Rowers take on the lake for breast cancer awareness
Nancy Taylor takes a turn during The Silver Lining Foundation's Sept. 12 rowing relay from Polson to Somers.
Tom Attwater
Ten of the foundation's regular 42 paddlers participated in the Flathead Lake relay.
Tom Attwater
Paddlers observed a moment of silence and then each threw a rose into the water, one at a time, saying the name of a person whose memory they were honoring.
What does a dragon boat crew do when they can’t dragon? They outrig.
When COVID-19 shut down Missoula’s Silver Lining Foundation dragon boat team for the year because it would require 20 rowers in close quarters, Nan Condit still wanted to paddle.
She bought an outrigger canoe, a solo boat that uses basically the same stroke as a dragon boat.
The Silver Lining Foundation is a support group for breast cancer patients and survivors. They work to raise awareness of their message: “Exercise as medicine.” Condit cites research showing breast cancer recurrence can be reduced as much as 40% with activity.
“We came up with this crazy idea, to paddle the length of Flathead Lake,” Condit said.
With picture-perfect weather early Saturday, Sept. 12, they launched at Polson, accompanied by two support boats, and took turns paddling the canoe clear to Somers, arriving around 1 p.m. Along the way, they held a rose ceremony, in which 25 people each tossed a rose in the water to honor someone’s memory who was lost to breast cancer.
Condit said breast cancer was relatively rare several decades ago, but now about 12% of women will develop breast cancer in their lifetime. “It’s not as well recognized, but cancer is a pandemic,” she said.
October is national Breast Cancer Awareness Month. If you have related events planned, please provide information to The Lake County Leader via email at editor@leaderadvertiser.com.
