Yes, we are losing one of our top FATC advocates in a couple of weeks to the State of North Carolina. Dave Beerbower, a long time FATC member and two term Board of Directors member as treasurer, is leaving Missouri for the hills of North Carolina – Boone, North Carolina to be exact.  We will truly miss him. He was always there when we had community service and charity work to do. We always put his woodworking skills to work for our service events.  Dave also helped many of our guys build bamboo rods or fix their older bamboo rods given to them by their granddads. Whenever you asked Dave for help, he was there!

Last night (8-31), we celebrated Dave’s departure with a get-together at the Crafty Chameleon in Ellisville, MO. Around forty members took the opportunity to say farewell and many others sent their well wishes to Dave and Becky. It was a surprise get together. Was Dave surprised? Yes, he was fooled – thank you Becky for doing a great job of “fooling” Dave into going to dinner with a few friends. Surprise Dave!!

Dave made a big mistake at the get-together by inviting the FATC to visit and fish with him in North Carolina.  So here we come! The western section of North Carolina/Virginia has some awesome fly fishing so we WILL be there to visit (fish with) Dave.

Again, thank you Dave for all you have done for the FATC and the St Louis community. We know that you will continue to be a long time FATC member and promote the FATC in your new home area.

Kenny Klimes, FATC, Chairman

A Personal Note from Dave Beerbower:

Like the Joni Mitchell song says,” Don’t it always seem to go, that you don’t know what you’ve got ’til it’s gone”. Moving to NC has been something we have considered for a while now and losing all of our friends here kept us from acting on it. Finally, everything lined up and we couldn’t resist any longer.
The send off you gave me last night really touched my heart and reminded just how special the FATC is. From fishing to fellowship to service, we have worked side by side for many years. You guys have been a big part of my life and I will dearly miss your company. But you have given me a pattern to follow in the mountains of NC to establish a FATC chapter there. I will start working on plans for some fishing trips for yo’all to come sample the beautiful rivers in the area. Stay tuned. So I will not say goodbye, but see you later.