Dragon Boating in Haliburton County
Lillian’s Salsa
Lime juice- usually from two limes
Cumin, salt, bit of sugar, Cilantro
Peaches (mango), Black beans
Tomato or red pepper –Roma tomatoes give less pulp and seeds to remove
Green onion, Red or Spanish onion
Yellow/orange pepper
No real measures for anything though extra amount of the peaches works best. If have a chance to make the night before, the flavours blend better.
Haliburton made its mark at the Barrie Dragon Boat Festival on Saturday August 26th, 2017. The three-race effort paid off, our team getting faster with each race: the Haliburton Highlands Paddlers placed second in the festival’s Female Consolation final.
In addition to our regular twice-a-week mixed (men & women) sessions on the water, race coach Lois Deacon had previously held two special Thursday evening practices just for the Barrie Festival team and made sure, on the day, that the 21-member (20 paddlers plus drummer) all-women team had fun, paddled hard and paddled in unison.
Our club chairperson and race drummer, Elli, was pleased with Saturday’s results, saying “it is unfortunate that we ended up in the Consolation Finals, our Consolation Final time was actually faster than all of the times posted in the Women’s main finals.”
Saturday marked the Barrie festival’s 15th year and a total of 48 teams from across Ontario competed. The atmosphere was great, the weather was superb and the venue was stunning.
Dragon boaters were asked to be mindful of the need in their local communities, Festival organizers specifying that each team should raise a minimum of $500 for a local charity.
The Haliburton Highlands Paddlers raised $1,696.00 to be shared by the Haliburton Food Bank and the Rowan Pettinella Fund!
Haliburton Highlands Paddlers competes in two dragon boat festivals each year. In June, our mixed team won a silver medal at the Port Perry Festival.
The Haliburton Highlands Paddlers, a women’s and men’s club, paddles two days per week on Monday and Wednesday at 7 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. New members are always welcome.
The club’s 41-foot dragon boat, Susanna Foo, affectionately known as ‘the Foo’, is moored at the Patient News dock on Haliburton’s Grass Lake from May till mid-September, after which she is wrapped and stored for the winter at Haliburton RPM.
This year’s very successful season is about to draw to a close, with our last on-water session being Wednesday 5:30pm, Sept. 13th.
On Thursday Aug. 31st, our 54-member club hosted its annual Coaches Appreciation Night at the Fish Hatchery. All the members of our club join in giving a great big thanks to our volunteer (& excellent!) coaches; Scotty Boyd, Lois Deacon, Janine Papadopoulos and Marg Cox, without whom there would be no “Foo Paddles Up” in Haliburton!
A very successful on-water steering clinic was held this season, with 6 participants from our club signing up for the two Sunday afternoon sessions on July 30th and August 13th. The clinic was conducted by two of our coaches, Lois Deacon and Scotty Boyd. Other members of our club supported the steering clinic by coming out to paddle for the two sessions.
Not content with sitting in Susanna Foo to paddle, these 6 brave new steerspersons had the opportunity to stand up in the back of the boat and learn to steer her, while coping with other boats, waves, and Scotty and Lois instructing them on what to do!
The purpose of the steering clinic was to give members of the Haliburton Highlands Paddlers an opportunity to increase their dragon boating skills and knowledge, beyond paddling. In addition, having a number of steerspersons in our club is a huge advantage as it gives coaches the opportunity to move to the bow (that’s the front of the boat!) to better focus on paddlers’ skill and syncronization improvements, instead of always viewing them from the stern (that’s the back!), whilst they are themselves steering.
The Haliburton Highlands Paddlers thanks the Coaches who organized and ran this clinic, the 6 new steerspersons each of whom took a deep breath and stepped forward to participate (& were very happy they did so … afterwards!), and the ‘strong’ HHP paddlers who came out on a Sunday to paddle the boat (with reduced numbers since the steerspersons used up 6 paddling seats!). Without those willing member paddlers, there would have been no clinic!
As our club continues to grow in strength, skills and dragon boat knowledge, such volunteerism is greatly appreciated!
Date and time: August 31, 2017, 6:00 pm
Location: Fish Hatchery, 6712 Gelert Road
Cost: $15.00 cash payment at the door
Bring: – Place setting – plate/cutlery
– a friend
Come and express your appreciation to our wonderful coaches for
their many hours of volunteer time to our club.
Where would we be without them?
By Joan Ransberry
Lisa Werry and fellow paddlers “left it all on the lake” at the Port Perry Dragon Boat Festival Saturday, June 17.
Once again, the Haliburton Highlands Paddlers came home with hardware, placing second in the Mixed Division “D” to win a Silver medal.
The Port Perry festival was especially exciting for the 38 participating teams. In keeping with the commands of dragon boating, all eyes were in the boat. However, when boarding the boat at the beginning of each race, competitors looked up to the sky: The storm clouds loomed all day. The weather gods sure teased: the sky opened just as the awards ceremony got underway.
The Haliburton Highlands Paddlers didn’t mind getting drenched. “We waited in the downpour for coach Scotty Boyd and race captain Ginny Carmichael to hand out our hard-earned medals,” said Joannie Ransberry.
An especially proud competitor, Lisa Werry had one concern at the end of the third and final race.
“I wasn’t sure if I had enough energy left to get out of the boat,” said Lisa.
Team coach Scotty Boyd was very pleased with the results of the day. “The team did a fantastic job, especially in the last race,” Scotty said. “We had four first-time paddlers. They did a great job.”
First-time paddler Julia Donnelly came away from the race very impressed: “Everything was wonderful,” said Julia. “I had a great time.”
The Haliburton Highlands Paddlers appreciated the efforts of steerspersons Lois Deacon and Lillian Hall and, of course, drummer Jane Boyd.
“It was a very precarious race” said Jane. “I’m just glad my team didn’t dump me in the lake.” Once again, Edna Jamieson gave it her all. “There was lots of spirit from the paddlers, from the coaches and from the volunteers. It has been an amazing day,” Edna said.
The Haliburton team’s focus is now on the next festival to be held in Barrie on Aug. 26.
With a few more paddlers needed for this all-women’s race, a call has gone out to “fill the boat.”
Haliburton Highlands Paddlers chairperson Elli Armstrong is excited to enter the Haliburton team in the Barrie festival. “Last year we walked away with the ‘Rookie of the Year’ award. The Barrie festival is a wonderful venue and promises to be a great day. Let’s fill the boat!”
Dragon boating opened a whole new world for me when I began in 2013. It has included the joy of seeing baby loons, the rising mist, camaraderie, endorphins, laughter and physical exercise. Who knew it could get even better for me when Donna Enright began paddling in 2015.
I had no idea then that the paddling together, and getting to know each other at festivals would lead to a deep friendship and eventually a romantic relationship.
When we decided to get married, a couple of paddlers suggested that we consider arriving at the ceremony by dragon boat. The Club agreed and my friend since high school, Lois Deacon, agreed to coach and steer the crew. We are so very grateful to the Club, crew, fellow paddlers and the community for their support and sharing in our special wedding day.
We were feted with a champagne toast before our send-off on Susana Foo, who has never looked better with her refinishing, lots of fresh layers of varnish and sporting a beautiful dragon head and tail for the boat! What an honour! We were given a tremendous gift from the crew – a signed dragon boat paddle and a beautiful beginning to what we hope will be a long and happy married life together.
We appreciated the sunshine, the excitement, the enthusiasm of our paddling team as they ably paddled us to the town docks, after taking several passes past the band shell in Head Lake Park.
After the ceremony, we were delighted to make our transition into married life with a walk through a paddle arch formed by the crew.
The day was perfect for us with the foundation of a magical dragon boat limo ride, surrounded by friends and cheered on by those on shore.
Donna and I give our heart-felt thanks to the Club, crew, fellow paddlers, coaches, club organizers and leaders and to Lois for helping make this a fantastic launch to our married life together!
Marg Cox