is the third time he’s been pictured. Last year he was walking. The year before he was in a stroller. This year, said his mom, he’s potty trained.
Jewels by the Sea owner Jaya Aildasani picks up a pizza box’s worth of watermelon slices for her neighbors at Louie’s Pizza.

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Chris Flood has been working for the Cape Gazette since early 2014. He currently covers Rehoboth Beach and Henlopen Acres, but has also covered Dewey Beach and the state government. He covers environmental stories, business stories and random stories on subjects he finds interesting, and he also writes a column called Choppin’ Wood that runs every other week. Additionally, Flood moonlights as the company’s circulation manager, which primarily means fixing boxes that are jammed with coins during daylight hours, but sometimes means delivering papers in the middle of the night. He’s a graduate of the University of Maine and the Landing School of Boat Building & Design.

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