Since 2002 – The Dragon Boat Festival has been a family fun event for the good of the Superior, Wisconsin community. 

The Lake Superior Dragon Boat Festival (LSDBF) is organized, operated and staffed by Rotary Club of Superior for the good of our community. These members who are local residents of the Twin Ports area have created this family fun event to better the community and experiences of the people within it. Since 2002, LSDBF has raised over $1.3 million to support charitable organizations in the Twin Ports.

LSDBF supports the mission of Rotary International: to provide service to others, promote integrity, and advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace through its fellowship of business, professional, and community leaders.

Rotary International consists of 1.2 million members and 33,000 clubs in over 200 countries worldwide.

From Wikipedia:

A dragon boat is a human-powered watercraft originating from the Pearl River Delta region of China’s southern Guangdong Province. These were made of teak, but in other parts of China different kinds of wood are used. It is one of a family of traditional paddled long boats found throughout Asia, Africa, the Pacific islands, and Puerto Rico. The sport of dragon boat racing has its roots in an ancient folk ritual of contending villagers, which dates back 2000 years throughout southern China, and even further to the original games of Olympia in ancient Greece.

The crew of a standard dragon boat typically consists of 22 team members: 20 paddlers in pairs facing toward the bow of the boat, 1 drummer or caller at the bow facing toward the paddlers, and 1 steerer standing at the rear of the boat.^[3] Dragon boats, however, do vary in length and the crew size changes accordingly, from small dragon boats with only 10 paddlers up to traditional boats which have upwards of 50 paddlers, plus drummer(s) and steerer.

Paddlers
Pairs of paddlers sit facing forward in the boat, and use a specific type of paddle which, unlike equipment used in rowing, is not rigged to the boat in any way. The paddlers face the direction of boat-movement, dragon boaters thus “paddle,” like a canoe; while rowers “row” travelling opposite the way they face as in Olympic sculling.

The first pair of paddlers, called “pacers,” “strokes” or “timers,” set the pace for the team and are responsible for synchronizing their strokes with one another, because it is critical that all paddlers are synchronized. The direction of the dragon boat while racing is set by the steerer, but for docking and other maneuvers, individual paddlers may be asked to paddle (while others either stop the boat or rest) according to the commands given by the drummer or steerer.

There are generally three different strokes used by paddlers: a (normal) forward stroke, a backstroke, and a draw stroke.

Drummer
The pulsation of the drum beats produced by the drummer may be considered the “heartbeat” of the dragon boat. The drummer leads the paddlers throughout a race using the rhythmic drum beat to indicate the frequency and synchronization of all the paddlers’ strokes (that is, the cadence, picking up or accelerating the pace, slowing the rate, etc.).

Steerer
The direction of a dragon boat’s movement is controlled by the steerer standing in the back of the boat. Many terms exist for the person steering the boat, such as steerer, steersperson, steerman, sweep, and helm.

The steerer manipulates a long (typically 9-feet) straight oar, called a steering oar. The steering oar is situated in a mechanism that holds the oar in place, called oar lock. The oar lock can be in a variety of designs, so long as it holds the oar in place and allows it to pivot. It is housed on top of the steering arm, which sticks out perpendicularly on the back-left of a dragon boat.

YES! This is a family friendly event and there will be activities throughout the day for the kids to enjoy. 

We will have an hour practice – time to be determined, but I will try to get Friday, August 23, 2024 in the evening. 

Saturday, August 25, 2024, likely will be from 8 am – 3 pm. Last year, we qualified for a third race. 

NOPE – just a willingness to have fun, learn and work together as a team. 

And, listen to Tonya give directions very loudly 😉 

Exodus Global will provide breakfast, lunch, snacks and beverages. You might want to bring some cash for food and beverage trucks. 

I also suggest bringing extra clothes – you might get a little wet from the paddling.  And, we all know good ol’ Lake Superior – the winds can change in a matter of minutes. 

The Rotary provides the boats, the lifejackets and the paddles. 

We encourage anyone who wants to volunteer to participate. However, travel to the event would be out of pocket. Those of us who live local would be happy to host you if you decide to travel to spend the weekend with us. 

The 23rd Veteran mission is to provide happier, healthier lives for veterans living with trauma. 

Ten years after serving in combat the founder of 23rd Veteran returned to hope and happiness. Seeing many of his Marine Corps brothers and sisters continue that struggle, he vowed to grow an organization that could give them a chance to earn their happiness.

Personal trainers, positive psychologists, and military personnel collectively created the 23V Recon Playbook. A unique 14-week full-exposure and holistic approach to removing the negative effects of trauma. Based on self-reported data, this is one of the most effective programs developed for military and veterans who’ve experienced trauma.

100% of graduates have reported living a happier and higher quality of life. Many graduates have returned to the workforce, healthier family lives, and stronger contributors to their community.

• Visit the Exodus Global Gliders team page. (Will update the link once we have received it). 
• See Amber to complete a payroll deduction form