13th Annual Dragonboat Festival

This is the 13th annual Dragonboat Festival sponsored by Harbortown Rotary. Mike founded the Harbortown event when he got the idea about 15 years ago and heard of the Dragonboat Festival in Thunder Bay. He went to Canada to check it out and witnessed 80 teams participating. He had a vision and took the idea back to Duluth to get the ball rolling. The Superior Rotary Club joined in. It is held in Superior, WI, behind Barker's Island, a perfect isolated area that's calm. They have 53 races in one day. This year they have 83 teams so far. Each team is in a class with others of similar skill. The gold, silver and bronze teams each offer their own medals. This has grown to become Superior's largest annual event. Many Rotary Clubs participate as well as business sponsored teams. The Duluth Club #25 team is called "A Touch of Gray" and now the Superior Sunrise Club is forming a team. The Festival starts with a ceremony of Awakening the Dragon on Friday August 22 and ends after the races and awards ceremony is completed and the Dragon is put to sleep at the end of Saturday August 23. If our club is interested in forming a team, it is not only a good fundraiser, but as a Rotary based festival there's lots of synergy and fellowship.