dragon boat festival

BEMIDJI -- Bemidji City Council member Ron Johnson leads a very public life. In addition to 14 years at City Hall, he's spent more than 30...

BEMIDJI -- It was a record breaking Friday night for the Bemidji Dragon Boat Festival. More than 60 teams paraded through the Lake Bemidji...

Monte Draper | Bemidji Pioneer (From left) Race organizers and volunteers Scott Turn and Dennis Johnson, along with Ken Nye of Diversified Builders...

BEMIDJI --EMDASH-- My first experience in a dragon boat was a humbling one. I came into this past week thinking that the countless times paddling a canoe growing up in the Minnesota wilderness would be enough to jump in a boat and get the hang of it right away. That, and even if I'm...

BEMIDJI -- Resembling a parking lot at a college football tailgate event, the Team Village area at the 2013 Lake Bemidji Dragon Boat Festival had something for everyone. Only with trees. There were grills, coolers and lawn chairs aplenty in Library Park overlooking the lake Saturday....

BEMIDJI -- For the HydraHeads, it was a day of firsts and thirds. For the third time since 2009, the team, captained by Mark Walters, won the Gold Division of the Lake Bemidji Dragon Boat Festival. And for the first time since the event began eight years ago, the HydraHeads' trophy-winning...

The Dragon Boat Festival got under way on Friday evening with a parade of teams and a new event "Sprint Races." The races begin at 9 a.m. today. Shown above Team "The Scourge" from Luekens Village Foods had some colorful characters.

BEMIDJI -- Nine teams tonight will compete for the inaugural Dondelinger GM Sprint Cup in the Lake Bemidji Dragon Boat Festival. "We're excited to participate," said Cathy Hedstrom, a team captain of Padders You Can Count On, AmeriPride Service's team. "We're just looking forward...

BEMIDJI -- He'd remember you, year after year. George Welte, the official photographer for the Lake Bemidji Dragon Boat Festival, would track...

Eight Dragon Boats arrived early Monday and were unloaded thanks to heavy equipment from Diversified Builders, members of the Bemidji Rotary and Dragon Boat committee members. Practices will be held all week with races Friday night and Saturday for the 2013 Lake Bemidji Dragon Boat...