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Macon Dragon Boat Races at Lake Tobesofkee this weekend

The Macon Dragon Boat Raises raise money for a local organization each year.

Several teams will compete in the annual Dragon Boat Races held at Lake Tobesofkee in Macon on Saturday.

The races will be at Sandy Beach Park and kick off around 1 p.m.

Each race is about a minute and a half long, according to Dianna Glymph, the CEO of Big Bothers Big Sisters.

This will be the 9th Annual Macon Dragon Boats event held to raise money for Big Brothers Big Sisters.

"We're a wonderful community, but in relation to how many non-profits there are, it's fairly small," Glymph said about the organization. "So, we wanted to do something different."

She added that after she and her husband saw an article about Dragon Boat Races, they knew it was the perfect fundraiser for BIg Brothers Big Sisters and a great way to utilize the lake.

On Saturday, several local companies will compete for a trophy and a whole lot of bragging rights in the community.

Each team will compete in two heats. During the third heat, the top four fastest teams will compete.

"This year our largest sponsor is GEICO," Glymph said. "They will have two teams in the race."

She added that Wells Fargo, State Bank, Georgia Power, Apparel Authority, American Pride, Cox Communications and McNair, McLemore, Middlebrooks & Co., LLC are also sponsoring this year's event.

Georgia Power is currently the reigning champion for the races.

"The true, real winners in this are the children that we serve through Big Brothers Big Sisters," Glymph said.

Each team member raises at least $25 for the organization in order to be in a boat with a goal of raising about $115 per person to recruit and screen volunteers.

The boats will be brought in by High Five Boats based in Tampa, Florida on Friday and the teams will begin practicing for Saturday's races around 4:00 p.m Friday afternoon.

The event is open to the public, so anyone who wants to come out can pay the $3 admission fee to watch the races.

However, any spectators will have to leave Sandy Beach Park when the races are over as the park is not open to the general public at this time.

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