Stories

Dragon Boat Festival 

Barb Michaels opened by sharing that she was recently inducted into the International Dragon Boat Hall of Fame in Germany as a "sports developer" — one of only 3–4 inductees from countries including Thailand, Italy, and Indonesia.

She gave an overview of the Fort Dodge Dragon Boat event, now in its 29th year, which began as a river cleanup service project and later moved to Kennedy Park. It's now one of the oldest continuing dragon boat events in the Midwest.

Key highlights she mentioned:

• The event has moved to June, with a paddling clinic on June 11th featuring two internationally accomplished coaches who train 50+ paddlers across the U.S.
• Teams race in 44-foot boats with 16–20 paddlers; entry is $25, and organizers provide boats, gear, and instruction.
• Friday night features a free street-dance-style event with a band called Burnin' Sensations, open to the public at no cost.
• Saturday racing begins around 8–9 AM.
• The committee is actively trying to grow local participation, as regional teams are plentiful but local teams have been declining.
• Volunteers are needed — timers, starters, beach helpers, and more.
• A fun aside: former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack was once a paddler and got a speeding ticket on his way to the event.

Tom Donner spoke about the breast cancer survivor dragon boat program:

• The Fort Dodge team stumbled into the breast cancer community at an event in Stratford, Ontario in the mid-1990s and was unexpectedly placed with cancer survivor teams.
• He referenced a landmark 1995 study by Dr. Don McKenzie (University of British Columbia), a sports medicine physician who challenged the prevailing medical advice that breast cancer patients — particularly those at risk for lymphedema — should avoid physical activity. McKenzie's study with 24 survivors showed that dragon boating did not worsen lymphedema and actually produced significant benefits: improved mental health, stronger immune systems, shorter recovery times from chemo and surgery.
• Dragon boating for breast cancer survivors has since grown into a global movement, with 3,000–4,000 survivors attending world tournaments.
• Tom helped start several teams across the Midwest (Kansas City to the Twin Cities) and notably started the Mayo Clinic breast cancer survivor team — a connection that also led to his own cancer being treated there.
• The team's international representative, Cheryl Lynch-Wig, serves on the international breast cancer survivor board.
• A recurring challenge is reaching newly diagnosed patients due to HIPAA restrictions, making it difficult to connect them with the program.

Linda Donner appealed to the group for volunteer help. In particular, volunteers with boats are needed to follow the dragon boats for paddler protection. If you can help with this need, let her know by emailing lsdonner55@gmail.net, or calling her at 515-571-9642.

Information can be found at www.badgerlakedragonboating.com

Ky Kramer was named the St. Edmond Head Boys Basketball Coach. Read on for more.

Rotarian Johnson was awarded his Paul Harris Fellow plus One pin at Monday's meeting.  Casey is a supporter of the Rotary International Foundation that provides large and small grants to a variety of human-interest projects to US and International Clubs. Rotary thaks Casey for his committment to the Foundation and its worldwide efforts to improve humanity. 

It's that time of year again! Join us for our Annual Tacos & Trivia night, happening Thursday, May 14th at River Hops Brewing.

Expect:

• Taco Bar (free will donation)
• Fun trivia (bring your A-game!)
• Great conversation with your fellow Rotarians!

Come for the tacos, stay for the trivia (and maybe a beer or two)!

6:00 pm - 7:00 pm Social

7:00 pm - 9:00 pm Trivia

Mark your calendars and get ready for a fun evening filled with laughter, tacos, and brain-teasing questions. We can't wait to see you there!

Bring a friend or two!

• Mission: Rotary is a service organization comprised of community leaders of various professions dedicated to humanitarian causes locally and throughout the world. Simply put, Rotary is an organization that is out to do "good" in the world. 
• Vision: It is incumbent upon the Fort Dodge Noon Rotary Club and its Board of Directors to be good stewards of available resources.  The club budgets dollars annually.  The budget may fund identified programs.  The club also has a small “Special Fund” available for requests made throughout the year for unbudgeted causes, which the club and Board may want to support. 
• Eligibility for the Special Fund:  Grants must have the support of one or more members of the Fort Dodge Noon Rotary Club. Funds are granted in support of humanitarian causes.  Causes may relate to youth, poverty prevention/intervention, community betterment, health care, human services, and more.  There are many, many good causes.  There are also limited dollars.  Grant awards will not exceed the dollars available in the special fund.   Preference may be given to one-time projects or to programs that are deemed to have sustainability.  For example, grants may be given to a building project to provide some seed money to start an educational program that the schools will fund in the long term.  Collaboration with other funding sources is encouraged.