When recruiting paddlers for her dragon boat team, Dawn Chiappetta says she looks for people who not only want to have fun, but also have the desire to win.

"I guess you could say we are serious about having fun," said Chiappetta, who serves as captain and lead stroke for the Death Rowers, a team sponsored by the Racine Heritage Museum and musical duo Blue Heron.

Serious enough to take first place in their division in last year's Great Midwest Dragon Boat Festival. And serious enough to want to go for it again this weekend when the festival will celebrate its fifth year in Racine.

Being part of a dragon boat team is a lot of work, but you don't have to be a great athlete to take part, said Chiappetta, who owns Red Rover, the company that supplies the city with its Downtown Ambassadors.

"When I talk to people about it, they tell me 'I could never do that,' " she said. "I thought the same thing, but it really just takes determination."

Sure, the practice sessions before the races are important, and so is the makeup of the team, Chiappetta said. But when it comes down to race day, what is crucial is the will to keep going.

"It's pure adrenaline, right from the start," she said. "You do hit a wall at some point, where you think you won't even be able to take one more stroke. But then you take just one stroke, and then another and before you know it that second rush of adrenaline kicks in. It's kind of like being on auto pilot. You just can't give up."

Traditional festivities

The Death Rowers are one of about 60 teams who will compete in Saturday's dragon boat races, which will take place in the lagoon just south of Samuel Myers Park (at the bottom of the Gateway hill). In addition to non-profit organizations such as the museum, team sponsors include a mix of local businesses, churches and families/friends who have banded together to be a part of the excitement that is dragon boat racing.

For those who have never been to the festival before, dragon boat races are based on an ancient Chinese custom in which boats with dragon heads on them were raced as part of a fertility rite used to encourage plentiful rains and a good harvest. Today, dragon boat races are held all over the world as communitywide sporting events. Racine's races are the main event at the two-day Dragon Boat Festival, which serves as a fundraising effort for the community, facilitated by Racine's three Rotary clubs (Racine Downtown, Racine West and Racine Founders).

In addition to the Rotary involvement, this year's festival is being sponsored by the Midwest College of Oriental Medicine, which is based in Racine. For more about that, go to http://www.acupuncture.edu/midwest/

Funds raised by the festival go toward various projects sponsored by Rotary foundations including scholarships and community-based projects, according to Jessica MacPhail, a member of the Downtown Rotary and head of this year's Dragon Boat Festival, as well as director of the Racine Public Library.

A few examples of past community projects sponsored by Racine's Rotary club foundations include the establishment of statues of Abraham Lincoln and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.; the Paul P. Harris Plaza at the intersection of Sixth and Seventh streets; and projects for Racine Youth Sports. Last year's festival raised approximately $20,000, MacPhail said. There has been some discussion of using funds raised by the festival to make improvements in Samuel Myers Park, she said, but nothing has been finalized yet.

In addition to their involvement in festival's fund-raising efforts, the Rotary clubs provide many of the hundreds of volunteers needed to run the festival.

"This is a totally volunteer-run event," MacPhail said. "Some people take vacation time to be there."

And the Rotary clubs aren't the only ones who give of their time. Volunteers also come from Boy Scout troops, the Young Professionals of Racine, United Way, the Volunteer Center and more, she said.

"This is such a great community event."

Dragon Boaters Unite

The entire Dragon Boat Festival experience is one that has called Tracey Larrin back to the boats for three years running. Larrin, who is captain, coach and drummer for the Sentient team (sponsored by the Redline and George's taverns), had never done anything like dragon boat racing prior to her first year on the team.

"It is a lot of work, but it is also a lot more fun than I thought it would be," she said. "That first year, it was way more than I expected, in the best possible way."

Like Chiappetta, Larrin says that the adrenaline rush is one of the things that has kept her coming back year after year.

"Its also the camaraderie," she said. "We really are a team - one unit - it is awesome."

She and other Sentient paddlers have not only become friends with each other, but have made friends with members of other teams, Larrin said.

"It's almost like being part of a whole different culture," she said. "When you run into someone who is on a team, you talk Dragon Boat. It's like talking shop."

What is also important to Larrin, is her team's role in the festival's fundraising efforts. In addition to the various Rotary projects supported by the festival, the Great Midwest Dragon Boat Festival names a pledge partner each year, and this year's partner is Root-Pike WIN, a grass roots nonprofit organization that provides funding to local projects to solve watershed problems.

"We've sold tickets to support the pledge partner for the last two years and last year we came in second place with our ticket sales," said Larrin. "Even if you can't get in a boat, this is a great way to support the cause."

Along with the races, the Dragon Boat Festival features live entertainment, a variety of food vendors (including Kewpee's, Sticky Rice, Chaffee Concessions, Wilbur's BBQ, L.C. Blended Drinks, Chippy's Kettle Corn, and burgers, hot dogs etc. from the Racine Explorer Scouts), and an opening parade of teams on Friday night, featuring Chinese lion dancers. New to the entertainment line-up this year is a Hawaiian dance company called the Hale O Malo Polynesian Revue, which MacPhail describes as "phenomenal."

All of that, set amidst the lake front atmosphere, makes for a great weekend of entertainment, says Chiappetta.

"With the races going on all day, you can watch a race, spend some time mixing and mingling, listen to a band and maybe get something to eat," she said. "People really get pumped up about the races. It is good, family fun."

If You Go

WHAT: The Great Midwest Dragon Boat Festival

WHEN: Friday and Saturday. Festival gates open at 5 p.m. Friday; the parade starts at 6:30 p.m.; entertainment by Fun Factory starts at 7 p.m.; and the opening ceremony is at 7:30 p.m. Racing will begin at 8 a.m. Saturday and continue until approximately 5 p.m. Entertainment on Saturday will include the Hale O Malo Polynesian Revue at noon and the Twang Dragons at 5 p.m. Presentation of awards and closing ceremony is scheduled to begin at 5:30 p.m.

WHERE: All events will take place at either Samuel Myers Park, 11th Street and Pershing Drive; or along the hill in Simonsen Park, between 14th and 16th streets along Main Street.

NOTE: Free trolley service between the two locations will run during the festival. The trolley will also travel to North Beach, where the EVP Volleyball Tournament will be taking place this weekend, as well as to its usual summer stops.

COST: Festival entry is free.

INFO: Go to http://www.midwestdragonboatfestival.com

You Can Help

Want to be a part of the fun? Volunteers are still needed to help out with the Dragon Boat Festival in a variety of jobs from helping load boats to working at vendor booths. No experience is necessary and those interested can sign up as late as the day of the races.

A volunteer registration table will be set up on the festival grounds all day Saturday. Anyone wishing to help can report to that table and will be given an assignment on site. To sign up before Saturday, leave a message with the United Way at (262) 632-5186.