Submitted by Louise Granahan
As I write this from Canada’s frozen north, it is frustrating to know that it will be many more months before I can get back on the water. In the meantime, I lift weights, do cardio and make plans for France!
As your Communications Director, I am responsible for updating the Facebook page, responding to correspondence, editing the newsletter and attending regular IBCPC Board of Directors meetings. The Board meets about once a month. Lately, we have also been working on updating the IBCPC Strategic Plan and our job descriptions.
The excitement around France 2026 is palpable. Registration is now open, so I hope your team has committed to participating. Registrations started strong with 60 teams registering on the first day! If you are not on a team that is going, please contact your national representative who may be able to help you find space in a boat. If they can’t help you, please contact our Membership Director, Linda Kuska.
Remember to keep your eye on the France 2026 website and the Facebook page. The first bulletin has been published, so make sure you are on the mailing list to receive all of them.
I do have some sad news to report. Anna Winters, who wrote an article for the December newsletter, entitled “One Pink Pamphlet” died from MBC in January. Her team, CVI Abreast of Life, held a flower ceremony for her at her funeral, and her brother, Buddy, read from the article that Anna had written. Her team then took the flowers to the beach and threw them in the ocean. She had told me that once she knew she had Mets, flower ceremonies were especially hard, because she knew that one day, there would be a flower ceremony for her. Anna was my personal friend, my role model, my inspiration and I will miss her dearly. She swore like a trucker, fought cancer like a badass and never said goodbye without telling you that she loved you. Paddles Down.
It's great to hear about what some teams have done to train during the off season. This past year, the film industry in Canada was affected by strikes in the United States and I couldn’t work much because of it. My friends and I decided to get together and form a kayaking group – the Middle-Aged Unemployed Women Actors Paddling Group. Every week we would get together when we couldn’t work and kayak in a different river or lake followed by a pot-luck lunch. These days helped strengthen our bonds and keep our sanity. It gave us something to look forward to. Working as a team in the off-season can help keep the training momentum and can help maintain a sense of teamwork and comradery.
I’m always looking for new content for the newsletter. If you are attending a festival or are at practice, please try to take some photos that I can use in the newsletter or on the IBCPC website or Facebook page.
Do you want to share news about your team? Special events, anniversaries, great accomplishments...? Do you have a member with a special story to tell about their dragon boating experiences?
The deadline for the June newsletter is May 1st! Send your articles to: comms@ibcpc.com
Please follow these submissions guidelines:
Articles must be in .doc format. (No PDFs or links, please)
All articles must have at least one photograph. You may submit up to 3 photographs. Please send them in the same email as the article, but not embedded in the article. Send them as separate .jpgs.
Articles should be submitted in the final draft format. Please proofread them before submitting them.
Note that articles may be edited for length, grammar, spelling, certain content, etc., by the newsletter editor.
Include a title and a byline (eg. Submitted by…)
Not all articles that are submitted will be included in the newsletter. Articles will be included at the discretion of the editor.
Articles that do not follow these guidelines may not be included in the newsletter.
Louise.
