Paddle-Fishing.com

To see the thread memorializing JayB has been removed from these pages.
He created this site and made it what it was, there was a lot of love and respect poured out on that thread in honour of our fallen brother. To summarily discard those words shows a lack of understanding and respect for this website and its community.

John, several forum sections were simply moved into the "Archive":

http://forum.paddle-fishing.com/viewforum.php?f=46

That included all of Jay's memorial threads, including the main one:

http://forum.paddle-fishing.com/viewtop ... 46&t=28244

Apologies for not mentioning that! I definitely didn't mean to "discard" them and meant no disrespect!

John, I remember fondly how you and JayB welcomed us when we first got into kayak fishing. Someone coming in to hopefully restore the site to what it was originally would have no idea of the respect we all have for both of you.

Brett, perhaps we could have a place of honor for those who did so much for the sport and this site when kayak fishing was new to the vast majority of us. I would like nothing better than to see new life breathed into a site which has been so meaningful over the years. I wish you the best.

Brett, perhaps we could have a place of honor for those who did so much for the sport and this site when kayak fishing was new to the vast majority of us.

Great idea. What if created a "Mentors" section where members could describe individuals that were influential and helped get them into paddling and fishing? All of Jay's memorial posts could go there as well. Thoughts?

That would be a nice gesture which many would like to see.

It would be impossible to honor them all, but JayB, John, Ric and others have been very influential to the sport. It was not that long ago when the sight of a kayak used for fishing was very rare. This site was a pioneer which broke new ground.

Ok, love the idea. I'll set that up within the next few days.

I never had the honor of knowing "JayB", but I've read enough on here from men I respect to get some tiny glimmer of his uniqueness.

I'm quite sure Brett intended no disrespect -- overhauling a site this size and complexity is a chainsaw-juggling task whose complexity non-coders can't even begin to imagine -- and his suggestion for a "Mentor" section is spot-on. Even the newest newbies -- some of whom, sadly, may have HAD no mentor -- nevertheless stand on the shoulders of giants, even if they are unaware. Some of these men enjoyed fame in their day, but the mere NAMES of so many more are lost to that ever-ticking bastard we call Time.

Some of the young ones nowadays may view revisiting these folks' exploits or accomplishments or characters (sometimes funny foibles and all) as mere mawkish nostalgia, as "Get-Off-My-Lawn" sentiment or "Old-Man-Shouts-At-Cloud" pointlessness. Hint: Kid, if YOU live long enough to HAVE any "good old days", it'll be because a LOT of guys (and gals) like them tried really hard to ensure that you COULD have them.

Mentor section is a top-o'-the-line idea.

Here's another that has almost NOTHING to do with the internet: One of the ways my wife and I like to honor OUR mentors is to make small NON-money donations to various causes in THEIR names, rather than ours. For example, our public libraries are struggling BADLY right now. Perhaps, sooner or later, in one of them, a child will turn the pages of a richly illustrated book about kayakfishing (or, say, knots or charts or sportsmanship or seagrasses), and it will inspire in them a sense of wonder, a burning desire to learn more, and perhaps result in yet another true sportsman, maybe even a future scientist/fisherman fighting to save our waters in an even more imperiled age. Wouldn't it be cool if that book had a small but ornate piece of paper glued to the inside of the front cover that simply read: "Donated by Marion 'JayB' Brewington"?

Little things like that can -- literally -- let one of those great mentors step right out of the past and "set the hook" one more time.

George Bernard Shaw famously said, "A society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they will never sit." I figure the least we could do is name some of the trees.

John wrote:To see the thread memorializing JayB has been removed from these pages.
He created this site and made it what it was, there was a lot of love and respect poured out on that thread in honor of our fallen brother. To summarily discard those words shows a lack of understanding and respect for this website and its community.

Brett, I have to go with John on this. Moving these posts to the "archives" is....not correct. It's not just JB, but Mark, and Terry and Mark M. Dropping the folks that got us here and taught and carried us off the radar screen is just plane wrong! A mentors forum or section is a nice idea in and of itself. But the folks that got us here and are gone deserve better than to disappear into archives. An in memoriam section was and is appropriate.
Your site now, your call. Be watching for your response.

Mark

"Hall of Fame" ??

While I didn't really know JayB all that much, I fished with him once, he was a huge part of the Tampa Bay kayak fishing scene. To not recognize him on the site he created would be a shame. But its your site now Brett, do with it as you will.

I would like to see some type of page to honor our other friends, MarkM, TerryW and Cookinfish. All gone way too soon and very dear friends.

I am with the rest of these guys although a "Mentor" page makes absolutely no sense, I wouldnt call any of the folks mentioned as mentors good friends, fishing partners yes...... A Memorial section is a good idea......with a thread for each of the deceased past members.....I certainly makes more sense than the 10+ additional destination pages that were added and have yet to have a comment again nice idea but not really pertinent to our situation.....but again it is your forum now Brett......Good Luck....

Apologies for the prolonged silence. Our daughter was born a few days ago

Hearing you all loud and clear, and agree with the points made. Again, I definitely wasn't intending to offend anyone or downplay the group's history. Removing the section was extremely shortsighted...simply got caught up in my attempt to reorganize things.

How about two new sections: "Memorials" and "Mentors". All of Jay's topics would go in the former, as well as any others you guys would like to see there. The latter still might be great to see, either way...

Any thoughts on that?

Also, if anyone is interested in writing a blog post or 2 about Jay, or anyone else that has been influential to you or the sport, please send me a message!

Brett wrote:Apologies for the prolonged silence. Our daughter was born a few days ago ;

Congrats Brett!

Alright, I went ahead and created a new "Memorials" section. All of Jay's topics moved there:

http://forum.paddle-fishing.com/viewforum.php?f=113

If there are any other older threads that should be moved there, including Jay and any others, please let me know!

Congrats Brett!

Thanks, Rik!

Well done.