Dear editor,
Our team the Dragon Slayers from Port Mc Neill were setting up our tent at Carrot Park in Port Hardy on Friday night July 20 with several other local dragon boat teams before the Filomi Days regatta the next day. We were told there would be security on the grounds for the night, so felt things would be okay to leave.
So without hesitation and thinking all would be okay we fastened our “Dragon Slayers” banner to our tent and left for the evening, only to return in the morning to find the banner gone.
Thinking that someone might have been having some fun with us and that it would be returned after our first race that morning, I wasn’t too worried. But that wasn’t to be!
I asked several people if they had seen our banner or heard that it was gone but with no luck. I took a look around thinking it might have been misplaced, but was not to be found. By the end of the day I knew it was gone.
It was very upsetting as the day was so much fun and we were all having such a good time at the regatta. Our team has only had the banner a matter of months and the girls are very upset that it is gone. It cost about $300 to have made and was purchased by the Triport Dragon Boat Society for us. We, as members of the society, all helped to raise the money by doing fundraising. Our team is very disappointed that someone thought they needed to take our banner, as we can’t think why anyone would want something that displays our team name; there is no purpose to taking it.
We use the banner for identifying our tent area at regattas and we also use it for parades to identify our team. It is a shame to see it gone; it will be many months before we can replace it as money needs to be raised all over again.
It is a shame that whoever took it will not be able to utilize it like we would, they will never be able to display it other than in their bedroom or in a basement because anyone seeing it will know that it doesn’t belong to them. Our team would like to offer a reward for its return, no questions asked, you can just drop it off with one of our Triport members, or call Boni Sharpe in Port McNeill (956-4675) or Irene Patterson in Port Hardy, or drop it off at any local business with a note with my number on it, or call me at 956-3550 and I will come and pick it up or tell you where you can drop it off.
We desperately want our banner back! Hopefully someone will hear something or see the banner and come forward with information. We have sent out word via Facebook hoping someone will see the post.
Our banner is very distinct, it is about eight feet long, black with gold writing “Dragon Slayers” with two of our dragon logos on either side of our name. They are the same dragons we have on our team shirts, as well our slogan “success is a journey not a destination” is printed on the bottom in white. It goes to say we are disappointed but we don’t want to point fingers at anyone, we can forgive the theft if the person who took it would find it in their heart to just come forward. Really, all that matters is that we get the banner back!
Do the right thing! Make this right!
Pat Bremner
Port McNeill
