Organizers Promise Bigger, Better Dragon Boat Upstate Festival
By Allison Walsh
The Dragon Boat Upstate Festival will return to Lake Hartwell this spring, after taking a year off to get all high tech on the fundraising side of things.Organizers promise the changes to this year's event will make life easier for team captains on the front end and more fun for everyone on race day.
One of the biggest changes is moving the race from its traditional October date to April 17. "We wanted to get out of football season and kick off the lake season with this event," says Jim Kaltenbach, director of the cancer service line for Greenville Hospital System University Medical Center's Office of Philanthropy and Partnership, the entity that organizes the event for the benefit of the GHS Cancer Center.
And what better way to welcome warmer weather than by filling Portman Marina with a flotilla of festive watercrafts with mythical beasts at their helm, and filling the shore with a few hundred hale and hearty revelers?
"For $100 you can spend a full day with your friends on the water, all while doing something tremendous for families in the Upstate," Kaltenbach says.
If you're new to dragon boating, here's the skinny. Teams of 20 paddlers are each led by a drummer who perches at the front of the boat and keeps everyone on cadence. Boats compete in heats on a 200-meter course, and each race typically lasts two to three minutes. The minimum entry fee is $2500, which buys a boat, a tent, and 25t-shirts, but teams are encouraged to raise as much beyond that as they are able. This year team captains will have technology on their side, with a brand new web site for fundraising and communicating with team members.
On the competitive scale, teams range from "out for blood” to “out for a nice day on the water.” Some boats may be filled with testosterone-charged college kids looking to take home the gold, while others will include cancer survivors currently undergoing treatment, who may not even lift a paddle, but for whom the event holds great hope.
Harper Corporation is returning as the title sponsor, and as a fierce competitor, having finished mere 100ths of a second behind the lead team in the 2008 event. Company president Doug Harper says the event fits with his company’s mission to giveback, and being able to actively participate in the race is appealing to his employees.
“We are excited about this year’s Festival and proud to be the sponsor,” Harper says. “We hope it will be the best yet and allow everyone to share in the excitement of supporting such a worthwhile cause.”
Many of the teams are just as serious about their tailgate as they are their times, and the atmosphere on the shore is one big party. Kaltenbach and crew have plans to create a more steeplechase-like atmosphere this year, introducing what he calls “boutique tailgating.” Plans call for a village of tents where teams can eat, drink and be merry while awaiting their turn on the water.
As fun as the festival is,there is a serious mission behind the madness – raising money to support research and rehab at the GHS Cancer Center.
"When you see what Dr. Larry Gluck and his team are doing to take on cancer, you know this is the A-team,and they need our support," says Caleb Freeman, a local developer who introduced dragon boating to the Upstate four years ago as a way to generate financial support for the cancer research being done right here in Greenville.
Freeman's boat will honor Mike Wootten, a close friend and former law school classmate who lost his battle to cancer last summer. The Wootten's Wingsteam will consist of Wootten's family members and old law school buddies.
"Mike and his family had planned to participate this year, but he passed away in June," Freeman says. "We'll be paddling in his honor to help beat cancer. It’s an opportunity to fight one more battle on his behalf."
One beneficiary of DragonBoat fundraising is Moving On, an oncology rehab program facilitated through the GHS Cancer Center and Life Center. The program is individually tailored to each patient’s circumstances and incorporates exercise, massage, nutritional and psychological counseling, and education. Linda Hillman, oncology program development coordinator for the Cancer Center, will captain a team made up of program participants.
"Being involved in something they have direct benefit from as well as helping other people - they're really fired up about it," Hillman says.
