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Team Minute Maid Pulls Together to Win Dragon Boat Race
Minute Maid Corporate Internet
May 18, 2007

An ancient sport provides an opportunity for Minute Maid associates to work together as a team, learn about another culture and show community support as Houston's “hometown juice” company.
Dragon boating has been around for 2,500 years— but this was the Minute Maid team's first experience paddling in Houston’s 7th Annual Dragon Boat Festival. Lack of experience didn’t deter the Minute Maid team as they paddled away with first place honors in the Food and Drinks Division. “We are ‘Minute Maid proud’ of our team that paddled with fierce synchronicity to the commanding beat of our drummer,” said Christine Mei, team captain and Director of Strategic Planning.
Dragon boating combines tradition with teamwork, enthusiasm and strategy. The colorful 40-foot-long boats hold 20 paddlers, one drummer and one steersperson. The front three rows are called the pacers, the middle rows are the engines, and the back rows are the rockets. “In dragon boating, synchronicity is often more important than strength, but our strong ‘engines,’ didn't hurt!” aid Anita Desai, drummer and Associate Brand Manager, Odwalla.
Team Minute Maid had the fastest division scores across three 250-meter races although they had only practiced together once before the event. Competitors in the Food and Drinks division of the race included several Coca-Cola customers: Kroger, HEB and Randall’s (Safeway). "Of course, in business, the customer comes first, so we were thrilled to be able to show our competitive spirit to our customers through dragon boating," said Yuceff Crenshaw, dragon boat engine and Sales Planning Manager.
Minute Maid has been focusing its local community outreach efforts on wellness, education and leadership. “This event was all about diversity and wellness, and an added benefit was the opportunity for our associates to get together with people in the company they might not normally see and work with,” said Christine.
Team Minute Maid team looks forward to participating in future dragon boating events. “For our inaugural year, we felt pretty good about our performance,” said Shagonda Green, co-captain and Demand Planning Analyst. “We had fun, and best of all, we kept everyone in the boat!”

Dragon Boat Team Members Drummer: Anita Desai Pacers: John Aldovino, Christine Mei, Wendy Kwan, Li N. Peng, Dennis Kwan, Michael Naeger Engine: Daryl Seaton, Jim Collins, Kevin Robel, Casey Leung, Mary Green, Ellis Green, Chris Towner, Yuceff Crenshaw Rockets: Sue Nguyen, Emelda Elder, Kelly Woodard, Linda Rogers, Nina Westerfeld, Shagonda Green, Sylvia Garcia

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