Apr 18, 2018 3 min read

Months after a Christmas Eve fire destroyed a garage along Route 40, the Scenery Hill community is gathering donations to replace lost items that were used for upcoming festivals.

The building, the former Frank Huffman auto dealership and garage built in 1929, caught fire early that morning. It took four fire companies to bring the fire under control, but the upper level of the building, which was mostly used for storage, was destroyed. In it were National Road Festival supplies, including a stage, traffic cones, signs, picnic tables and paperwork.

“We lost our paperwork and our records for past vendors that were in my shop, and my shop got the brunt of the damage,” said Renee Rudnisky, who owned Crafts By Renee, a small shop that was one of two businesses with office space in the building.

The rubble of the burned building still sits on Route 40. It is owned by the Dunker family, and a representative said Monday they do plan to rebuild and are waiting to hear from contractors.

The loss of the supplies also coincides with the return of the Century Inn as the center of the Scenery Hill celebration, after it finally reopened earlier this year following a devastating fire in August 2015.

Rudnisky, of Marianna, is on the Scenery Hill Civic Committee, which will organize both the National Road Festival on May 19-20, and the Heritage Festival on Sept. 8.

“The Pike Days Festival is huge,” she said. “We’ve been doing that over 40 years. We’ve kept it going every year, and we don’t want it to be the first year we don’t have the festival.”

The two-day festival will have live music, dance performances, food and craft vendors and a wagon train. Residents along Route 40 also typically have yard sales during that weekend. The committee is borrowing a stage from the Marianna Outdoorsmen Association for the National Road Festival to buy time so a new one can be built. They’ve also sent a letter to Scenery Hill residents, asking for donations of supplies and manpower.

“With the festival fast approaching, we need to come together as a community to help restore what was lost, so that we can once again all enjoy this event that draws so many to our wonderful little community,” the letter said. “Whether you hold a yard sale, enjoy listening to the bands or your children perform on stage, grabbing your favorite festival food, shopping for that special treasure, or simply sitting on your porch to watch the passing crowds and catch up with old friends, the National Road Festival is a special time for all of us.”

The letter asked for tables, a stage, signs and benches.

“Our biggest need is the collapsible picnic tables and benches,” she said. “People can watch the entertainment and be a little more comfortable and stay a little while.”

Rudnisky said the committee is also looking for more people to help with the manual labor necessary to set up for the festival, since they’ll now have to make all new signage.

“If we can have some more manpower, that’s a big thing because we didn’t have that to begin with,” she said.

So far, the committee has seen a “heartwarming” response to its plea for help, Rudnisky said.

“The community has been very generous in sending us monetary donations,” she said. “It’s very heartwarming because I’m not even a Scenery Hill resident. These small towns just open their arms. A tragedy like this brings everybody together.”