History

Nearly 20 years ago, Bob Chien, a top influencer in the Chinese Community, came to Parks and Recreation and asked to do a Dragon Boat Festival.  At the time, we had no Dragon Boats. We did not even know what one looked like. But Bob saw to it that we had “boats” to celebrate with.  He had arranged for small 10” long model boats to be imported to Kansas City and we would use those in the creek.  The whole point was to bring people to the Plaza to celebrate Chinese Culture.

There were no “long boats’ in the city at the time so prior to the actual day of the festival. Several staff from Parks and Recreation took several of the “mini boats” to the creek to see how they floated. 

They didn’t, at least they did not float right side up. Each time we put them in the water, they turned “turtle” and turned completely bottoms up. Another problem of Brush Creek was that there was no current. Fortunately, we were at a place in the creek where we could be near but not in the water and were able to grab the boats out of the water without having to chase them downstream.  This lack of current would raise its head in several years as we attempted to float lily pad lights.  More on that later.

Well, we had a date and we did publicity for this First Dragon Boat Festival, and we had to do something!  So, we had arranged for entertainment and had to arrange for some way to float our mini-Dragon Boats!  Enter at 10-foot horse tank filled with water. At least our participants could see the boats up close and personal. As we played with the little boats during the day, they all had balance problems and turned over in the tank. Another hiccup we had was watching the glue on the boats dissolve in the water and the boats literally fell apart.  So, we set up a “glue crew” to glue the boat pieces back together again. What we did not know at the time was that Bob and Teresa Chien had ordered a carload of these little boxed boats, of which we still have a supply some 20 years later.

We had the supervisor of the division and her secretary sitting near the tank and laboriously gluing pieces and boats back together WITH waterproof glue.  Our attendees gathered around the tank and were playing with the reconstructed boats. The entertainment went off well and all-in-all we had a memorable first Dragon Boat Festival.

In years to come, Bob and Teresa decided to secure 4 real dragon boats for the festival. These were to come from our sister city of Xi’an, China. There were some hiccups in getting them to Kansas City, however.  They were shipped to Kansas City in a shipping container and had to be transported from the port in Texas by truck to Kansas City. We were concerned about the many roadblocks that made us wonder IF they would ever arrive.

But the day they came was special. The container was brought to Swope Park Pool where we had some district staff and Society for Friendship with China member who were on had to assist with the off-loading.

The container was unloaded at Swope Pool so we could see what the boats looked like and how they floated. These were wooden boats with heads and tails that had to be bolted on, but the point is that they were extremely heavy.  We offloaded them into the pool and several of the staff got in and paddled them around the pool, and we had a great visual of these new additions to our city.

Year two of the Dragon Boat Festival was just as eventful as the first. It rained and rained and rained. No boats in the water this year. We did have one as a sample with head and tail attached on the festival site, Café Corner. The entertainment has been arranged and carried on even in the rain. What was interesting was that we had enough public there with umbrellas that almost everything on Café Corner was actually under the cover of these umbrellas as provided by the public.

These first two years laid the foundation for what has become the entertaining event that has lasted for 20 years.  We did have races, but they are not intended to be extremely competitive. We are more about having fun with all the activities.

The festival has grown to encompass nearly a full day of activities. There are welcoming speeches, lots of entertainment and down on the creek, the races.  The Dragon Boat Committee grew in interest and talent. We bring the culture, entertainment of China to the Plaza on a Saturday in June and provide lots of activity for the attending public. One might make the point that we have two distinct sections to the day; The Festival and the Races.