First Day Shopping Extravaganza

One of Ocean City’s premier events – the Spring Block Party – will return to downtown Asbury Avenue from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, May 4. But before that, beach lovers will check on the summer forecast. Ocean City’s hermit-crab mascot will seek his shadow in a local version of Groundhog Day at 11 a.m. Friday, May 3, on the beach at Ninth Street. Martin Z. Mollusk has successfully predicted an early summer every year for five decades (sometimes, of course, with the creative use of flashlights by his handlers). Everybody is invited to join the fun as we collectively jump-start the long-awaited arrival of summer.