Crisfield holds 77th National Hard Crab Derby

CRISFIELD, Md. – Labor Day Weekend festivities are underway all across the country, and in Crisfield that means the 77th Annual Hard Crab Derby.

Leanne lives in Texas these days, but she grew up on the Eastern Shore.

She said her grandmother was the first female crabber in town, so she feels a special connection to the hard crab derby: “It’s great. It’s fun, lots of fun…This is home, and the crab derby represents home,” she said.

After coming to the derby for decades Faye decided this was the year she would enter a crab into the races: “My father used to be waterman and I used to work on the water with him. And I thought, ‘I’m going to go ahead and take a chance this year and we’re going to race too.'”

Faye named her crab after her father’s old boat, and they took 3rd place in the whole competition. “I don’t know, we might have to go out and celebrate. My friends are waiting for me,” she said.

Ruth didn’t race any crabs, but she won 500 dollars for coming in 1st place in the crab-picking competition, 27 years after she won 1st place at 50th hard crab derby: “I’m so overwhelmed because it’s my turn to have the shine. So I’m good, I’m ecstatic. but the best part of it is the just the people, I’m telling you.”

State Senator Mary Beth Carozza got in on the fun too: “For this weekend, my highlight is being able to actually be able to pick that number one crab in one of the heats. And that was really exciting.”

For Senator Carozza, the Hard Crab Derby represents more than just Labor Day Weekend fun, it’s about the future of Crisfield and the Eastern Shore. “What’s really exciting about it, is more and more young people are being pulled in. They want these traditions to continue, not just for today, Crab Derby, but this way of life.”