Message in a Boat

The Warriors of Hope travelled to New Liskeard this past weekend to bring a message to the people of Temiskaming Shores. The Warriors, North Bay and Area’s Breast Cancer Survivors Dragon Boat Racing Team, attend dragonboat festivals to bring their message that there can be an active life after breast cancer. The waterfront venue in New Liskeard is one of the better racing venues that the Warriors have seen across Ontario and it was a fitting place to present their message in a boat.

The Third Annual Dragonboat Festival was sponsored by the Lions Club and they did an excellent job of organizing and running the event on the water and along the beach. There were several food outlets, including a pancake breakfast, Chinese food and the de rigueur sausage on a bun. A trampoline, rock climb and gyro ride backed up the playground and facing painting. A beer tent was available for those who needed a draught of ale after a race in the pleasant 25-degree heat.

There were thirteen teams in the festival but word had spread to the locals that an ‘out-of-town’ team was coming from North Bay. If Prime Age (the ultimate winners) and the Nor Arc Pirates were worried about southern competition, they must have been relieved to see a team of mostly not-so-young women setting up camp on the shore of Lake Temiskaming. They might have been even more relieved had they known the number of artificial hips and knees along with the side effects of chemo, radiation and surgery these women were bringing to the races. The two other all-female teams may have had a moment or two of hope that they too, could win against the Warriors. Grandma (and Warrior) Anita Mamen even joined her daughter in a competitor’s boat but it was to no avail.

Not that the Warriors go to festivals with the thought of winning races against mixed teams or younger people. They go to take a message, to talk to people and demonstrate that there is hope and life after any type of cancer. Saturday was the first time the local people had seen the Carnation Ceremony. Petals Flower Shop supplied carnations not only for the Warriors, but also for other teams and spectators. As the flowers were distributed and the word spread, hundreds of people were soon lining the shore and at the prompt from the Warriors, tossed the pink flowers into the lake in thoughts of family or friends who have died or are coping with cancer.

MCTV was covering the festival and the reporter soon saw a great story as she interviewed several of the team members. The race organizers even allowed a break in the races so the Warriors could do a short run on the lake for the TV camera. At the end of the three 400-metre races, the cumulative times were calculated and the results posted. The Warriors placed a respectable sixth out of the thirteen teams.

Things may not go so well for the Warriors in their own festival on July 18th. It is their tenth year as a team and six other Breast Cancer Survivor teams have decided to come to North Bay to celebrate this special anniversary. It is one thing to test your mettle against a mixed team of younger people but the real tests will be on Trout Lake when the Warriors meet their peers. If the people of Temiskaming Shores were impressed with one boatload of Survivors, they should see what happens when over 150 Breast Cancer Survivors are on the water for the ceremony.

Oh, and if you want to see some tough competition, check out these Survivor teams on July 18 at Olmstead Beach. They will all have a message in a boat for you.