OCEAN CITY, N.J. — Over 150 artisans will be part of a summer spectacular arts-and-crafts fair at Ocean City Stadium (6th Street and the Ocean City Boardwalk) on Saturday, July 21, from 10am-5pm — one in a series of Ocean City Fine Arts and Handcraft Fairs.

One hundred percent of the profits raised from both booth and ticket sales during the event will be shared by Gilda’s Club of South Jersey (a non-profit support group for people in the community living with cancer), the Ocean City Food Cupboard, the Atlantic City Rescue Mission, the American Red Cross and the Salvation Army. Past Ocean City Fine Arts and Handcraft Fairs have raised over $170,000 for such beneficiaries.

Your help is needed more than ever in these difficult times. A $3 entry donation will help the less fortunate and our sheltered animal friends, too. Plenty of parking is available. Click here or call the Jersey Shore Artisans Guild at 800-822-4112 for more information.

GALLOWAY TOWNSHIP — Richard Stockton College’s South Jersey Culture & History Center will be hosting a one-day symposium on Princeton University professor John McPhee’s groundbreaking work The Pine Barrens on Saturday, May 12, at Stockton. The symposium is free and open to the public, and takes place from 9:30am-3:30pm, with lunch served.

McPhee’s book was published in 1968 and discussed the history, ecology and geography of the New Jersey Pine Barrens, infused with his own personal memoirs. The symposium will feature several guest lecturers discussing many interesting aspects of the Pine Barrens, including what has changed since the book was written and what remains the same, and will include a question-and-answer session at the end, moderated Linda Stanton, president of the Pine Barrens’ advocacy group Lines on the Pines.

For more information and a link to on-line registration, go here or e-mail sjchc@stockton.edu.

Lecturers and the subject matter they will discuss is below.

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ATLANTIC CITY — Probably best known for being a frequent flyer and dealing with land-dwelling critters like reindeer, Santa will prove that no domain is out of his realm when he visits the Atlantic City Aquarium on Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 17-18, and swims with the fishes (sharks, stingrays and other marine life).

Santa will again soak his red suit during the “Live Diver Feeding Show” at the A.C. Aquarium — located in Historic Gardner’s Basin at 800 North New Hampshire Ave. — at 11am both days. Visitors can watch and interact with Ol’ Saint Nick  in scuba gear as he hand feeds the stingrays and sharks inside the aquarium’s 25,000-gallon tank.

Later, starting 2pm, visitors can get up close and personal with the aquarium’s more unusual inhabitants at the “Exotic Animal Show.” The show features the largest species of scorpion in the world, the softest- furred mammal in the world, and others. Aquarium handlers discuss their native habitats, their suitability as pets, their natural defenses, predatory instincts and other interesting facts.

The Atlantic City Aquarium is open daily from 10am-5pm. Admission is $8 for adults, $6 for seniors and $5 for children ages 4-12. Children under age 3 are admitted free. The aquarium offers a fun and educational look into more than 100 varieties of fish and marine animals.

For more information call (609) 348-2880 or click here. Coupons for discounted admission are also available on the aquarium’s Web site.

Martin Z. Mollusk sitting on his elaborate throne.

Of all the crazy and wacky events that have sprung from the inventive imagination of Ocean City public relations guru Mark Soifer, Martin Z. Mollusk Day has to be near the top of the list as most unusual. The TV channel Animal Planet certainly thinks so. Ocean City’s weather predicting hermit crab was filmed by the channel this past year and will be part of a one hour show called Pets 101 devoted to unusual pets on Saturday, Dec. 10, 8pm.

Also known as the crab’s spiritual advisor, chef, biographer and publicist, Soifer explains that  Martin Z Mollusk resides at Old Salt on the City’s Boardwalk where he hangs out in a plush Hermit Crab Condo. His caretaker, Stacey Klause, attends to Martin’s day to day needs including health care. She explained the importance of providing the proper maintenance for hermit crabs during the filming.

It seems that many folks who adopt hermit crabs as pets are unaware of their nutritional and housing needs. Martin insists that literature is distributed explaining these necessities during his annual beach creep to determine the arrival of spring and at other personal appearances.

Animal Planet also filmed Martin riding in his miniature surrey on the boardwalk, eating pizza with friends, creeping on the beach during the resort’s annual “opening of the ocean” ceremony and enjoying a spin on the Merry-Go-Round at Wonderland.

A famed weather prognosticator, the hermit crab made his initial appearance in Ocean City in the spring of 1974 when he saw his shadow thus ensuring that summer would arrive one week early at this family resort. Since then he has seen his shadow every year except 1983 when he projected a partial image and correctly predicted that summer would arrive 3½ days early.

His biography, The Martin Z. Mollusk Story (Rhyme and Punishment) was recently reprinted due to popular demand. Copies are available at City Hall Annex, 901 Asbury Ave., (609)525-9300 for $5 with all proceeds donated to the Ocean City Food Cupboard. Sounds like a great stocking stuffer to me.

Martin’s Animal Planet segment will also be shown in re-runs throughout 2012.

MZM hobnobbing with his good friends Marilyn Monroe (Holly Farris) and the late Ted Prior, renowned Elvis performer who entertained during Martin Z. Mollusk Day. (Photos by Donald B. Kravitz, DBK Photos)

You can meet a real penguin this Saturday and Sunday at the IMAX Theater at the Tropicana before showings of the new IMAX 3D movie Happy Feet Two. Go here for the story.

Over at Caesars, Nero’s Tuscan Steakhouse has introduced some new Italian items on its classic steakhouse/seafood menu. Go here for a report on the press night for the new menu.

In late spring Geese families are out and about.

At Bayport One in West Atlantic City on the Black Horse Pike, the home of Atlantic City Weekly, the Canada geese families come out in late afternoon to feed on the grass around our building.

They families protect their portion of the grass. I watched a male goose tell another male goose to keep away from where his family was eating with a loud honk and a threatening gesture.

Meanwhile the goslings just keep following their parents eating.

The new Edwin B. Forsythe Wildlife Refuge's Visitors Center

From red foxes to the piping plover, thousands of migrating wildlife make their home at The Edwin B. Forsythe Natural Wildlife Refuge. The refuge is one of over 550 national wildlife refuges in the country and is comprised of over 47,000 acres of salt marsh, undeveloped beaches, and upland forest extending from Galloway Township to Toms River.

In their constant efforts to meeting habitat needs they have decided to open a new visitors center. To celebrate the center’s opening there will be a brief ceremony held at noon Saturday, April 16, and will be followed by opportunities to visit the center (800 Great Creek Rd. in Oceanville), shop at its Nature Store, and explore the wildlife trails. The new visitors center is at the entrance to the refuge’s breath-taking 8-mile wildlife drive, which showcases various wildlife exhibits.

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