By Chris Erwin
It was June of 1972 when I was hired by the National Mine Service Company as a machinist, while I knew a few people that worked there I was about to meet a whole new set of friends. One of the first things I did while there, other than build mine machinery equipment, was to start a bass club.
I posted a flyer on the bulletin board asking if anyone was interested in forming a bass club, and the response was over whelming. At the time, I was a member of the KYOVA Bassmasters but this Huntington-based club was fishing water mostly in other states, and I wanted to form a new local club.
To make a long story short, we formed that club with the help of some other employees of NMSC. We first decided to call it Ashland Area Bassmasters. However, Jay Qualls, the NMSC personnel director, and a friend of mine from high school, told me that the NMSC was interested in supporting a bass club for the company, so we agreed to change the name to National Mine Bassmasters.
One of the new friends I discovered in forming this club was a guy by the name of Larry G. Kitchen. Once this club was formed and officers were elected it wasn’t long before Larry was elected Tournament Director. I realized quickly that this guy knew how to fish.
From 1972 to 1987, one year longer than NMSC mine machinery division would stay in business, the bass club flourished. I was elected president of this club its whole existence and Kitchen was an important part of our success.
Our friendship has continued all these years. We watched our kids grow, and from time to time we would still go fishing together. Today, Kitchen works for McCorkels Machine Shop.
Larry’s wife Susie worked for the Cannonsburg Greenhouse for years. I knew that Susie had become gravely ill and for the last year or so she has been bedridden. She does dialysis three times a week and between working and taking care of Susie, Larry has been unable to get on the water for a very long time.
As luck would have it, Larry’s daughter Amber came to stay with her mother, so Larry called me to ask if he could come and stay with me a couple of days at the lake while I was on my annual fall trip. For a few days he had a chance to do what we both love, catch fish!
On Sunday of last week Larry arrived at my fish camp and for the next three days, we fished together. My fall shad pattern was working and we boated a ton of fish.
Larry told me that when Susie got sick, he told her he wasn’t going to shave or cut his hair until she could get out of that bed, so slowly he has gone from a clean shaven guy, to a guy who looks more like Jerry Garcia! His devotion to Susie is something anyone can and should admire.
On Tuesday, the day his brother was to meet us on the Popin Rock ramp at 6 pm to take him home, it rained all day, but Larry and I stayed out on the water the whole day. At one time, the rain was hitting us at about 45 degrees and I asked him if he wanted to go in. He said this might be his last chance to get out on the water for a long time. “If you can tough it out, I want to stay on the water,” he said. So we did.
On Tuesday in a blistering rain, I said good-bye to my old friend and with a smile on his face he waved as he drove off. I hope my prayers for my old friend and Susie come to pass, and I see her walking once again.
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