| |
 |
News
|
Barta Family Update |
| December 1, 2009 |
In just a few months, colder weather will be replaced with the warmth of the sun. In just a few months the beaches will fill again and the roads to the east will swell with traffic. And, in just a few months anglers will study temperature, wind, and look for bait and offshore boats will troll and someone will scream, "Billfish!" As we prepare for the final weeks of this year and enter the frosty days ahead, it is easy to forget that spring and summer and our passion by the sea is not too far away. And while many are preparing lists and checking names twice to see who is naughty or nice, the staff of the Barta Billfish Tournament is planning for spring and summer and planning for a tent to be erected in Beaufort. The seventh annual tournament, to be held July 15, 16, & 17 is a constant works in motion. There are shirts to be ordered and food confirmed and there is a continued search for anglers and sponsors, alike. Already this tournament has raised $500K for the Boys & Girls Club and each year the goal of $1M inches a little closer.
This year was an emotional year for staff and participants as our founder and tournament spokesperson and ocean-cowboy, was absent. Tred Barta suffered a rare spinal stroke and while he fought for the next day, the tournament went on without him. Recently I had the chance to speak with Tred and to obtain an update on his progress and how his health condition has affected his life. As one can imagine, Tred was eager to speak about his life now and where he is going in the future. However, he was most eager to speak about how this tournament is important to the kids and to the community and also for his emotional healing. In Tred’s words: "I sell airplanes every day from 6 am until 3 pm. I work out with a bungee cord and elastic bans tied around a post for one hour, each day. I shoot my bow each day and I am able to draw back to 50lbs now on the bow. I can drive my ATV and used truck with special controls and I am driving all over the state. So far, I have ridden my horse, Badger, four times. Inside the barn I have a special harness system that lifts me to the horse and on the horse there is a high back seat that I can be strapped to when I ride. He is a specially trained horse and he is easily bridled. My attitude is go, go, go and I feel as good as I have ever felt. I believe in my faith and I believe my faith carried me through very dark days in the hospital. And, I believe that God gave me a second chance to inspire people, I truly believe I am here to inspire and to motivate others. On the day after Thanksgiving my wife and I are traveling to Guatemala to fish for billfish and to hunt blue wing teal. I am going to fish from the wheel chair and hopefully Annie will catch her first blue marlin and I want to release one on 2-lb test. As for my paralysis I am healing very slowly. I receive electrical shocks in my legs to stimulate nerve growth. And while I am supposedly paralyzed from the waist down, I can pull back my bow and everyone says that I should not be able to and yet I can. My latest MRI shows that the infarction is healing slowly. And, actually, when I return form Guatemala, I am going to the Mayo Clinic for testing as they feel there is a drug available there that can help me. I am working out everyday and there are days that I am frustrated and I have down moments. And, I want everyone to know that this tournament means more to me than any outdoor activity and I believe in what it stands for. My whole life was changed and I am changed because of it. Yet, despite what I have been through I remain focused to this tournament and focused to getting back to being able to do the things I did before I was sick. For me, nothing is more important now than helping this tournament grow and to raise money for the kids at the Boys & Girls Club."
Tred tells me that he will be in Beaufort in July for the tournament. From his voice he was eager and he was focused on his new life, beyond the limitations he has now. As we prepare for the upcoming season of giving and as we make plans for coming months. We ask that you consider the Barta Tournament as an opportunity to help the kids of the Boys & Girls Club overcome adversities, too. This tournament is a vehicle that is specially equipped to provide a future for kids and a community. Like Tred is dependant now upon special equipment and special devices, the kids at the Boys & Girls Club are dependant upon a special tournament to carry them forth into the future. The Barta Tournament is a place where change occurs. And, this tournament is also a place where anglers and sponsors can come together in the spirit of helping others. In a few months it will be warm and the sun will shine. And, in a few months we will fish again. We ask that you please keep the tournament in mind as you plan for 2010. We all face adversity and change. Yet, it is how we respond to change and adversity that defines us. Thankfully, for the kids at the Boys & Girls Club, we all have an opportunity to affect change and overcome adversity. And this is done one angler and one sponsor at the time.
|
|
 |
|
|
|
