Carrell Powell, 75, of Fenton goes by two names – Bill, a family nickname he’s had for years, and the Watermelon Man, a more recent nickname.
Powell, a Vietnam veteran, is wrapping up his 20th year selling watermelons around Jefferson County. For the past eight years, he has been selling watermelons at the corner of Hwy. 30 and Hwy. PP in High Ridge.
He said he was given the Watermelon Man nickname last year when a local woman gave him a shirt with the name on it. He said he has embraced the moniker and put signs featuring the name on his truck.
Powell said he never got the name for the woman who gave him the shirt, but is thankful for it.
“I offered to pay her for it, and I offered to give her a watermelon and she would not take anything,” he said.
Powell sets up his truck and trailer a couple of days a week at the High Ridge corner and sells watermelons he buys in Missouri and Arkansas.
Powell said sometimes he also sells cantaloupes, but only if he can find good ones. He normally starts selling his melons the second week of July and stops selling at the end of August.
Irene Dee, 78, of High Ridge said she started purchasing watermelons from him in 2019 after having trouble finding good ones at local grocery stores.
“I thought, ‘I am going to try this man here. He is elderly and I thought I would give him a shot and that was the best thing I ever did,” Dee said
She said Powell’s watermelons are always sweet.
“I’ve never had a bad watermelon from him,” she said.
Powell said his watermelons are sweet because he gets them from farmers who do not use any chemicals.
“I buy them all from farmers right out of the field,” he said.
Powell said he sells his watermelons because he enjoys meeting people.
“I have fun doing it,” he said.