metro
Pacing dragon boats to supportbreast cancer survi
13arbara Lewis FC-antributing Writer
The team practices rowing.
wo Oakland County Jewish women are help-
ing to popularize the ancient Chinese sport
N
of dragon boat racing in the United States.
Carol Fink of West Bloomfield and Rose Rehbein of
White Lake are members of the Motor City Dragons,
the area's only dragon boat racing team for breast
cancer survivors and supporters.
A dragon boat is a 40-foot-long narrow canoe-type
craft powered by 20 paddlers. The crew also includes
a drummer who beats time in pace with the paddlers
and a steerer who uses an oar as a rudder. For races
and festivals, the boat sports an intricately carved
dragon head and tail.
"My passion has always been the outdoors," said
Fink, 66, a member of Temple Shir Shalom in West
Bloomfield who worked on the farm at Kensington
Metropark for 20 years before moving to the Heritage
Park Nature Center in Farmington Hills, where she
handles programming. She was also an avid kayaker and
kayak constructor.
A year ago, a friend asked if she wanted to try pad-
dling a dragon boat. "I didn't know what it was," she
said.
After paddling with a team in Windsor, Ontario, Fink
learned that Csilla Gutay, a vehicle integration engineer
at Ford Motor Co., was forming a southeast Michigan
team.
Gutay, 50, of Plymouth Township, read about dragon
boat racing on a Mayo Clinic website. She learned that
many American teams are composed of women who are
breast cancer survivors or supporters.
When her best friend, Patty Arthur, had a recurrence
of breast cancer in 2012, Gutay decided to start her own
team. She named it the Motor City Dragons.
The team operates under the auspices of the Ford
Employee Recreation Association (FERA) and is based
at the Ford Yacht Club in Grosse Ile, though it is not
limited to Ford employees. The team is a member of
the American Dragon Boat Racing Association, Breast
Cancer Survivors and Supporters division.
Donald C. McKenzie, M.D., formed the first breast
cancer survivors' dragon boat team in Vancouver,
Canada, in 1996. His research showed the sport helps
breast cancer survivors regain the range of motion in
their arms, upper-body strength and endurance.
The Motor City Dragons quickly grew to about 70
14 August 7 • 2014
Rose Rehbein of White Lake and Carol Fink of West
Bloomfield
members, including men — though no more than eight
men are permitted to crew the boat in a race.
What the Motor City Dragons didn't have was a boat.
Club members worked out as a group over the winter
with personal trainer Jan Henry in Farmington Hills.
Last spring and summer they practiced paddling with
teams in Windsor and Lansing. Coached by Tammie
Szabo of Windsor and paddling borrowed boats, the
team won bronze, silver and goal medals at races in Lake
Orion, Toronto and Cleveland.
In November they sold shares to raise the $8,000
they needed to buy a boat. The club has applied for
501(c)3 nonprofit organization status; when they get
it, they will repay their investors from donations.
The boat was built in China and shipped to New
Jersey, where Gutay and her husband went to pick it
up in May using a specially designed trailer attached
to a Ford F-150 truck.
The club named the boat Mustang Patty, in memory
of Gutay's friend Patty Arthur, who died in November
2012.
Rose Rehbein, a member of Temple Israel in West
Bloomfield, learned about dragon boats from Fink.
Rehbein, a registered nurse, takes care of Fink's hus-
band, Ken, a retired physician suffering from multiple
sclerosis.
She's a breast cancer survivor herself. She enjoys
physical activity — she used to be a competitive weight
lifter — but wasn't interested in breast cancer walks.
When she saw a Facebook photo of Fink paddling a
dragon boat, she knew she'd have to try it.
"They are the nicest group of people I've met in a
long time," said Rehbein of the Motor City Dragons.
"We have such a good time:'
Fink echoes her enthusiasm.
"You'll see a lot of gray hair, women of all ages,
women who are overweight, women who are wearing
compression sleeves to keep down the swelling in their
arms after breast cancer surgery" she said. "It's not
about being strong; it's about having perseverance and
drive and a winning spirit:'
The camaraderie is amazing, she said. Club members
who have been touched by breast cancer, whether as a
survivor or a supporter, know they're not alone.
Newcomers are welcome. "We'll greet you with open
arms, snug you up in a life jacket, hand you a paddle
and tell you you'll be just fine," Fink said.
There's no cost to join the Motor City Dragons, but
members must purchase their own life jackets and paddles
and pay for registration at festivals and races. It's first-
come, first-served in terms of who gets to crew for a par-
ticular event.
In the summer, the team practices at 6:30 p.m.
Wednesdays and 2:30 p.m. Sundays at the Ford Yacht Club,
29500 South Pointe in Grosse Ile.
For more information, email motorcitydragons@yahoo.
corn or visit Motor City Dragons on Facebook.
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