ROW, ROW, ROW YOUR BOAT
Third Dragon Boat Festival slated for Saturday
Texarkana will have boatloads of fun Saturday as the third annual Dragon Boat Festival takes to Bringle Lake.
The family-friendly event is the largest fundraiser for HandsOn Texarkana and is becoming increasingly popular among participants and spectators, said Kathey Graves, the organization’s executive director.
Currently, 20 teams are entered, she said. In the 42-foot-long boats, teams consist of 20 rowers seated in pairs, a drummer or caller facing the rowers and someone who steers, Graves said.
Each team will take to the 300-meter course on three separate occasions through the day.
A person from a local business competing in Texarkana’s Dragon Boat Festival’s previous two years recently told Graves the event was the most effective team-building exercise the company had conducted.
The public is encouraged to bring their lawn chairs or blankets and come watch all the fun.
There will be music, food vendors, races and more.
Spectators will park between Bringle Lake and Texas A&M University-Texarkana. From there, they can walk or take a T-Line shuttle to the watch the day’s events.
HandsOn Texarkana has set a goal of raising $25,000 to $30,000 this year. The money will be used to support its programs in the community providing seniors transportation, youth volunteerism, a skilled-parenting program, disaster preparedness and its program which helps local nonprofits find needed volunteers.
“We use this money to promote the programs in the community so we don’t have to charge any recipients of our programs. This fundraiser supports all those programs,” Graves said.
High Five Dragon Boat LLC provides the boats for the races and produces the event. A few team slots remain, Graves said. For more information, go to www.highfivedragonboat.com.
Practice runs are required and begin
Thursday.
On race day, teams start arriving at 7:30 a.m. and the first race begins at 9 a.m. Races are expected to end about 3 p.m., and an awards ceremony will follow.