Here are a few pictures from the 1st Annual Dragon Boat festival in Bemidji! A good time was had by all. The decision to have them next year was made today...Next year Aug 3-4...Mark your calendar. Maybe we should get a family team together...for nrxt year. Any takers???

March of the Dragonboats

Gary sent me this video of the dragonboats and asked me to put it on the blog. He's got a story to go with it, so stay tuned!

Dragon Boat Festival

I came back to Bemidji yesterday and the lakefront was buzzing with activity. It reminded me of the 4th of July at the lakefront. As it turns out that Bemidji is having a Dragn Boat Festival. The festival seeks coorperate sponsership and raises money for charities and has lots of fun doing it. I thought this was some strange thing Bemidji dreamed up untill I did a Google search and saw these events have been going on for a long time and all over the world. Below is a article about Dragon Boat Festivals.
One of today’s most colorful and widespread festivals was born of legend more than 2,000 years ago. The Dragon Boat Festival originated in China but now is celebrated in such disparate places as: Bergen, Norway; Prague, Czech Republic; Berlin, Germany; Rome, Italy; Auckland, New Zealand; Melbourne, Australia; and Johannesburg, South Africa.
Festival elements vary from place to place and might include entertainment, a marketplace, specialty food vendors, art exhibitions and demonstrations, and even a parade. But the highlight is always the Dragon Boat Race.
Heavenly Dragon
Dragon Boat Racing began along the life sustaining rivers in the valleys of southern China as a fertility rite, performed to ensure plentiful crops. Races, intended to simulate dragon battles, were staged to awaken the hibernating Heavenly Dragon and to encourage the rains needed for prosperity.
The boats were long canoes decorated to resemble dragons, with open mouthed heads projecting from their bows and scaly tails on their sterns. Each could hold a team of 20 or more rowers plus a drummer, a hand clapper and as many as four singers. Smaller boats carrying food and wine for the competitors might accompany them.
For many centuries, Dragon Boat Races were violent naval battles. Crews of competing boats would throw stones and strike at one another with sticks, while people on the riverbanks cheered their favorite teams and pelted opposing boats with rocks or other objects. And, perhaps a throwback to the ancient human sacrifices to the Heavenly Dragon, it was believed to be unlucky if there wasn’t at least one drowning.

Team Spirit
The special canoes used in Dragon Boat Races apparently have changed little over the centuries. They still are designed to resemble dragons, with ornately carved and brightly colored heads and tails. Before a boat enters competition, a priest must perform a ritual known as “awakening the dragon” by painting its eyes.
Dragon boats generally measure about 40 feet in length. Their crews usually include 20 paddlers, sitting two abreast, with a steersman at the back and a drummer, who sets the rhythm for the paddlers, and a flag catcher at the front. Any number of boats may compete in a race, with the winner being the first team to grab a flag at the end of the course.
After a race, the water is considered “blessed,” and in some places, people traditionally dip their hands or even swim in the “dragon boat water” in the belief that it will bring them health for the rest of the year.
Modern races in many countries focus less on myths and legends and more on what is referred to as the “spirit of the dragon,” the experience of working as a team to reach a common goal. Serious dragon boaters train throughout the year and sometimes travel around the world to compete in more than one annual race.

The Grilling Bible

Nancy bought this great new cookbook called The Grilling Bible. As Carol says you need to use your cookbooks early so you know you get a couple of great recipes from the book to help cost justify you purchase.
We knew Lois was spending a bit of time alone while Dale was traveling, and we thought it would be nice to have her come to dinner. As it turned out Alicia and Kane were in town and they were invited as well. Nancy and I had loads of fun, visiting with everyone and playing with Kane. It seems that when kids are around, everything is so much livelier.
Anyway, we used three recipes from the new book...Lemon Herbed Ice Tea, Tequila Lime Shrimp and for desert a Grilled Banana Split. I have to say they we all very good especially the desert. Basically, you slice a banana lenthwise, keeping the peel on the banna. Brush the cut side with melted butter, grill for two minutes, flat side down, the flip over and grill for two more minutes. Remove from grill and remove grilled banana from peel, place on a desert plate, add a scoop or two of vanilla ice cream, drizzle a mixture of herseys chocolate syrup and orange flavored liquor (we used Triple Sec) then topped it off with a few sliced almonds...Very good!
Oh I forgot to mention that about an hour before we ate I went out to our little garden and picked a few green, yellow and purlple magic beans and we had them next to a bed of pasta with some home grown pesto tossed in.
The cookbook was a validated and I would like to recommend it to all you back yard chefs.
We had a great time and I know we'd like do it again some time!