Twenty-four teams and nearly 250 rowers paddled across Melton Hill Lake on Saturday for Emory Valley Center's first annual dragon boat race, a sold-out fundraiser that pulled in more than $20,000 for programs serving people with intellectual and developmental disabilities in the Oak Ridge area. Competitors ranged from Oak Ridge High School students to an 81-year-old rower, all packed ten paddlers and a drummer into a boat for 200-meter heats that built toward a finals round at the end of the day.
The race, held at Melton Hill Lake in Oak Ridge, sold out entirely, according to WVLT, which first reported on the event. Aaron Price, vice president of community engagement at Emory Valley Center, confirmed the sellout as teams and spectators lined the shore. The money raised will go toward new playground equipment at the center's early learning center, giving the fundraiser a concrete, local payoff beyond bragging rights on the water.
A Rematch of Community and Competition
Among the entrants was a team from the Oak Ridge Civic Music Association, whose members leaned on more than muscle to move their boat. Sarah Henrich, the Oak Ridge chorus director and a member of the association's team, said rhythm gave her crew an edge over the competition. Fellow paddler Zoe Shankland echoed that sentiment, saying rhythm mattered more than raw strength once the boats hit the water.
The Free Medical Clinic of Oak Ridge team took the day's first heat, a win teammate Kesha Carter credited to the boat's drummer, Amelia Daugherty, for setting the pace. Local civic figures also got in on the action: Oak Ridge Mayor Pro Tem Jim Dodson competed with the Rotary Club of Oak Ridge Sunset team, telling reporters beforehand that his main goals were simply not to drown and to have a good time. That Rotary club also sponsored the Interact Club team made up of Oak Ridge High School students, part of the club's youth outreach programming.
Reviving a Decade-Old Local Tradition
Saturday's race wasn't Oak Ridge's introduction to the sport. The city previously held a dragon boat race roughly a decade earlier, an event that traces back to an inaugural Oak Ridge Dragon Boat Race Festival on May 31, 2014, organized by three local Rotary clubs and spearheaded by then-City Manager Mark Watson, which drew 30 teams to Melton Lake Park, according to Oak Ridge Today. Emory Valley Center's revival of the format as a sold-out fundraiser suggests the appetite for the sport never really faded in East Tennessee.
Ahead of Saturday's competition, teams held practice runs on the lake Friday before gathering for dinner at Big Ed's Pizza, an Oak Ridge institution in Jackson Square that has operated since 1970, according to Kathy May-Martin. That kind of pre-race ritual fits the community feel organizers were going for, blending competitive heats with the kind of local color that has surrounded Oak Ridge's waterfront events for years.
Why Melton Hill Lake Draws Elite and Grassroots Events Alike
Melton Hill Lake itself is no stranger to hosting competition at every level. Created in 1963 when the Tennessee Valley Authority completed the 103-foot-high Melton Hill Dam on the Clinch River, the lake spans 5,470 acres of water surface and nearly 193 miles of shoreline, according to Visit Knoxville. The Oak Ridge Rowing Association, established in 1979, operates a 2,000-meter, seven-lane buoyed sprint course there, benefiting from surrounding hills that block wind and a steady 55-degree water temperature that keeps weed growth at bay, per Oak Ridge Today's historical account.
Those same conditions helped the lake host the SEC Rowing Championship for the second consecutive year on May 10, 2026, where the University of Tennessee Lady Vols rowing team upset top-ranked Texas to claim the conference title, according to Rowing News. The lake regularly hosts regattas with participants from across the country, and spectators watching Saturday's dragon boat heats could follow the action along the Melton Lake Greenway, a paved multi-use path that runs along the waterfront connecting the course to nearby parks.
Decades of Service Behind the Fundraiser
Emory Valley Center itself has deep roots in the community it serves. The nonprofit was founded in 1955 as the Oak Ridge Council for Retarded Children by local parents seeking services for children with disabilities, and it has since grown to provide early intervention, behavioral health, residential, and workforce development services across East Tennessee. Its Early Intervention Program alone serves 450 children across 14 East Tennessee counties, supplementing center-based preschool and Little Learning Lab programs in Oak Ridge.
According to nonprofit public filing records reviewed by Give Freely, Emory Valley Center employs more than 400 staff members and provides services to more than 500 individuals through family support, along with nearly 200 adults through residential and day programs. The organization also expanded its reach in July 2026 by merging with The Arc Anderson County, broadening its advocacy footprint just weeks before Saturday's sold-out fundraiser.
With one successful race in the books, organizers are already looking ahead. Emory Valley Center has scheduled next year's dragon boat race for mid-August 2027, giving the community a full year to build on Saturday's turnout and, organizers hope, another sellout on the water.
