Check out the race schedule!

Heart of the Dragon Festival

Big Brothers Big Sisters in Macon had a successful dragon boat race in 2012, with more local teams and some nice local fundraising, totaling $35,000 for its service to the community. Always a fun venue and friendly competition at Sandy Beach, the music and exciting announcing from one of the “littles” at the agency gets the crowd pumped for racing.

Video from a race in Macon.

The Junior League of Tuscaloosa Dragon Boat Races

Hard work paid off for the women of the Junior League in Tuscaloosa. They pulled the community together and attracted 26 teams in their first year to support its first Dragon Boat Race on the Black Warrior River, raising $20,000 to support local community programs. They created a strong foundation for future growth in a city where competition is second to none and winning means everything.

Helmet cam video from race day.

Decatur General Foundation Dragon Boat Festival

The Decatur General Foundation got serious community backing from teams and sponsors, easily attracting 52 teams for its debut race in May. Despite high winds and choppy water, the novice paddlers navigated their way through the course and had a blast doing it!

Check out the video compilation.

Children’s Hospital Dragon Boat Festival

In its sixth year, paddlers racing in the 6th Annual Children’s Hospital Dragon Boat Festival shattered the event’s previous fundraising record, raising an incredible $150,000 for the foundation. Chattanooga paddlers spread out at the beautiful TVA Park near Chickamauga Lake. They put the community in this event by their spirit and their actions.

The Year of the Dragon was also a celebration of 10 years of dragon boat racing in Knoxville. Nearly 60 teams, including four out of town teams, rocked The Cove at Concord Park with their costumes and friendly competition. They raised more than $121,000 for Knox Area Rescue Ministries. Win-win!

Here is a video from race day.

Owensboro Dragon Boat Festival

The great city of St. Louis is home to some competitive people who handled the 400-meter course at Creve Coeur Park with no problems. Synchronicity and pace are paramount in dragon boat racing, and after a very close finals race, the local Fox TV station captured Gold. After such a stellar day, we expect to see 30 or more teams in the Gateway city next year!

View the event video.

Habitat Dragon Boat Festival

We rolled into Gadsden, AL, for the first Habitat Dragon Boat Festival, and paddlers there raised enough money to build a Habitat for Humanity house in that community. After steering for some very strong teams, we are sure to see more competition annually there. With 25 teams the first year and lots of enthused dragon boaters, we hope to see a chance to raise enough to build at least two Habitat homes for next year.

View some video.

Montana Dragon Boat Festival

When we first starting discussing this event with the Kalispell Convention & Visitors Bureau, they weren’t sure if they could attract 30 teams. In the end, they closed registration early and accepted 56 teams in the first year! On race day, thousands gathered at Flathead Lake Lodge and more than 100 boats anchored at Flathead Lake to watch the action. Paddlers raised more than $30,000 for various causes. It was so popular, the festival will spread over two days next year.

Check out the scenic video.

Cleveland Dragon Boat Festival

The staff returned to the Cuyahoga in downtown Cleveland this year, where 19 teams gathered to battle it out on the water. Race day was dedicated to the loving memory of Cecilia McGinty, of the Cleveland Dragon Boat Association who lost her 18 month battle with anaplastic lymphoma. Paddles Up Cecilia!

See the video.

Duncan-Williams Dragon Boat Races

In its second year, hoards of people descended on Mud Island River Park in Memphis for the Duncan-Williams Dragon Boat Races. Most estimates put the number of spectators and paddlers at 15,000. Some came via tram, many walked a long distance and all had an excellent time watching teams slough through shallow water on the Wolf River Chute a few hundred meters from the drought ridden Mississippi River. Some of the litter we saw in the water during practice prompted comments from paddlers about raising money for a solution as they pledged to support the Tennessee Clean Water Network.

The winning team uploaded this video.

Cumberland River Dragon Boat Festival

The last race of the season took us to the Cumberland River Dragon Boat Festival, benefiting the Cumberland River Compact, in Nashville. It was the largest event of the race’s history, with 42 teams packing the waterfront downtown across from LP Field. We couldn’t have asked for a better way to end the season – great weather, awesome entertainment (including a dance contest) and fun times.

Here’s some action from Nashville.

Many other videos from the racing season can be viewed on our youtube page.

Producing dragon boat races takes a lot of time, energy and resources. Dynamic Dragon Boat Racing could not continue to take on new business without giving up all the detail oriented work that comes with event planning. Dynamic will provide services to all its clients that are specific to dragon boat event production (like dragon boats, steerers, race production), and other ancillary services. For all the dragon boat paddlers out there, you should not notice a significant difference – except that you will be hearing more from your charity contact and see our smiling faces at the captain’s meeting, practices and race day!

We are excited about evolving into a full race day management and logistics company, as well as continuing our support of charities and their dragon boat events to give participants the best dragon boat experience possible. Growth in clientele from several cities from around the country has been steady for the last few years; it is the right time to transition. In 2013, Dynamic is expected to be contracted for more than 15 dragon boat races this year. Its sole focus will be working the logistics and management of these events, and all the intricate detail that involves. We’ll be very busy, and also building on the growth already established. We look forward to making waves in several cities next year. Check out the current 2013 season dates.

Paddles Up!

Dragon Boat Race On The Cumberland from Russ Anthony 411 on Vimeo.

Dragon Boat Race On The Cumberland from Russ Anthony 411 on Vimeo.

2012 Dragon Boat Races on Flathead Lake, Montana from GravityShots.com on Vimeo.

After reflecting briefly on the recent inaugural Dragon Boat Races produced by the beneficiary, The Junior League of Tuscaloosa, I couldn’t help put into perspective its impact and other such events regularly have on my life. It is fun to travel the country to produce and manage dragon boat events, but there is much more to it than blowing into town, doing work and then hitting the next stop on the tour. Relationships are made, goals are met and success stories born.

In the case of Tuscaloosa, I started talking with the all-female organization for several months before they signed a contract and hired me for various services, including promotion, team management, race logistics, boat rental and steerer/coaching expertise. I worked with a chair, co-chair and various subcommittee chairs to implement this first-year race. From site visit to race day, it was as if we followed some pre-arranged path to complete all the minute details and tasks to meet or exceed our collective expectations. From the feedback I heard, the answer was overwhelmingly a score! That makes us all happy.

I replay the good times from practices and race day over and over in my mind, from working with an incredible group of people to coaching fun teams, including the Hampton Inn (Team Hampt-On It!) paddlers and their sweatbands, wristband, high socks and endless energy. There was the drummer who looked like Jack Sparrow I saw in the ladies restroom, sure I’d stepped into the wrong door, and I can’t forget steering in the final races. Early in the day, I told Sarah no one should allowed in the marshaling area, except paddlers and she said, “OK, I’m going to plant a big pregnant chick there.” Two minutes later, there was a very pregnant woman and two other women making sure only paddlers entered. It was funny!

Everything fell right into place on race day, exhibiting our hard work in a flow of ease and excitement. We did it – together, in the same innate manner dragon boat racing itself bonds a team. We had a blast, cleaned up, laughed, hugged, left town, reviewed memories of the experience and pondered the wonderment of years to come with the client, the community, the fundraising, every advantage the event has to offer that we all embraced. We’ll be back to do it all over again! What a lucky dragon boat life!

Sharing our legacy helps communicate where we’re coming from in relationships with other people. We all look at the world from different eyes. When we seek to see what others view from their own perspective and life experiences we listen and respond better to one another.

I’ve wondered why I feel like I’m in such a hurry to impart this concept to others until I realized your legacy sometimes changes in correlation with life occurrences. While I’ve worked hard and enjoyed watching my clientele grow as does Dynamic Dragon Boat Racing, adding new races on the 2012 calendar, it’s been a tough year personally. Actually, the past four years have been marred with loss, starting with the death my friend of 14 years, Karen, who had Stage IV breast cancer. After a wrenching two-year medical battle and then her death, and when I felt like sufficient time had passed and I wasn’t as heartbroken, we lost my husband’s Aunt Karen whom we loved dearly just before 2011. She had suddenly fell ill on Thanksgiving Day, with a high heart rate. She died a week after we returned home from the holiday trip. It developed and happened so quickly, we hadn’t really coped with it when a little more than two months later, we lost again. On the anniversary of our friend Karen’s death, I had a very nice time catching up with our mutual friend, Scott, from college. I loved him like a brother; he couldn’t believe  how many people he knew our age were dying too young of various causes. He died in a car wreck four days later. He was the type to take care of people. Everyone he cared about, as a matter of fact. Both Karens were opinionated, but difference makers. I called my friend Karen “Bossy Rossy,” and that trait cut short a promising teaching career. Aunt Karen, we learned from her obituary, pioneered research that led to a growth tissue for burn victims at Akron Children’s Hospital. When she was alive, we didn’t know the extent of the impact she had on people. We knew she was making a difference, but we didn’t know how far-reaching and lasting until she was gone. She often wanted to know more about us, or have a pleasant discussion, which left its own legacy.

We make choices every day, and those ultimate decisions or actions lead to our legacies. Sometimes that may not entail making life-changing advances. Our legacy includes the way we make others feel about themselves, how we work together. I’ve lost three very close people in my life the last four years, with other deaths and loss in between as well. I obviously hope this fate changes very soon. I focus on my life, the people in it, and my work. It’s not only about dragon boat racing and the spiritual passion it evokes in almost everyone. It’s also the inherent community surrounding raising money for charity, making a difference; for me, it’s very fulfilling to show people they can make a difference – it gives me hope. Little by little our combined legacies will gain momentum, so much that we’ll never know the true impact.