Hosted by the Norway Bay Municipal Association (NBMA), the event served as a family-friendly party for the community where paddlers were invited to show off their skills to the community at large by racing against their friends and peers, according to the event’s main organizer Peter Niedre.

“It brings the kids and the parents out,” he said. “This is about having a lot of fun in the community together. And it’s the opportunity for the kids to kind of show off their skills too.”

With four plastic dummies set up at various points at around 100 metres from the water, each heat of participants lined up for take-off at the shoreline before dashing loops around the dummies and eventually making their way back to the starting point.

Each heat was divided by gender and age group ranging from seven and eight years old to the open category of 16 and up.

Upon arriving at the finish line, each participant was handed a participation ribbon for their efforts before feasting on a delicious hot dog.

Over at the barbecue station, volunteers doled out hundreds of hot dogs while attendees served themselves freely from the large water and lemonade jugs set-up on the tables underneath the tent.

Throughout the event, loud pop music blared from the sound system livening the atmosphere as parents cheered on the kids participating in the highly contested races.

Plus, with two dragon boats on hand, around 50 people divided into four groups for highly anticipated head to head races to cap off the event. Each dragon boat holds up to twenty rowers and demand great emphasis on teamwork and physicality to maneuver, Niedre said.

“It’s a great teamwork event,” he said. “It’s a lot of fun and it’s just fitness too.”

While no scores were kept and no silverware was won, it was clear that everyone was hungry to win as the races proved to be quite competitive.

With no shortage of bumping, capsizing and of course a series of neck-to-neck finishes, the event drew plenty of excitement from the crowd in attendance.

A long-time tradition in the village dating back to the 1970s, Niedre believes the event is a great opportunity to expose the world of kayak racing to the community at large and hopefully bringing it back to its heyday.

“Racing can be really big if we want it to be,” he said. “We’re really trying to build with kids from Shawville or coming down from Bristol or Quyon. We want those kids coming and row the paddles.”

For Niedre, the most rewarding aspect about putting on the event every year is seeing the happiness it brings to the youth in the community.

“The kids are having fun,” he said. “They’re smiling and for me that’s number one. And they want to come back next year. So, goal accomplished if they’re having fun and say ‘I want to come back to the regatta next year.’”

Hanna Steeves and Ciara Celynick fight for first place during the 7-8 year-old girls race.

Russell Niedre leaves opponents in his wake during the 14-15 year-old boys race.

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