A celebration of Jimmie Mac
It was an evening to remember, to remember a man whose influence went well beyond that of a simple restaurateur.
One year after he passed away on March 26, 2020, at the age of 63, Jimmie McNeil, Jr., the legendary icon of the Indian Pass Raw Bar, was treated to a celebration of life Friday evening.
In the intervening COVID-19 year, they had moved the stage just beside the raw bar, and the paved ground offered a perfect foundation for enjoying the music of the Currys, and BBQ pork and chicken dinners, washed down with Oyster City Brewing Company beer.
McNeil, who delighted customers when he took to playing the spoons, had grown into a legend the Raw Bar, which had been founded as a commissary store in 1903 for workers in the thriving turpentine industry.
The site became the Indian Pass Trading Post in 1929, offering Gypsy McNeil’s seafood gumbo. After Hurricane Kate destroyed the business in 1986, the McNeil family rebuilt and re-opened it as an oyster bar. After Hurricane Michael, the McNeils did it once again, rebounding from the hurricane’s severe damage.
McNeil’s mother Betty had died a week before he did, and their legendary spot offered a hearty thank you for all they had given Gulf County and surrounding places.
Geoffrey Lentz, pastor of the First UMC Church of Port St. Joe, offered a eulogy, and two of McNeil’s daughters, Meredith and Katie, shared their love for their dad.
The following is a tribute to McNeil, written not long after his passing.
I can hear him playing
his wooden spoons
from Heaven above,
waiting to come back
for a visit
to welcome us,
his friends
and lightly step foot
once again on his turf,
his legendary Indian Pass
Raw Bar front porch
to celebrate his life
his passion, his music
with us, his people.
He’d be smiling, sitting
and playing his spoons
being Jimmie Mac
the one we know and love.
We would welcome his ghost
in our new ghost town.
His Indian Pass Raw Bar
rebuilt bigger and better
after Hurricane Michael
opened in time for Jimmie
to see but now it
entertains no one,
not Jimmie, not me
Covid-19 closed it down.
Jimmie Mac we want
you back home
to celebrate,
keep trying, the sign says
closed until further notice.
– Debbie Hooper
This article originally appeared on The Star: A celebration of Jimmie Mac
Meet the Editor
David Adlerstein, The Apalachicola Times’ digital editor, started with the news outlet in January 2002 as a reporter.
Prior to then, David Adlerstein began as a newspaperman with a small Boston weekly, after graduating magna cum laude from Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts. He later edited the weekly Bellville Times, and as business reporter for the daily Marion Star, both not far from his hometown of Columbus, Ohio.
In 1995, he moved to South Florida, and worked as a business reporter and editor of Medical Business newspaper. In Jan. 2002, he began with the Apalachicola Times, first as reporter and later as editor, and in Oct. 2020, also began editing the Port St. Joe Star.