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Great Dock canoe event was a race for fun, victory
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Great Dock Canoe Races
32nd Annual Great Dock Canoe Race at the Naples City Dock on Saturday May 10, 2008.
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Thousands of Southwest Florida residents celebrated one of Naples’ longest-standing traditions Saturday at the 32nd annual Great Dock Canoe Race.
Family members and friends crowded the City Dock and Naples Bay to cheer on competitors, from the serious athletes trying to win to the novice paddlers just trying to stay upright.
Paddlers waved to the cheering spectators as they moved in front of them.
On shore, attendees watched and applauded as contestants paddled a course of just more than three miles, starting at Crayton Cove, circling the City Dock, then heading north to The Riverwalk at Tin City before retracing their route back.
Sitting on beach chairs at the City Dock enjoying the event were seasonal residents Judie Miller, 69, and Mary Lou Foster, 65, who have attended the race frequently.
“This is the most fun,” said Foster, who spends part of the year in Michigan.
Miller, who splits time here and in Ohio, added that she enjoys the creatively decorated canoes.
Her favorite part of the event has always been the themed boat parade.
This year, her favorite was Toy Story’s “To Infinity... and Beyond” space ship.
The theme for this year’s race was “Whatever Floats Your Boat.”
First held in 1977 as an end-of-season party for the owners and employees of the Dock Restaurant, the race has evolved through the years into a community festival centering around the wacky canoeists who gather for one day on Naples Bay.
The annual event continues to draw a larger crowd.
Vin DePasquale, owner of the Dock Restaurant and founder of the Great Dock Canoe Race, estimated a crowd of 5,000 people and about 150 boaters.
Dozens stood or sat outside Ninth Street South near the City Dock.
Proceeds from this year’s canoe race will benefit Fun Time Early Childhood Academy Inc., a Naples day-care center for children of low-income and working-class families. Money will go for computers and assorted classroom equipment.
“We are excited today to be the beneficiary of this wonderful community event,” said Peter Manion, co-chairman of Fun Time Early Childhood Academy.
Fun Time Early Childhood Academy Inc. will receive a total of $6,000.
The best interpretation of the theme winner was the archiving and information-providing business NewsBank, which had the Toy Story’s space ship. The business donated its $1,000 cash prize to the center.
The Pembleton family, of East Naples, has been coming to the annual festival for the past two years.
Billy Pembleton, 9, and his sister, Holly, 6, laughed and cheered as pirates left the City Dock squirting water with water guns.
Their father, Bill Pembleton, 51, said the children enjoy the race.
“It’s just a great community event,” Pembleton’s wife, Sherri, said.
Comments
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They banned the water balloons, it is just a question of time before the race becomes either homogenized or banned. Collier County, fun is only allowed if big money is involved.
#1 Posted by swampbuggy on May 10, 2008 at 9:40 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I had plenty of fun. Clearly you were not there.... I saw plenty of water balloons and I would have thrown one at you for your totally left-field-non-sequitor-unrelated-
disenfranchised-bitter-wish-i-was-rich-
and-powerful-but-I'm-just-cranky-oldguy
-who-thinks-everything-was-better-when
-they-were-young comment.
Get over it Swamp Neck....We all are getting tired of your rants. It was not always better back then, get a job and get some indoor plumbing.
#2 Posted by Hayduke on May 10, 2008 at 11:05 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Well, surprise Hayduke...I walked to the Gordon Pass today and like every year, ballons had washed ashore with more to follow in the coming days.
Tomorrow I'll do my Sand Dollar/Tigertail Beach walk and just like many years prior, I'll see many more ballons out there as well.
Isn't it all a little odd that we celebtrate the environment by trashing it? Wake up people!
#3 Posted by mattmaki on May 11, 2008 at 4:39 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Well said Mattmaki,
Congrats to the considerate folks who used super soakers and hoses to cool off rather than the ballons. Tolerating pollution that endangers sea turtles and other marine life is ridiculous.
Good job Naples Police and all the other agencies that allowed people to have a good time in the Bay but didn't let things get out of hand.
#4 Posted by cocolopez on May 11, 2008 at 5:52 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Hay, you are right I wasn't there. I am glad you had a good time. You are right, the lack of indoor plumbing has made me cranky and wild with wealth envy. Things were horrible back in the good old days. You could camp and drive on the beach behind Pelican bay, but life is much better now with the tram system. Just this year they wanted to ban night fishing on the pier, close fishing on 41, and are still talking about closing the south end of Keewaydin.
Maybe you see this as improving the quality of life. Enjoy your fun while you can, one day you will turn around and wonder what happened.
#5 Posted by swampbuggy on May 11, 2008 at 6:44 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Enjoy your fun while you can, one day you will turn around and wonder what happened.......excellent coment live for today
#6 Posted by ba10da69 on May 11, 2008 at 9:14 p.m. (Suggest removal)
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