Lake Phalen Festival

July 15, 2007

Our Maiden Voyage – The Lake Phalen Festival

Hello to everyone from the Dragon Divas!

With coffee in our hands and anticipation in our hearts, the Dragon Divas team and their friends and family gathered at 8:00 am on July 15, in the Johnson High School parking lot to journey to Lake Phalen together. It was a warm and sunny day—the perfect setting for our first race of the 2007 season!

Along with our family and friends we set up our tent as our home-base, stocked with coolers full of ice, water and snacks.

Dragon Boat

We enthusiastically donned our newly-designed team T-shirts and matching armbands. In true team spirit, each armband was imprinted with the name of a Diva woman who was not able to participate in this race. The team flag, lovingly created by Cory and her sister Cindy, proudly flew above the boat.

Excitement built as the boats hit the water and teams polished their techniques during the practice rounds. We were ready to race!

"Sternsmen, are you ready?"
"Yes!"
"Paddlers READY …
SET…
GO!"

On cue, we took off under the direction of our competent sternsman and drummer. Onlookers reported that we looked fantastic on the water—we even made the WCCO News! Our team enthusiasm carried our well-synchronized team through the approximately 300-meter course, with our boat bravely (yet proudly) finishing last in the combined time trials. Our last place time trial finish, however, was set off very nicely by our first place Team Spirit Award!

Although we we took home two awards, the greatest reward from the day came from breathing in the fresh lake air, soaking in the camaraderie of such strong women, and reveling in the comments from numerous appreciative people about the importance of our mission to build awareness of living fully after breast cancer.

Again, our thanks go to Healtheast for their generous contribution which is helping us spread this important message.

If you are interested in supporting the team, or if you’d like to learn how you can join the team, contact Mary Skyrpek at mamaskry@aol.com.

Our next festival is in Fort Dodge on July 21 and 22. Paddlers ready!