Gung Haggis paddlers had lots of smiles on last Sunday’s practice. Four of our five practices have had sunshine… pretty lucky! Hillary and Anne took on lead stroke duties. We had two brand new paddlers Florian and Tara, who did really well. They did so well, we had them paddling the boat by themselves at the end of the practice. – photo Todd Wong
Our practices are Sundays 11am – 1pm, and Wednesdays 6pm to 7:30pm. 2012 is our teams’ 15th anniversary since starting as Celebration Team, and the 10th anniversary after being renamed Gung Haggis Fat Choy dragon boat team. Over the years, we have won dragon boat race medals in Vancouver, Vernon, Victoria, Richmond, Seattle, Portland, and Bamff. We have also won the Hon. David Lam Award for being the team that best represents the spirit of multiculturalism at Vancouver’s Alcan Dragon Boat Festival, and also the Community Spirit Award at the Lotus Sports Club regatta in Burnaby.
On April 1st, it was a lovely warm sunny day… Karl and Anne take a break here, while the rest of the team paddles. Lead strokes work hard, and set the pace for the team. Last year we named Anne the top female rookie paddler. I initially coached Karl on the Killarney High School Jr team where he was team captain in his final year. After graduation, he came to join the Gung Haggis team and is now helping me on this website. – photo Dave Samis
Xavier’s first day of steering a dragon boat. He looks great in his kilt. Xavier has worn a kilt to every practice since he joined our team last year. He brings a lot of character to our team, and is now our team’s new kiltmaker. Xavier also brings musical skills to the team. He plays guitar and sings. I invited him to join the Black Bear Rebels, a celtic ceilidh group I play accordion with. It is led by my bagpiper friend Allan McMordie who has performed at the Gung Haggis Fat Choy Robbie Burns Chinese New Year Dinners for the past few years. A few months ago, the Black Bear Rebels performed at the Dr. Sun Yat Sen Classical Chinese Gardens for both the Winter Solstice Secret Lantern Festival, and the Chinese Lunar New Year celebrations. – photo Dave Samis.
