Humane Society’s ‘Waggin’ for Dragons’ fundraiser makes a comeback

Dragon boat teams paddle for the finish line and Humane Society fundraising immortality. Courtesy Photos/HSWC

The “Waggin’ for Dragons” longboat race is scheduled for August 3 and the sponsoring body, the Humane Society of Warren County (HSWC) is recruiting teams to take part in the event.

“Waggin’ for Dragons,” until last year when the event was cancelled due to organizational issues, has been the top HSWC fundraiser for a number of years. It has averaged about $40,000 net income annually towards operation of the Julia Wagner Animal Shelter, a haven for abandoned, abused, homeless and neglected domestic animals in the local area.

Registration for the boat race, that in past years has attracted hundreds, perhaps thousands, of onlookers to riverside vantage points, can be accomplished by visiting www.WagginForDragons.com, according to Shelter Executive Director Meghan Bowers.  The last race winner, in 2017, was Bill Powers’ State Farm Insurance Company’s 21-person team of paddlers.

The logo for this year’s race featuring a photo of the last winning team from State Farm Insurance Co.

That field included teams representing the Town of Front Royal and Warren County, the latter edged out in the final strokes, among a dozen or more community and corporate groups that raced the 200 meter course to the delight of on-shore spectators.

The mid-summer event centers on the main fork of the Shenandoah River at the Front Royal Golf Course boat landing to which free bus transportation is provided.

Dragon boat racing originated in China many years ago and caught on as a fund-raiser for non-profit groups in North America starting in the 1970s. This reporter, on a visit to British Columbia last year, noted that almost every city and town in Canada, with access to a waterway, does a “Waggin’ for Dragons” event. They are staged, as is the Front Royal race, by a Montreal-based organization.

Paddlers surge forward in their quest for victory in a recent “Waggin’ for Dragons” boat race.