This year’s Festival was a great success thanks to the dedication and commitment of so many people.
A huge thank you to all of our sponsors, vendors, staff, volunteers and, most importantly, all the paddlers who made it such a fun and friendly day on and off the water – the comradery was amazing!
We hope to see everyone return to the
Paddle in Paradise Dragon Boat Festival in 2020.
Circle Saturday, August 15, 2020 in your calendars
and spread the word as we continue to grow our Festival.
Dragon Boat Races
What’s a dragon boat festival without the races?! 27 teams in the festival meant over 500 paddlers and drummers on Octagon Pond! Luckily not all at once! By all reports, a good time was had by all! While everyone was a winner there were some teams that took home medals.
Congratulations to the top finishers of the day and look at how close these times are!
Gold Medal (Sponsor: Body Quest Wellness)
Winner: Rock Island Dragons
Time: 1:10.22 minutes
Silver Medal (Sponsor: Magic Wok Eatery)
Winner: Paradise Running Club
Time: 1:11.61 minutes
Bronze Medal (Sponsor: Lawtons Drugs)
Winner: The Beam Team
Time: 1:12.41 minutes
The top nine teams were in the Championship races
Rock Island Dragons 1:10.22
Paradise Running Club 1:11.61
The Beam Team 1:12.41
MUN Sync or Swim 1:12.83
Town of CBS 1:14.35
Magic Wok 1:14.46
Body Quest Health Heroes 1:17.51
Rock Island Family & Friends 1:19.08
Super Centrals 1:22.92
Congratulations Everyone!!!
Festival Sponsors
Thank you to our Championship Race Sponsors, Body Quest Wellness, Magic
Wok Eatery, and Lawtons Drugs, and Robert Decker for sponsoring Race #19!
Thank you to the Town of Paradise who has been our partner in the Paddle in
Paradise Festival since its inception.
We had many more sponsors and businesses who helped make Paddle in Paradise a success!
Thank you to:
Boston Pizza
Browning Harvey Ltd
Carlson Wagonlit Travel
Celtic Hearth
Coffee Matters
Costco
Desjardin
Dominion Stavanger Drive
Domino’s Pizza
First Copy Duplicating Center
Jill Moores Painting
Kutting Zone
Sheraton Hotel
Shoppers Drug Mart
Sobeys
Spa at the Monastery
Starbucks Paradise
Subway Paradise
Festival Volunteers
Over 55 volunteers came out to support the festival!
We would like to personally thank all our volunteers for their contributions. This event could not have been a success without the help of every single one of you.
Our volunteers helped with: safety boats, start and finish lines, emceeing, taking photographs, distributing life jackets, assisting paddlers to and from the dragon boats, first aid, selling tickets and working the donation booth, delivering food to other volunteers, providing a start boat, working in our Crafts tent, applying tattoos, working the Pretty Potty, and so much more!
We thank you for your dedication in filling essential duties throughout the Festival and hope to see you all again at our next Festival!
Thank you! We could not have had the Festival without you.
A special thank you to the Chinese Community who come to our Festival every year to perform the traditional Lion Dance and awaken the dragons (dotting of the eyes) ceremony. This year, festival participants could get their name written in Chinese as a special treat!
Dragon Boating originated in China over 2,000 years ago and we are so grateful to have these events at our festival! Thank you!
Also, thank you to Albert McDonald and his steersperson crew from Dragonboat East for their on-water expertise once again this year.
Special Guests
Several special guests attended our Pink Carnation Ceremony. This is a special ceremony to honour and remember the many lives that have been touched by breast cancer. We welcomed the Honourable Judy Foote, Lieutenant Governor of NL, his honour Howard Foote, and grand girl Ruby Jade; Paul Dinn, MHA; Ches Crosbie, MHA; Ken McDonald, MP; Nick Whelan, MP; Dan Bobbitt, Mayor of the Town of Paradise; and family and friends of our fellow paddlers who we have lost to breast cancer.
Thank you for sharing this special moment with us.
Top Fundraisers
Paddle in Paradise is the main fundraiser for the Avalon Dragons. As a breast cancer survivor dragon boat team, our fundraising helps us to:
- continue to promote the sport of dragon boating for breast cancer survivors across the province.
- continue to promote the sport of dragon boating to community teams; and
- contribute financially to programs and services that directly impact breast cancer survivors.
The prizes for highest fundraisers were awarded based on monies submitted in cash by Thursday, August 15, 2019 at 9 pm combined with on-line fundraising totals as of midnight, Friday, August 16, 2019.
As of these deadlines the team with the highest fundraising pledges was the Dragonelles at $2,968. Thank you Team Dragonelles!
Honourable mention to:
MUN Sync or Swim $2,728
Beam Team $2,265
KCA Dragons $2,200
Fundraising pledges are accepted until Sept 30, 2019 and we thank the following top nine teams for the donations collected to date:
Memorial Sync or Swim $3,038
Dragonelles $2,968
Lawtons Launchers $2,813
Beam Team $2,325
Breath of Fire $2,275
KCA dragons $2,200
RNU Team Extreme $1,983
Madhatters $1,096
Score to the Core $1,020
Our top Individual Fundraiser is Shirley Thorne, an Avalon Dragon.
Shirley collected $1,570!
The fundraising efforts were amazing! Thank you!
Most Spirited Team Award
Team spirit and fun is a big part of our Festival! Congratulations to the Warriors of Hope who won the most spirited team and boy were they spirited! We loved their parade through Athlete’s Village!
They just purchased their own dragon boat this summer so if you live in the Clarenville area look them upon Facebook under “Eastern NL Dragon Boat”!
Draw Prize Winners
Thank you to everyone who purchased tickets! There was a 50/50 draw and a selection of gift baskets valued between $150 and $400. All tickets were drawn by Dan Bobbitt, Mayor of the Town of Paradise as follows:
50/50 Draw ($600 prize): Ticket # 5248159 Victoria White
Kutting Zone Gift Basket, donated by Lorraine Parsons: Ticket # 236541 Christa Shelley
Spa at the Monastery gift basket and $50 Costco gift card: Ticket # 244900 Nellie Burke
Shoppers Drug Mart Gift Baskets: Ticket # 244617 Michelle Walsh; and Anna O’Connell
All prizes were claimed and delivered to the winners.
THANK YOU from the Avalon Dragons!
The 2019 Paddle in Paradise Dragon Boat Festival was amazing!
To everyone mentioned above, the spectators, the supporters who pledged a paddler or team, and to anyone who helped in any way, the Avalon Dragons cannot thank you enough for all the support and love we received on festival day! Without all of you, the Festival would not have been a success!
Don’t forget to block out your calendar for August 15, 2020.
We have already started making plans to ensure that the 2020 Paddle in Paradise is the best festival yet!
For more information on the Paddle in Paradise Dragon Boat Festival please contact Alice Mannion, Festival Coordinator at 1-866-853-2865 or email ADpaddleinparadise@gmail.com.
Photograph Credits: Alick Tsui