Last year, we launched Claws for a Cause with a simple idea: bring people together for a great evening—and use that gathering to make a difference for the water resources we all share. Thanks to the support of our guests, sponsors, volunteers, and community partners, Rotary’s Environmental Service Committee has been able to turn that idea into action.
Join us again on September 21 for a Chesapeake-style crab feast that supports Rotary’s Environmental Service initiatives close to home. Crabs, community, and conservation — it’s all on the table! Fresh #1 Crabs will be steamed on site.
All you can eat including two Potomac Ridge beer or soft drink tickets, corn on the cob, and cole slaw. Mallets, picks, and bibs provided. $85 per person, $160 for two.
Helping Protect Town Run
One focus this past year has been Town Run, the small but important stream that flows through Shepherdstown and serves as a secondary source of drinking water for the community.
Rotary supported the work of the Town Run Watershed by providing new water-quality monitoring equipment to help volunteers better understand the health of the stream and identify changes over time. We also helped fund microbial source tracking to investigate the sources of E. coli contamination in Town Run. Knowing bacteria are present is only the first step. Understanding whether that contamination is associated with human, livestock, wildlife, pets or other sources gives the community better information to identify causes and pursue solutions.
We have also been working to strengthen public awareness of the watershed and the connection between what happens on the land, the health of Town Run, and the quality of our local water.
Our environmental work extended to the Potomac as well, including Splash for Trash last year, bringing volunteers onto the river to remove litter and debris and demonstrate that caring for our waterways can also be a great community experience.
What’s Next: Understanding PFAS in Our Groundwater
This year, we want to tackle an issue that is largely invisible: PFAS contamination in groundwater.
PFAS—sometimes called “forever chemicals”—are a large group of persistent chemicals that have been used for decades in consumer products and industrial applications. Because they break down extremely slowly, they can find their way into soil, streams, and groundwater.
For a community like ours, where many residents depend on private wells, an important question is surprisingly difficult to answer:
What’s in our groundwater?
Rotary’s Environmental Service Committee wants to help begin answering that question.
We are exploring a community-based PFAS investigation that would combine water testing, public education, mapping, and partnerships with organizations already working on water-quality issues. The goal is not simply to collect samples, but to give our community better information about our groundwater and help residents understand what the results mean.
It’s an ambitious project—and exactly the kind of local environmental challenge Rotary can help bring people together to address.
Crack a Crab. Help Protect Our Water.
That’s what Claws for a Cause is really about.
Yes, there will be crabs. There will be good food, friends, and plenty of fellowship. But every ticket also helps us build a stronger Environmental Service program and take on projects that can have a lasting impact on Shepherdstown and the surrounding community.
Last year’s event helped us get to work.
This year, help us take the next step.
Join us for Claws for a Cause and help Rotary turn fellowship into environmental action—one crab, one stream, and one water sample at a time.
