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JULY 26, 2017 XIX NO.49


               Village      News











                                                            A cold drink, pack of




                                                                                                    Nabs, great





                                                                                                       fish stories


































        ILLUSTRATION BY CHRIS MAGADINI APPEARING IN THE JUNE,1999 FIELD & STREAM ARTICLE ON THE CHESTER ICE HOUSE DRAWN FROM A PHOTOGRAPH. FROM LEFT: GREG
        LOCKHEART, ZUKI, NESTER VAUGHAN, JEAN FULGHUM, JIMMY FIELDS, AND JOHNNY PILKENTON.

        BY LINDA FAUSZ                     receive a citation.                might need. Writer Bill Heavey      place for anglers to weigh their fish
            It was the gravel you felt         Serious catfish anglers go out   described it best in a 1999 Field &   and buy some minnows.  They would
        crunching beneath the tires and    all night and bring their catch in the   Stream article “Catfish Central”   stop by for ice heading out to the
        seeing the laundry basket hanging   next morning; a fish weighing over 20  about the Chester Ice House, “Inside   James. With a few wood stoves left
        by a chain from a scale. The wooden   pounds gets a citation from the state.   it’s cool and dim. Crickets pulse in   behind, the ice house expanded in
        steps and porch were worn, and on   It was the regulars, men in shorts   an oversize bait box and the aerator   1978 into the vacant space, adding
        your approach, nods were exchanged   wearing white socks and black shoes,   hums its endless song to the eels and   tackle, bait, snacks, and hunting
        from regulars sitting in tattered office   porch-sitting who joined the shop’s   minnows. A jar of pink pickled eggs   supplies.  They were a deer-checking
        chairs on the porch. It was all part of   proprietor Jean Fulghum on any given   looks like it hasn’t been opened since   station during deer season. Regulars
        the experience for a kid heading out   day for the weighing-in party.   the Eisenhower administration. There   became a part of the scene, and meals
        to the river for a day of fishing and   Monster catfish had been brought   are four signs saying, NO CHECKS,   would be prepared for the long days.
        your first stop was the ice house.  in over the years weighing 30 or   two advising you not to mess with the   A former employee, David “Polo”
            The Chester Ice House was      40 pounds. The store’s record was   minnows, and one that reads  A PACK   Hawkins, has fond memories of
        located at the corner of Arcadia and   a 50-pound blue catfish caught by   OF NABS AND A COLD DRINK       the ice house. He was six years old
        Jefferson Davis Highway, and it was   Jeff Snow. Their Polaroid photos   MAKE A GOOD SNACK.”              when he would walk down from his
        the first stop for serious anglers in the  were posted in the window. There   The Ice House started out selling   house to hang out and eight when the
        late '70s, '80s, and '90s, picking up   were other photos, too. One was   10- to 300-pound blocks of ice from   Fulghums took him under their wing
        ice, tackle, and any “secrets” of what   of a South American fish called a   the front porch of the business known   and let him help out.  He was there at
        bait the fish were biting that day.  For   manaqise pulled from the river two   as Sedley’s Wood Stoves.  “We rented   17 when the doors were shuttered in
        a kid, it was the place dads stopped   miles away, another of a 3-pound   the porch for $200 a month,” Fulghum  2000.
        by to pick up minnows or worms,    1-ounce piranha, and then there    said. “The ice was sold to local folks   Hawkins attributes his work ethic
        extra tackle, and snacks needed    was the one of a 4-pound albino    going out on the river, pool owners   to Fulghum’s husband and his own
        for a morning of baiting hooks and   largemouth bass. It was noted “You   wanting to cool down their pools, and   years at the Ice House. “[Working
        untangling fishing line while trying   never know what’s gonna come outta   area restaurants.” It was told that she   there] taught me a .... of a lot,” he
        to catch a fish. Any catches from   this river.”                      didn’t hesitate to pick up one of the   said. “Tom had a lot to do with the
        the young anglers were most likely     Entering the store through     300-pound block of ice with huge    way I turned out.” Tom Fulghum died
        thrown back into the river, but the   the screen door was going into a   tongs when necessary.            in a plane crash in 1997.
        serious angler would sometimes bring   wonderland for a young kid. The    When the wood stove business       Some of his fondest memories
        in a catch that needed to be noted, and  place was packed to the ceiling with   closed Jean Fulghum and her
        the ice house was their last stop to   everything a fisherman or hunter   husband, Tom, saw the need for a              Read more on page 3


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