Shad unlikely to appear at May Shad Festival

The 24th annual event will occur a month later, May 21-22.

By: Linda Seida
   LAMBERTVILLE — This year’s Shad Festival may not have an appearance from the guest of honor — the shad itself.
   Shad Festival Chairman Steven Stegman announced this week the event will be held May 21 and 22 — a week before the Memorial Day weekend and about a month later than its usual schedule.
   Mr. Stegman, a second-term city councilman, has overseen the festival for more than 15 years. He cited better weather, the lack of volunteers and a relocation by the sponsor, the Lambertville Area Chamber of Commerce.
   The question is, will the shad still be running? If not, the popular shad-hauling demonstrations on Lewis Island may not net the desired results.
   Steve Meserve, grandson of legendary shad fisherman, the late Fred Lewis, said his license runs through June 1 so the Lewis family still will be able to hold a demonstration. The question is, will they catch anything?
   "Even at the 14th or 15th (of May), very rarely are we catching anything that late," Mr. Meserve said Tuesday. "Historically, by that weekend before Memorial Day, we’re not even fishing. We’re usually done by then. It’s usually too warm."
   The shad run is triggered by temperature, according to ESPN Outdoors. The shad traditionally swim past Lambertville within the first two weeks of April. By mid-May, they’re in Hancock, N.Y.
   According to the Delaware River Shad Fishermen’s Association, 510,000 adult shad were counted locally in 1995. Sixty-one percent, or 309,000 shad, passed the Route 202 bridge in April. The remaining 39 percent, or 201,000, passed the bridge by May 9.
   Mr. Meserve also raised the question of river traffic on a warm May weekend. Will Jet-skiers and other recreational boaters be out on the river while the shad-hauling demonstration is in progress, presenting hazards not normally present during the festival?
   "It’s going to be all kinds of luck to catch anything," said Mr. Meserve.
   Still, as long as there’s an audience and an interest, he said he’ll fish for the shad.
   While the presence of the shad is a factor, another aspect is of greater concern to Mr. Meserve.
   "I’m more concerned with the focus," he said. "I don’t know if we’re going to be celebrating a fish that’s not there."
   And that presents another problem.
   Last year, the festival committee announced this year’s shad celebration would be held in honor of Mr. Lewis, who died last year. The Lewis family’s fishery dates back more than a century, and Mr. Lewis himself became synonymous with shad fishing.
   Mr. Meserve asked, "I wonder if this is the right way to do it?"
   According to the Shad Foundation’s Shad Journal, "Fred Lewis (was) the last licensed commercial shad fisherman on the non-tidal Delaware, who carries on the family’s 108-year-old shad fishery. (He) has a story foolish to ignore."
   Mr. Stegman said Tuesday he does not want to upset the Lewis family. He said the decision of when to honor Mr. Lewis will depend on talks with Mr. Meserve and the family. He’ll consider their wishes, he said, concerning the appropriateness of honoring Mr. Lewis at this year’s late festival, or if it would be better to honor the elder statesman of shad fishing next year on the festival’s 25th anniversary, when it’s more likely the event again can be held when the shad are running in April.
   "This isn’t a permanent change," Mr. Stegman said of the later date. "I don’t envision these circumstances preventing us from moving it back to April next year.
   "The reality is, I don’t have a choice. The date that we’ve chosen is the one that will allow us to produce the event this year."
   Mayor David Del Vecchio said Monday morning he felt the announcement of the new dates is "premature."
   "I don’t think the date’s set yet," the mayor said. "I haven’t had a conversation with anyone yet. I think the story’s premature."
   The mayor acknowledged there has been talk of moving the festival’s date back.
   He added, however, "I haven’t heard it was going to be moved back that far."
   By Monday night, however, the committee and the city had reached agreement. Mayor Del Vecchio then confirmed the festival will be held on the dates announced earlier by Mr. Stegman.
   "The decision was not made lightly," Mr. Stegman wrote in a letter to the editor.
   He said there are several reasons for the change.
   "First, the weather is more stable in May," he wrote. "It has rained one day during the festival over the past three years. Second, several key volunteers have retired from the chamber board and from the Shad Fest staff, and more time is needed to produce the event. Third, the Chamber of Commerce office is in the midst of a major relocation. There was not enough time to properly produce the event."
   Despite the retirement from the chamber of Mr. Stegman and Ellen Pineno, the chamber’s office manager, two key people involved in running the event, the chamber still will be involved in the event, according to chamber President Tom Martin.
   But this year, Mr. Martin said, "The chamber office staff is not running it."
   With the relocation of chamber offices from North Union Street to a smaller one on Wilson Street, festival staff will operate from a room in the new Justice Center on South Union Street, Mr. Martin said.
   The room at the justice center is temporary, according to Mr. Stegman.
   In addition to Mr. Stegman and Ms. Pineno, other key chamber members also have retired from the organization.
   "December 2004 saw the departure of several fabulous and dedicated people from the Chamber of Commerce board," Mr. Stegman said in an e-mail interview. "Marty Luther from Dresswell’s, Sue Flynn from Events In Style, Kelly McDowell of Kelly McDowell’s Antiques and Charlie Garefino of Garefino’s Funeral Home retired from the chamber board after many years of service to the business community. Other new and energized business owners have come aboard and are ready to step up to the challenges ahead. Tom Martin of the People’s Store is the new chamber president and has assembled a bright and eager executive committee and board of directors.
   "Ellen Pineno, who has worked for the chamber and produced nearly a decade of Shad Fests, has joined with her husband, Steve, in a new business venture. Doreen Phillips is now on board as new office manager, and we wish her the best in her new position.
   "These changes, coupled with my responsibilities as deputy director for the New Jersey Office of Travel & Tourism, has made it necessary to change the date of the festival for 2005."
   Police Director Bruce Cocuzza said he foresees no problem providing police services for the festival’s new date.
   Mr. Stegman said he does not think the festival’s proximity to the Memorial Day weekend poses any problem.
   "If anything, it will encourage visitors to come back over Memorial Day weekend to take a closer look to what Lambertville has to offer every weekend," he said. "It will be a great preview for many visitors."
   Mayor Del Vecchio and Mr. Stegman agreed the event is good for the city. Many nonprofit and volunteer organizations use the Shad Festival as a fund-raising event, they said.
   "Our four fire departments, the rescue squad, the Kiwanis, Rotary, public schools and children’s groups all supplement their budget requirements through monies raised from the Shad Festival," Mr. Stegman said. "The poster auction raises funds for local scholarships. To date, the auction has raised a total of over $200,000. Our local economy gets its seasonal boost with lodgings and restaurants filled to capacity. Our city is spotlighted as a welcoming place in which to live and work."
   Under Mr. Stegeman’s direction, the festival was honored by the Governor’s Conference on Tourism three times, once in 1995 as Best Event and again in 2000 and 2003 as Best Eco-Tourism Event. The U.S. Library of Congress conferred the Local Legacy designation on the festival.
   Information on the 24th annual Shad Festival will be provided at www.lambertville.org. The festival also has a hotline — 609-397-SHAD.
   Questions or requests for information may be e-mailed to [email protected].