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Ryan Dyer brought his cooking and
hard-work ethic, learned from his family’s Reelfoot
Lake enterprises, and a degree in business marketing
from UT-Martin, into Mallard’s Restaurant that he
co-owns with wife Susan Baker Dyer of McKenzie, who he
met in college. |
Instantly famous when its doors were opened more than
three years ago, the restaurant with the quaint name
"Mallard's" is the latest episode in a long history of
entrepreneurship in Ryan Dyer's family. Its name is part of
a saga that had its start at Reelfoot Lake, where Ryan grew
up fishing and hunting in the area known as "one of the
greatest hunting and fishing preserves in the nation."
"We hunted every season," says Ryan, who lives in McKenzie
and commutes to the restaurant in Huntingdon. "Every time a
new season came in we'd hunt it, and we fished all the
time."
His childhood summers were spent frog gigging with friends
from dusk to dawn. Then, they'd walk along the edge of the
shallow lake and pick up the green, jewel-backed baby
turtles that sold for a quarter apiece.
"Now they're a dollar," Ryan grins, and licenses are
required to harvest the critters in the purported "turtle
capital of the world."
Indeed, part of the charm of Reelfoot Lake--along with
wintering bald eagles and mallards and majestic cypress
trees--is the plentiful turtles. Sunning themselves on
felled trees in sloughs alongside peripheral roadways, the
turtles are sometimes stacked two and three deep.
At school, Ryan excelled in sports, eventually honing in on
basketball. He played basketball for Obion County Central
High School, making it to state two of those years before
graduating in 1993. He played on scholarship at Dyersburg
State for two years. Then, after deciding to transfer to
UT-Martin, he played with the team all summer only to decide
in the fall to forego his place in the lineup. Instead, he
joined a fraternity and continued pursuing his degree in
business.
Ryan's wife, the former Susan Baker from McKenzie, grins
mischievously as she reports he was "a third year freshman"
when they met in the fall of 1997.
"He was on the extended version path," she teases. Actually
juniors when they met in personal selling class, Ryan's
credit hours fell short due to his former focus on
basketball and the loss of some credits during the transfer
to Martin.
He'd also been kept busy as a member of Alpha Tau Omega, and
despite fraternities' reputations as party-houses, he says,
"We did a lot of good things." He was chairman one year in
the annual "Push for St. Jude", for instance, when members
of the frat would give up their spring break to push a
wheelbarrow from town to town between Martin and St. Jude
Hospital in Memphis, collecting money along the way, aided
by motels that provided their lodging and businesses that
fed them.
"It always felt good to get there," he says. "We got to take
a tour of St. Jude's hospital, and none of us did it for
show."
He and Susan married in November 1998 and graduated the
following month, both with degrees in business marketing,
after which they moved to the Reelfoot Lake town of Samburg.
The sprawling, 25,000 acre lake (15,000 of which is water)
also borders Tiptonville and Hickman, Kentucky, and
approximates several West Tennessee towns including
Hornbeak, where Ryan grew up, near Union City.
There, Ryan rejoined the family business started by his
grandfather, Marvin Hayes, called "Papa" (pronounced Pappaw)
by Ryan.
Marvin was raised in Samburg, a traditionally rough and
tumble town decades ago that has smoothed out into a resort
district, thanks largely to Hayes' efforts. A self-educated
man, he was active in civic and community affairs: he became
city manager of Samburg and was County Court magistrate for
30 years, and was a deacon in the Samburg Baptist Church. He
was elected to a two-year term in the state House of
Representatives in 1957.
He was also owner and operator of Marvin Hayes Fish Company.
From humble beginnings, selling fish from the back of his
pickup truck, the business grew into a major import
business.
Dalton was just two years old
in this outing with Dad to the duck blinds at Reelfoot Lake.
When Reelfoot's supply didn't meet the demand, Hayes began
hauling fish from the Tennessee and Mississippi rivers,
still in his pickup truck. He opened the Eagle Nest Resort,
Blue Bank Motel and Restaurant, and Hayes Superette, plus
acquiring numerous rental properties, while farming close to
1,000 acres. Ryan recalls salted hams hung in bags to dry in
the "ham house", a common word to rural kids just a
generation removed from TiVos and iPods and other
technological wonders.
"The fish business got so big, he started importing fish
from South America in the 50s and 60s and shipping all over
the United States," says Ryan. "He was one of the first
importers in the whole United States to ship anything from
South America."
Hayes became, for many years, the main source of employment
for many in the region.
"He was one aspect of my life that really sticks out," says
Ryan, age 30, the second child born to Randy and Jan Hayes
Dyer, whose other children include oldest son Russ, 32, and
younger children Ron, 21, and Rachael, 17. Randy's parents
were Howard and Cornelia Dyer.
"He died when I was seven years old," Ryan begins, with
Susan interjecting, "but he has a thousand memories of him."
His assets were divided among his four children: Marvin Jr.,
Mike, Jan, and Jill. Ryan's Uncle Mike now owns the Blue
Bank Resort and Arena (www.bluebankresort.com); Jill White
owns Cypress Point Resort and Gooch's Landing (www.cypresspointresort.com);
and Ryan's parents own Eagle Nest Resort (www.eaglenestresort.com),
Eagle Nest Marine, and Marvin Hayes Fish Company.
"They still get fish from Brazil to this day," says Ryan,
noting pond-raised catfish from Mississippi, since the late
70s/early 80s had nevertheless greatly reduced the need for
imports.
Along with his substantial holdings, Marvin Hayes passed on
to his children and grandchildren an unsurpassed work ethic
that keeps both Ryan and Susan busy.
Growing up, he ran the cash registers when he was old enough
but the main thing he recalls was cleaning catfish.
"We cleaned 10,000 pounds of catfish a week," he declares.
He and Russ also started guiding hunters and fishermen from
the age of 13.
"Reelfoot gets a lot of people from up North," he says.
"From March through April when the lakes are frozen up north
they can catch catfish and crappie down here."
Duck hunting was another prolific sport made all the more
enjoyable, when Ryan was guiding, due to his cooking.
The blinds were warm and dry and Ryan says he welcomed the
chance to cook because it gave him an opportunity to sit
rather than watching the skies for birds.
Cozy and warm in the blind with the smell of good food
cooking, repeat customers declared they didn't really come
to hunt; they came to eat.
"I can understand now how lucky I was growing up," he says,
noting hunting opportunities are fewer than in former years.
"You have to go off somewhere to have what I had coming up."
He laughs while telling how his 83-year-old grandmother,
Virginia Dare Hayes (Marvin's widow) still fishes in the
locally made "stump jumpers" that were used well over a
century before modern boats and motors dominated the lake.
"She's out there fishing today," he says.
Shaped like a canoe, the bow-facing, ratcheted oars propel
the boats forward when paddled, a necessity when traversing
the even-more shallow waters of Reelfoot's younger years,
when many more cypress knees dotted the waters far from
shore. The boats can float in water as shallow as 12 inches
and "roll over the tops" of stumps and knees.
The Dyer family—Ryan, Susan,
Dalton and Dani—enjoy the beach at Destin, Florida during
their 2005 vacation
Living in Samburg after college, Ryan worked seven days a
week helping run the Eagle's Nest and the fishing business,
and guiding. Out of 50 days in the hunting season, he says,
he took off one day: Christmas.
He admits some of his "work" was fun, like showing fishermen
the "hot spots". "We'd built up our business to where,
instead of ten boats going out when I was growing up, now
70-80 boats go out every day.
But after the couple's first child, Dalton, now 5, was born
December 3, 1999, being home more often took precedence.
Besides, Susan adds, "Honestly it's like you have to hitch
up the wagon to go anywhere. It's fun, it's beautiful; you
can't ask for a prettier place to be, but you're 20 minutes
from everything.
So, in June 2001, the family moved to Susan's hometown where
they could "do their own thing" with a bit more free time.
Ryan began working in the marketing department of PTL truck
lines and Susan worked for McKenzie Banking Company.
Predictably, however, Ryan soon wearied of his 40-hour
work-week and the pair bought Rubye's Restaurant in Gleason
four years ago.
"Rubye stayed several months and taught me her way around
the kitchen and she stayed and made pies," says Ryan,
relating his efforts at maintaining Rubye Snider's personal
touch.
In January 2002 they bought "Relics" in Huntingdon and
converted it to Mallard's, a restaurant that has achieved
startling success owing to Ryan's good cooking and a
supportive community. It quickly became a full time job.
"We provide good food at fair prices and we're blessed with
good customers," he says. Susan adds, "The same people come
for lunch every day, Monday through Friday. Most people come
to eat good country food."
Serving local favorites for lunch and sprucing up the menu
with steak and seafood at suppertime has proved to be a
winning combination. In fact, the Dyers have just added a
variety of tasty new items to the menu and are gearing up
for a facelift as well, with new floors and a brand new
exterior appearance.
The restaurant also has a very healthy catering division
that serves county and local government and civic functions,
family affairs, business, and industry--24 hours per day.
"We stay up until 1 or 2:00 in the morning serving food to
the third shift," Ryan says.
Susan is quick to note people from all across Carroll County
have supported the restaurant. "We've made the people cross
the bottom a little bit," she says, chuckling in reference
to the long-told tale that the people of McKenzie and
Huntingdon are not too keen on crossing the creek into the
other's territory.
Mallard's and the Stockyard (owned by Chris Boxell) have
been quite successful in teaming up to sponsor a team in two
Relay for Life events in Carroll South, raising $17,000
their first year and $21,000 in 2005.
Ryan elaborates, "One part of being in business is you've
got to give back to the community."
Mallard's success will likely increase, as well, with the
popularity of The Dixie Carter Performing Arts Center
located just next door. In fact, Ryan is already preparing
to serve the members of the Nashville Symphony Orchestra on
November 19 during opening weekend of the center when Dixie
Carter and Hal Holbrook and other entertainers will be in
town for a variety of events taking place each day.
The Dyers also make time for a vacation every year with
Dalton and the latest precious edition to their family, Dani
Susanne, born March 14 last year.
Mallard's may one day be a stepping stone along life's sandy
shores. Ryan still feels the pull of his sport and plays
church league basketball and softball at First Baptist
Church in McKenzie, where Susan teaches Wednesday night
classes to four and five year olds. Ryan cooked last year
for a fundraiser for Upward Basketball, to purchase goals
and uniforms for the children. Ryan aspires to someday earn
his master's degree and coach basketball, as the children
grow older, in order to enjoy attending their activities.
"I had a very hard, very good coach in high school," he says
of Jimmy Whitby who now coaches in Lake County, "a
Hoosier-style coach: get it done. There were no politics in
basketball, we played to win. It didn't matter where you
came from or what you did, you played to win. You can win
with fundamentals," he adds. "A town with good players can
be beat with a team that is fundamentally sound."
In addition to helping at the restaurant, Susan teaches
marketing at the vocational center in Huntingdon and is
working toward her master's degree in education through
Union University.
Ryan is pleased. "With the restaurant, there's no other way
for it to go except for it to get better," he says. "We are
always trying to improve and increase our business. And I
still get to go out to Reelfoot. I never regret the decision
to move, but I always want to get back there to visit. Soon
as I hit the area, it's my whole family there. I'm grateful
for everything my granddaddy did for everybody and what my
family has done."
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