The 2011 North Shore Dragon Boat Festival was a feast for the eyes with colorful dragon boats, team t-shirts, music and dance on Friday and Saturday, July 29 – 30. The beautiful young ladies of the Nkauj Ntxuam Dej Daocan Dance School delighted crowds in Harbor Park with their dazzling dresses and exuberant dancing.
A little rain didn’t deter the dozens of Dragon Boat paddlers in the Grand Marais harbor on Saturday, July 30. The paddlers and the crowd along the shore dived under cover during a rain delay of about an hour between race heats but the skies cleared and the racing continued throughout the afternoon. At the end of the day, the Quetico-Superior team of Grand Marais finished as champions, followed by Hungry Jack Outfitters from the Gunflint Trail and Fired Up Puppies of Grand Marais.
The real winners of the North Shore Dragon Boat Festival are the three local non-profits—WTIP community radio, North Shore Health Care Foundation and North House Folk School— that receive not only a financial boost but the goodwill of the many folks who gathered for the boisterous “Parade of Teams” on Friday or who lined the waterfront to watch the racing under mostly sunny skies on Saturday.
Dragon Boat Race Results
| Overall Results | ||
| Place | Team | Town |
| 1 | Quetico-Superior | Grand Marais |
| 2 | A Better Dragon | Thunder Bay, ONT |
| 3 | Hungry Jack Outfitters | Gunflint Trail |
| 4 | Fired Up Puppies | Grand Marais |
| 5 | Northern Lights Timber | Framing Mpls, MN |
| 6 | Team Gunflint | Gunflint Trail |
| 7 | Taconite Pellets | Plymouth MN |
| 8 | North House Folk School | Grand Marais |
| 9 | Cook County Dog Mushers | Hovland |
| 10 | The Otters | Mpls, MN |
| 11 | WTIP Tippers | Grand Marais |
| 12 | Nokomis Dragon Slayers | Mpls, MN |
| 13 | Ready Oar Not! | San Diego, CA |
| 14 | The BBs | Bloomington, MN |
| 15 | Women on the Edge2 | Mahtomedi, MN |
| 16 | Spirit of the Wilderness | Grand Marais |
| 17 | Women on the Edge1 | Mahtomedi, MN |
| 18 | Birkie Girls | Hayward, WI |
Left: Mayor Larry “Bear” Carlson had the honor of “waking the dragon” to start the 2011 festival. Carlson shared a quote from St. Urho, noting that if the Finnish saint could scare the grasshoppers out of Finland, he could certainly wake a dragon. Well done, Mayor Carlson! Above: The Women on the Edge fielded two teams in the Dragon Boat Festival—and they looked ravishing in evening dresses in Friday’s Parade of Teams.
Steerswoman Tess Bailey of Hovland encourages her team as they head to the starting line.
Division winn ers
Service/Professional
Northern Light Timber Framing
Cook County Dog Mushers
Non-profit
WTIP Tippers
North House Folk School
Spirit of the Wilderness
Women’s Division
The Otters
The BBs
Women on the Edge 2
Friends & Family
Taconite Pellets
Nokomis Dragon Slayers
Hospitality/Tourism
Team Gunflint
Draggin’ up the Rear
1 Women on the Edge 1
Paladium Championship
1 Quetico-Superior
2 Hungry Jack Outfitters
3 Fired Up Puppies
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