Oak Ridge Today

Letter: Three Rotary clubs launch successful Oak Ridge Dragon Boat Festival

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Dragon Boats Close Race

 

To the Editor:

What happens when three Rotary clubs in an East Tennessee city work together? In Oak Ridge, a three-club collaboration over the past year culminated in a highly successful inaugural Oak Ridge Dragon Boat Race Festival. The exciting event was launched on Saturday, May 31, at the Oak Ridge Marina off Melton Lake Drive—one of the three best rowing venues in the United States.

The leadership of the event started with Mark Watson, Oak Ridge city manager and president of the Rotary Club of Oak Ridge. He met frequently with the presidents of the Oak Ridge Breakfast Rotary and Oak Ridge Sunset Rotary clubs, and they persuaded their club members to serve on the organizing committee and as volunteers at the festival. Key Rotarians who made the event successful were Leslie England, Keith Kahl, Jim Sumner, and Oak Ridge City Councilman Chuck Hope (who was in charge of logistics and served as a liaison between the Rotary clubs and the city of Oak Ridge).

By the third week in May, 30 teams, including one from Chattanooga and three from Kentucky and North Carolina, had registered. Three teams came from the Oak Ridge School System and three from Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). [Read more…]

Thirty dragon boat teams ready to race May 31

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Penny Behling Dragon Boat Steerer

Penny Behling of Dynamic Dragon Boat Races LLC of Knoxville takes over as steerer of this dragon boat during a race in Owenboro, Ky., and gets the team back on course. (Submitted photo)

 

The inaugural Oak Ridge Dragon Boat Festival will be held from 8:45 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, May 31, at the Oak Ridge Marina and Pavilion in Melton Lake Park.

The three Rotary clubs of Oak Ridge are launching this fundraiser for community nonprofit service organizations.

Dragon boat racing is the eighth-fastest growing sport in the world. And the races will take place on Oak Ridge’s signature rowing venue, considered one of the three best courses for regattas in the nation.

Starting at 9 a.m., 30 dragon boat teams—three from Kentucky and North Carolina—will race at least twice, with the 12 winners of two rounds racing in the third round.

The festival offers food and beverage vendors, beer garden, kids area at the pavilion with bounce houses and 15-minute martial arts lessons on the hour, two Tai Chi demonstrations, and awards ceremonies for winners of the morning Drummers Parade and the third round of dragon boat races. [Read more…]

Twenty dragon boat teams ready to race May 31

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Dragon Boat Races

Teams take part in the annual Dragon Boat Festival in Taipei on May 28, 2009. Originally the summer event was a time to ward off bad spirits but now it is a celebration of the life of Qu Yuan, a Chinese poet who opposed the corruption of the imperial court. More than 200 teams from Taiwan and abroad will compete in the three-day race. AFP PHOTO / PATRICK LIN (Photo credit should read PATRICK LIN/ AFP/ Getty Images)

 

Commit to a competitive sport and community support. 

That could be the motto of the inaugural Oak Ridge Dragon Boat Festival, a fundraiser for community nonprofit service organizations that will be launched by the three Rotary clubs of Oak Ridge.

Already at least 20 boat teams are being organized, with more expected to register soon at http://oakridge.racedragonboats.com/.

At least 15 companies and organizations have paid or pledged a total of more than $25,000.

The Oak Ridge Dragon Boat Festival will be held Saturday, May 31, at the Oak Ridge Marina and Pavilion in Melton Lake Park. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge’s Rotary clubs to host dragon boat races May 31

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Penny Behling Dragon Boat Steerer

The three Rotary clubs of Oak Ridge are combining forces to launch the inaugural Oak Ridge Dragon Boat Festival, to be held Saturday, May 31, at the Oak Ridge Marina and Pavilion in Melton Lake Park.

“The purpose of the festival is to provide a venue for dragon boat races, offer food and musical entertainment and raise funds for nonprofit service organizations in the community,” said Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson, president of the Rotary Club of Oak Ridge.

The boat-racing event will celebrate Oak Ridge’s waterfront and signature rowing venue. The other two clubs are the Oak Ridge Breakfast Rotary and Oak Ridge Sunset Rotary clubs.

A dragon boat is a long, low boat adorned with a snarling dragonhead at the boat’s front end, as in the Chinese tradition. Dragon boat races have become popular events in many U.S. cities, ranging in size from Philadelphia to Knoxville.

This all-day Dragon Boat Festival race will be an entertaining competition among teams of 20 persons each—18 paddlers, a caller, and a steerer. The teams will come from community employers and organizations, some of which are signing up to become corporate sponsors of the event. [Read more…]

Dragon Boat racers prepare for inaugural festival in May

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Penny Behling Emerald Youth Dragon Boat Racing

Penny Behling teaches youth and mentors of Emerald Youth’s Just Lead program the fundamentals of dragon boat racing on Monday at Melton Lake Park. (Photos by Sara Wise)

On Monday, Dynamic Dragon Boats came to Oak Ridge to prepare locals for the city’s Inaugural Dragon Boat Race scheduled for May 31.

Monday’s event served as a beginner’s guide to the city’s first event, but also hosted young adults in Emerald Youth Foundation’s JustLead group.

Penny Behling and her husband, Chris, own the Dragon Boat company, a Knoxville firm that participates in dragon boat events around the country. The pair said the sport is really gaining interest in the Knoxville area, with inaugural events in Oak Ridge and Blount County scheduled this spring and summer, as well as Knoxville’s Dragon Boat race June 21.

Dragon boats are long canoe-like boats adorned with the faces of Chinese dragons. They hold teams of 20 with participants arranged by size.

Behling said dragon boat festivals are gaining steam in the area simply because dragon boating is easy to do. This year, she has five scheduled events in Tennessee, and more nationwide.

“It’s very popular,” she said. “People realize they can do it and that it doesn’t take a super fit human being. This is something anybody can do.” [Read more…]

Organizers announce new date for Dragon Boat Festival in May

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Colorado Dragon Boat Race

The first team to pull out the flag at the end of a dragon boat race in Colorado wins the 150-meter competition. (Jeff Towery, provided by Colorado Dragon Boat Festival)

The three Rotary clubs of Oak Ridge, which are planning to launch the inaugural Oak Ridge Dragon Boat Festival this spring, have announced a change of date for the community fundraiser. The festival will be held Saturday, May 31, 2014, at the Oak Ridge Marina and Pavilion in Melton Lake Park.

In addition, the clubs have announced a new website for the Oak Ridge Dragon Boat Festival: http://oakridge.racedragonboats.com/.

“The purpose of the festival is to provide a venue for dragon boat races, offer food and musical entertainment, and raise funds for a special project and nonprofit service organizations in the community,” said Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson, president of the Rotary Club of Oak Ridge.

The boat-racing event, launched by OARS in the Water, will celebrate Oak Ridge’s waterfront and signature rowing venue. OARS stands for the Oak Ridge Association of Rotarians. The other two clubs are the Oak Ridge Breakfast Rotary and Oak Ridge Sunset Rotary clubs. [Read more…]

Rotary clubs plan dragon boat races at Oak Ridge Marina in May

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Dragon Boat Festival

Teams take part in the annual Dragon Boat Festival in Taipei on May 28, 2009. (Photo credit Patrick Lin/AFP/Getty Images)

Three local Rotary clubs are launching the city’s first Dragon Boat Festival on May 17 at the Oak Ridge Marina and Pavilion in Melton Lake Park.

“The purpose of the festival is to provide a venue for dragon boat races, offer food and musical entertainment, and raise funds for a special project and nonprofit service organizations in the community,” said Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson, president of the Rotary Club of Oak Ridge.

The boat racing event, launched by OARS in the Water, will celebrate Oak Ridge’s waterfront and signature rowing venue. OARS stands for the Oak Ridge Association of Rotarians. The other two clubs are the Oak Ridge Breakfast Rotary and Oak Ridge Sunset Rotary clubs. [Read more…]