Arkansas Canoe Club Forums

a moment of quite time I loved you Man you shared so much with all of us old paddlers.. May you rest in slince of the river flowing.. The Barton family.

Really sorry to hear about this... I thank him for all he did for the club.
ty

Canoeing, Kayaking, Porsche Club, Army Reserves, Bicycling, Camping - so many memories.

But the one that comes to mind immediately is the first time Mike and I ran Section 3 of the Chattooga. We had taken kayaks to annual training at Redstone Arsenal, Huntsville, AL. On the middle weekend, we drove up to the Clayton area and camped out on Saturday night off the highway near Bull Sluice (which we could hear throughout the night).

The next day, as we were finishing our run on Section 3, we were sitting in the pool above Bull Sluice. I asked Mike if he intended to run it or portage around it. He looked at me and said he'd run it over 100 times the previous night in his sleep, so one more time should not be a problem.

I don't even remember what we were doing - just having fun.

I bought my first boat from Mike... one of Bullwinkle's that had been wrapped... almost 25 years ago. It changed my life and I'm thankful. RIP, Mikey!!

Goddbye, old friend.

Sad news. He will be missed. Been a fews years since I've bumped into him.

Mike & Kenny Holmes introduced me to the ACC & for that I'm forever grateful. Still remember the night I was putting gas in the 77 Monte Carlo at the Gulf on the corner of Rodney Parham & Shackleford after moving to Little Rock. Had my yellow Blue Hole OCA tied to the top of the Monte Carlo (which was a sight to behold). Mike Beard & Kenny Holmes strolled up & struck up a conversation, told me about the ACC & invited me to the next chapter meeting at the Oyster Bar. Met a wonderful group of paddlers & my eyes were opened up to more Arkansas whitewater. Enjoyed bumping into Mike & usually Kenny over the years. Having spent some time upside down on a few trips I remember Mike paddling up with some encourageing words one trip while I was recovering boat & gear from a swim. "Jeff, if you ain't swimming you ain't trying", with his big ole grin.

FYI: Funeral information for Mike
http://www.ruebelfuneralhome.com/obitua ... hp?id=1446" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Visitation will be held at Pulaski Heights Baptist Church on Thursday, May 16 from 5 to 7 p.m. A memorial service will be held at Pulaski Heights Baptist Church on Friday, May 17, 2013 at 11 a.m

Rest in Peace, Mikey.
I remember the good times we had in the 80's racing against each other in our "slalom" canoes. These were 16' Blue Holes paddled solo. Aaargh! Mikey was typically a few points ahead of me, except on one good day at the Cossatot races. I posted a better score than him on our first run, and he wondered if it had to do with my boat or outfitting. He asked to use my boat on his second run which I agreed to. I think that might have been one of the few times that I beat him. Walter

Where does an old time Riverman go
after he's passed away
Does his soul keep a watch
on the deep
for the rest of his river days
Does he then come back
as a channel cat
or the wasps that light on the wheel
or the birds that fly
in the summer sky
or the fish
swimming under the keel

John Hartford


God's speed Mikey- Geo.

Doe's anybody remeber when Micke yand others went to an SiberiaIn Rafting
combetion? I think it was 1989 or so, and was one of the 1st opening's for USA citizens and Russiana to enteract in both countries. I thought this was pretty Radical, but the next yr or 2, Nantahala 90 occurred. People from at least 35 countries were there, and we had the privilege to host several, along with ,Mary Ann and Kent Davidson, RUSSIAN BOATERS. we still occasionly hear from those folks. Mikey Beard was the person who helped make this possible. dale and pam.

If I’ve ever welcomed you to join a trip on a river you’ve never done, you can thank (or blame, as the case may be) Mike Beard. When I was just beginning to step it up and wanted to run something harder than Class II, most folks would ask me what I had run before. When the list was still short, I sometimes found myself not welcomed. This was extremely frustrating; how could I gain experience on harder stuff if I had to have already run harder stuff before I was allowed to join in? Mike’s approach was more of what we would now call “game on!” Mike always welcomed me and other new paddlers to join in the escapades. I still remember following Mike down the Ocoee, not really knowing what was around the next bend, watching his kayak disappear from sight as it went over the next drop, knowing only that I had been given the sage advice, “follow me!” So Mike’s influence lives on.

If you’ve ever seen my 7 foot square stern aluminum canoe, that was one of Mike’s creations, made from the salvageable portions of a 17’ square stern he found wrapped around a tree somewhere. I made the mistake of admiring it briefly, 30 seconds later it was mine. As a matter of fact, it has been my avatar for the last couple of years on this message board. Check it out; that’s not photoshop! So again Mike lives on.

Probably about 25 or 30 years ago, I remember watching Mike and a couple of others use a Z-drag (something I had never heard of) to pull a pinned boat off the rocks just below the Mother on Big Piney. I was amazed! The boat was pinned hard, no floatation, gunnels upstream. But they were doing something fancy with the ropes, and suddenly like magic, 3 or 4 men did a job I didn’t think 10 could have done. That sparked an interest in river rescue techniques that continues to this day.

I’ll miss you Mikey, but I won’t forget. And I’ll continue paying it forward. Rest in Peace.

Like many other boater who began boating in the mid eighties Uncle Miikey was one of my mentors
He helped down Richland the first time. I love you brother l will see. You

again downstream. BGWJ

I grew up a couple of blocks away from Mike, and have way to many memories to share here. There's only one man I admired more than Mike, and I lost my Dad Sixteen years ago. Motorcycle racing was his big game when we met. (El Faco Ba) racing team. He had a several boats then too.
Catch up with you on the other side Uncle Mike!

aka Bob Hoffman

The Arkansas Canoe Club is sending a memorial plant that can be placed in the ground and provide an on-going testament to Mike's life and contributions to the sport and the club to the service on Friday. A donation in Mike's name will also be made to the American Cancer Society.

Keep paddling!