Nine months after record flooding devastated this small borough, most of its 28 businesses have made a comeback.
The Wagon Wheel family restaurant reopened Monday. It follows Subway and J-Angelos Pizza as the third restaurant to reopen since the September flooding.
Arlene Monroe and Kim Miller, co-owners of the Wagon Wheel, spent the last nine months remodeling the restaurant after it was inundated with almost 5 feet of water. It was the first time there ever was floodwater in the restaurant, which had been open for 13 years, Ms. Monroe said. They did most of the work themselves.
"We totally gutted the place. We had to redo all the ceramic tile floors and carpeting. We lost almost everything," Ms. Monroe said.
The restaurant employs about 15 people. Only two of the former employees came back and the owners hired new people. Since reopening Monday, the restaurant has been busy, Ms. Monroe said.
"The town has been very supportive," Ms. Monroe said. "It's a small town and it really pulled together after the disaster. They really did."
Skovish Brothers Pools also reopened recently and expanded. The store now carries pet supplies as well as pool supplies.
"People are rebuilding and reopening, which is a good, positive sign," said Holly Reynolds, manager of Skovish Brothers Pools.
Family Dollar is in the process of coming back, said Shickshinny Mayor Beverly Moore. Some have expressed an interest in opening a grocery store to replace the closed 5 Mountain Market on Route 11, but she would not say who. The closest grocery store is about 12 miles away in Berwick or Nanticoke.
A dentist's office, a T-shirt store and laundromat did not re-open in Shickshinny, which was especially hard hit by the flooding. Wells Fargo Bank was demolished in March, but Berwick-based First Keystone Community Bank is opening a branch in Shickshinny in the summer.
Ms. Moore is encouraged by the businesses that have reopened. She said it is a sign of hope and a "good indication of how the town is coming back."
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