Chuck’s Dairy Bar has been showing people love and hope for decades
How Rolling Fork Mississippi rebuilt, with help from Good Morning America
Chuck’s Dairy Bar has been a keystone of the small community of Rolling Fork, Mississippi, for almost six decades. It’s always been a special place, but now - as it is about to reopen after a devastating 2023 hurricane flattened the town - people know that for sure.
“Chuck’s means several things to me. Yes, it’s just a building sitting there, but it also means security — for me and my family, but all the other families who’ve been coming here for so long,” Tracy Harden said in a lovely Bitter Southerner profile in 2021.
“It also means hope. If Chuck’s can show people what it means to love, to have fun, or a better way of life, then I see hope. There should be a lot of hope for our future if we all do our part. I see Chuck’s as the place where I can do my part.”
Chuck’s is a place that people can depend on for more than just food, it says. Whether it’s providing a free meal when a customer is unable to pay, delivering food to seniors and people in need, organizing community fundraisers and clothing drives, giving cookies and hot chocolate to local kids over the holidays, or the simple act of listening to customers, the restaurant truly transcends the traditional dining experience. It’s the place to go if you’re hurting or happy, and want to share the news. It’s that place to go to be loved on and be comforted during anything.
"I came to this community as a stranger and they welcomed me in and gave me so much love,” Tracy says. “And it allowed me to be able to give so much love back."
Tracy, her staff and Chuck’s became well-known all across the US after Good Morning America interviewed them in the wake of the 2023 twister which devastated Sharkey County and killed 13 people.
Tracy first spoke to GMA just days after saving staff by sheltering them inside a walk-in cooler just moments before the tornado hit the restaurant. When they emerged from the cooler, the only things left standing were the refrigerator and a bathroom.
“We have nothing,” Tracy said. “We need prayers. And we need our city back. I'm the one who never asked for help. It's the hardest thing to ask for help. But we're in a position now where we have no choice. So help us, help us, help our people.”
Picking themselves up, the community members worked together to help the hundreds of displaced families get back on their feet and rebuild homes and businesses. Tracy donated meals to those in need. Through Good Morning America’s Mississippi Strong initiative, viewers provided support as the community worked together to help hundreds of displaced families get back on their feet, and rebuild homes and businesses.
The original Chuck - Charles Henderson - bought an existing dairy bar beside a service station in Rolling Fork for $700 in the summer of 1964. “He tried to run a dairy bar outside the Delta in Clinton, Mississippi, but the Klan ran him out of town when they saw him serving Black and white at the same window,” says his son, Gary. In Rolling Fork, Chuck was able to keep takeout windows open to everyone.
In 1977, Chuck’s relocated to a bigger building just a few hundred feet up the road so they could have proper sit-down restaurant space. Chuck and his sons built it together.
Carolyn Washington, who began working at Chuck’s in 1988, helped shape the menu that keeps customers coming back year after year, including beef stew, beef tips, chicken spaghetti, turnip greens, and cabbage. “The Hendersons were the first white people I worked for. I wasn’t brought up around the white community,” she says.
“Working with them was awesome because they made me feel like family. Chuck’s gives me the opportunity to work with all different kinds of people, and I’ve learned to love different kinds of people. I think the world would be a far better place if it was more like that.”
In 2007, the Hendersons sold Chuck’s to Tracy and Tim Harden, who they knew through church. Originally from neighboring Warren County, Tracy was hesitant to take over managing the restaurant because she didn’t have decades-long connections with locals. But during a two-week trial run, Chuck knew Tracy was the perfect fit.
The hurricane followed a few really tough years for Rolling Fork, with flooding two years in a row in 2019 and 2020 and then the pandemic.
“During the flood, and now the pandemic, our team has tried to show even more love for our customers,” Tracy says. “It’s about making sure people know we care. To me, this is about way more than flooding and a virus, it’s also about mental health. So many people are struggling here. We just try and talk with them, pray with them, and listen to them. Sometimes we just sit with our customers, share a cup of coffee or a meal, and they let it all out. Then they get to leave with a sense that things are going to be OK.”
“They always treat you with respect and show love toward customers,” says Connie Herman, a Rolling Fork resident who has been a loyal customer since the 1970s. “They treat you just like family — like you’re best friends, not just a customer. I think that’s the best compliment a restaurant can get. If we didn’t have Chuck’s, I don’t know what we’d do. It’s such a blessing.”
Sources:
Meet you at the dairy bar. Bitter Southerner, Jun. 22, 2021
Restaurant owner describes seeing the sky as she saved her staff from tornado Good Morning America, Mar. 27, 2023
'This is my home': Residents fight to save their Mississippi town after devastating tornado Good Morning America, Jul. 30, 2023
Rolling Fork nonprofit works to help renters return to the town as homeowners following tornado Good Morning America, Dec. 6, 2023
Rolling Fork diner owner shares 1st look at rebuilt restaurant to reopen nearly 1 year after tornado Good Morning America, Mar. 25, 2024
Heart-warming story. Thank you Rosemary