Commodore Shawna Doran

Set To Make Her Mark As The 6th Female Commodore

story by KAREN SNYDER            photos by SUSAN DELOACH

For the thousands who attend Beaufort’s premiere 10-day festival on the waterfront each July, it’s an event that is anticipated year after year, enjoyed by the “locals,” and welcomes new and returning visitors who are attracted to quintessential, small-town life here in the Lowcountry. For Commodore Shawna Doran, the Beaufort Water Festival represents much more; for her, it was a life-changing event!

A native of Virginia, Commodore Doran first visited the Water Festival in July 1998. Her husband, Brett, and his grandparents resided in Beaufort, and his stepfather owned a local plumbing business. “On one of our visits we attended the Festival, and we just loved it! To me, it represented everything wonderful about small-town life, and I knew I wanted to be part of it,” she explains. “We were looking to make a change, and the timing couldn’t have been more perfect.” Brett was looking to run a business, and his stepfather was ready for him to join his company. So, just a few weeks after that year’s Water Festival, the Dorans made their move to Beaufort!

With the encouragement of her work colleagues at Tupper, Grimsley, Dean & Canaday, PA, where she worked as a paralegal, Shawna began volunteering for the Water Festival the very next year. It was the start of Commodore Doran’s decades-long association with the event. So, like all those who are festival volunteers, Shawna began by handling tasks such as ticket and beer sales, or checking identification of guests. After many years of assisting as a civic volunteer and taking a few years off to have children, Commodore Doran, who says her husband often jokes that “volunteerism” is her hobby, says she knew she wanted more! And thus began her rise through the formal hierarchy of Beaufort’s prestigious organization responsible for hosting this historic Water Festival.

“The first step was to become part of the Water Festival staff,” she explains. Shawna once again expressed her interest to her law firm colleagues, which boasted two past commodores, including Erin Dean (2007) and Stacey Canaday (2018), who were more than happy to welcome her aboard as part of the approximate 400 Water Festival annual staff volunteers.

Eventually, Shawna was named by Stacey Canaday as the director of the craft market and later continued her progress through the ranks, ultimately being “pulled up” to the role of Water Festival Coordinator. “The commodore names ten coordinators each year who handle, along with their teams, all the major aspects of festival planning, such as administration, sponsors, parks, treasurer, program, productions, sales, public relations, sports, and water activities. Then, from those coordinators, past commodores select one special individual to serve as the next year’s Water Festival Commodore,” explains Shawna.

“It’s a huge honor to be named the sixth woman commodore of the Water Festival in 66 years, which was only possible because of the other female commodores who laid the groundwork. It is a testament to all the hard work that’s been done through the years. Now that we have several women coordinators, we’ll see more ladies being named commodore. It’s no longer a matter of if they’ll be named, but when,” she encourages.

Commodore Doran clearly doesn’t shy away from hard work. Earning a bachelor’s degree in sociology from George Mason University, she later changed careers to pursue a nursing degree from the Technical College of the Lowcountry. She received a master’s degree in nursing from Walden University. Serving as a nurse for 17 years, currently, she is the VP of Quality, Risk, and Patient Safety at Beaufort Memorial Hospital, a position in which she has served for the last five years.

“I love the hospital. They’ve always been so supportive of me and my volunteer efforts. Just like the Water Festival volunteers, who are like family to me, the hospital has always lifted me up and encouraged me along the way.” This busy mother of two children, son, Colton, 20 years old, who attends the University of South Carolina, and daughter, Ava, who is a rising junior at Beaufort High School, also spends time as a volunteer for CAPA and Beaufort Ghost Tours, and as a Beta Sigma Phi member where she is involved with the “birthday fairies” project on behalf of CAPA’s group home.

In addition, Commodore Doran also plays an important role as part of the Advocacy Committee of the American Heart Association. Having suffered a heart attack in 2018, she is personally vested in the lobby and legislative activities at both the state and federal levels.

Yet, on behalf of her beloved Water Festival, held this year on July 15-24, 2022, Commodore Doran’s energies remain high and her focus strong. In fact, the theme “Fun, Sun, & Vitamin Sea” says it all as she promises that this year’s Festival will not disappoint!

“One of the biggest changes guests will notice is that we’ve moved to an electronic ticketing system. It’s fast and easy to order tickets through the Hometown app, which many local residents are familiar with as it is the same event system used by the Beaufort County School District. Visitors will not have to worry about picking up their tickets in advance, saving them a lot of time and inconvenience,” she explains. Tickets are also available for purchase through the event website at bftwaterfestival.com.

Commodore Doran says one of the events she enjoys most is Thursday’s “Lowcountry Supper, on July 21, which she says has a “real hometown feel, showcasing the talents of our own Chris Jones, Katie Godowns, and Mike Ponder & Steel Rail Express.” She adds, “I also like that the Water Festival honors active duty first responders and military at our free Appreciation Night on July 19, which this year is called ‘Island Time Tuesday’ and quite ironically features the Island Time Band.”

According to the Commodore, other popular events include Children’s Day on July 17, including the free Ski Show at Waterfront Park and the Teen Dance later in the evening. The big concert event is the first Saturday (July 16) with the Concert in the Park, headlining Eli Young Band. For the Water Festival’s complete list of events, please see the Event Schedule on pages 32-33.

Proudly, Commodore Doran says that Beaufort’s Water Festival is one of the region’s largest festivals that is completely run by volunteers, and that’s just one reason it’s so impressive. In addition, some 65,000 people visit Beaufort during the 10-day event. “I love that the Festival draws people to our town where they can see our Waterfront Park, dine at our restaurants, and shop at our stores. Once you’re here in Beaufort, you have the opportunity to see what our town is all about, how beautiful is it, and most of all how friendly everyone is. That was one of the things I first noticed when I moved here. Everyone you meet has a smile for you, which just doesn’t happen much anymore,” she says. “It truly is a village and a wonderful environment to grow your family. I feel assured that if anyone in my family or another family we know ever needed something, there would be someone right there to help.”

Having been named the sixty-sixth Beaufort Water Festival Commodore, Shawna Doran reflects: “My journey with the Festival started just as a spectator in 1998, and I’m privileged to have seen this event from both the outside and the inside through the roles that I’ve held during the last 20+ years. I appreciate the encouragement I’ve received from past commodores, my family, and others who have lifted me up along the way. I hope everyone will visit and discover for themselves just how kind and welcoming the people of Beaufort are in our little coastal town.”