After hardship, Nappanee celebrates being "Back Open for Business"

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Posted: 11:56 PM Jun 14, 2008 After hardship, Nappanee celebrates being "Back Open for Business" An EF-3 tornado devastated the town, destroying dozens of homes and hitting many businesses hard, but with a ribbon-cutting ceremony this morning, the town is celebrating being "Back Open for Business."

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It was a big day for Nappanee Saturday, as the town officially re-opened its doors after October’s devastating tornado and a January fire.

The EF-3 tornado devastated the town, destroying dozens of homes and hitting many businesses hard, including some of the city's important RV plants.

With a ribbon-cutting ceremony this morning, the town is celebrating being "Back Open for Business."

It took months of cleanup and rebuilding to get the town back up and running.

The mayor thanked people who generously donated to the community, and remembered Midwestern flood victims who've been hit by the recent spring storms.

“I know that 8 months after these storms we're having now, these people are going to be working everyday for their citizens, so the patience of what it takes to clean up a storm is incredible, but we have a lot of support,” said Mayor Larry Thompson.

Nappanee resident Linda Yoder said "Now you drive through and you see the new businesses opening you see the new homes and last weekend we had hundreds of volunteers plant trees throughout the neighborhood; it's just so encouraging, it's just so great.”

Not only did the community of Nappanee deal with a tornado, another business and apartment building in town experienced a major fire in January.

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