Mike Beard

[George Locke]

Please post an adress for the donations.
Thanks, Geo.

[Tim Eubanks]

The club will make a donation in Mike's name with the American Cancer Society. You may do the same if you wish.

[lilredrasta]

A couple of people have mentioned the Siberia trip and I thought I would fill in some blanks. In fall of 1988 Donnie Dove called me from Sobek Expeditions in Walnut Creek, Ca. He said that an American effort was being organized to attend an annual gathering of river runners in the Altai Territories of the Soviet Union. He wondered if we would like to put together an Arkansas team to go with teams from the Southeast, Calif, Rockies and Northeast as well as a US Womens Team. I said "sure, why not?" My standard answers to bulls**t invitations to crazy endeavors.

After a few weeks we began to realize that this was for real. We had special visas and State Department clearance, began to train on Russian style catamarans and took a crash course in Russian language. The team was Mike Beard, Jon Johnson (Take a Hike Hillcrest manager) Gary Morgan, Kent and Mary Ann Davidson and myself. Walter Hussman of the Arkansas Democrat agreed to sponsor us for exclusive rights to the story.

We flew from New York to Helsinki, Helsinki to Moscow, stayed a couple of days prior to a harrowing Aeroflot flight on a rickety Tupelov 154B to Barnaul in Siberia. Then a convoy for several days in busses and army trucks to the Chuya River near the village of Gorno Altisk. We camped, lived and played, ate, drank, danced and paddled with the people who we had grown up to think of as enemies along with folks from 18 other nations. That was April and May of 1989, several months later the USSR was dissolved, the Berlin Wall came down and the Eastern Block was free.

Mikey was my room mate and as you might imagine, the subject of stories too numerous to recount. I still have the hammer-and-sickle flag that we snatched from a light pole in downtown Moscow along with a lot of other mementos. Anyone who is interested can see a slide show posted on Picasa by one of the Russians--URL at the bottom of this post. Team Arkansas drew race bib #01 and we show up in a number of the photos. Amazing experience, changed my life and I'm sure, that of every other participant. One more amazing experience that I have thought a lot about this week as El Faco Ba paddled downstream into the sunset. El Faco Ba is dead, long live El Faco Ba!
Frank Barton
https://picasaweb.google.com/SergeyN007 ... 1660740194

[maggiepowell]

George:
Here is an address for donations
Memorials may be made to Pulaski Heights Baptist Church, 2200 Kavanaugh, Little Rock, AR 72205, CARE or the American Cancer Society .

[canoe]

we have been to a many funerals but, I have to say this one was at the top Dr Hyde was an amazing man .. I want him to preach Dales funeral of course when that time comes .. I can say I saw only one wet eye in the group. It was so amazing .... He made everyone smile because of his words. an amazing Man he is. Pam

[tomcat]

It was good to see everybody at Mikey's service. He was truly a tribe elder and gave the word "character" character.

I am surprised that nobody has posted the following........from the card I've carried in my wallet since about 1979.
________________________________________________________
EL FACO BA Racing Team

* Unfathomable in Method
* Unequaled in Perversion
* Undaunted in Defeat
* Unbearable in Victory

Semi-famous Paddlers and near Perfect Assholes
Purveyors of Legends, Gossip, Outright Lies and Obscure Advice
_________________________________________________________

So long to a good friend.........c-ya later in that big eddy in the sky.


tomcat

ps: One of the last times we paddled together was during Project Raft - Nantahala '90. It was the last day of the week-long event and the competition was the 6-man raft slalom which including us running gates from above Lesser Wesser (aka Nantahala Falls) all the way down past the NOC store on through Worser Wesser (the river was running BIG that week). Mike Beard was one hell of an oarsman that day and put us right into the gates with unbelievable skill. I think we won that day or were second.