Portland has moved into the yellow (moderate) though the AQI still says that current conditions may be unhealthy for sensitive groups. But air quality has been, and is predicted to, only get better going into the weekend.

We will continue to monitor the air quality index and forecast for any significant changes and do what is best for the safety of our participants. If teams and/or individual participants are concerned about the air quality, we will try to be accommodating as possible vis-à-vis your registrations and rosters. Finally, please be sure to communicate to a Race Official or the First Aid tent if you or anyone on your team is experiencing negative symptoms on race day.

Again, thank you all for your patience as we worked through this environmental concern.

That being said, it has come to our attention that the Marriott hotels have a new 48-hour cancellation policy instead of the 24-hour policy that many of us are used to. We still have no plans cancel the Festival, but we understand that some teams may wish to change their travel plans if we do. We will offer whatever kind of refund that we can, or significant discount on next year’s registration, if teams are concerned about the air quality and want to cancel their registration now. Unfortunately, we cannot tell you what that number will be until after we know what our final expenses are, which will probably not be for a few more weeks. 
 
More tomorrow. There is a chance of rain overnight and we are hoping for the best!

We have received a number of inquiries today about the air quality situation in Portland and the upcoming Portland Dragon Boat Festival. Due to particulate matter from the nearby Eagle Creek fire, the air quality in Portland is currently considered unhealthy.
 
The forecast for this week looks somewhat promising with shifting winds, cooler temperatures, and a chance of showers Wednesday night through Friday. We know that a number of you are coming from out of town, however, and are looking for guidance before this weekend as to whether the event will be cancelled. We will make that call no later than noon on Thursday.
 
At this time, we have no plans to cancel the Festival and are moving forward with our preparations as usual. We are keeping a close eye on the air quality index and that, coupled with the weather forecast, will guide our decision. Your health and safety is our number one priority.
 
In the event that we do need to cancel, we will make sure to compensate all teams as best as we can. Please understand that a number of our expenses have already been incurred and/or are not completely refundable. DragonSports is a nonprofit organization and needs to cover the bulk of its expenses, which for this event are paid for mainly by your registration fees, to be able to offer you races again in the future. 

Thank you for your patience and understanding. Please contact us with any further questions or concerns and stay tuned for periodic updates.

​By popular request, we're offering everyone the ability to pre-order plus size men's and women's race apparel this year. Please email PdxDragonStuff@gmail.com with your orders by August 30th. The sizes should run true to size this year (not snug like last year). All sizes will be available at the merchandise tent race weekend, but we always have requests for more plus size merchandise and want to make sure to order enough this year!

All team contacts should have received links to create/edit Team Rosters from Google in the past week.
 
It is easiest to view/edit this document on a computer. If you need to access it on your phone or tablet you'll likely need to download and install the Google Sheets app if you don't have it already. If you are unable to access this document for any reason, please let us know and we will work with you. 
 
To get started, please add your team members' names to the Roster and use the drop down arrows in the "Role" column to select if they are a paddler, caller/drummer, or tiller/steer. If someone fills more than one role for your team, please just select their primary role. Some fields are protected from editing by you and you should not add any more rows. 
 
As you complete your Roster, please have everyone you expect to participate complete an electronic waiver:

We will periodically update the greyed out "Waiver Completed" column to let you know who has completed the electronic waiver. Please have everyone complete their waivers as soon as possible, but no later than September 1. 
 
If your roster is full and you need to delete someone who has already had a waiver verified and add another, please use the Add/Delete form on the second tab to alert us of replacement(s) since you may not be able to clear the waiver verification column. After September 1, the Roster tab may be locked for editing and you will have to make any additions or deletions using the Add/Delete form.
 
If you have any questions/issues/suggestions along the way, please  contact pdxdragonboat@gmail.com.

​DragonSports has again agreed to accept bids to operate the Portland Dragon Boat Festival Beer Garden. Any organization that is interested in running the Beer Garden needs to fill out the Application in the Request for Proposal and return it to president@dragonsports.org by 5:00 p.m. on April 8, 2017.

Please contact president@dragonsports.org with questions.

​Portland Fire & Rescue is hosting its annual September 11th blood drive Sunday at Station 1 on the corner of Naito & Ash, a few blocks north of the race venue. They’ve cordially invited friends & family of racers to donate blood between events. The drive runs from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., and all presenting donors will receive a $10 Visa gift card courtesy of Suburban Propane as a token of appreciation. Donors are encouraged to sign-up here and can also walk-in the day of the drive.

We often get asked to resend our update and informational emails. Just to keep them all in one place, here are the reprints (newest first) from this year so far:

DragonSports has again agreed to accept bids to operate the Portland Dragon Boat Festival Beer Garden. Any organization that is interested in running the Beer Garden needs to fill out the Application in the Request for Proposal and return it to festival@dragonsports.org by 5:00 p.m. on Friday, April 8, 2016. A decision will be made on April 11, 2016.

Please contact festival@dragonsports.org with questions.

What: Dragon Sports is looking to update our logo in time for our race in 
September!

Who: We are opening up a competition to our paddlers and their friends, so spread the word.

The Prize: Either $300 cash or a $500 credit to Dragon Sports (to pay for practices, race entry fees, merchandise, and the like).

When: Submissions are due by 5:00pm on Wednesday, June 1, 2016.

Where: Submit entries to info@dragonsports.org.

The Fine Print:

• The logo must contain the words “Portland Dragon Boat Festival”.
• The logo will be used online, in print, and on merchandise. Flexibility is a key requirement, including the need to resize easily and to look good in black and white as well as color.
• It is preferred, but not necessary, that the entries must be submitted as a scalable vector graphic in EPS format.
• The entry must include the name, age, postal address, phone number, and email address of the entrant.
• Entrants must be of sufficient legal age and standing to enter into a contract with DragonSports.
• Entrants should take care to ensure that their entries are not in any way similar to existing logos or other copyrighted images.
• The winner will be required to sign a contract assigning all ownership of the logo to DragonSports.
• Accepting the prize constitutes permission for DragonSports to make public and otherwise use winner’s name for publicity purposes. Further personal data may be publicized at the winner's request.
• DragonSports reserves the right not to select a winner if, in its sole discretion, no suitable entries are received.

Questions? Email info@dragonsports.org.