Popular festival in Wilmington canceled days ahead of event. Organizers cite safety concerns
The 5th annual Brandywine River ShadFest, scheduled for May 18 in Brandywine Park, has been canceled due to ongoing construction under the I-95 bridge, organizers announced.
The Delaware Department of Transportation began the project in October 2024 to repair and paint the underside of the bridge spanning Brandywine Park. With work expected to continue through fall 2025, organizers cited safety concerns and disruption to the event experience as reasons for the cancellation.
While alternative locations were considered, organizers decided that maintaining the event's traditional venue in Brandywine Park was important for community accessibility and programming, particularly the popular fishing lessons.
According to organizers, ShadFest is Delaware's largest environmental festival drawing more than 2,000 attendees, including over 1,000 children. The free event raises funds for the Brandywine River Restoration Trust, which works to restore shad migration to the river and provide environmental education to underserved youth in Wilmington. Activities have included fish seining demonstrations, fish printing, a shad obstacle course and hands-on environmental exhibits.
The event was founded in partnership with the Brandywine Conservancy, Hagley and the University of Delaware Water Resources Center. Past festivals have featured more than 25 participating organizations, including the Delaware Nature Society and the Sierra Club.
Organizers say ShadFest will return in 2026.
You can contact staff reporter Anitra Johnson at ajohnson@delawareonline.com.
This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Popular Wilmington festival ShadFest cancelled for 2025 season
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Popular festival in Wilmington canceled days ahead of event. Organizers cite safety concerns
The 5th annual Brandywine River ShadFest, scheduled for May 18 in Brandywine Park, has been canceled due to ongoing construction under the I-95 bridge, organizers announced. The Delaware Department of Transportation began the project in October 2024 to repair and paint the underside of the bridge spanning Brandywine Park. With work expected to continue through fall 2025, organizers cited safety concerns and disruption to the event experience as reasons for the cancellation. While alternative locations were considered, organizers decided that maintaining the event's traditional venue in Brandywine Park was important for community accessibility and programming, particularly the popular fishing lessons. According to organizers, ShadFest is Delaware's largest environmental festival drawing more than 2,000 attendees, including over 1,000 children. The free event raises funds for the Brandywine River Restoration Trust, which works to restore shad migration to the river and provide environmental education to underserved youth in Wilmington. Activities have included fish seining demonstrations, fish printing, a shad obstacle course and hands-on environmental exhibits. The event was founded in partnership with the Brandywine Conservancy, Hagley and the University of Delaware Water Resources Center. Past festivals have featured more than 25 participating organizations, including the Delaware Nature Society and the Sierra Club. Organizers say ShadFest will return in 2026. You can contact staff reporter Anitra Johnson at ajohnson@ This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Popular Wilmington festival ShadFest cancelled for 2025 season
New York Times
26-04-2025
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One Family's Relentless Pursuit Of The Bony, Oily, Elusive Shad
The sun was sinking behind the western bank of the Delaware River, bathing Lewis Island in golden light. From a lifetime of experience, Steve Meserve knew that shad were huddled on the Lambertville, N.J., side of the river, resting in the shadows before resuming their long journey upriver to spawn. 'Let's go,' Mr. Meserve said. With a long rope, three members of his crew towed an old rowboat about a quarter mile upriver. Mr. Meserve climbed in, took the handmade oars and guided the boat into the middle of the river, feeding 200 yards of net into the water from the stern. He then curled the boat back toward shore until the net, called a seine, made a C shape. On the island's southern tip, about a dozen spectators and potential shad customers were waiting to see what the river would yield. Mr. Meserve rowed the boat around the island, tugging the net behind him. Then, hand over hand, the crew hauled it in. As the seine reached the shore, the muddy, green-brown water was still for a moment and then erupted in splashes and flashes of silver, revealing a nice haul of about two dozen wriggling shad. 'It's a magical moment,' said Shawn Douglas, who has been a member of the crew for four years. 'Every haul is like Christmas morning. You never know what you're going to get.' 'It can be 50 fish,' Mr. Meserve said, 'or nothing at all.' Mr. Meserve runs the last licensed haul seine fishery on the Delaware, using the same technique practiced by his grandfather, Fred Lewis, and his great-grandfather, Bill Lewis, over more than a century. Lewis Island is named after the family. Each spring, during the shad's northward migration, Mr. Meserve, his family and a group of volunteers haul shad from the Delaware nearly every evening. Once a commercial operation, haul seining has become a seasonal ritual, performed to honor their forebears and to gather data on the shad population for wildlife biologists and environmental officials. Lambertville celebrates the migration every year with a two-day Shad Fest, which is taking place this weekend. 'We haven't made any money at this for a long time,' said Mr. Meserve, 63, who makes his living as an I.T. professional. 'It's about stewardship and the legacy. It's a way to connect to the river and the environment and the fish.' The crew — which ranges from five to a dozen members on any given evening — offers camaraderie and a community, knit together by the wet, muddy teamwork required for haul seining. 'It does get into your blood,' Mr. Meserve said. 'Every haul is a story, and every season is a story,' said Charlie Groth, a crew member who teaches cultural anthropology at Bucks County Community College in Newtown, Pa. Two decades ago, she began researching a book on the Lewis fishery, 'Another Haul,' and was so taken with the beauty, the fellowship and the lore that she joined up. 'History,' Ms. Groth said, 'is very thick on Lewis Island.' The island is a narrow, mostly wooded strip of land, about a mile long and separated from Lambertville by an inlet and a wooden footbridge. Lambertville, a 4,000-person community of graceful Victorian homes, has a rich history shaped by the river, ferries, a canal, a railroad and the New Hope-Lambertville Bridge. In pre-colonial times, the Lenape people fished for shad from Lewis Island, and the abundant fish were a staple in their diet. In 1771, a colonist named Richard Holcombe established a commercial fishery on the island. Mr. Meserve's great-grandfather took over the fishery in 1888, and in the peak years hauled in more than 9,000 shad annually. (Today, the annual haul is in the hundreds.) 'Captain Bill' passed the fishery on to his son, who in turn taught Mr. Meserve everything he knew. After Mr. Meserve returned from college, his grandfather fell ill with cancer, and he took over. 'It's our heritage,' said Mr. Meserve, who runs the fishery with the help of his wife, Sue, a theatrical technical director and professional carpenter. 'I felt a responsibility to continue the legacy. Someone had to speak for the shad.' Shad was a popular meal in early America, but its oily, bony flesh does not appeal to many modern American palates. Nearly all of the Lewis fishery's customers are now from India, Bangladesh and China, where a similar fish from the herring family, hilsa, is highly prized. 'We call hilsa the king of the fishes, and shad is very similar in taste,' said Sam Ghosh, a customer for more than a decade, who bought three fish one evening last week. The price, $4 for a male and $6 for a female, hasn't changed for decades. 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Penguin Court offers native plant sale, plans master naturalist course
Apr. 21—Home gardeners looking to add some local color to their flower beds might choose the purple blossoms of tall larkspur or the broad yellow petals of the wood poppy. They're two of the more than a dozen new species featured in this year's native plant sale at the Brandywine Conservancy's Penguin Court preserve. April 30 is the deadline to place online orders for plants, with prices beginning at $6.13 for most flowering varieties. "Penguin Court has grown more species of native plants than ever before," said Melissa Reckner, program manager at the site in the Ligonier Township community of Laughlintown. "We have over 110 species of native perennials, shrubs and trees, as well as eight herbs, three tomatoes — including the Brandywine heirloom variety — and three bell peppers to kickstart veggie gardens." Orders can be placed by visiting the conservancy website, and selecting Penguin Court Native Plant Sale on the "Events" page. Plant pick-up times will be on May 2 and 3 at Penguin Court. If you're looking for more information about plants that are native to Pennsylvania and northern Delaware, the conservancy has you covered with its new Brandywine Native Garden Hub, at The site has profiles of more than 250 plants, including growing conditions and benefits for wildlife. Penguin Court also is making plans to host an upcoming course for those interested in joining the Pennsylvania Master Naturalist program. Since 2019, 45 people have completed naturalist training there. Classes will meet Tuesday evenings from Aug. 12 through Oct. 28, with four Saturday field sessions planned. The limited-space course is for adults from Westmoreland and neighboring counties who want to learn about nature, enjoy the outdoors and join in natural resource protection efforts. Tuition for the training and a full year of programming is $425, with scholarships available and a $75 discount for those who sign up by the early deadline of April 25. May 12 is the final deadline to apply. Visit to learn more. Jeff Himler is a TribLive reporter covering Greater Latrobe, Ligonier Valley, Mt. Pleasant Area and Derry Area school districts and their communities. He also reports on transportation issues. A journalist for more than three decades, he enjoys delving into local history. He can be reached at jhimler@
