Squidders Bait and Tackle features another lure: Weekly karaoke

As the sun sets across the quiet streets of Vandemere, about a dozen regulars gather inside Squidders Bait and Tackle and watch the street lights come on from the shop’s homemade wooden benches and tables.

Stools, painted red and yellow, match the neon Marlboro sign in the window. Squidders is the only business in town.

The gathering feels like a family reunion. Folding tables are pushed together in the middle of the one-room shop. Two rows of shelves host mostly canned food. The four buzzing coolers in the back contain beer, soda and bait. One wall is all fishing poles, lures and photos of fish.

Several people crowd the side table with freshly grilled hamburgers, hot dogs and owner Debbie Hudson’s famous chili.

It has taken years for the town to recover from Hurricane Florence in 2018. It left behind empty, flooded homes and a torn waterfront.

Florence also left behind the tradition of karaoke.

“It was just after the hurricane, when the coolers were down,” recalls Russ Hudson, who owns the shop with his wife. Debbie Hudson is busy cashing someone out at the register, which is next to the door, and shares space with a plate of sharp cheddar cheese (sold by the slice), individually sold pickles, pickled eggs and Slim Jims.

“A couple guys called and asked if we had beer—we did, but we had no electricity. They said, ‘We have 40 people. Can we come over?’” Debbie says of the volunteers of All Hands and Hearts, who were helping folks in the county and supplied Squidders with coolers and ice. “They played darts and socialized here three, four, sometimes five nights a week. They also liked to sing.”

“They kinda brought this place alive,” continues Debbie. “There’s still tape on the floor from where they started the dart game. We had 35 of them at our house that year for Christmas. From Sweden, Japan, New York, California, everywhere.”

Eventually Russ hooked up his computer to a stereo system and downloaded a karaoke app. That’s how karaoke started in Vandemere, along with corn hole in the streets.

“Most amazing people,” says Russ. “Amazing.”

The crew rotated through and stayed at Camp Vandemere, one block away.

“They were here a year,” says Russ. “And didn’t want to leave.”

These days karaoke is held on Saturdays through the spring and summer. The shop closes around 10 p.m. Usually, there are 15 to 20 people, Debbie and Russ tell me, but tonight is a bit quiet.

“Ah! There’s surfer guy Hal!” says Russ. He and Debbie greet each person with a fist bump and a laugh.

“Ya can’t sing wrong here,” Hal tells me. But he isn’t singing tonight.

Russ is the drummer for his own band, called Signature Blend, which will be performing this Saturday, May 20th, with several other bands in an all-day benefit called Squidders Jam.

Joy Williams, from Lowland, takes the mic as the lyrics to the songs are provided on a TV up in the corner of the room. Kelley Richardson sings a strong solo—then there is a duet with Russ Hudson and Jamey Thomas. Colorful lights rotate around the room.

Debbie and Russ stay until the last customer leaves, never losing their smile, clapping and cheering for each singer though they have been on their feet since the early morning.

After sharing more of their memories of the days of Hurricane Florence, Russ and Debbie exchange a wink. They have been married since 1979.

“We fight whatever we have to fight, together,” says Russ.

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