'Discover Queens' Gets Off To Rousing Start
BY DAN MILLER

Photos Dan Miller/DMD Images Borough President Helen Marshall welcomes tourists to Queens for "Discover Queens" Month.

Representatives of cultural, economic and business institutions of Queens surrounded Borough President Helen Marshall at a kick off celebration of this year's "Discover Queens in August" at the Diamond Club at Shea Stadium yesterday.

At a press conference at the Shea Stadium Diamond Club, Marshall invited everyone to come to Queens during this summer celebration. "We are grateful to all our tourism partners and the Mets for getting the word out about everything from Dragon Boat races to the US Open Tennis Tournament. There is no better time to discover Queens than in the month of August," the borough president said as she pointed to the "DISCOVER QUEENS" banners behind her and announced the wide variety of events planned for Queens in July and August.

The summer will be filled with many free events, such as Passport Fridays, which will bring visitors to the Queens Museum of Art for free outdoor music and dance every Friday night. Thousands can enjoy the music and dance of Latin culture at the weeklong JP Morgan Latino Festival at Queens Theatre in the Park July 25 to August 5. For more information, call Queens Theatre in the Park at 718-760-0686. Jeff Rosenstock director of Queens Theatre in the Park, noted, "New tee shirts, like the ones used in Brooklyn, have been printed to celebrate Queens and to bring Queens residents together to be proud of their borough."

New York Mets mascot Mr. Met joins Borough President Helen Marshall (to his l.) and representatives of other sports and cultural organizations to herald "Discover Queens" events in August.

The fourth annual Tiger-Beer Singapore Chili Crab Festival will be held at Riverview in Long Island City on August 19.

The US Open brings some of the world's greatest tennis players, such as Roger Federer, Andy Roddick, James Blake, Rafael Nadal, Venus Williams, Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova, and many, many more to the Billie Jean King US Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park August 27 to September 9.

The New York Mets, who are currently leading the National League East, have broken all attendance records with their fast style of baseball at Shea Stadium. All- Stars David Wright, Jose Reyes, Carlos Beltran, Billy Wagner and the rest of the Mets battle to bring another crown back to Shea Stadium and to the borough of Queens. Team mascot Mr. Met joined the festivities to welcome all comers to Mets home games.

Speakers included Queens Economic Development Corporation Executive Director Spencer Ferdinand, David Howard, vice president, New York Mets, Seth Sylvan, US Tennis Association director of communications, David Strauss, Queens Museum of Art, Theresa J. Osborne, Director, Culture & Tourism, Office of the Borough President, and Estelle, Cooper, Deputy Director, Parks and Recreation, Borough Of Queens.

A major celebration during the summer will be the Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival (HKDBF) that will take place on August 4 and 5 at Meadow Lake in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park.

In celebration of the lunar Year of the Boar, the organizing committee of the 17th Annual Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival in New York (HKDBFNY) announced that this year's U.S. Dragon Boat Open Championship competition will feature more cash prizes for competitors. Other festival events consist of two special new Cup races, the Hong Kong 10th Anniversary Cup and the Municipal Cup, featuring various teams from elected officials' staffs. This year's Corporate Invitational also looks to be a good one, with many corporate teams racing for their companies. Two new fiberglass boats are also added this year. The Festival will be held at Meadow Lake, Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, rain or shine. Admission is free.

With $15,000 cash prizes at stake for the U.S. Dragon Boat Open Championships, the festival takes place over two days on the site of the 1964 World's Fair, featuring events for the entire family. The New York City Championship Races will follow the opening day parade at noon on Saturday, August 4. The 4th Annual Chef One Dumpling Eating Contest will be held on stage Sunday, August 5 at noon.

Racing starts at 9 a.m. and events last throughout the day until approximately 5 p.m., rain or shine. Other festival events include the media invitational, corporate youth, charity race, women's invitational and sponsors challenge, an ethnic food court, a photo contest and a raffle as well as a presentation on the Verizon Stage of traditional Chinese arts, martial arts demonstrations, the traditional Dragon dance, musical and other diverse performances and demonstrations of folk arts and crafts and the fourth annual Chef One Dumpling Eating Contest on stage Sunday at noon. Booths will be staffed by sponsors of the event, many of whom will be giving away promotional items, and the many community-based organizations participating help make for a unique, action packed, multicultural New York weekend.

Dragon Boat racing is an annual Chinese rite commemorating the idealistic poet and reformer Qu Yuan, who in exile from the court in the third century B.C. drowned himself to protest his emperor's policies. The locals raced in their boats in a futile attempt to rescue the poet. To prevent fish and water dragons from eating his body, the locals beat their drums and splashed their paddles. This was the beginning of Dragon Boat Racing.

The HKDBF, a multicultural celebration and sporting event, is the largest multicultural festival in New York and the largest festival of its kind in the United States. HKDBF NY keeps up the age-old tradition of dragon boat racing in colorful, custom made teak boats, which are virtual works of art gliding on water. Custom-made by a small coterie of craftsmen in Hong Kong, weighing one ton each, colorfully painted with a dragon head at the front and dragon tail at the rear, the boats are piloted by up to 20 crewmen, including 18 paddlers, a drummer and steersperson. For 16 successful years HKDBF-NY has attracted a diverse, multicultural audience of more than 50,000 attendees throughout North America. With more than 150 well-trained teams involving more than 1,500 participants competing from across the U.S. and Canada, this year's festival is expected to be notable in its scale and fierce competition.