Above: The Hoos building in Livingston Manor on Wednesday, November 21, the day after it was destroyed by fire. Photo by Kurt Knuth.
Right before Thanksgiving, a devastating fire destroyed the historic Hoos building in the center of Livingston Manor. The four businesses inside (The Lazy Beagle, Willow and Brown, Moose-Be-Morning Cafe and Hot Corner Sports Collectibles) were also ruined.
The fire was terrifying. At one point, an explosion rocked the ground and sent debris raining down upon onlookers up the street. (You can see that happen at the 10:15 minute mark in this video shot by Christina Maliarakis and posted on Facebook.)
Now the town is in recovery mode. Livingston Manor is no stranger to tragedy, and there is already a fund -- the Livingston Manor Community Center's Rockland Relief Fund -- that is dedicated to helping its residents recover from disaster. (The fund was established after the flooding of 2006, which killed a Manor teenager and destroyed homes across the Town of Rockland, where the hamlet of Livingston Manor is located.)
On Tuesday, the Rockland Relief Fund made a public appeal for donations on Facebook. The fund's managers say that right now, the owner of the Moose-Be-Morning Cafe has the most immediate pressing needs, because she had no insurance. Donations to the Rockland Relief Fund will be used to help her and any other businesses that have needs after the fire or other local disasters.
To contribute to the fund, send donations to:
Livingston Manor Community Center's Rockland Relief Fund, PO Box 1096, Livingston Manor, NY 12758.
Here's the full appeal, below:
Last week's fire destroyed an historic building and four businesses, and broke a lot of hearts. Three of the businesses had insurance, and they're all dealing with that now; we wish them all good luck and a speedy settlement.
But Moose-Be-Morning is not among those working out the details with their insurance providers, because Dawn had no insurance. In addition to losing everything she had for her business--convection oven, microwave, refrigerators, freezer, grill, coffee makers, cash register, tables and chairs, cookware and cutlery among them--she lost hundreds of dollars of food inventory specially bought for the busy hunting season; in addition to all that, she is still paying off the equipment that is now charred rubble in the pile that was once the Hoos building.
The Community Center is accepting tax-deductible donations to help Dawn get out from under this disaster. If you can help, please send what you can to the Livingston Manor Community Center's Rockland Relief Fund, PO Box 1096, Livingston Manor, NY 12758.
We continue to monitor the situation of the other victims of this fire; there are no immediate needs at this time, but we will keep you all posted as things develop. Thank you all so much for your kindnesses.
