By Peter O’Leary
Jessie Callaway came home from Chicago to open Village Scoop Ice Cream Shop in 2016. She was two years out of Auburn University, working up North but dreaming of owning her own business. When her parents heard a little ice cream store was for sale in Chimney Rock it enticed her home. She knew nothing about the ice cream business but knew she loved Chimney Rock Village.
She knew Chimney Rock as she had come here as a kid. She loved the small town feel and felt comfortable here. Her customers are mostly here on vacation, mostly in a good mood, and her business has been good. Oftentimes ice cream is a celebration and a reward. Birthdays, good report cards, anniversaries, and other special events are celebrated with a scoop and a smile. The biggest drawback is that one of your arms gets bigger than the other because of all the scooping.
The week of the storm Jessie decided to close Thursday and Friday because of the forecast. Her employees brough in some items from the front of the store that were in danger of blowing away and locked up. The contractor installing her new front awning had also quit for the week because of the rain but assured her he would be back the next week to finish it up.
Thursday into Friday she remembers thinking the amount of rainfall was incredible. She worried that the front of her building may suffer from runoff off Main Street and she might even get a couple of inches of rainwater in the store.
Friday night, September 27, Jessie still wasn’t sure of the extent of the damage. She received a text of a video from her manager showing the store but she couldn’t see it so she called her. Her manager said the store had washed away. Jessie thought for sure she was joking but the manager said no, it’s gone. She quickly started calling other store owners to get more details and none of it was good.
Jessie just couldn’t wrap her head around it, she had difficulty understanding what had happened. Like many of us she didn’t want to believe what she was hearing and the pictures she was seeing. Her sister stepped up to support her and began providing a news briefing every morning. Showing her some pictures and saving others for later.
After about 2 weeks Jessie was able to get a pass to come into the Village. She said the first trip was to gather information and take it all in. In the ensuing days as it sunk in, she said the emotions came out. She arranged a trip for her employees and brought in 6 of her 12-person team to let them see. It was an emotional visit with tears and laughter but it was good to have her employees there to help her process the event.
Where do I go and what do I do now she thought. Jessie figured she would probable not have an ice cream shop again, at least not in Chimney Rock. How could she, everything was gone, including the land. It was tremendously discouraging.
As the days and weeks went by, she explored her options and tried to chart a path forward. She was open to putting up a shop in the “pop up” Village at Tryon Equestrian Center but just couldn’t get the details all worked out. She still needed time to process everything. Spokes of Hope was supportive and she received a little bit of grant money. She wanted to help the Village and became a member of the Chimney Rock TASK Force. Gradually things changed.
In February April Shick offered her space next to April’s Boutique. This opened her mind a little more to the possibility of coming back. She was still on the fence until she had a walkthrough of April’s space with Shane Zoccole of Spokes of Hope. Shane talked with her and discussed ideas for about an hour and the picture of what reopening would look like became clearer. This can happen, she thought.
Fast forward to Saturday, Sept 27, 2025 and it did happen. Village Scoop was reborn at 367 Main Street, in a new location exactly one year after Helene destroyed the original shop. Jessie says the customer support has been amazing. She says it is a surreal feeling as customers come in and tell her how glad they are that she is open again.
“I didn’t know if I had it in me to reopen,” she says “and then I see the hope and joy in my customers faces. They see the stores coming back and it reinforces the story of hope and helps lift the heaviness of the tragedy.”
For now, she continues to take it day by day while still planning for the future. The Village is working on developing Village owned property directly across the street into commercial space where she hopes to find a spot. Her current space is smaller than before but she is content to operate here for the foreseeable future and see what opens up.
“This has been the greatest privilege of my life, being a part of this Village’s comeback and recovery. I initially felt despair looking at my destroyed store but now all of us are finding our way forward. Being open again totally changes your perspective to a positive outlook. I am not sure any other town or place could offer so much support and encouragement. This is a huge part of why we are willing and able to come back. Chimney Rock is my home; I have to be here.”