Genevieve Davenport writes:
Our team, Blazing Paddles had a great Long Beach Dragon Boat Festival this year! Our mixed team did wonderfully. We showed our team spirit and persevered to the end. We ended up placing second in the final race in our division on Sunday. We placed fourth in our second race on Saturday. Our women’s team (mostly moms and daughters) looked great and had three great races.

This year our team really understood that technique was more important than speed in every stroke that we paddled. Everyone worked as a unit which made the boat surge forward.

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UPDATE: Event info now posted here (1st banquet) and here (2nd banquet).

 Planning for Chinese New Year festivities is underway and we are hard at work to ensure that the ever-popular FCC-SoCal Chinese New Year tradition continues to be a favorite for all!

We are holding twin banquets on the first and last Saturdays in February – the 6th and the 27th.  Registration materials will be emailed out by the first of the year.  Chinese New Year falls on February 14th and the Golden Dragon Parade will be on February 20th.

A fun time was had by all at Orange County’s 12th annual Moon Festival Banquet on October 4 held at the Ten Ten Seafood Restaurant in Artesia. To start off the event, families played a game in which every guest had a picture of their Chinese zodiac animal pinned to their back, and children ran about the large dining room trying to count up all the roosters, rats, dragons, etc. to win the grand prize, a giant stuffed panda. Perhaps it was predictable that pigs represented the largest group that turned out for the banquet, but there was a scattering of every type of animal, and kids had a great time trying to count them all up.

The 2009 Long Beach Dragon Boat Festival was held at Marine Stadium in Long Beach August 1-2. Dozens of teams competed, making it one of the largest festivals of its kind on the west coast. Among the competitors was our "SoCal Friends" Blazing Paddles team. The team finished with the other dragon boats, and one time even came in fourth place! More importantly however, team members succeeded in enjoying the spirit of the Festival: family, friends and community coming together to support one other all while having a good time.

Blazing Paddles welcome everyone to come and join the fun:  families with children of all ages, waiting families, siblings, friends and extended family. Additionally, they have fun community gatherings such as a post-season party, Chinese New Year Party and a Season Kick Off Potluck. This season they plan to add a Mother-Daughter Zongzi cooking class.

Practice is once a week, June through the end of July, for one hour at Mother's Beach in Long Beach. The culminating event is the Long Beach Dragon Boat Festival which takes place on Saturday, August 1st, 2009. If you are unable to join the team, you are still encouraged to come cheer on the Blazing Paddles during the Festival. Additionally, there will be cultural events held throughout the day, and the event is free.

The Moon Festival is a time for family togetherness and reunions.  FCC-SoCal organizes a number of annual family events. The Full Moon Campout includes s’mores and mooncakes, hiking, picnics, bunk beds, biscuits and the reunion of dear friends and the start of new friendships. The Orange County Region’s Autumn Moon Banquet is a longstanding Orange County Region tradition. Gathering at a local restaurant, guests enjoy music, entertainment performances and good company.