With the original home of the FVDBC in need of extensive repair and the current owner not insuring the floating clubhouse (due to safety reasons), the FVDBC went into overdrive mode to look for a suitable replacement. Club Equipment manager Bijan Mohitpour volunteered his basement to store the club's equipment temporarily but a more permanent solution was needed (especially before the season started).

After talking with different moorage companies and other non profit's a solution was found. The new home of the FVDBC will be at the Harrison Hot Springs Marina. Executive members Scott Farrell and Dale Kjemhus, along with fellow paddler Lorne Simpson took time out of their busy day to stop by and talk with Warren Moser (co-owner of the Marina). A moorage area large enough for both boats and a building with ample storage space was made available. This will allow to club to concentrate on more important issues now (those of a cleaning bee).

The new clubhouse is 28 feet long and 14 feet wide. It is wood construction with a metal roof. The structure consists of a carpeted front area with sliding patio style doors. A single door off the front area leads into the main room. This is the largest part of the structure which will house our life jackets and paddles. There are two additional rooms that will be used to store less used equipment. The dwelling is in fine shape but will need a good cleaning before the equipment will be brought on site.

Members of the Fraser Valley Dragon Boat Club manned (and woman'ed) a booth last weekend at the annual Home, Leisure and Outdoor show held in Heritage Park in Chilliwack. Members from all four clubs took turns over the weekend handing out pamplets, signing up potential new paddlers and talking to the general public about dragon boating. The booth was donned with the club's banner, the head and tail sawhorse, a video presentation and of course, the very popular drum. One family stopped by to let us know that their son wanted to come to the show just to hit the drum again. Apparently he remembered hitting the drum last year and thats all he wanted to do this year. The little guy was all of 2 1/2 years old. If this keeps up we may need to start an elementary dragon boat team.

The response from the public was overwhelming. A lot of very interested people stopped by to get information and to get questions answered. The signup sheet for the Open Paddle in April was chalked full of names. It was a great success. The winner of the FVDBC basket giveaway went to Omer S. He was one of the last people to stop by and talk about dragon boating. After he gets through eating all the goodies in the basket he will need to take up dragon boating to get back into shape. Thank You to everyone that helped over the weekend.  

The FVDBC Executive had their first meeting of the 2010 season this week. The first meeting always seems to take longer than expected and this one was no exception. The agenda consisted of budgeting for the year, recruitment, equipment purchases and repairs, team fees, media exposure and so on. The minutes from the meeting with be available soon.

All the dates for the coming years events have been finalized and are listed below.

• Jan 28th - Club Regatta Management meeting. 7:00pm at JD's Lounge
• Jan 29th to 31st - Home, Leisure and Outdoor Show. Members needed.
• Feb 21st - Executive Meeting
• March 5th to 7th - Fraser Valley Women's Show, Heritage Park (tentative)
• March 6th - Cleaning Bee, Manfred's Shop. It's OK ladies, we got this.
• March 13th - Boats in the water. Tentative - based on weather.
• April 10th - Open Paddle - Harrison Lake
• April 15th - Club fees are DUE. $135.00 per paddler
• June 26th - Community Challenge - Harrison Lake
• July 24th - Harrison Dragonfest - Harrison Lake
• Sept 26th - Challenge Cup - Harrison Lake (boats out of the water)