under the sun
S
River Is Varnum's Teacher
THE BRUNSWICK&BEACON I D
THURSDAY, MAY 23. 1991 D
And Subject
BY DOUG RUTTKR
For someone who had to quit school in the fifth
grade to go to work to help his family, Herbert
"Midget" Vamurn knows an awful lot about
rivers.
The Lockwood Folly River is his specialty. And what
he lacks in book knowledge, he more than makes up for
in years of experience as a fishermen.
The 58-year-old native of Varnamtown said he's seen
a lot of changcs in the Lockwood Folly in his lifetime.
Many of those changcs have been for the worse.
As a child, Varnum could gather loads of oysters
without moving his father's skiff. Now fishermen must
drift from one rock to another to scrape up two bushels
on a low tide.
"Back then, anything you could sell you could
catch," Varnum recalled in a recent interview. "The riv
er looks to me like it's on a downward run and it's not
getting any better."
Oyster harvests in the Lockwood Folly have dwin
dled in rcccnt years. The state has frequently closed
sections of the river to harvesting because of bacterial
pollution.
Varnum blames the river's ailing condition on a num
ber of things ? many of which relate to increasing popu
lation and development along the river banks where he
was born and raisal.
"Population has increased so much on the river until
you really can't say it was John over here or Mary over
there," Varnum said. "There's so many things involved.
You just can't name it."
As a child, Varnum said there were about 21 families
in the community. "I could tell you everybody and their
names, and now 1 can't hardly tell you who my next
door neighbor is."
The increasing number of commercial and recre
ational fishermen has put a strain on the oyster popula
tion. "The river's not big enough to support but so
many people," Varnum said.
Varnum also says the lack of restrictions on clam
mcrs has hurt the oyster harvests. Clammcrs can kill
oysters when they cover them with sand or punch holes
in the oyster shells with their rakes.
Other causes of the river's condition include septic
tanks, golf courses and landfills that drain into the
Lockwood Folly River, he says.
Varnum said things have gotten bad, but that it's not
too late to bring the Lockwood Folly back to its glory
days. "It would replenish itself if they would put con
trols on it and do it now."
Hi suggests local fishermen follow the example set
by people in Snead's Ferry, who work with the state to
close certain areas to oyster harvesting when the oysters
need time to replenish themselves.
Opening certain sections of the river to shrimping al
so would help the shellfish. Varnum said nets dragging
on the bottom would stir up silt that chokes oysters, and
river currents would carry it into the ocean.
"Unless they do something or other it's going to get
to a point where you don't have anything," Varnum
said. "Some people say that will never come to pass,
but they never thought it would get as bad as it is ci
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HERBERT " MIDGET " VARNUM (foreground) gathering oysters from a Lock wood Eolly River mudflat earlier th is "year.
thcr."
When he talks about hard times ahead for fishermen,
Varnum speaks from experience. His father died when
he was young, forcing him to quit school and get a job
to help pay the family bills.
"I only made it through the fifth grade, but I've al
ways been able to hold down a job." Varnum said he's
always tried to learn from his mistakes and do the best
he could.
Varnum said his wife, Jcancttc, also saw lean times
as the daughter of a sharecropper. "Somehow we've
managed to raise four sons and get them through high
school," he said.
Along the way, Varnum has survived six operations,
including four on his stomach and one for cancer of the
esophagus. "Every day that 1 wake up's a gtxxl day," he
says.
Despite his personal struggles, Varnum still enjoys
helping others through his work with Coastline
Volunteer Rescue Squad.
A charter member and former chief of the squad,
Varnum has been getting people to the hospital since
September 1976, when an old Army Jeep was used as
" The river to me looks like it's
on a downward run and it's
not getting any better
? Herbert "Midget" Varnum
an ambulancc.
Varnum got involved in rcscuc work after his brother
was killed in a car accident. "1 think my brother's death
showed me something, and it stuck."
Volunteer rcscuc work has bccomc a big pan of his
life. "It's just the feeling you get when you get back
home that you've helped somebody," Varnum said.
"We've lost people, but we've also saved quite a few."
Vamum said his family has been uaced back to 1637.
His forefathers were fishermen and settled on the banks
of rivers.
The spelling of the family name has been the subject
of light-hearted debate for years because some people
spell it Vamum and others spell it Varnajn.
Vamum said his ancestors from England and Norway
spelled the name with a "u." Over the years, however,
he said the "u" has been accidentally changed to an "a"
on some birth certificates.
A few weeks ago, Vamum said he met a man named
Charles H. Varnum from Manistiquc, Mich., a town
outside Detroit that is full of Vamums who all spell
their names with a "u."
"This man told me he had never seen it spelled with a
'u' unul he came here," Varnum said. "But I've got
brothers that spell it with an 'a'."
x ^ , -j- ? ^ UNC Alumni and Fans:
tducaho^;
Plan to attend the inaugural
meeting of the
University of North Carolina
'???dation>c ? Educational Foundation
UNC Rams Club
The newly formed Brunswick County chapter of the University of North
Carolina Educational Foundation will have its inaugural meeting May 30 at
the Sea Trail Golf Course Jones-Byrd Clubhouse.
All Carolina fans are invited to come hear former Carolina basketball
player and current assistant Coach Dave Hanners and Assistant Football
Coach Donnie Thompson review the football and basketball seasons.
Become a part of the Carolina Athletic Family by joining THE
EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION. For as little as $50 a year, you can join the
team that has provided an education for over 5,000 student-athletes.
Membership provides you football and basketball ticket priority and press
guides, plus many other benefits. It's not required that you be a UNC GRAD,
just a UNC FAN.
Becoming a member is easy. Just contact our local representative, Kendall
Suh at 579-9989 or call the Foundation Office at 962-2393.
Reserve your place today and join a great team!
Sea Trail Golf Course Jones/Byrd Clubhouse
Thursday, May 30
6:30 PM - Social Hour and Cash Bar
7:30 PM - Buffet Dinner and Program
Cost $12 per person (includes dinner, tax and tip)
Space is limited, so make your reservations today by returning this form
with your check by May 24.
- Enclosed is my check in the amount of S (at the rate of $12.00 per person), made .
payable to the Brunswick County Educational Foundation for reservations for the I
Educational Foundation meeting on Thursday, May 30. 1991 at the Sea Trail Golf Course I
Clubhouse.
l?
<
II
1 1
SEND TO: Kendall Suh. MD, PO Box 5189. Ocean Isle Beach, NC 28470. Call 579-9989 for ?|
further information.
NAME
If you make reservations for anyone in addition to yourself, please list then- names below:
L