By Betty Gandee

As we remember the flood of June 2016, we think back on the devastation and loss that so many encountered in our county.

Homes washed away, businesses that will be no more, and the pain that still lives in our hearts.  We have all drove by such areas where we no longer see children playing in the front yard or people gathering to have a meal at their favorite place.  Two years later and many still have not rebuilt. Businesses have simply moved on and left their buildings vacant.

One Clay County woman has decided to make her dreams a reality. Michelle Parilac took a huge leap of faith in her new business venture. Investing all her time into this new part of her life, Michelle is focusing on opening a restaurant in the vacant Ginos/Tudors building in Clendenin, WV.  Michelle says that she was raised not far from Clendenin, and that when she was a small child she can remember going to the five or dime store with her grandmother and attending the festivals that took place in town.

When Michelle attended this year’s Clendenin festival, put on by new Mayor Shana Trippett Clendenin, it brought back memories of how the community would come together in the old days and celebrate one with another.  She sees Clendenin as not barren, but thriving with opportunities, and is honored to be a part of the new and exciting things to come. She has wanted to open a restaurant for some time and never could find the right location or the right time. She gives Smith’s (the owner of the building) all the credit for that, and says they have been wonderful to work with.

Michelle is hopeful that her restaurant will give the community a chance to come together and enjoy great food and company. The family style restaurant will be open in September 2018.  She is dedicated to serving great family meals to Clendenin and surrounding areas from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily, with a drive through available for morning breakfast from 6– 11 a.m.