Rotary Dragon Boat races took place Aug. 8

Teamwork in the boats, teamwork by volunteer organizers

By Mark Schadenberg

There were 33 teams competing with paddles and synchronicity at the 25th Woodstock Dragon Boat Festival on Aug. 8, but many observers would quickly agree that the top team was the 34th team -- the organizers from the Rotary Club of Woodstock.

Pittock Conservation Area day-use park was also a winner.

Whether it be new club president Brenda Vokey-Tait to many other Rotarians I know like festival convener Dave Harris, plus Lisa Wells, Cliff Zaluski, Robin Ferro, Don Fulkerson, James Stewart and a cast of dozens -- the dragon boat races were again a huge success.

With a field of 33 teams -- all with 20 or more paddlers in a 40-foot boat -- each squad received a number of races as the day began with preliminary heats every 10 minutes to determine qualification times for future races and classifications throughout the day. Clockwork for assigning teams to the starting line was just a small part of the logistics as three boats would have to disembark for the next 3 crews to propel themselves to the start line near the dam, while a race was simultaneously happening between the lanes of buoys on the Pittock Reservoir.

The timed sprints were 500 metres. At the end of the day, the 8 fastest boats would be tested in a 2-km distance, said Harris.

'Community volunteerism' is a term I use at every public speaking appearance as I represented Woodstock's city council and mayor Jerry Acchione on this day. I also wore my Upper Thames River Conservation Authority (UTRCA) hat as an 8-year board member. A politician can't miss the opportunity to throw in an issue as I mentioned that this would be the last time -- technically -- that the UTRCA would be among the formal event hosts as next February the UTRCA plus 3 conservation authorities will be amalgamated into the Western Lake Erie as a region.

Among the Saturday boat entries were Woodstock Wave and Woodstock Fun League teams, but I could easily notice the number of jerseys with the name Water Vipers. The Toronto-based team, according to a coach I chatted with, called the Humber River home and train 12 months of the year. Last year, members competed in Hong Kong and Montreal plus a few race dates around the province.

The tradition of dragon boat camaraderie seems to be connected long term with women teams as breast cancer survivors. The Woodstock opening ceremony included recognition of this with a speech by a member of a London-based squad.

Many unique names and pun monikers could be witnessed on the event schedule and team tents crowding the shoreline -- Seas The Day, Blazing Paddles, Shag'N Dragons, Rowbust, Water Vipers, Dragon Flies, Warlocks and Ship Dragons.

Not so many years ago, I had a connection to the festival -- not as a competitor but as a parent when my daughter competed.

The Rotary event was billed as a sponsorship of Pharmasave with additional Gold sponsors Canadian Tire, Sierra Construction, Leon's Furniture, Green Private Wealth, Scotiabank, and of course media sponsor 104.7 Heart FM.

The annual dragon boat meet is a wonderful time to put the Pittock Lake free day-use park into full use. It's been about 5 years since the day-use section of the Pittock Conservation Area became free for everyone to use and improvements by the City of Woodstock include a new pavilion on the north shore, a re-built disc golf course and the warm months opening of the dam walkover to connect both sides of Pittock to enjoy recreation in the 2,000 acres of green space. The actual Pittock camp is part of that acreage and you must pay to camp or keep a summertime site at the conservation area, which has about 250 sites. The full-time camping access season continues until Oct. 18.

As for the Rotary Club and its additional events, check out its link below for more information. Service clubs are terrific for community volunteerism and teamwork. I'm a member of the Lions Club of Woodstock but certainly have great admiration for Rotarians.

Tent on right was for announcer; tent on left was for timekeepers.

The Rotary website for the dragon boat races notes a long list of charities and other local associations who are supported by this sweat-equity endeavour, including a significant pledge to donate to the building of the commercial kitchen at the expanded South Gate Centre. The internet site also includes archived race results back to 2014.

Rotary slogan: Service Above Self.

Pittock Reservoir opened up and was created in the late 1960s when a dam was built to prevent flooding in Woodstock. Gordon Pittock was a Progressive Conservative MPP for Oxford in the late 1960s. A former UTRCA chair, Ingersoll resident Pittock was named a UTRCA member in 1947 when the conservation authority was created.