Rick Coradi is congratulated by Christy Everett, who heads the regional Chesapeake Bay Foundation office.
 
The Rotary Club of Norfolk was honored July 7 at a celebration for the rebound of the Lafayette River oyster held at Norfolk Yacht & Country Club. Past President Rick Coradi spoke at the event sponsored by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and the Elizabeth River Project. He was among 12 speakers, including U.S. Representatives Bobby Scott and Scott Taylor. 
 
The Rotary Club was honored as the first funder of oyster reefs in the Lafayette River in 1998. Rick said a Chesapeake Bay Foundation speaker impressed the club when he brought a tank of dirty river water to a club meeting. The oysters dropped into the tank, cleaned the water in just 20 minutes. That led the club to raise and donate more than $150,000 to fund the first man-made oyster reefs in the region The bay foundation named the Rotary Club of Norfolk Conservationist of the Year in 1999 for its efforts. 
 
Since then 22.5 acres of reefs have been built in the river, 40 million oyster spat have been planted, the oyster population has grown and the river is clean enough for fishing and swimming. As part of the celebration, Rick and other volunteers boarded boats and dumped 300,000 oyster shells to build a new reef to help grow more oysters and make the river even cleaner.