4
Wednesday,
May 21, 1997
Dragon boat races build emphasis on teamwork
Dragon
Boat
Team
Members
CHRISTINA MUELLER
Feature Editor
In approximately two weeks 21
Clackamas women will paddle to a hope
ful victory.
The Portland Rose Festival will kick
off soon with a number of events. The
Dragon Boat teams have already be
Bev Doolittle
gun practicing, and they are off to a
Maggie Pedersen
good start.
June 7 and 8,90 teams sponsored by
Janet Baer
different companies or organizations
Lori Balbi
will meet their match as they paddle
down the Willamette River from the
Mary Boyd
Marquam to Hawthorne bridge in Down
Liz Clark
town Portland.
Clackamas has its own team compet
TonieCoe
ing this year. The team consists of 21
Sharon DeBolt
people who have completed one of the
life and career options programs in the
Carole Gaffey
past.
PatHedahl
Two-thirds of the team are currently
students at Clackamas.
Kim Lockwood
This is the second year that
Jane McWilliams
Clackamas has been involved in the
races. The Clackamas foundation
Debra Noles
makes it possible for the college to par
“Amy” Alice Perry
ticipate by donating the $ 1000 entry fee.
“The purpose of it is to build team
Debra Schmidt
work among these women,” said team
Donna Snoke
support person Maggie Pedersen.
“There is team spirit being built.
Joy Taylor
People are supportive of one another
Bonnie Thomas
and concerned if a person doesn’t
show up,” she continued.
Pam Wheeler
The team has been practicing three
Kathy Wiltshire
times a week since the second week in
April in order to improve from last year's
Jane Holcombe
placing of second to last with a men’s
and women’s team.
“One of the big things is that people
are losing inches around their waistline,
and we’re building up stamina,”
Pedersen explained.
This is the second year on the team
for Captain Bev Doolittle.
“I like being in the water, being down
town and having interaction with other
women," she said
Doolittle explained that the team is a
way for her to do something she nor
mally would not have done.
She stresses the importance of the 15-
minute exercises led by Donna Snoke,
who is also a second year member. The
exercises are needed to increase safety
and prevent injuries.
The team practices a number of drills
during their practice sessions. One is a
“power stroke.” First they make strong
paddles then lighter ones. It’s a way of
using 100 percent of their effort, then
down to 70 percent and back up to 100
percent at the end of the race.
The practices also help the women to
get synchronized.
“It takes a bit of everyone to get in
unison,” said Doolittle.
Jane Holcombe, the
boat tiller, claims
she has the
best job on
the boat. Al
though the
tiller seems to
be the most
fun position,
it is poten
tially danger
ous.. It is Holcombe’s job to steer the
boat clear of other boats and other ob
stacles in the river.
“I learn something new every day,”
she shared.
Holcpmbe must steer against stron
ger currents from the wind and other
The women prepare for a night of Dragon Boat practice on the
Willamette River.
Photos by Christina Mueller
boats, such as pleasure boats.
“Some aren’t as considerate as oth-
ers, she said of
the wakes
some boats
leave be-
hind.
Everyone
on
the
team en
joys their
part in the
prepara
tion for and
actual
races of the
dragon boats.
“This is
my sec-
ond year and I
still love it,” said Pam Wheeler.
Many of the team members stress the
teamwork of the activity.
“It’s a great opportunity to be part of
a team, setting goals and achieving
them,” explained Sharon DeBolt.
Deborah Schmidt said she looks for
ward to practice and loves the exercise.
“I got into doing this, and I didn’t
know anybody. It was taking a risk, but
it turned out good,” she shared.
The actual races are done in heats of
threeboats at a time. Doolittle keeps roll
in order to determine who will race in
each heat. She selects members accord
ing to their amount of practice. It was a
team decision that the racing would go
to the members who put in the most ef
fort by attending practices.
Due to the small number of team
members, everyone will probably com
pete in all three races. However, the
attendance encourages people to come
to practice.
Pederson explained that there will
be a Clackamas tent set up at the races,
and the team would like school sup
port. Everyone is welcome to come
and cheer them on.
The musical Chess: now playing in Portland
JOSEPH BALLAS
Contributing Writer
The musical Chess, by the Lake
wood Theatre Company, is as appro
priate for the 90s as Oklahoma! was
for the 50s. Set in Bangkok and
Budapest, this play, carried largely by
its music, is thoroughly charming. The
action is as fast paced as the music.
You never feel the urge to rush out
for a cookie while the lead croons an
other melody.
Rather, the music is almost “new
age,” with synthesizers used through
out. If anything, the music regularly
overpowers the performance of the
actors/singers. While the music is
loud enough to drown out the lyrics
of several of the songs, the audience
never loses track of the story line. The
4
Wednesday, May 21,1997
actors and stage setting convey exactly.
what is happening and how the story
is progressing.
Chess uses a championship chess
match as a metaphor for the contrived
political intrigue of the cold war. It not
only plays off the gamesmanship be
tween the United States and the USSR,
but it also plays off the gamesmanship
involved in marriage and love. Virtu
ally everyone is a victim of the game.
Love for the family competes for pas
sionate love, and obligations are chal
lenged by emotions. The protagonists
exploit all these feelings to manipulate
the participants in this game.
Adair Chappell as Florence, the fe
male lead, seems a little too'intense
throughout the play. The most notice
able weakness in her performance
comes when the music overwhelms her
voice. Gary Wayne Cash as Anatoly,
the Russian chess master, is believable
and suits the role of a Russian who
dreams of freedom to play chess for
the love of the game but ends up being
a pawn in a larger game.
Wade Williams is adequate as
Freddie Trumper, the American chess
champion, and does a credible job of
conveying the "avirtues" of American
greed and a belief in winning at any
cost, as long as you make money.
One of the best performances of the
evening was given by Kellie Johnson
as Anatoly's beleaguered and mis
treated wife, Svetlana, The only real
disappointment is that she had so few
scenes in the play.
Another strong characterization was
developed by Rebecca Kimball as
Ivana Molokov, the Russian's chess
second and KGB guardian. From her
clothing to her demeanor, she con
Chess
veyed the starkness of the Russian
state as she sought to control — first
directly and then by subterfuge W- the
actions and choices of her charge,
Anatoly.
Stuart Cabe plays Walter Anderson,
an unscrupulous American promoter
who is really a CIA operative. He por
trays, a thoroughly scurrilous charac
ter and convincingly delivers.that im
age through his actions, the tone of
his voice and his facial expressions.
The play flows smoothly, but never
telegraphs exactly how the story will
end. The actors are marvelously or
chestrated as the director,-Stan Foote,
expertly weaves music, dance, singing
and scene changes into a mosaic that
is wonderfully entertaining.
Chess is well worth the $ 18 price of ad
mission. It plays at Lakewood Center for
the Arts, Lake Oswego, through June 14.
• Chess is
appearing at
the Lakewood
Center for the
Arts In Lake
Oswego.
• Cost is $18
• The play runs
through June 14
• The musical
spotlights many
actors and
actresses
Wade Williams,
Kellie Johnson,
Rebecca
Kimball, Stuart
Cabe and Adair
Chappell.
Volume XXX, Issue 26