Congratulations to the "Heart to Beat" Dragon boat team, who came in first in Division 3 of the 2005 FMG Manitoba Dragon Boat Festival, held at the Forks the weekend of September 9th, 10th and 11th. The "Heart to Beat" team has been paddling four years with some different members, but with the same goal in mind...collecting pledges for Cancer Care Manitoba. Staff from Health Sciences Centre Cardiac Sciences Program, Nuclear Medicine and even family members of staff man the huge boat.

In the past, the Dragon Boat races have been held on a hot August weekend, however this year the Rivermaster felt the waters were too high and the races were moved to a cooler day in September. Not only do these dedicated paddlers spend the race weekend together, they have practice sessions thoughout the summer in preparation for the big day. Obviously, their practice paid off as Steerperson Dave Turon and Drummer Reva Wiebe called a perfect race to lead the team in a winning time of 2:04:12.

On behalf of the group, Team Managers Pam Rohatynsky and Judy Patterson extend thanks to the team sponsor, Rosalind Lehr of Abbott Laboratories.

Back row: (L to R) Ben Ganaden, Leon Myskiw, Bill Comstock, Dave Stasiuk, Al Saydak, Wendy Dinnin, Aaron Giesbrecht, Patrick Saydak, Bob Davedow, Kevin Chen.
Middle row: (kneeling) Leanne Nichol, Kathy van der Vis.
Front row: Cindi Schellenberg, Daniel Lapkoff (hidden), Nicolle Gauthier, Heather Comstock, Pam Rohatynsky, Denise Northover, Reva Wiebe, Julieta Hernandez.
Foreground: Dave Turton. Missing: Jim Hilton

The team hard at work

Judy Patterson, Rosalind Lehr (Abbot Laboratories) Kathy van der Vis and Pam Rohatynsky