Celebrating Success: Paddling Society Awarded Rotary Club Community Grant!

We are thrilled to announce that the Nothin' Dragon Paddling Society has been selected as a recipient of the prestigious community grant from the Rotary Club of Port Moody. This exciting news arrived in July, marking a significant milestone for our organization and the community we serve.

Empowering Youth Through Water Sports

The grant will be instrumental in our efforts to introduce more youth to the exhilarating world of dragon boat paddling. These funds support transformative experiences that foster teamwork, resilience, and a deep appreciation for water sports.

Looking Ahead to 2025

As we look forward to 2025, the grant will specifically support initiatives geared towards local students. We aspire to create lasting impacts in the lives of young participants.

A Heartfelt Thanks

We extend our heartfelt gratitude to the Rotary Club of Port Moody for their generous support and belief in our mission. Their commitment to community development aligns perfectly with our vision of promoting health, wellness, and camaraderie through dragon boating.

Together, let's continue to make waves and inspire the next generation of paddlers!

About Nothin' Dragon Paddling Society

The Nothin' Dragon senior team is based in Port Moody, B.C., and operates under the Nothin’ Dragon Paddling Society. Paddling off the shores of Rocky Point Park, the team promotes participation, fitness, camaraderie and community spirit. Nothin’ Dragon has approximately 65 members and supports The Rapids dragon boat high school team made up of students from Riverside and Gleneagle Secondary.

Dragon Boat Experience Offered to Talitha Koum Society

A dragon boat voyage!

Nothin' Dragon was pleased to take out clients of the Talitha Koum Society on June 29. The Talitha Koum Society is a non-profit that assists women in healing from past trauma and overcoming addictions at two housing locations in Coquitlam.

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Brian ran the commentary while the ladies paddled. Thanks to Steve for driving our safety boat!

It was perfect weather for the dragon boat experience off Rocky Point Park. Thanks to Brian Kenny who explained how to paddle and reviewed the calls and actions used on the boat. Brian also offered a running commentary from the safety boat while the group of women were out on the water, providing information on the local habitat and area history.

Our team captain, Robbin Whachell coordinated the outing. A big thanks to the teammates of Nothin’ Dragon who helped prepare for the excursion and those that helped mentor our guests.

On the dock at the Rocky Point Pier.

“Our team was very impressed on how well the women did in the boat for their first time dragon boating!” said Robbin.

Nothin’ Dragon is committed to helping the community. We offer corporate paddles, which are great for team building. If interested, please email us for details at nothindragonmasters@gmail.com.

Santa Crashes Nothin' Dragon Zoom Christmas Party

It’s been nine months since Covid reared its ugly head, and that’s a long time for this team to be apart from each other. Our longest break is traditionally between our Christmas party usually held at the Pitt Meadows Golf and Country Club and our startup for the new season usually in late March or early April.

Despite coming together for weekly virtual training with Coach Kris and yoga with Dorota, our AGM was the first time we attempted a mass online gathering. We’re proud to say it went very well.

We decided to tackle a Christmas Zoom party, and the executive got to work with test meetings and putting together an agenda that would move things along and hopefully be entertaining. Well, the word must have gotten out, because, at the start of the meeting, none other than Santa himself showed up to cheer on the team and provide encouragement. Thank you, Santa!

We watched our aerial footage of the Inlet Spring Regatta by Jon Ross Films and then went into our first breakout rooms. Zoom can automatically move the large group into smaller groups for discussion purposes. This made it easier for everyone to have their say, which can be difficult in a larger online meeting. We had about 40 in attendance.

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Happy smiling faces!

In between breakout rooms of about 4–5 people each, we got back together to play Kahoot with trivia questions organized by Pat W. Kahoot is a game-based learning platform, used as educational technology in schools and other educational institutions.

Some of our Kahoot questions set up by Pat were:

1. What Christmas carol became the first song ever broadcast from space in 1965?

2. What is the most popular meal for Christmas in Japan?

3. There is banana, creme de menthe and what in a Horny Monkey?

4. How many calories are burned by kissing someone under the mistletoe for one minute?

5. How many ghosts are there in the movie, A Christmas Carol?

It was so much fun! It felt like being in a game show with bells and chimes and auto-tabulating. To make it even more exciting and challenging, scores were based on correct answers and speed. Thank you Pat for setting up!

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Even our former coach, Erica showed up. She whooped our butts at Kahoo too!

Everyone really enjoyed the breakout rooms as they were a little more intimate and we did this three times, allowing new groups to come together each time. Teammates could talk about anything they liked, or prompts were given like:

How are you spending the holidays this year?
If you could travel anywhere for Christmas, where would you go?
Most memorable Christmas present as a kid?
Favourite Christmas food?
What are you cooking this year?
Best Dragon Boat memory?
What are you grateful for?

During a midway break, we played a video of the Santa Ships that recently visited Rocky Point, as well as a video of our win in the Great Grand Dragon Race in Victoria in 2017.

There were lots of door prizes! We gave out a choice of red wine, white wine, beer, or a box of chocolates. Prizes were claimed Sunday morning at the Old Mill Boathouse from the Santa truck. Thank you Brian!

Before we wrapped up for the evening, Darlene gave out prizes for the best Christmas sweater and best overall Zoom presentation (outfit and backdrop). Congrats to Steve C. for the best sweater award, and Julie and Brian for their lovely Christmas ensemble.

Another surprise of the evening is when Laney announced she and Rob were grandparents to a baby girl. She had just received the text from her son during the party!

After the evening finished up, a handful of us hung out virtual chatting afterward. Overall another huge success. Merry Christmas one and all!

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Santa truck for pickup of prizes by our winners on Sunday morning. (Thanks Brian!)

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ANSWERS to the trivia questions above:

1. Jingle Bells

2. Kentucky Fried Chicken

3. Irish creme

4. Two

5. Four

Nothin' Dragon Masters Unveil 2020 Team Photo

Thanks to the photographic wizardry of Joep Olthuis of Shutter Up & Shoot, we’re proud to unveil our 2020 team photo.

While it appears we are standing together for this group shot, each person was photographed individually, and Joep pieced us all together, even providing the stunning backdrop of the inlet and mountains surrounding Rocky Point Park.

2020 has been a tough year for the team, as dragon boating is still docked as a sport. The team has found other ways to keep in shape and stay in touch, with kayaking, online yoga with Dorota and dryland strength training with Coach Kris over Zoom. 

Once a week some of the team meet for distanced coffee chats outside and Thursdays are still legion nights in small distanced groups.

“It was a labour of love for Joep who manipulated us into a cohesive group,” said team president, Brian Kenny. “Besides team members receiving the picture, copies have been given to the mayors of Port Moody and Coquitlam with an enclosed letter focused on our team’s ability to stay together. As seniors, we need support from those in power to consider our demographic when making changes. Also, copies of the picture have been mailed to all of our sponsors who have given us financial support. Their continued support is critical for us to keep functioning as a team.”

Until we can be back on the water, we remain together in spirit!