Healing Waters begins meeting in Bella Vista
With a fish hook secure, hands work to carefully guide thread around it, pinning down feathers and other things to create an enticing fly fishing lure.
E.J. Armour, program lead for Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing’s Northwest Arkansas chapter, said fly fishing and tying flies provide a good chance for veterans to occupy their minds, which can be especially useful for people with PTSD.
“I love it … I see a lot of these guys, how it helps them, how it relaxes them,” Armour said. “It helps them cut the clutter.”
The nonprofit group will be meeting at Riordan Hall on the second Tuesday each month at 6:30 p.m. Armour said the group is open to anyone with any level of service related disability from any military branch. The group also meets at the Fayetteville Veterans Administration Hospital on the second Tuesday of each month at noon and at Cabela’s in Rogers on the third Wednesday of each month at 6:30 p.m. They also try to organize a fishing trip each month.
Armour said the decision to
add this meeting time and location was based largely on the number of veterans in Bella Vista.
Anyone interested in signing up can contact Armour at phwffnwarkansas @aol.com.
In addition to group fishing trips, she said, the organization regularly sends members on significant fishing trips all over the world. She’s personally gone to Kodiak, Alaska, she said, and the only expense she had was getting her catch back home. Others have gone fishing in Patagonia, Chile and Scotland, among other destinations, she said. The organization can also provide adaptive equipment for people with physical disabilities, she said.
“Going to Kodiak, Alaska is not like ’Nam, let me tell you that,” Armour said.
According to documentation provided by Armour, the organization started in 2005 at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. and is fully volunteer-run, with 219 programs spread across 49 states as well as Germany using labor from approximately 3,600 volunteers. The organization is primarily funded through donations and solicits grants.
Alexander Alan-Brown said that he’s been attending Healing Waters meetings for a few months and he’s found it useful. He served in the Army from 1968 to 1970 and remained in the National Guard for a few years after that.
“It’s given me something to do when I’m thinking about some things,” he said. “It takes a lot of concentration.”
The club has also provided pleasant outings, he said, and good company.
“You’re out in nature… Get to work with a lot of good people,” Alan-Brown said. “I know I could talk to any one of these guys about my stuff and they know where I’m coming from.”