Mount Pleasant Magazine Sept/Oct 2014

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It wasn’t until after she met a
real survivor that the purpose of the Charleston
Dragon Boat Festival became completely clear.
“I thought it would be fun hanging out with
my co-workers and competing with other amateur
rowers in a few boat races,” said Lisa Curwen, an
employee of Pleasant Family Dentistry in Mount Pleasant
and a member of Lickity Spits, its dragon boat team.
She signed up thinking that the daylong event, held
May 3 at Brittlebank Park in Charleston, on the Ashley
River, would bring a day in the sun and some valuable
team building.
“We were sitting around our tent in between races,
watching all of the creatively costumed teams parade
down to the docks, when a woman came over to thank us
for participating and for seeing the value of Dragon Boat
Charleston,” Curwen explained. “To tell you the truth, it
hadn’t really hit me until that moment. She was a can-
cer survivor. I couldn’t even imagine what she had been
through, and here she was smiling and shaking our hands
and thanking us. It was really humbling, and I felt we all
had learned a lesson of gratitude through her.”
The woman who stopped by the Lickity Spits tent to
put a face to the cause was dragon boat warrior and cancer
survivor Barbara Goodyear of Mount Pleasant.
“We are thrilled to see everyone sharing in our excite-
ment for this amazing sport,” Goodyear told the team,
“and we want you to know how much we appreciate your
support. It means the world.”
The mission of Dragon Boat Charleston, established
in 2003, is to promote physical and mental wellness in
cancer survivors in the Charleston County community.
In addition to fun and exercise, paddlers get to enjoy the
Lowcountry’s beautiful waterways and build relationships
with teammates.
Joining DBC was a game-changer for Betty Pigott of
Mount Pleasant. Her mother passed away in March 2011,
and her father’s death followed in April. In between, she
was diagnosed with breast cancer.
“In 2012, my friend, Cindy Carter, one of the found-
ers of Dragon Boat Charleston, extended an invitation for
me to join the community outreach group to learn how to
dragon boat paddle,” Pigott said. “I knew that the group
would consist of other cancer survivors but had no idea
Dragon Boat
Charleston
survivors Lucy
Spears and Barbara
Goodyear display
symbolic carnations
that were given
out at the Survivor
Ceremony.