Dragon Boat Festival boasts teamwork and community
Published 12:10 am Tuesday, July 30, 2024
Daniel Matangira, chairman of the Dragon Boat Festival committee, second from right, chats with Representative Harry Warren, far left, Kombo Choga and Terry Osborne.
Teams took their places in the boats at the launching area. — Karen Kistler
Teams gather lifejackets and paddles to prepare for the race. — Karen Kistler
Jessica Corum, right, was the winner of gthe Dragon Baot Festival Parade. She is pictured with Livingstone College’s WLJZ 107.1 radio station, with station manager Mz. Good Newz. — Karen Kistler
Athlete tents were set up in Athlete Village. — Karen Kistler
Some of the estimated 5,000 attendees gathered on the shore. — Karen Kistler
The Miami Dragon Slayers won the gold medal in the A Division Championship race. — Submitted by Sandra Ketchie
Boat team members waited in the marshaling area to board the boats. — Karen Kistler
The Freightliner Fury, Daimler Truck North America team, won gold in the C Division championship race. — Karen Kistler
Dragon Fish, The Fish Bowl team claimed the gold medal in the B Division championship race. — Karen Kistler
Food trucks were on site for attendees toget some lunch. — Karen Kistler
This team digs deep to get to the finish line. — Karen Kistler
Teamwork is what works during the Dragon Boat races. — Karen Kistler
Teams head out from launch area to go to the starting point. — Karen Kistler
Boaters had a close view of the action as the Dragon Boats went past. — Karen Kistler
Another team raises their oars for the winning Miami Dragon Slayers to pass through. — Karen Kistler
The drummer set the beat for the rowers to get in rhythm. — Karen Kistler
These two teams stay close during the competition. — Karen Kistler
The Rowan Young Professionals team makes their way to the start of the race. — Karen Kistler
The Rowan Young Professionals drummer beats the drum, setting a pace for the team.— Karen Kistler
These three teams made it a close race. — Karen Kistler
Heads down and racing hard, teams head for the finish line. — Karen Kistler
Dragon Boat racers are thick in the battle for a win. — Karen Kistler
Digging deep, these racers workd to win their particular race. — Karen Kistler
Freightliner Fury, in foreground in purple shirts, work their way to the finish line against their competititors. — Karen Kistler
(Editor’s note: After several conversations, both internal and external, we decided to change the headline from Tuesday’s story about the Dragon Boat Festival. The original headline was insensitive and tone deaf. It should not have been used. We apologize to everyone that saw it and will strive to do better moving forward. Thank you for reading.)
SALISBURY — A steady beating of drums, the chanting of 1-2-3-4-5 by the teams, and the sound as the paddles dipped in the water marked the moving of the dragon boats from the launching area to the starting point of each race at the Dragon Boat Festival.
Thirty-one teams participated in this 10th annual event held Saturday at High Rock Lake beginning at 9 a.m. and concluding after 3 p.m. with multiple heats to determine which teams would claim the title of A, B and C Division Championship winners, earning gold, silver and bronze medals.
Those winning these distinctions included, in the A Division, all club teams, gold medal winner “Miami Dragon Slayers” (club champions); silver medal “Charlotte Fury;” and bronze medal “Organized Chaos Charlotte.”
In the B division, champions were gold medalists, “Dragon Fish,” The Fish Bowl; silver medal team was “Lion’s Pride,” Food Lion; and bronze medal winner was “Paddle With Pride,” Salisbury Pride.
Champions in the C Division were “Freightliner Fury,” Daimler Trucks North America, earning the gold medal; “Lion’s Roar,” Food Lion, winning the silver medal; and “Filthy Oars,” White Rabbit, taking home the bronze medal.
Strokes of Genius from F&M Bank were the community team champions, with the quickest community team race time.
Additional medals were presented to consolation winners in each division as well.
Races took place on the lake with a large crowd of spectators watching from the shore under tents, on bleachers in a spectators area and on boats, which were anchored in the water allowing them to get an up-close view of the action.
Elaine Spalding, president of the Rowan County Chamber of Commerce, said there were an estimated 5,000 people at the annual event.
“Usually, we do an estimate based on the number of teams just because every team brings at least 25 people and then they have lots of friends and family that come as well,” she said.
Daniel Matangira, who is with Rhema Transportation and the chair of this year’s Dragon Boat Festival, said they had “a full maximum of teams allowed by the sponsors and organizers of 31 teams” and while they could have had as many as 35 teams it would have called for a very early start and a very late ending to the festival he said.
He said that they estimated between 4,500 to 6,000 people that would be there, “and from the look of it, we definitely have climaxed over the 4,500 mark and people are still coming and going.”
Matangira, who will serve as the chairman of the festival again next year, expressed his gratitude for the community that had come to show their support, for the sponsors, the families, the weather which cooperated for the day and for Spalding, who he said, put on “an unmatched, unequaled Dragon Boat Festival this year.”
“This is an exciting day for all of us,” he said, noting that this is a “very good team building exercise.”
Spalding likewise gave thanks to Matangira and the festival committee, who she said “did a great job,” and to the sponsors and vendors.
“Everybody has been great,” Spalding said, adding that they “couldn’t do it without the wonderful sponsors that have helped us put this on, because it really is a big team effort.”
The area surrounding High Rock Lake was filled with cheering fans encouraging the teams as the boats made their way from the launching area to the starting point and once the signal to start was sounded, the teams, working as one, quickly made their way down the course and crossed the finished line, sometimes by boat lengths and other times in a photo finishing requiring a review of the tape to make the call of who won.
Doug Rice, Performance Racing Network president and lead anchor, served as the race announcer and called the races.
There was a lot of celebrating taking place throughout the day as teams returned to the launching area knowing they had just won their particular heat or had won in their championship round.
When the Miami Dragon Slayers team got out of their boat, there were hugs and high-fives, and they were honored as another team raised their oars like cross swords for the gold medal winners to walk through.
Debbie Schelmety, who served as leader of the team, said “winning is confidence and team camaraderie. It’s all about team.”
The team, Schelmety said, has been together since 2006; however, this was their first time to be at the event.
When the “Freightliner Fury” team won their heat, Brian Smith, director of production at Daimler, said they were “excited to compete here as a team.”
Adam Bouck, who served as the leader of the Salisbury Police Front Liners team, won their particular race and took gold in the A Division consolation round, said the race was “pretty awesome. This is our first race as a team ever. We got out there today and everybody clicked and everybody was in sync, and it worked out great.”
This team included multiple first responders including members of the Salisbury Fire Department, Salisbury Police Department, Rowan County EMS, an ER nurse, one from the Alamance Sheriff’s Office and an orthopedic clinic nurse.
Strokes of Genius has been a part of this event all 10 years, said Steve Fisher, F&M Bank CEO and incoming chamber board president. They have also been three time champions, he said with a grin, and this year earned a gold medal in the A division consolation round.
Fisher said that what he enjoys about this event is “how much excitement is built around the community.”
And while he said it’s not the direct goal of the event, “being able to bring in young people and involve them in commerce in our community and make those connections and do that networking” is also a special thing that happens at the festival.
Terry Osborne, current chamber board president, likewise mentioned seeing young people at the event and how as a former teacher, seeing all the youth involved in the dragon boats is phenomenal.
He said that “each year, there’s more and more people that see how successful it is, and they want to get involved in it.”
Tonya Barber, who served as the team captain for Strokes of Genius, and is the operations officer at the bank, said that there were many returning members on their team, with differing ages, and Fisher added that some were really young and others were retired.
When asked how she got the team ready to race, Barber said with a grin that she threatens them after which Fisher said that Barber “has had a passion for this since the first day, and she gets our entire team excited.”
Food Lion, which had two teams competing with both taking home medals in the championship rounds, could be seen cheering each other on during the races.
After winning their first race by a large margin, Joshua Osting, a Lion’s Roar team member, said that it was tiring as they made their way across the finish line.
Robin Ingram, also a member of the Lions Roar team, said this was her first time on the team, but she “wanted to try it out and see what I could do.”
When asked what it feels like as they are making their rowing, she said, “you’ve got to give it your all. It’s very powerful, you’ve got to dig deep.”
Some come to have fun and that’s what Donna Groce, who spoke on behalf of the Trinity Oaks team which includes all the Trinity Oaks services, said
“We come out here to have some fun. We’re not as competitive as some, but we sure have a great time.”
And that great time could be seen throughout the day as in addition to the races, there was entertainment provided by Livingstone College’s WLJZ 107.1 radio station, with station manager Mz. Good Newz, offering commentary. She also emceed a Dragon Boat Festival Parade and dance competition with Jessica Corum, representing RCCC, taking home the trophy.
There were other games and raffle drawings held during the event as well, and there were plenty of food and beverage trucks providing lots of options for the lunch time.
Many shared how special the event is to them, and as each spoke, teamwork and community were at the top of the list of why the event meant so much to them.
Mayor Karen Alexander said she had been to each of the 10 festivals and it’s the “camaraderie that the people within the boats have, even between the teams, even though obviously there’s competition, there’s also just a really good feeling.”
She also mentioned how the event brings in economic development and tourism because many of the competitors are not from this area.
Kathleen Evans, regional director of external affairs for AT&T, which served as a community sponsor, said for her it was important to be at the event because “it’s such a key community event. We have vendors here, teams here, community leaders here, nonprofit organizations. So it’s very community based, and we are proud to be here because AT&T serves its community.”
Fisher stressed how the event is about teamwork and how the bank’s team works as a team both in their weekly jobs and in winning a boat race
“We have to do it together, and teamwork is the key,” he said.
N.C. House Representative Harry Warren was on hand for the festival as he said he felt it was “absolutely critical to be here because it gives you an opportunity to be accessible to folks.”
He added that “it’s also a good day for relaxation and seeing the community play.”
Makayla Fortner came to watch her mom race with the VA employees team. And while it was her first time to attend, she said she would probably be back.
There’s excitement that is almost visible at the Dragon Boat Festival, and Spalding said that feeling carries over into the next week as she said that people mention everybody high-fiving each other and talking about how much fun it was. She said that CEO’s are there and this event provides a time to get to know each other better outside the work setting.
“It’s a casual atmosphere to get to know some of your employees a little bit better, and get to meet their family members and so it’s just a really fun summertime community event,” she said.
The committee is already working on next year’s festival and are noting things they want to improve on, said Spalding and would welcome new volunteers and new teams that want to participate.
The teams pull together and encourage each other.
In feedback, local businesses have shared that this event “is the best team building exercise they do all year long because you really do have to be in sync with your fellow teammates to make the boat just lift on top of the water and glide along,” said Spalding.
Ingram said it was shouts of encouragement that could be heard coming from the boats as they prepared to line up for the race. Just as the drum beats were to get them a beat in their head and get a rhythm going, the “shouts were encouraging us to keep us on beat, keep us on task.”
