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The First Pensacola Dragon Boat Races

Dragon Boat races! What fun! Oh wait – what exactly is a dragon boat? What is a dragon boat race? This is the first time we have seen this done, benefiting the Gulf Coast Kid’s House, but what is it? Organized by the Northeast SERTOMA (Service to Mankind), there are so many people involved, racers, helpers, supporters, cheering squads, food providers, live music, DJ’s, dogs, children, now this is a Pensacola kind of day. 🙂

AdventureMan invited our grandson to spend the night, and after breakfast we headed over to Bayview Park, where the dragon boats were loading up with 20 rowers and one drummer/leader in each boat for the first heat of the race:

00DragonBoatRaceSign

00DragonBoatRaceDrummer

00DragonRaceHeadingtoStart

00DragonBoatAppRiverTeam

 

 

 

 

00DragonDrummer

There was a drone flying over the races. I am guessing it was a local news drone, but I find drones creepy and intrusive. I think I would like crime-prevention drones, flying around neighborhoods looking for suspicious activity, but in general, drones creep me out.00DragonDrone

I liked this team; they were called the Justice Dragons and were sponsored by a local law firm. Every team had distinctive T-shirts, but this team also had these colorful hats, which as the day goes on, they will seriously be thankful to have.00JusticeDragonTeam

00DragonTeamLeader

 

 

It is a GREAT day for a race. And for such a good cause!00GreatMorningDragonRace

Coming in for a finish – I don’t know who is having a better time, the rowers or the audience. Hoots and hollers and bells and whistles and yelling . . . . there is a huge crowd at Bayview, and it is barely 8 in the morning.00DragonBoatsNeckandNeck

Three teams are really close as they near the finish line . . . 00NeckAndNeck

 

and then THIS team, below, picks up the pace in a serious way and totally WHOOPS the other two teams, catching them by surprise.00BluePullsAhead

 

 

By ten, it is getting steamy and we head home. There so many great teams and they are having such a great team. This is a really fun event, and they are having a lot of fun. How cool is that, having so much fun, meeting a lot of people and it’s all going towards a great cause?

 

Below is the big win 🙂00StuderTeamWinsBig

September 6, 2014 Posted by | Adventure, Community, Cultural, Events, Exercise, Family Issues, Fund Raising, Interconnected, Living Conditions, Parenting | , , | Leave a comment