Take a Break: Hope in the Boat

What's got the head of a dragon, a heart that beats like a drum, and 40 arms that move as one?

The Capital Region's first dragon boat racing team.

"Shove off," one yells.

"You shove off," the rest respond.

They're a spunky bunch for sure. Their smiles and playful spirit make it almost hard to believe what brought them all together.

Breast cancer.

Team member Sheila Jweid Webber says ''Hope in the Boat'', as they call themselves, is still in its infancy.

"We didn't even have a boat," she recalls. "We used to practice sitting at a picnic table. We were known as the picnic table team."

The boat is almost secondary for the team, which has a deeper motivation. Hope in the Boat founding member, Lucille Allegretti-Freeman says it's become a sort of floating support group.

"It's especially supportive," she says. "The name Hope in the Boat is because we think we are the hope."

Hope in the Boat has already competed in dragon boat festivals and competitions and they've met other teams of breast cancer survivors, all of whom are sometimes reminded of the difficult realities of their sisterhood.

"We've lost members already," Freeman says. "Even in our infancy, we've lost a member."

Flower ceremonies are held before races to remember teammates who could not be with them.

But when they hit the water, that's where Hope in the Boat finds the strength of the dragon.

"You're getting exercise and promoting your health and forgetting about other troubles of the day."

"It's just what we had dreamed about."