Dragon Boat Festival puts residents at helm

By Lee Roberts

Thursday, July 8, 2004 11:59 AM CDT

You may have seen them gliding along the Root River near the Main Street bridge. They are long, sleek, Hong Kong-style canoes powered by 20 paddlers, stroking and chanting in unison to the steady beat of a drummer at the helm.

They are dragon boats, and they came to Racine several weeks ago in preparation for this weekend's Great Midwest Dragon Boat Festival. Since then they've been filled with rowing teams, mostly made up of folks representing area businesses and organizations, practicing for this weekend's races.

The dragon-boat races, which will take place all day Saturday in Lake Michigan near Samuel Myers Park, are the main focus of this Chinese-themed festival. Teams will compete in various categories for the best time in short but intense races, and trophies will be awarded to winning teams at the end of the day.

The races will not only serve as entertainment for spectators and participants, but as part of the fund-raising efforts that are at the heart of this community event. The Dragon Boat Festival is sponsored by the Racine Rotary West club, and proceeds from it will benefit Rotary West causes, two of which are the Racine Heritage Museum and the All Saints Cancer Survivors Group. In addition to proceeds from the festival (including team entry and paid practice fees), money is being raised through sponsorship of individual paddlers, according to Rick Granite, event chairperson with the Rotary club.

In years past, Rotary West sponsored go-cart races as a fund-raising event, and after member Charlie Rice discovered dragon boat racing at a sail boat show, decided to bring this new opportunity to Racine. The club's 50 members will work in various capacities during the festival, along with other volunteers from community groups including the Racine Heritage Museum, the Racine Public Library, All Saints Healthcare and the Retired Seniors Volunteer Program, said Keith Heck, outgoing Rotary West president.

In addition to the races, the festival will feature opening ceremonies, including a colorful parade of rowing teams that will make its way along Pershing Park to Samuel Myers Park, and a special ceremony called the Awakening of the Dragon, featuring lion dancers. Draco the Dragonator, a 21-ton mechanized dragon that spits fire, will also give performances throughout the festival. Traditional Chinese crafts and other children's activities will be presented by the Families with Children from China and Asia group.

Musical entertainment will be provided, with Alibi playing on Friday night; Ralph Woods during the day on Saturday; and Cold Sweat & the Brew City Horns (who just performed at Summerfest) on Saturday night. There will also be plenty to eat and drink, ranging from Chinese food prepared by the Main Moon restaurant to traditional festival fare such as brats and hot-dogs, supplied by the Kiwanis.

And all of this put together has created an interest in this festival from a couple television crews that are coming to Racine this weekend to film the Dragon Boat Festival. Crews from The Discovery Channel and Time Warner Cable's Wisconsin on Demand will be here to record the festivities for shows, which will probably be aired sometime this fall, according to Heck.

In preparation for the races, the rowing teams have been trained by seven people who the Rotary club sent to Florida in April to be trained as steersmen for the boats. Rotary West contracted with a company called Great White North Communications to provide the boats and other equipment necessary for the event and to facilitate the races.

"This company does 40 or 50 of these festival a year," Granite said.

"They will help us with the race management and the technical aspects of running things."

Plans are for the Rotary club to make the Dragon Boat Festival an annual event, he said. And eventually they hope to learn enough to be able to run the races themselves.

Enthusiasm for the festival has already exceeded initial expectations, according to Granite. More than 40 teams signed up to compete in the races in the festival's inaugural run, which event coordinators say is beyond the average of 30 for an initial event such as this one.

And Rotary members are hoping that once festival goers experience the Dragon Boat mystique, even more will join next year. The festival can accommodate as many as 75 teams.

WHAT: The Great Midwest Dragon Boat Festival

WHEN: Friday and Saturday (July 9 & 10), rain or shine. The festival opens at 10 a.m. Friday with a performance by Draco the Dragonator. A parade of teams will take place at 6:30 p.m., followed by opening ceremonies and another performance by Draco at 8:30 p.m. Racing will begin at 9 a.m. Saturday and continue throughout the day. Closing ceremonies will begin at 6:30 p.m., followed by Draco at 8:30 p.m. The festival will close at 10 p.m. both nights. A complete schedule of events is available on the festival's Web site.

WHERE: Festival takes place at Samuel Myers Park (just south of the Gateway Technical College parking lots); Race viewing is best from Simonson Park (the bluffs along the lakefront from 14th to 17th streets). Free shuttle bus service will run between Samuel Myers Park and the viewing area starting at 5 p.m. Friday and 8 a.m. Saturday.

COST: Free

INFO: Call (262) 632-0530 or visit the Web at: www.midwestdragonboatfestival.com

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