Draco drumming up business for dragon boat festival

By Rob Golub

Monday, July 5, 2004 11:59 PM CDT

RACINE - Sometimes you come up with a crazy idea and it actually works.

That's what happened to Bob Metzler, 75, and Rev Prochnow, 53, when they bought a giant metal monster - a fire-breathing dragon - from a theme park in Japan for $180,000.

Now, they take it all over the country and even to other countries. They call him Draco the Dragonator and he performs for a fee.

But performing for a fee was not the point at the July 4 parade Monday. Draco rolled through the parade for free, to promote his appearances at the Great Midwest Dragon Boat Festival, where he's also appearing for free. Having battled colon cancer himself, Draco co-owner Metzler wants to help a major cause for the festival - beating breast cancer.

Draco co-owner Prochnow was in Japan working as an event coordinator for a monster truck rally when he found out about Draco.

The monster was in a Japanese theme park. He is one of a kind, so Metzler and Prochnow offered to buy him right out of the theme park. Metzler is the former owner of Great Lakes Dragaway, in Union Grove, and Prochnow was once his employee. Now, the pair are partners.

Draco was a lot of trouble when they first purchased him. "If we knew then what we know now ..." said Prochnow, his voice trailing off.

First, instead of costing $5,000 to ship him to America as they expected, it cost $35,000. Then, to transport him on federal highways, they had to reconstruct parts of Draco to make him fit Department of Transportation rules, and that was expensive.

"I didn't know that when I bought it," Metzler said.

The Dragonator is never stored. He has no home. He is always on the road, on his way to a gig. "It's booked," Metzler said.

Sometimes Metzler rides Draco the Dragonator. He loves it. "I'm having fun in this parade riding my dragon," he said.

Draco only gets a few miles per gallon and he moves slowly. He travels between gigs on a flat-bed truck, his tail and head tucked away so he can fit.

Draco the Dragonator has wings, moves on tank treads, breathes fire, and rips up cars. He was banned from breathing fire and destroying cars during the parade. But he'll be able to do it at the Great Midwest Dragon Boat festival next weekend.

"It will crush cars. It picks up cars and crushes them," Metzler said. "It picks up whole cars and tears them to shreds. It breathes fire on them."

What could be more perfect for a dragon boat festival than a fire-breathing dragon?

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