Officials prepare for Trump rally
The Republican Presidential Candidate plans to make a campaign stop at Stephen Decatur High School in Berlin tomorrow night for a 7 p.m. Rally. The high school is on Route 50 just about 10 miles from the Delaware State Line. Mark McIver, a volunteer from Trump’s Salisbury office told us “I think it’s great. I think it energizes the voters. They’re very enthusiastic and not only Donald Trump voters, but all voters,”
According to Trump’s campaign website there are tickets available for tomorrow night’s rally. In terms of the other presidential candidates, both Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders have events planned past tonight’s primary in New York but none of those are on Delmarva.
As for Ted Cruz and John Kasich, they also have no plans to visit Delmarva on their event calendars yet, however they only have events planned up to the 23rd. Kasich was in Annapolis today and the Maryland primary is April 26th.
The Trump campaign’s announcement definitely took a lot of folks by surprise and still questions remain. Like how the campaign chose it’s location for the big event? And how do local authorities plan to handle all the activity and security over the next day and a half?
Some are not happy about trump coming to Delmarva, like a man in OC on vacation who we spoke to on Tuesday. “Quote me on this. I will not be in the area where he is.” Said Terrance from Sicklerville, New Jersey.
However, others like Joseph Prochownik are definitely excited by the fact that a presidential candidate will set foot on the shore.
“we deserve to be heard from and I feel like Trump coming here is a big thing.”
Trump’s appearance will be the first on the eastern shore since Newt Gingrich stopped by Salisbury University in 2012. But regardless of how you might feel about Donald Trump…he’s on his way. His stance, making America great again. That still might be up for debate, but one thing is for sure, when he’s here, he’s likely going to make this area around Route 50 in Worcester County busy…again. Especially by Route 452. The State Highway Administration and the sheriff’s office tell 47 ABC they are preparing for intense congestion. However, there are still no detours planned “If you’re in that area and you’re not going, try to avoid the area as much as possible.” Said State Highway Administration representative David Buck, “if you’re coming down 113 or you’re on 50 you’re heading that way, you may be able to scoot over to Old Ocean City Road.”
To help keep things under control, Worcester County Sheriff’s deputies and Maryland State Police say they will be on hand to move traffic along and keep the peace. As for the venue, we reached out to Stephen Decatur High to find out the capacity of the School Gym but it was the fire department that estimates it can hold about 3,000. We’re told other venues, like the Civic Center and Ocean City Convention Center were under consideration. We couldn’t reach anyone at Trump’s campaign to tell us why they opted not use the Civic Center. But Ocean City’s spokesperson confirmed the OC Convention Center was already booked for that time.
We’d like to know what you think of Trump coming to Delmarva. Join the conversation on our website as well as Facebook and Twitter.
Click here for information on how to obtain tickets for tomorrow night’s rally.
