Calico County opening to help community groups

Residents who have been going through cinnamon roll withdrawals will not have to wait much longer as Ryan Kirk, manager of Calico County, announced today (Aug. 1) that the restaurant would re-open Aug. 6, a little more than eight months after a kitchen fire caused hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages to the legendary Fort Smith eatery, forcing its temporary closure.

During the closure, restaurant regulars and casual diners alike have shown an outpouring of love to the restaurant that has been a staple of the Fort Smith food scene since it opened in 1984 and was made world famous after a visit from television host Oprah Winfrey and her gal pal Gayle King in June 2006.

Kirk said customers have offered to paint, clean up, move furniture and donate memorabilia in order to get the store restaurant open again after spending an estimated $840,000 to not only gut and re-build the restaurant, but to furnish it with tables, chairs, cash registers and kitchen equipment.

"We even had members of the community calling us, asking if they could help," he said. "It was really telling of our community and the kind of people that live in Fort Smith. We didn't realize, we knew that we were a staple of Fort Smith, but we didn't really realize, you know, how much the community backed us. The amount of support that we've gotten from everyone via Facebook, e-mails, phone calls, has just been tremendous."

As a way for the restaurant to say thank you to the community, Kirk said Calico County is hosting two premier nights that will benefit non-profits in the area.

"We haven't done anything like that before, but again we were just so impressed with the amount of support we got from the community, we felt like there was no better way to re-open than to give back some of the support that we had received."

The events, which will be held on Sunday, Aug. 4, and Monday, Aug. 5, will raise money for the Community Services Clearing House, Good Samaritan Clinic and Girls Inc. of Fort Smith.

Amanda Daniels, executive director of the local Girls Inc. chapter, said she was taken aback when she got the call from Calico County.

"Of course, we were very excited when they reached out to us to ask if we were interested," she said. "And of course, I didn't hesitate. I thought it was a great opportunity. I know everyone loves Calico County and is anxiously awaiting their re-opening, just as my family has been."

The tickets, which Daniels said cost $60, purchase four meals and four drinks. Kirk added that all of the profits from the premier nights will benefit the three chosen charities.

In addition to the tickets, which Daniels said have been selling at breakneck speed, customers are also able to purchase raffle tickets for a sweet, warm prize, according to Kirk.

"We're also selling raffle tickets for $1 apiece. The winner of that raffle will receive the first dozen cinnamon rolls on grand opening day (Aug. 6). And again all of that money goes to the charities as well," Kirk said.

For customers not certain whether their favorite waiter or waitress will still be around to serve them, Kirk said there was no need to worry.

"Yes, (insurance) covered (the cost of re-building) and covered the cost of employees' wages throughout the time that we've been down, so we were pretty happy about that. We were definitely worried right before it happened because it was right before the holidays, but fortunately our policy covered everyone."

Some well-known memorabilia (at least well-known to regulars) was salvaged from the fire and can be seen on the walls. Those elements, along with a nearly identical layout as before the fire, will make the restaurant feel almost exactly as it did before the fateful night on Nov. 25.

An argument could be made that the layout and memorabilia were far from the most treasured items to be salvaged and be seeing a comeback next week. But fear not, Kirk said, for the store's treasured recipes were found safely stowed away in a lockbox, meaning favorites like Calico County's distinctive pigs in a blanket and other recipes will make their triumphant return bright and early at 6:30 a.m. on Sunday.

And should the worst happen again and the recipes get lost to a fire or tornado, Kirk said there is now no need to worry.

"We have digital copies now, yes. … We do have backups of them now and even if had lost the recipes, we have employees that have been here for 20 plus years that know them by heart. So we would have been able to salvage them, but we did save the physical copies."

Asked if he was ready for what is sure to be lines of customers waiting to get into the restaurant and fulfill eight months of cravings, Kirk said he was ready.

"It's going to be pretty epic, but we're ready."