The weather was fantastic for Shepherdstown’s Fourth of July Parade & Picnic this year and everybody seemed to have a great time. The turnout was great for both events.

It takes a lot of work by many people to make these parades and picnics happen, and the Rotary Club of Shepherdstown wants to thank everyone who helped this year.

Thanks are due, first, to all the good folks who organized and participated in the many different units that marched in the parade. We’re grateful to all of you for putting so much effort into the occasion. Many onlookers may not realize it, but it can take a lot of time and work to pull a parade entry together. The Shepherdstown Rotary Club web page (shepherdstownrotary.org), contains an album of photos from the parade, taken by Rotary member Bill Howard. If you were in the parade, you should be able to find at least one photo of your entry there. You can click on an image to see and download a full-sized version.

We also want to thank everyone who turned out to watch the parade and attend the picnic.

As always, we want to thank the town government for being so supportive of these Fourth of July events — not only Mayor James Gatz and the town council, but also the Shepherdstown Police Department and the Town Hall staff. They always do a fine job for us. Thanks, too, to the men and women of the Shepherdstown Volunteer Fire Department, who always make a fantastic showing at the end of these parades.

Last but by no means least, we want to thank the following individuals for volunteering to help with the parade and picnic. Many, but by no means all of them, are members of the Rotary Club of Shepherdstown. Hopefully this list includes everyone who helped, although so many were involved that we may have missed some.

Parade volunteers included: Holly Morgan Frye and Peter Smith, who organized the parade; Jackson Heath, who directed the lineup; Steve Gainey, who served as parade announcer; Bill Howard and Daan Vreugdenhil, who captured the parade photography; Amanda, Don and Teri Biebel; Marcia Brand; Samira Drennen; Katie Keckler; Kirsten Martin; Dave Miljour; Lee O’Neil; Susan Reichel; Paul Teter; Darlene Truman; Laura Wolfe; Paul Woods; and Julie Wootton.

Picnic volunteers included: Rick Caruso, who organized the picnic; the Shepherdstown Centennial Lions Club, which organized and managed the picnic children’s activities; Annie Baronner; Linus Bicker; Joanna Bohn; Maria Brown; Steve Campbell; Fred D’alauro; Kim and Walt Eifert; Angelina and Matt Gray; Jim Grenfell; Gary Heichel; Carol Hill; Dale Homan; Diane Johnston; Cara Keys; Jim King; Paul Kradel; Andrew Lowe; Fritzie and Kirsten Martin; Greg Mason; Keith McCall; Dave Miljour; Sean Murtagh; Dana Orsini; Brian Palank; Sam Poe; Geb Schramm; Austin Slater; Carrie Smith; Robin Stott; Brian and Darlene Truman; Jen Wabnitz; Judy Wilson; Paul Woods; and Patti Wright.

We want to give a special shout-out too, to Todd Coyle, who has been the announcer for this parade for many years but wasn’t able to do it this year, due to illness. We hope he will get well soon.

We say this every year because it’s true — Shepherdstown is a great place to live, in no small part because it includes so many enthusiastic, community-spirited people who are willing to pitch and work together for the common good! Let’s all do our best to keep it that way!

The Rotary Club of Shepherdstown