Carnation Ceremony Dedication
Leon Lawrence, a retired diversity administrator at Cornell with a legacy of campus and community service, died on January 20, 2017 in Ithaca. He was 74. Besides his work with Cornell students, he was a big fan of the Finger Lakes International Dragon Boat Festival. He supported and coordinated various aspect of the on-land activities of the Festival.
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Lynn Stout, a feisty, courageous, and a generous dragon boater. She was a distinguished Professor of Corporate and Business Law, who died on April 16 at the age of 60 following a long struggle with cancer. An internationally recognized corporate law scholar, prolific writer, and accomplished speaker, Stout was also known as a passionate teacher and mentor.
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What is Flower Ceremony?
The Carnation Ceremony has become a traditional part of Dragon Boat Festivals around the world in which breast cancer survivors are participating. It originated at a race in Vancouver in 1996, when one of the paddlers brought fushia colored roses from her garden that just happened to be in full bloom and matched the dragon-boating shirts her team would wear. The paddlers tucked them into their headbands as they raced.
The following year, the sentiment was repeated in honor of a novice paddler who relapsed and was unable to take part in the race. A teammate brought pink flowers as tokens of their hope for their friend’s survival. Instead of the paddle salute, the team spontaneously threw their pink flowers onto the water. By 1998, flower-tossing was co-coordinated into a ceremony, and it has since become rooted into the dragon boating culture. FLIDBF adopted the Ceremony this to remember and celebrate all brave courageous individual that fought against cancer, and to support all the fighters that had and/or continue to fight against cancer.
Please join us on July 14 to remember Lynn and Leon.
The following year, the sentiment was repeated in honor of a novice paddler who relapsed and was unable to take part in the race. A teammate brought pink flowers as tokens of their hope for their friend’s survival. Instead of the paddle salute, the team spontaneously threw their pink flowers onto the water. By 1998, flower-tossing was co-coordinated into a ceremony, and it has since become rooted into the dragon boating culture. FLIDBF adopted the Ceremony this to remember and celebrate all brave courageous individual that fought against cancer, and to support all the fighters that had and/or continue to fight against cancer.
Please join us on July 14 to remember Lynn and Leon.
