Nova Scotia. What a wonderful place, with the friendliest people you can imagine. Welcoming, warm, filled with down home hospitality. For many of us on the Halifax crew, going to the East Coast was a trip down memory lane, a re-connecting with our past and a reacquainting with family and friends. There were some on our crew who hadn’t seen friends for 40 years, others who found their birth records, and some who arrived in Canada at Pier 21. What an incredible opportunity we had, traveling to such a special place!

	Who are you running for?

With only a few short weeks of practice together, we felt that we had a strong team, comprised of paddlers from Fort Langley, Deas, False Creek and Richmond. We worked extremely hard under the coaching direction of Juanita Peglar. At all of our practices except one, that is, as it’s hard to have a good workout when you show up in Fort Langley on a Saturday morning and discover that the boat has been stolen!

The Bosom Buddies really worked hard to show us a good time and tried to think of everything. We were treated to a lovely reception on Friday night, complete with a visit with the Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia, Mayann Francis, who reminded us that, “breast cancer is a word, not a sentence”. The dinner on Saturday had delicious food and lots of entertainment, including a traditional dragon dance and the town crier who announced our arrival and then had the captains all stand and vow to have a good time in Nova Scotia. Our captain, Deb Thiessen, presented the Bosom Buddies with a gift from AIAB and a message from Dr. Don McKenzie. At the end of the evening we were treated to traditional fiddle music and spoons as we made our way out.

For the most part, we traveled together on public transit to our practice and races at the beautiful Lake Banook, in Dartmouth. As the bus pulled up on our first trip out, we were all amazed to see that it was painted pink, with a big Run for the Cure logo on it! We figured they must have ordered that one up especially for us! Too cool!!

We made quite an impression in our travel uniform, pictured here with Mayann Francis, Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia.

In all honesty, we didn’t quite place were we had hoped that we would in the regatta. Overall, we finished somewhere in the middle of the standings. I’ll be the first to admit that I wanted to post a time in the 2:20’s like the team from London, Ontario, who had the fastest time of the regatta @ 2:22.5! Way to go, Rowbust! So, of course, in the end it was Rowbust who took both the Survivors Cup and the Memorial Cup.

With that in mind, though, in a rush of emotion it all became clear to me again about why we do this thing called dragon boating. As the boats glided together for the flower ceremony, I did a count – we had been told that there would be 14 boats, but I had to check to make sure. As I looked down the line to the other boats and all those breast cancer survivors I had a lump in my throat. When we drifted towards the shore it was through a veil of tears that I observed one of the largest crowds I have ever seen gathered. And standing in the water were representatives from all the teams holding a banner that was created to commemorate the women that we have lost. Under Abreast in a Boat there were 33 names listed. It was a beautiful, powerful tribute.

Team photo taken at the regatta.

To close, I’d like to say thank you to Juanita, Deb, and Heather and our managers Sheila and Gail. You all worked so hard and went that extra mile, thank you. What else can I say? We all received medals at the closing ceremony, we did our best, and showed a West Coast presence on the East Coast. We had adventures, made memories and renewed connections with friends and relatives. Our trip to Nova Scotia was some good!

Story: Marcia Rempel
Photos:Sheila Tynan and Gail Bonner

( They said to come out in a splash of pink! )