A ringer! Horseshoe Crab & Shorebird fest draws crowd

Joseph Francis knows a thing or two about horseshoe crabs.

He is a long-time volunteer at Milton’s Horseshoe Crab & Shorebird Festival. Francis has even made a horseshoe crab costume. He pointed out the crab’s eyes and the legs on the underside of its body. Francis donned his crab costume on the Saturday before Memorial Day to celebrate the 13th Annual Horseshoe Crab & Shorebird Festival at Milton Memorial Park.

“It’s a member of the spider family, as far as I know,” Francis said, as he pointed out the crab’s details.

Another interesting fact, he said, the horseshoe crab has copper in its blood. The copper makes the horseshoe crab's blood a bright blue color.

The horseshoe crab is about 300 million years old and for those many years, it makes its annual pilgrimage to the coastline of the Delaware Bay to mate in the spring and summer. The shorebirds follow the horseshoe crabs, as many of them feast on the crab’s eggs. The head of the Broadkill River starts in Milton.

The event, which is a joint partnership between the Milton Chamber of Commerce and The Prime Hook Wildlife Refuge, draws about 1,500 people to Milton annually, according to the chamber’s website. The festival features food, train rides for kids in the park, kayak rides down the Broadkill River and a shuttle bus to the refuge.

Prime Hook is on the other side of Coastal Highway from Milton. It is a 10,144-acre refuge that was established under the Migratory Bird Conservation Act. Birds migrating up and down the Atlantic coastline use the refuge as a place to stop on their journey.

The rain that had plagued the area for much of the holiday weekend held off on the day of the festival. Milton Memorial Park was packed with people enjoying the sun, food and activities the town had to offer.

“It’s been a good day,” said Kim Renehan, who was volunteering at the Milton Chamber’ booth. “The kids are loving the train. The boat rides are going well. The food is great. It’s going well.”

The festival draws people from around the country. Agnieszka Zelenowicz and Krysztof Samul were down visiting the beach for Memorial Day weekend from Wyomissing, Pennsylvania. They wanted to rent a canoe and they sort of stumbled upon the festival and Quest Adventures, which was offering kayak rentals at the festival.

“We just came,” Zelenowicz said. “It’s nice.”

Quest has been offering kayak rides at the festival for several years. Quest comes to Milton frequently as part of its Dogfish Pints & Paddles tour.

Matt Carter and Aaron Hood, co-owners of Quest, were staying pretty busy throughout the day as people took advantage of the nice weather and hit the Broadkill River.