Mother Nature behaved herself — mostly — as a record number of paddlers took to Kempenfelt Bay on Saturday for the 20th annual Barrie Dragon Boat Festival.
The event, hosted by the Barrie Public Library and presented by Tim Hortons at Heritage Park, saw 36 teams take part this year, noted library CEO Lauren Jessop, who joined staff to compete in several races throughout the day.
“We’ve lucked out with the weather… and it’s a really great turnout this year. There are lots of new people and, of course, lots of people returning,” she said. “This is the library’s 20th anniversary of the Dragon Boat Festival in Barrie, so we are very excited to be celebrating that milestone as well with everyone here.”
Jessop admitted she and library staff had been keeping a close eye on the weather forecast all week, keeping their fingers crossed that the event could occur.
“It was touch and go with the weather all week to see if we’d be able to be out here on the water, but it’s been great,” she said, adding the team was just getting ready for its third and final race of the day. “We were a little slow this morning, but we had a great time out there. Our second race, we did really well. We came in second, so we were really happy with that. It’s just really nice being out on the water together.”
Matt McCutcheon was on hand to cheer on the Bartomis Survivors. He told BarrieToday it was the first time he’d come out to enjoy the festival.
“We are having a lot of fun,” he said.
“It’s a good community event,” Renee McGahey added.
Nickey Walsh has been a co-captain with Team Catulpa Support Services for the past six years. She said the festival is a great way for staff and clients to get out on the water together and have a good time.
“Our boat is half clients and half staff and friends,” she said, adding Catulpa is a not-for-profit community agency that works with adults with intellectual disabilities who live independently. “This is such a rewarding day because it’s not work. It’s just an amazing day.”
Nestor Morales was the drummer for the team and said it made him happy to be able to lead the dragon boat team. He has been taking part in the event for the past five years.
“It’s for a good cause,” he said.
Freeman St. Louis has been taking part for the past 11 years.
“It’s fun and you get to meet a lot of new people. I like the team,” he said, adding he plans to do it again next year. “It’s great for the community and it’s also good to be with the team and to communicate with people and teach the new people how to do it.”
Vicky Schenk, director of services at Catulpa, said the organization’s mission is to be inclusive in the community, and as the Dragon Boat Festival is a community event, it’s a perfect fit.
“It was a lot of fun. It’s a highlight. We have so much fun doing it,” she said.
Team Honda had more than 50 paddlers taking part in the event, said Aaron Robinson.
“We have two boats,” he said, adding the company has participated every year since the festival started. “Being one of the largest employers in Simcoe County, it’s really important for us to be involved in the community. One of Honda’s tenets is to be the company that society wants to exist, so supporting events like this is very important to us.”
He said seeing the teams grow and improve with each race was rewarding.
“It’s only three races, but seeing the development throughout each race, the synchronicity gets a little better each time. We feel like we are growing along the way,” he said. “For me, it’s really fun to watch that happen for people who’ve never been here before and see them pick it up as they go. Being on the boat and out on the water is just really exciting for me.”
