Monday, April 6, 2020, 7:50 pm News Flash Archive

Friday, Greenwood Mayor Carolyn McAdams ordered Larry's Fish House to stop selling catfish plates in front of Greenwood Marketplace.

But by late Monday afternoon, Larry's was back open next to the Mane Tamers building adjacent to Conerly's Shoes on Park Avenue.

Larry Kelly, owner of Larry's Fish House in Itta Bena, got the idea to sell fish plates from his mobile cooking trailer in the large parking lot in front of Greenwood Marketplace. According to Kelly, manager Derrick Simpson was glad to give his permission, and for over a week, Greenwood citizens were delighted to be able to purchase catfish plates with drive-through convenience.

(Larry's Fish House mobile cooking trailer Friday afternoon)

"I really just set up here to give the people some encouragement," Kelly commented.

Larry's is well known all over Leflore County for the delicious catfish that Larry Kelly and his crew have been selling for the past several decades. Mr. Kelly is a well known and respected restaurateur in the community.

When The Taxpayers Channel interviewed Mr. Kelly, the public seemed very happy that Larry's was there. Late Friday afternoon, the line of cars was long and continuous along the edge of the parking lot, but they did not block any traffic or extend out into Park Avenue.

(Larry's selling fish plates Friday afternoon)

Kelly said he had contacted the police chief and code enforcement officer, and they both had told him everything was fine.

But then Greenwood Mayor Carolyn McAdams got in touch with him by phone Friday. That's when she told him she was shutting his place down.

According to Kelly, the Mayor told him that she had received "a whole lot of complaints." But more significantly, she told Kelly that it wasn't fair to the other local businesses for him to be selling from his cooking trailer in Greenwood, since he has a brick-and-mortar business in Itta Bena.

Kelly said the Mayor told him he needed to go back to Itta Bena and set up his trailer where his business is located.

When McAdams informed Kelly that she was shutting his business down, he requested that he be permitted to stay open through Sunday, because he had already purchased his supplies. Kelly said the Mayor turned him down.

Kelly told The Taxpayers Channel that Mayor McAdams did not provide him with any written notice or cite any laws he had violated.

So Friday afternoon and Saturday, customers were told that Saturday was their last day, because Mayor McAdams had shut them down.

Sunday morning, all the fish was gone.

Mayor McAdams had run Larry's out of Greenwood, at least temporarily.

The Taxpayers Channel contacted Mayor McAdams for comment, specifically asking whether she had made the incriminating statements to Mr. Kelly. Although Mayor McAdams acknowledged receiving our questions this afternoon, she did not reply to them or provide any other comment or explanation for her actions.

Meanwhile, Larry Kelly obtained a business permit to sell his catfish plates at the Mane Tamers building, just off the east side of Conerly's Shoes, which is adjacent to Greenwood Marketplace.

Larry's Fish House re-opened at 4 pm this afternoon. Mr. Kelly told The Taxpayers Channel that so far, he did not have any problems doing business this afternoon.

Kelly stated that he intends to stay open, selling his catfish plates from his new location for the duration of the coronavirus epidemic, so that people in Greenwood can have an encouraging source of food during these trying times.

John Pittman Hey
The Taxpayers Channel

News Flash Archive