DAMASCUS Rebuilt after fire, popular farm store plans open house

The new building has more retail space.
By NANCY TULLIS
VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU
DAMASCUS -- Employees and loyal customers of Witmer's Feed and Grain here have weathered three seasons of change and now have cause for celebration.
An open house at the company's new warehouse and offices on state Route 534 will be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday. The feed mill is about two miles north of the Columbiana County line in Goshen Township in Mahoning County.
A fire June 17 destroyed Witmer's 25-by-100-foot building that housed feed storage, a feed grinding operation and an office. The feed mill was a local landmark and a gathering place for area farmers for many years.
Damascus Fire Chief John Bricker estimated loss at $200,000. He said the cause of the fire will never be known because the smoldering ruins were too hot and too unstable for investigators to sift through safely.
Rebuilding: Officials of the Columbiana-based company decided to rebuild after encouragement from customers.
Firefighters were able to save the fertilizer plant and grain storage area, so the feed mill never closed.
Employees Allen Deckerd and Ervin Slabach were putting the finishing touches on the office area Monday.
Slabach said the new building was constructed after about three months of cleanup. They began using the new warehouse in December but are just now moving into the offices and filling shelves in the retail area with merchandise.
He said they continued operations after the fire, working out of two trailers, one as an office and the other as a warehouse.
Deckerd said customers continued to order feed, the only difference being the mixed feeds were processed at the Columbiana mill.
Slabach said that practice will continue, as the company did not rebuild the feed grinding operation at the Damascus site.
Larger store: He said the new building is 40 feet by 100 feet and consists primarily of a warehouse. The new building has more office space and a larger area for retail sales than its predecessor, Slabach said.
Besides grain mixes for livestock, customers also will find a variety of pet foods, bird seed and agricultural supplies such as fencing, footwear and feeders.
tullis@vindy.com