If He Could Bottle This Up

Do you know the song "If I Could Bottle This Up"?  The lyrics to the chorus are: "If I could bottle this up I would make a million. If I could tell everybody in town, just what I've been feeling! It's guaranteed to put a smile on your face, A song in your heart after one little taste.  Folks would really eat it up, If I could bottle this up." 

Although I'm quite certain this song wasn't really written about Jack Runion, I have found myself humming this tune every time I talk to him.  The energy of that man! 

And it's not only Jack.  Linda, his wife and partner in business at Runions' Furniture and their Wooster store 'RoomScapes" both tend to behave like energizer bunnies. And during recent weeks in the aftermath of the June fire that destroyed parts of their building and shut them down for nearly two months, the level of energy has been nothing short of incredible.

By the way, for another great Jack story, read this week's Main Street Orrville BLOG about the Unsung Hero by Darrin Wasniewski. It's guaranteed to put a smile on your face.
 

My Runions' Fire Sale Keepsake

Were you able to shop at the August 18 - 21 Runions' Fire Sale? I was amazed that Jack, Linda, their daughter Jackie and the entire store staff were even still standing. To see the amount of furniture and accessories that had been saved by the Orrville Fire Fighters, the work that went into cleaning things up and preparing for the sale, and the amount of dedication and work that it took to pull that off was unfathomable. Jack told me later that almost every single piece was purchased!

On Monday, August 29th, the downtown store opened again.  I stopped by to see how things looked.  Guess what! I was greeted by a fresh and still smiling Jack. While there, I had the privilege of meeting with a gentleman from the restoration company.  Between the two of them I got a very good tour and update on the building.  

The store is open again !

It's quite amazing what all has to happen yet in order to have the remaining, most damaged portion of the building fixed and ready to go again.  Just like a home improvement project, only much worse, the new roof now means that the walls of the old section aren't sturdy enough, so there's a rebuild needed there, plus additional electrical work which includes a new utility pole on the alley. (Which, by the way, Orrville Utilities has been very helpful with). Oh, the list goes on.  Mind boggling, yet the positive energy continues to flow.

Here's where a cool Chamber Member twist comes in to the story. This restoration fellow and Jack just couldn't say enough about The Hummel Group, and Tony Rohrer in particular, for helping this project along.  He shared with me that although they have had other people have the same kind of insurance, not all agents are nearly as accommodating as Hummel has been, nor are they often as strong in advocating for their customers.  The praise was very high all the way around.  Very simply, it's not always this way. 

So kudos to The Hummel Group and to Tony for helping one of our cornerstone downtown businesses get through this very difficult time.

 

I shared this story with Tony who said, "Thank you very much for your kind words.  In our line of work, people usually only notice when things go wrong.  It should be noted, however, that Jack and Linda have been a pleasure to work with throughout this process.  A fire can be a very difficult time for a property owner, but Jack had a great attitude and he was moving forward 100 mph soon after the claim."

Ahhh.  If Jack could bottle that up, he would make a million.