Dragon Boat Festival "2001" - Proudly Pan-Asian
By Gil Asakawa
August 22, 2001

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They decided to toss a coin.

Altbish Dashzeveg, captain of the Mongolian team, and DPD Captain Brian Gallagher, captain of the Dept. of Public Safety team, gathered on stage. Because this was an Asian community event, Gallagher deferred to Dashzeveg, who had to be explained how a coin toss works. Dashzeveg called "tails" as the quarter spun high into the air and landed on the stage - with tails showing. The Mongolians had won the semifinals, and pandemonium erupted, as if they had taken the finals and the AT&T Cup trophy.

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But there was one more race, this time against the AT&T 4A team (the 4A group is AT&T's Asian employee group). Gallagher showed great sportsmanship and honor by allowing Dashzeveg to make the call, and then to accept the decision. He won the admiration of many Asians in the community - and the steering committee -- with his selfless act.

The two boats lined up for one more run, and the crowds moved towards the shore, including all the police and firefighters in attendance, who earned even more accolades by loudly cheering on the Mongolians for their final race.

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The teams began furiously paddling, with the Mongolians ahead at first, with AT&T 4A catching up halfway through the race. But by the end, the Mongolians had capped off their fairytale day by getting to its flag and raising it high in the air first. People on shore jumped up and down in jubilation and disbelief.

The Colorado-Mongolia Project got to take home the AT&T Cup for the festival's inaugural year.

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The races were just one facet of Dragon Boat Festival 2001, which turned out to be a terrifically successful first-time event to celebrate Denver's Asian-Pacific American population. A group of Asian Pacific community leaders met more than a year ago to plan a full-scale cultural festival around Dragon Boat Races, by adding a day-long lineup of Asian Pacific entertainment and an Asian Marketplace of arts, crafts, gifts and food vendors.

Census figures show Colorado's Asian population grew by almost 60 percent in the past decade. Although Asians typically have an image of being the "silent minority," it's time to show both our solidarity and ability to work together in partnership despite the many groups within our diverse community, and to show off our cultural riches to the metro area at large.

Gil Asakawa writes a weekly column of pop culture and politics from a Japanese American perspective. You can reach Gil's website at http://nikkeiview.com.