Today marks the final chance to register for this weekend’s Sydenham Challenge Dragon Boat Festival.
The 20th annual event hits the water on Saturday, and spokesman Brian Armitage has grown substantially over the years with as many as 34 boats in the water.
“It started out with six teams, went to 10 teams, then it just started taking off,” Armitage says. “This year we have (teams from) Sarnia, Windsor, Chatham, North Shores, and Wallaceburg. We still have two or three teams that were with us from day one.
This is the first year the Sydenham Challenge has been held since before the pandemic. Typically held the first Saturday of June, the races were delayed due to the uncertainty around COVID restrictions earlier in the year.
New this year is a special community award in memory of Steve Bilodeau, who passed away this past March.
“A great person, what a community booster, involved in many things, Steve was very involved in the dragon boats. This is the first we’ll have the Steve Bilodeau Memorial Community Award, it’s going to be a combination of a team and what they’ve all done for the community.”
The Sydenham Challenge runs from 8am until roughly 4pm on Saturday.
To register, visit sydenhamchallenge.ca, call 519-350-3931, or email Armitage at btage@bell.net.