Well, if you're anything like me, you will have never (or rarely) heard of a sport called dragon boating. First time I heard about it was last year when I started at United Way and helped organize the festival here in Belleville. It always amazes me as to how much prep goes into putting on any event and in a blink of an eye... it's over! Thanks to Cheryll Drumm, Nancy Lewis, Bill Daniels and Kay Manderville of the Belleville Dragon Boat Club for their expertise and assistance in running and organizing the festival as well as all the volunteers who made the day possible.So for those of you who don't know, Dragon boating is a water sport for teams of 20 to paddle down a 200m raceway. It is THE most intense two minutes of any water sport I've ever competed in.
This year 17 teams made their way to Victoria Park and set up camp to watch and partake in the races on August 28th.
Tournament Champions were the Rotary Rockets, made up of members from the Rotary Club of Quinte Sunrise, Top Fundraising Team was Licenced to Paddle, Top Fundraising Individual was Mary Olsen of Licenced to Paddle and the Tipper Financial Spirit Cup Champions werrrrrrrrrrre! THE BARDON DREAM TEAM from Bardon Supplies! But believe me, the competition this year was steep, the cup was only awarded after a cheer off had taken place between Bardon Dream Team, GH20 and the Nestle Quik Paddlers. All teams had a ton of spirit and were a joy to watch and race with. A huge thank you to all teams: Academy of Learning Warriors, Bardon Dream Team, Cruisin' Rebels, The Belleville Machine, Cobourg Torpedos, Blazin' Paddles, Down the Drink. GH20,H2OT Boaty, Hydro Therapy, Licenced to Paddle, Nestle Quik Paddlers, Probus Quinte, QHC Life Savers, Rotary Rockets, The Waywards and Wonder Women Too.
HUGE THANKS to all our sponsors: The Belleville Dragon Boat Club, St. John Ambulance, Culligan The Good Water Company, Tipper Financial Services, 91X FM, Wellington and District Lions Boat Club, Cobourg Dragon Boat Club, KFC, Red Ball Radio, Canadian Labour Congress, Swiss Chalet, Eastern Lift Truck, Belleville Recreation Culture & Community Services, Impacto Protective Products, TAS Communications and North China Buffet.
What's on tab for the rest of the month? How about our Campaign Launch this Thursday, September 9th and our Quinte West Chili Luncheon Tuesday, September 14th at the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 110 in Trenton.... See you there!!
