The night Mill Village
painted the sky...
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The Duck Soup Fire Story…
I was asked recently why I wanted to put up a special page on this site to highlight the January 2, 1999 fire. "Richard, what are you thinking? " "Isn’t it time to move on?" Makes sense, I guess, at first glance, but for Pierre and me it is significantly deeper than that.
These questions bounced around in my mind for days, as I questioned my own thoughts and reasons for dedicating a piece of quackquackquack.com to The Fire. But then it hit me: The fire is one of the most important and best things that have happened to Duck Soup in its history. Yes, I see it as a good event…
Let me illuminate this for you.
For 27 years I always knew that the entire building would be charcoal with just one single spark. We joked about that, especially when sitting in the basement after the store was closed for the day. And we certainly always took that for granted. Of course, one never thinks it will "happen to me".
When Pierre and I first arrived on the scene after having dinner together that January 2 night, my heart told me the store was a loss…the end of Duck Soup, as we knew it, and the end of an era. We watched the building burn from across the street with many friends and customers, pondering it all with confusion, frustration, and amazement.
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It's amazing how quickly it can all go away. |
After the smoke had cleared, our office contents pretty much salvaged, we then turned to trying to figure out the next steps: rebuild? Career changes? Back to the vineyard business? There were numerous opportunities out there, and job offers to boot, but what really turned the tide of thinking for us was staring us right in the face.
The tremendous outpouring of sympathy and support from our "community" reinforced our original philosophical goals of who and what Duck Soup represents. We are caretakers of something very special, something more than just a storefront. Our customers, friends, and vendors were telling us that they fully appreciated and cherished the environment we had built. They were not ready for the last chapter of The Duck…and helped us to realize that we shouldn’t be ready for that either.
This fire, although sad and tragic, has given me a real opportunity to stop and reflect upon my life and my goals. This is a good thing, and I am not taking it lightly. I have had a tremendous amount of time to look back and reflect…as well as to look forward and dream. I would have never have wished for this fire to occur…but with what I have gained from its occurrence, I refuse to be torn up about it. I wish this event on no one…but really have to admit I am glad that it happened to me.
You see, it is easy to get caught up in one’s life and habits and comfort and routine. We all do it…yet many of us deny doing it. We find it hard to shake free from what we do day to day…and it takes something like this fire to really turn the box inside out. I have a new lease on life, a renewed vigor with which to approach Duck Soup.
The Fire has given me the opportunity to be touched and comforted by the community. It has given me the opportunity to get to know my fellow tenants better. And I can pretty much guarantee that this web site (and our ensuing ecommerce) would not have happened without it. Nope, I would have been doing the same things every day that I had been doing for 27 years. Pierre, too.
We now get to reinvent the store, which for us is an exciting challenge.
We have been able to create this web site as an extension and appendage of the original Duck Soup.
We are engaged in projects to improve the environment around Mill Village for the benefit of the community.
Our core values and principals have been dusted off and placed back on our retail mantle. We think we never forgot them…but sometimes took them for granted.
Most importantly, we have learned that Sudbury is still very much a small hometown filled with very strong community spirit.
We have had seven months now to reflect on all of this…to sort through the emotions and crises…and to plan for our new future. I am most sincere when I say; "something good always comes from any crisis." New growth happens in the forest quickly after it has been charred. And such is the case with Duck Soup.
As I reread this words and gaze at the pictures, I can only hope to embrace the power of the moment…and carry it into tomorrow.
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