Muddle at Roanoke Canal Museum

ROANOKE RAPIDS — Just as in centuries before, muddle was being served beside the Roanoke River Saturday afternoon and folks from all over the river area, from Williamston to Gaston, stopped by to try some of the historic fish stew. Since Colonial times, the steaming stew pots have been a sure sign of spring’s arrival.

The cooking of Rockfish muddle was something done out of necessity, said Roanoke Canal Museum Manager Harold Jacobson, who was doing the cooking Saturday. “The people had to use what they had and by early spring, this time of year, they were almost out of stored food, so when the fish showed up, they were plenty happy and ready for a little celebration,” Jacobson said.

While three types of muddle were featured Saturday, Jacobson said actual muddle could be different for each family that cooked it. “It just depends on what they had around. If they had potatoes they used them, if they had red peppers they used them, and it would vary up and down the river, with what was grown in that particular area.”

Jacobson said almost every family has their own particular recipe and few agree on which is the best. During the Saturday event, most people polled by the Daily Herald seemed to prefer the potato-based muddle.

One thing the muddle did on Saturday, as it probably has throughout American times, is bring people of all kinds together to taste and discuss the historic dish. Picnic tables set up outside the museum were filled with people of all ages sitting discussing the day and their favorite muddle.

A much newer area favorite that sprang from the river area, Chambergrass, a local based bass and banjo duo, was entertaining people gathered to taste the river bounty. The popular duo is Kim Terpening, from Roanoke Rapids and David Schwartz, from Greenville. As they performed, Mary Ann Powell and Jim Singleton, both dressed in revolutionary war period clothing, were setting up a display for the “First for Freedom” play. The play will be performed at the Halifax County 4-H Rural Life Center on U.S. Highway 903 in Halifax starting June 25.

Seeing an American revolutionary war soldier, with a long musket, sword and tri-corner hat standing next to Schwartz and his huge bass fiddle, surrounded by people of all kinds enjoying rockfish muddle was a sight to behold.

Also helping out, both inside the museum and out, were four students from KIPP Pride High School. L’Sha Booker, Alysha Scott, Marcie Ramkishun and Evander Wilkins, are ninth graders who set up a booth for the kids to enjoy painting projects.

Inside the museum, the new basement display was open, with the lower doors leading outside to the re-created bateau.

Bateau were long, barge-type river boats used for tansportation and transporting goods up and down the Roanoke River and the river canals for many years.

Two area authors were also on hand signing copies of their latest books to help raise funds for the museum and canal trail.

Lucia Peel Powe wrote “Roanoke Rock Muddle,” a work of fiction set along the river in her native Williamston and Rufus Johnson, who wrote “River of Death, The Story of the Roanoke River,” met with museum visitors and explained their literary works.

The annual fundraiser for the Roanoke Canal Museum and Trail has become a favorite among locals and through the work of Jacobson and the Roanoke River Partners, who were represented by Powe’s daughter, Lucia Peel, who is president of the organization, people from all over the river area are becoming more aware of the historic river and the museum in Roanoke Rapids.