By LOIS KINDLE
Happy news, South Shore!
After Hurricane Helene ravaged her popular seafood eatery four months ago, Julie Cockerham is re-opening The Fish House January 30.
That alone would be enough to demoralize the best of us, but her home in Ruskin was also severely damaged. After a friend organized volunteers to help remove its drywall, Cockerham – a 28-year resident of the community – began reaching out to find other folks in the area needing help.
Taking a break from their recovery efforts, Julie Cockerham, The Fish House owner, and two of her steadfast volunteers, Cari Walz, center, and Missy Neser, share food and spread joy at Hawaiian Isles after Hurricanes Helene and Milton wreaked havoc on the Ruskin mobile home/RV park.
She invited the Refuge Church to drop off leftover items, which it had previously collected for hurricane victims, at The Fish House property. From there, through word-of-mouth, additional donations started pouring in. Folks who had lost everything during hurricanes Helene and Milton came to secure whatever they needed – clothing, diapers, pet and cleaning supplies, toiletries, laundry soap, water – even hot meals from the Red Cross, Authentic Island Jerk and Idalia food trucks.
For weeks on end, the site was a repository and distribution point for supplies. When the donation hub ceased operation Oct. 26 to begin getting The Fish House up and running and Cockerham’s home livable, remaining items were taken to St. Anne’s Catholic Church and Mary & Martha House. Cockerham’s food distributor, Cheney Brothers, donated burgers, and she and her volunteer family cooked them and hot dogs to feed the community.
After learning how badly Hawaiian Isles had fared in the storms, Cockerham and her gang cooked hot meals on two occasions and served them buffet-style to residents at their clubhouse.
Northwest Alabama resident Mike Young, who was here visiting family in Riverview last fall, showed up one day during hurricane relief efforts at The Fish House and simply asked what he could do. Since then, he stayed on and was Cockerham’s star supporter, handling all kinds of honey-do projects. Volunteer Cari Walz is seen at left.
Repairing The Fish House
Cockerham needed to refurbish the entire place. Helene’s flooding brought water over her picnic tables and into The Fish House’s kitchen and back room. All of the kitchen equipment – fridges, freezers, fryers and prep equipment – were destroyed.
To add insult to injury, Milton took some off some of the eatery’s tin roof.
Few things were left unscathed by the storms. But thanks to an incredible group of volunteers, local vendors and a GoFundMe account set up by friends, Cockerham was able to restore the eatery without much out of pocket expense – a good thing since she hasn’t had any income for four months.
A worker from Square One Garage Solutions applies an epoxy finish to the floor of The Fish House kitchen, under total renovation after Hurricane Helene flooded it and the back room, destroying everything, including its kitchen equipment – fridges, freezers, fryers and prep equipment.
Mitch Mobley, who worked at The Fish House more three years and is like a son to Julie Cockerham, showed up one day after Hurricane Helene to see if there was anything he could do to help. His dad, Steve, owns A & M Barbershop, and his granddad, Steve Sr. used to own Mobley’s Fish Market on the Little Manatee River.
Cockerham’s friends, family and regular customers told her to post a wish list on Amazon for smaller items she lost – things like whisks, table umbrellas, new kitchen knives and utensils. Almost everything she requested was purchased.
A regular customer, Gavin Seale, owner of Metal Roofing Systems Inc., donated the tin and labor to fix the roof. Friends Ron Lee and Erin Schweitzer, owners of Proven Industries, donated new signage and provided fill dirt to level the parking lot.
Cameron Brost of Tony Brost Electric Maintenance installed lighting for the parking lots and repaired lighting fixtures in the dining area. Donnie Buzbee, of DDD Fencing, cooked meals for the community at his own expense and hauled off old restaurant equipment, and Bedrock Communities, her landlord, gave her a break on her rent during recovery and $3,000 worth of gift cards to hand out to area residents needing assistance and countless others.
Her star supporter was northwest Alabama resident Mike Young, who was here visiting family in Riverview. He showed up one day during hurricane relief efforts and simply asked Cockerham what he could do for her and has done all kinds of honey-do projects since.
“He’s postponed going home three times and rescheduled numerous doctor appointments to help me,” Cockerham said. “He’s been absolutely instrumental in my recovery.”
COURTESY PHOTOS
This free, temporary banner, provided by Proven Industries, was placed last week to announce The Fish House’s grand re-opening after being closed for four months due to hurricane damage.
With her re-opening now set for Jan. 30, she is amazed at the way her community rallied ’round her.
“Even though the experience has been horrible, it has restored my faith in humanity,” Cockerham said. “I’ll be recovering from my business and personal losses for some time, but I’m so grateful for all the help I’ve received from my volunteer family and the donations I’ve received from the community.
“There’s no way I could have done any of this alone,” she added. “The support has been truly overwhelming.”
The Fish House hours will be the same as always – 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday. On opening day and until its operation is back to normal, the eatery will have a transitional menu.
Now it’s up to her longtime customers to finish the job by returning to the popular local eatery.
“We’ve been friends for more than 20 years,” said longtime Ruskin resident Juanita Sehorne. “The Fish House is Julie’s heart and soul. Re-opening the restaurant is a blessing for her, her children and the community. I’ll be there Thursday for sure to support her.”