As part of her duties as minister/chaplain at St. James United Methodist Church in Columbus, Eve Priester administers the church’s food program.
In that role, she has worked with groups like the Mississippi Black Farmers Alliance to provide vegetables and fruits to those in need.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, churches and organizations have regularly distributed food and other supplies to the needy, but Wednesday’s distribution was unlike any Priester had ever seen before.
It was over before it started.
“It was supposed to start at 2:30, but the truck got here about an hour early and people were already starting to line up,” Priester said. “So, we went ahead and started.”
In an hour’s time, St. James members and volunteers had distributed close to five tons of live catfish. By 2:30 p.m., only about 500 pounds remained, reserved to be distributed among the church’s needy congregants.
“I’ve been working on this a long time,” Priester said. “I knew it would be popular because it’s something different.”
The fish were donated by Leigh Holland, a commercial catfish operator based in Indianola.
An 18-wheeler, pulling a large container filled with water and catfish, arrived at the parking lot of the church on Military Road, opening one chute at a time as thousands of wriggling catfish descended down a ramp and into an open trailer where the fish could be distributed to people carrying ice coolers.
The catfish, weighing anywhere from 5 to 25 pounds or more, may have been too large for the commercial market — two pounds is the preferred size — but were a godsend to those who turned out for the event.
“One of these fish could probably feed a whole family,” said St. James Pastor Dwight Prowell, watching as a volunteer held aloft a monstrous albino catfish that likely weighed 25 pounds or more.
“We had been getting fruits and vegetables to give out, but we wanted something different,” Prowell said. “The first idea was to find some meat and we got hooked up with the fish company. You can see, it was a big success. Everybody likes catfish.”
Slim Smith is a columnist and feature writer for The Dispatch. His email address is [email protected].
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Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 32 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
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