Slow Summer Festival: The Year of the Dragon
The 2012 Slow Summer Festival got underway over the weekend with a very successful ‘Night Market’ staged in Post Office Lane and ‘A Day @ The Beach’ at Lake Canobolas.
Both events were well attended with the Lake Canobolas event attended by both the local community and visitors to the region, with great enthusiasm for the inaugural Slow Summer Dragon Boat Challenge.
Although the final two heats and the final of the Dragon Boat Challenge were unfortunately called off due to the storm, the 14 teams who had battled it out in the previous 6 heats had a fantastic day out at the lake, with team ‘Orange Apples’ announced as the winners based on times.
The final placings comprised:
1st Place: Orange Apples (Multiple Sclerosis Society)
2nd Place: Daring Dragons (Rural Fire Service)
3rd Place: Oar-some Molong (One Health Molong)
4th Place: 2GZ FM Dragon Slayers (Children’s Ward, Orange Hospital
“Each participating team was encouraged to raise money for their chosen charity all of which went into the total prize pool,” explained Taste Orange’s Rhonda Sear. “The total raised was just over $14,000 which was a huge effort. Due to the early cessation of the event and the fact that several teams were not able to compete in their second heat, it has been decided that this money will be distributed to the teams’ nominated charities according to how much they each raised.”
The final placings will stand as we need a defending team for the 2013 Slow Summer Dragon Boat Challenge and someone to award our trophy too,” joked Ms Sear.
‘Orange Apples’, captained by Xanthie Butcher, managed to snare first place with a very impressive time of 1 minute, 18.93 seconds. Their chosen charity is the local branch of the Multiple Sclerosis Society, who will receive over $1000 from the team.
“We had a great day,” said Xanthie. “It was very well organized and I know that our team members are keen to come back next year to defend the title.”
“We were particularly pleased with the number of people that came out to support the day,” mentioned Rhonda. “While we didn’t quite get to complete a few of the events, there was some fantastic feedback about the great use of the Lake. We’re looking forward to building on this support for next year.”
“We’d like to thank all the people who helped make the day such a success, including the Orange Dragon Boat Club who arranged the Dragon Boats and managed the race logistics. The Orange Bush Nippers and the Royal Lifesaving Society were also a huge part of the event and ensured that there was always plenty of action happening.”
The $14,000 raised will be distributed to the teams’ sponsored charities and causes which include:
Team and charity/cause:
· Canowindra @ Home – Canowindra Fitness & Walking Track
· Orange Apples – Multiple Sclerosis Society
· West Orange Motors – Anson Street School
· Midwest Traffic Management – Orange Premi Babies
· Hard Pressed (Central Western Daily) – Emergency Unit, Orange Base Hospital
· Carewest Capsizes – Carewest
· Bearded Dragons – Orange Dragons Abreast Dragon Boat Club
· Taste Orange – Orange Aid Trust
· Oar-some Molong - Health One Molong
· Dragon Slayers (2GZ FM) – Children’s Ward, Orange Base Hospital
· Almighty Industries – Australian Kidney Foundation
· Daring Dragons (Orange Christian School) – Rural Fire Service
· Naturally Green – St. Vincent de Paul, Orange
· Daquino Dragons – Ronald Macdonald House
For further information on the 2012 Slow Summer Festival, please visit www.tasteorange.com.au/slowsummer
