Fly-tying, fishing, connections on the river come with Heroes Mending on the Fly
Seeing beaver fighting or salmon splashing, watching the bugs and fish, and then sitting at a fire pit and “telling lies,” sharing gossip and comparing stories: there is “healing on the river.”
“This creates laughs,” says Mike McKinnon, the provincial director of Heroes Mending on the Fly and a volunteer with the Annapolis Valley chapter that meets regularly at 14 Wing Greenwood.
“Being outside is a grounding thing. We take small groups to the salmon pools, and you see all their troubles melt away.”
McKinnon is a 21-year Canadian Armed Forces veteran. He initially joined The Royal Canadian Regiment as an infanteer, and medically released in 2011 due to injury. Before, during and after his military service, though, he is an outdoorsman: he’s commercially tied his own fishing flies for over 35 years, is a professional guide and spends as much time as possible hunting and fishing throughout Nova Scotia.
Heroes Mending on the Fly, which started nationally in 2009 as a registered non-profit, supports the physical and emotional rehabilitation of disabled active Canadian Armed Forces, RCMP and first responders; and disabled veterans, through fly-tying, fly-fishing, education and outings. The program offered its first workshop in Greenwood through the then-Greenwood Military Family Resource Centre in 2018. McKinnon was invited to teach some fly-tying skills.
“People who are injured or ill, they get all kinds of treatment, medical treatment, home support, etc – but they need something else to do to fill in their time, and that is what this does,” says McKinnon. “It just gives that something extra to keep them busy. You can medically fix the health issues, but people are still lost. We’ve had people come out of their basement after years and join the program.”
A typical Heroes Mending on the Fly program starts in January, with eight to 12 weeks of class fly-tying. No experience is required: all the equipment, supplies and program costs are provided by Heroes Mending on the Fly. Instructors come in and lead a one-day casting clinic later in the Spring, and then program participants hit the water for several days. Here in Nova Scotia, the Greenwood group, with others in Halifax and Truro, spend three to five days fishing the Margaree River, in Cape Breton.
“It brings all the skills together – they are all on the river,” McKinnon says. “People open right up: they start out shy, and then they are calling each other (names) a few days in. The program helps people reconnect through fishing.
“If anyone wants to come and check out the program, it’s a big social gathering – and it’s free.”
To find out more about the organization and the chapter closest to you, visit https://heroesmendingontheflycanada.ca/
