Page 1 - 07-26-2017 full page paper

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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