Beyond the physical damage after the Dec. 10 tornado, integral elements of the Mayfield community, such as local shops and businesses that have had roots in the ground for nearly a century, are facing obstacles regarding recovery and their presence in Mayfield. 

Jeanette’s Mayfield Flower Company

Jeanette’s Mayfield Flower Company is owned by Jennifer Rukavina Bidwell and her husband Jeff Bidwell. The pair also own and operate the Paducah and Murray Flower Companies. 

Rukavina Bidwell said Jeanette’s stood for 89 years before being destroyed by the tornado. 

“The week that the tornado hit would have been the two year anniversary of us owning Jeanette’s, and for almost 90 years it has been in Mayfield,” Rukavina Bidwell said. “I believe it’s one of the, if not the, longest standing flower shops that was in Mayfield, and it’s very close to the historic district.”

Rukavina Bidwell was in Paducah, Kentucky at the time the tornado passed through Mayfield. Rukavina Bidwell traveled down to Mayfield once she knew the tornado had passed.

“Ten minutes after the tornado had passed I headed down there because we had a funeral to service the next morning,” Rukavina Bidwell said. “We had all of the flowers ready for it…and I was worried that it wasn’t there anymore.”

Once Rukavina Bidwell arrived in Mayfield, she found that she wasn’t even able to drive to Jeanette’s. She said there were so many buildings collapsed into the street, and even on foot she wasn’t able to get to Jeanette’s until the next day.

There was damage to the exterior and the roof, but Rukavina Bidwell said most of what was behind the storefront was originally left undamaged, but because of inclement weather the following days, it worsened the damage. 

“It was really a hard, drawn out process watching it kind of crumble to the ground,” Rukavina Bidwell said. ‘That was the hardest part about it. Even though we only owned it for two years, we knew the sentimental tie that it had to the community.”

Rukavina Bidwell doesn’t have plans of returning to Mayfield yet. She said she is waiting for Mayfield to further address what the plans are for businesses after homes are rebuilt, such as incentives.

Despite not physically being in Mayfield, Rukavina Bidwell has been doing a lot of work for Mayfield out of the Paducah Flower Company. 

Carr’s Steakhouse

Daniel Carr ran Carr’s Steakhouse which opened in 2011 and was a continuation of the Carr’s restaurant legacy being right across the street from Carr’s Bar opened in the 1950s. Along with many other downtown businesses, Carr’s Steakhouse was reduced to debris.

Carr now runs Carr’s Cafe, at a temporary location at the edge of Mayfield at WK&T Tech Park. 

Similar to Jeanette’s Flower Company, Carr’s Steakhouse was part of an old building that took beyond repairable damage from the tornado. Carr described the remnants of the Steakhouse as a pile of bricks and wood. 

  “After the tornado, those displaced businesses from downtown were offered locations [at WK&T Tech Park],” Carr said. “We took over the cafeteria spot and run a little cafe operation for breakfast and lunch here.”

Carr described their current location as “tricky” because they are on a campus, further away from the heart of Mayfield, and had their capacity largely reduced from nearly 200 occupants to 50. 

“We were opened out here about Feb. 10 or so—about two months later,” Carr said. “We’re on a two year lease here to give us something to do while we kind of figure out a long term plan.”

The Mayfield community did help Carr during the transition. Right after the tornado, Carr set up a GoFundMe for his employees since they wouldn’t be able to work and raised nearly $11,000 for them. 

Carr also donated to western Kentucky tornado relief after he found 14 bourbon bottles among the wreckage of Carr’s Steakhouse. The bottles were auctioned off by the Kentucky Bourbon Benefit for nearly $85,000. 

Beyond receiving aid to help his employees, Carr said the Kentucky Restaurant Association pitched in to help. 

 “Last year, I was chairman of the Association for the whole state and that worked well getting attention down here when the tornado happened,” Carr said. “They did a statewide fundraiser themselves and raised about $100,000, and we divided that up amongst the restaurants and surrounding areas that were either damaged or destroyed, in which they could use that to rebuild or whatever they needed to do.” 

Although the current location of Carr’s Cafe has not been conventional for the restaurant, Carr is still happy to have a space where he can serve the community. 

“We were lucky enough to get to the spot where we’re at right now to where we can resume getting some of our people back to work and look for ways to help people and get back to doing what we’re accustomed to doing,” Carr said. 

Almost being at the new location for a year, Carr is unsure whether Carr’s Steakhouse will reclaim its downtown home, or find another. 

Wells Photography Studio

Among the local businesses that were physically damaged, businesses were also facing financial obstacles in the tornado’s aftermath. Jill Celaya, the owner of Wells Photography Studio, saw this to be true.

Wells had been a part of the Mayfield community for nearly 80 years, and Celaya has been with the studio since 1979. 

“Just around the time we were coming back from COVID-19, the tornado hit,” Celaya said. “Even though our building was not affected, the business end was because everybody’s focus, of course, was survival, and trying to put lives back together…professional photography took a backseat.”

Following the tornado, Celaya lended her services to the community by helping those who had damaged photos repair them, copy them and reprint them if they were in their system. 

Recently Celaya has noticed an influx in business. 

“Sometimes it takes a tragedy for people to realize how important memories are,” Celaya said. “A lot of people lost their photographs when the tornado happened.”

Beyond helping the community within the scope of her business, Celaya was working supply distribution directly after the tornado and is heading the Mayfield Rebuilds Committee. 

“I’ve raised my children here,” Celaya said. “My grandchildren are being raised here. It’s home, and I want to do anything I can to help get us back to some sort of new normal.”

Hutson Inc.

Beyond local businesses rebuilding and offering support to the community, national businesses with locations in Mayfield have lended a hand to help Mayfield. 

Hutson Inc. opened its first John Deere Dealership in Mayfield in 1990. Now, the company owns around 32 dealerships nationwide. 

CEO of Hutson Josh Waggener said not rebuilding in Mayfield was never a part of the question. At the groundbreaking for the Hutson rebuild on Sept. 22, Waggener described the new facility plans as “upgraded” and “shinier.”

 “We probably don’t need this space, but it was a statement for us to say, ‘We love this community, and we’re gonna do this, we’re gonna be big or we’re not gonna do it,’” Waggener said. 

Hutson also donated $25,000 to the Graves County High School Future Farmers of America, and in return they presented Waggener with a banner thanking Hutson.

Recovery and sustainability

With the community still being deep in the rebuilding process, it may seem as though Mayfield’s economy may be parallel to that recovery, but Jason Lemle, the president of Graves County Economic Development, said business sales in Mayfield have been increasing, but this is only the beginning. 

“After tracking down data from the Department of Revenue and looking at sales volume, sales tax volumes have increased in the city of Mayfield since after the storm significantly, primarily from the influx of workers and groups and nonprofits,” Lemle said. “As long as we’re making progress, and moving forward, I think we’ll be doing well.”

Lemle said he’s done research and talked with leaders in areas that have gone through similar natural disasters to gauge what business recovery would look like. Mayfield’s recovery is not something that can be put on a five or even 10 year track. 

“All of the industry businesses or targeted businesses that have been destroyed or damaged are rebuilding or are planning to rebuild,” Lemle said. “We’re working with the small businesses, the commercial businesses and things like that [that] have been affected, and we’re hopeful that we’ll be able to bring them back.”

To bring back businesses to Mayfield, Lemle said the department has been focusing on incentives, which he said had been passed by the city council. Lemle’s office is working on more incentives to help small businesses. 

The incentives that stand so far focus on low interest loans for businesses wanting to rebuild and tax incentives. 

Along with the incentives being given to help businesses rebuild, sustainability is the next effort. Celaya said shopping local needs to be emphasized. 

“We need our community to support us,” Celaya said. ”We’re the ones who buy the ads and the football programs. We’re the ones who have the banners hanging at the ballpark, supporting those kids. It’s our local businesses that support our local people.”

When people buy from nonlocal chain stores, the money doesn’t stay in Mayfield. Community owned businesses also shop locally and donate to community nonprofits, according to Sustainable Connections, a nonprofit organization.

“Local businesses are here to help the community,” Celaya said. “And it’s been made even more evident after this tornado.”