There is no question that Art Barnes was loved by the community of Hay River.
Barnes passed away while on vacation in Mexico last November. The loss sent a shock wave through the town. On Aug. 10, his family members, friends and neighbours gathered to celebrate his life through one of his favourite activities: golf.
"I think it was a huge success," said Chuck Lirette, one of the organizers of the Arthur Barnes Memorial Golf Tournament at the Hay River Golf Club. SA国际影视传媒淎rt would have been really thrilled and honoured that so many people came out and participated in his memory.
SA国际影视传媒淗eSA国际影视传媒檇 be incredibly proud."
Barnes started playing golf when he retired from his job as an engineer, and had only been playing for about 10 years by the time he passed.
"He had a very analytical type of mind," Lirette said. "f there was a problem with some kind of machine or something like that, you could see him analyzing it. It might be the next day, but heSA国际影视传媒檇 come back and say 'I think I know what weSA国际影视传媒檙e going to do.'
"You could see his analytical mind was hard at work trying to figure out the game of golf," he added. SA国际影视传媒淗e said out of all the different things heSA国际影视传媒檇 done, golf was the most challenging."
Barnes, who sometimes showed up at the Hay River club five times a week in hopes of improving his skills, took to the game quickly, and famously scored a hole-in-one on the course's seventh hole in 2022 SA国际影视传媒� a feat that left "a huge smile" on his face, according to Lirette.
Nobody scored a hole-in-one at his 2024 memorial tournament, but there were some "good scores" over the course of the day.
SA国际影视传媒淭he best score was eight under par," Lirette said. "ItSA国际影视传媒檚 a par 72 golf course, so we had one team come in at 64, eight under. That's pretty good."
All told, there were 18 teams of four competing in the tournament, which was organized by Barnes' widow, Marilyn. Teams were spread out over men's, women's, and mixed divisions. The top three teams in each division received prizes of $300, $200, and $100. In the end, all of the winning teams donated their prize money back to the Hay River Golf Club, which is in the process of raising funds for a new green.
SA国际影视传媒淚t was really cool" to see people supporting the club where Barnes loved to play, according to Lirette.
The event also featured a number of other contests, such as a long drive and a longest putt competition. The winners of those competitions received what Lirette called "Art prizes" SA国际影视传媒� all of which reflected the late golfer's many other interests.
Some people, for example, received bags of the brightly-coloured golf balls Barnes liked to play with. Others were given bottles of amaretto.
"Art would carry a little flask on the side of his golf cart, and he had little tiny glasses to accompany it," Lirette said, reflecting on his time playing with Barnes. "If we ever got a birdie on a particular round, we would indulge in some birdie juice. The birdie juice he liked was amaretto, so weSA国际影视传媒檇 all have a little sip of amaretto to celebrate the birdie."
Barnes was also an "incredible" woodworker, and many of the pieces he designed were on display on the club grounds on the day of the tournament. That includes an "absolutely stunning" rocking chair.
He also loved to fish, and tied "hundreds or thousands" of his own flies, some which his wife gave to tournament participants as keepsakes.
"Art was probably one of the smartest men that ISA国际影视传媒檝e ever met," Lirette said.
"He did all kinds of different things," he added, referencing Barnes' love for exotic coffees and his passion for volunteering, particularly at the local ski club.
More than anything, Lirette said, SA国际影视传媒淎rt was a very friendly guy."
Based on that, it was no surprise to see so many people show up to play golf in his memory.
"It was really important for the family, and for them to hear how Art had such a wide variety of ways of impacting people in Hay River and even across the North, going back to his Inuvik days," Lirette said.
"Art was one of the good ones. We lost a good guy."
