Will Summer Come Early?

Weather prognosticators and vacationers alike experience a tinge of excitement as Martin Z. Mollusk Day nears. Will the city’s relatively famous hermit crab see his shadow, thus assuring the populace that summer will arrive one week early?

Born along the Great Zambezi River in Africa, Martin was deserted at an early age. Forced to fend for himself, Martin adopted the surname “Mollusk” from a sign he noticed on a passing commercial boat that read “Mollusks for Sale, $1.99.” The  “Z” stands for Zambezi, the river that coddled him. He selected the name Martin because it goes well with Mollusk.

In his teens, he stowed away on a “red eye flight” to Tepid Swamp, Louisiana where he attended Tepid Tech, a school noted for environmental studies. There he majored in “Weather Prognostication.”  Upon graduating Magna Cum Summer, he answered Ocean City’s classified ad for a weather prognosticator, and the rest is history.

Martin will creep onto the Ocean City Beach at Ninth Street, beside the Music Pier at 11 a.m. on Saturday, May 7. There will be lots of hoopla, including music by the world’s only Wind Chimes Band and “Some Enchanted Morning” sung by Suzanne Muldowney aka Shelley the Mermaid. Martin is 102 years old in hermit crab age, so his vital signs will be checked by Dr. Frankenstein and Nurse Perfect before he is permitted to look for his shadow in the “Circle of Truth” in the sand.  Youngsters who attend will be given a miniature shell replica of Martin. This year’s event will honor the memory of Daniel Bready, a long time supporter of Martin Z. Mollusk Day.