Dragon Boat Atlanta makes waves in France – lakesidenews.com

Dragon Boat Atlanta makes waves in France  lakesidenews.com

For the opening parade, Dragon Boat Atlanta pulled out all the stops. Teammate Jayne Berry, far left, made sets of butterfly wings for participants and paddlers. Two mother-and-daughter pairs, four sets of sisters, paddlers from across the US from Georgia to Oregon and five team members from Ireland. Some had never met each other. Two discovered a quarter of the way around the globe, they were related. Members of Dragon Boat Atlanta were part of a 30-member group of paddlers, supporters and family members who raised their own funds to travel to France. It was the fifth ICBPCP (International Breast Cancer Paddlers Commission) global Dragon Boat Festival, a week filled with reconnecting with friends, making new friends, imparting the joys and the support of shared experiences.

Dragon Boat Atlanta team members came together from the hinterlands: Five from Oregon, five from Ireland, 10 from Atlanta, 1 from Florida and 1 from New Hampshire. Although they would be paddling together for the first time as a full team of 22 at the multi-day festival, that didn’t stop Dragon Boat Atlanta from immediately bonding like sisters. “We only really had one day to practice together before the festival began,” said Jayne Berry from Gainesville and long-time member of Dragon Boat Atlanta. “But we had been in contact to get to know each