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| The Dragon Boats |
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| Some of the stalls |
of the ‘crafty’ types joined forces to create ‘The Craft Committee’ and set up
at the 2012 Dragon Boat Festival to raise money for charity. The Dragon Boat festival is run by the Rotary
Club who raise funds and work towards helping those less fortunate. Their
motto is ‘Service above Self’.
The 2012 festival was held over a slightly overcast weekend in the middle of
May. Luckily for everyone though, the Saturday was blessed with sporadic sun
which made things more bearable, particularly for the dragon boat contestants who
had to be on the water anyway.
Dragon boat racing is an ancient Chinese tradition and races are still held
in the Far East on a regular basis, always
exciting the watching audience with the noise and fun. Each forty-foot boat is
paddled by up to sixteen people with a drummer at the helm keeping the rhythm
for rowers. You can see in the photo how close the race can get!
The Craft Committee was held in a beer tent (thank you very much) and was
the idea of Caroline (Gwatkin), Rotarian and teacher (among other roles).
Joining Caroline were Ceri Tipler, Claire Greenway, Cristina Purcell, Alan Daysh, Sue Hodgson and
ex teachers Abbi Headon (wife of Jeremy Catlin), Margaret Ferguson and Diana
Collins.
As you can see by the photos, a lot of fun was had by both the contestants
and the stall holders and hopefully all the visitors.
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| The Committee members (a few are missing!) |