ASHTABULA – Just more than two months ago, the Detore family was feeling about as low as it possibly could.
That feeling was replaced with joy as the family welcomed the community in to celebrate the reopening of The Crow’s Nest.
“It feels great,” The Crow’s Nest owner R.J. Detore said. “My uncle said it, we got our lives back. We’re back to normal. It feels like home.”
The Crow’s Nest, 1257 Harmon Rd., Ashtabula, was forced to close following a car crashing into the building, killing the driver, 52-year-old John Yerkey, of Salem, in the early morning hours of April 10.
“It was terrifying,” Detore said. “The kid who lives in this house next door works for us. He calls me when the alarm is going off outside because he can hear it. I just expected that was the kind of phone call I was going to get, not ‘Your building is on fire.’”
“When I pulled in the parking lot, I could see flames shooting up over the back of the building and I knew something bad happened,” Detore continued. “I didn’t know what or how. I didn’t see any of this wreckage over here. I ran in. I grabbed a fire extinguisher. I ran through the building, and I could see a vehicle. I tried to put the fire out, but it was too far gone. I ran around the back and I found a gentleman laying on the ground. It’s a helpless feeling, seeing your business burning and there’s nothing you can do.”
Just less than two months later, on Thursday, June 4, The Crow’s Nest reopened for business and celebrated that reopening with a ribbon cutting on Saturday, June 14.
“We never knew that we were so important to the community, to be honest with you,” The Crow’s Nest owner Ron Detore said.
“It’s awesome,” R.J. Detore said. “This reopening, everybody’s got a little bit more pep in their step. The staff is a little bit more alive.”
Though it took less than two months to repair the damage caused by the crash and fire, it felt like much more for the Detores.
“Honestly, for us, it didn’t feel that quick,” R.J. Detore said. “After talking to everybody that has dealt with fire, apparently this is one of the quickest turnarounds ever and we’re very proud of that fact.”
The quick turnaround was made possible with community support for the Detore family.
“The support that the community gave us and our staff is unmatched,” R.J. Detore said. “I think it made us realize what we have.”
“(The community has meant) absolutely everything,” R.J. Detore continued. “We couldn’t have done this without them and that’s everything from hired work, volunteer work, donations. (We got) text messages, phone calls asking, ‘What can I do?’ People driving by were stopping to check on us asking if we needed a hand with this, a hand with that.”
The Crow’s Nest staff and customers donned T-shirts emblazoned with the words “More than a restaurant, we’re a family” and “Thank you for your support.”
“Friends of ours would just stop by, especially in the first couple of days with the mess, there was a total mess that had to be cleaned up,” Ron Detore said.
Local businesses were contracted for the work.
“We pretty much used general contractors,” Ron Detore said. “We used all our people who come here. They were all our customers that have businesses. They dropped what they were doing to give us a hand to get us reopened.”
The Detores are appreciative for the staff at The Crow’s Nest, as well.
“Our staff has been just awesome,” Ron Detore said. “(They’ve done) whatever we’ve asked of them trying to get back. They came in and gave a hand.”
