Bucks Founders

Chris & Jacquelyn Wetzel

“Team Wetzel” Chris and Jacquelyn are lifelong Bucks County residents born and raised in Lower Bucks County. They were high school sweethearts at Bishop Egan/Bishop Conwell High Schools and have been married for over 25 years. Chris and Jacquelyn currently live in Upper Makefield with their 3 rescue dogs Lucas, Samson and Enzo. They enjoy traveling, being on the water and can be often found in their OC1’s paddling locally or at their favorite location, Long Beach Island, NJ. Chris and Jacquelyn both work in Healthcare where Chris is the CEO of an Ambulatory Surgery Center and Jacquelyn is a Radiologic Technologist in the OR. Besides dragon boating, Jacquelyn’s other passion is RunDisney. She has completed 13 RunDisney races in Walt Disney World, Florida with 7 of them being Half Marathons. Chris is also a running enthusiast having completed 6 Marathons with #7 scheduled for the Fall. But Bucks Dragon Boat will always be one of the most important part of their lives and being able to bring this sport to so many people and having them succeed is what makes them truly proud.

Laurie McHugh (1965-2023)

Laurie McHugh was a lifelong Bucks County resident and lived in New Hope until her death in 2023. Laurie was elected to the borough council in 2016 and also served as council liaison to the Shade Tree Commission, Greater New Hope Chamber of Commerce and helped form the borough’s first Junior Council. She also opened Lambertville’s first authorized craft cannabis dispensary, the Union Chill Cannabis Company. Laurie first began dragon boating in 2010 where she met Jacquelyn and they formed an instant bond that would lead them to start Bucks County Dragon Boat in 2012. The club was one of her greatest achievements and she was so proud of it. On race days, Laurie could always be found with a huge smile, a kind word and was everyone’s biggest cheerleader. Laurie coined the phrase, “BE THE BLUE” and it is a phrase that we still use and abide by to this day. She could be found on the front of a dragon boat drumming as that was one of her favorite things to do on race days. Laurie passed away in August 2023 and her absence is felt everyday.