'This was her life': Owner of Sask. restaurant destroyed in fire plans to restart

In the aftermath of a fire that destroyed Snow White Family Restaurant in Biggar Saskatchewan, a GoFundMe has been created to help the owner start over.

It’s been a fixture in the community since 1910, one of the first buildings to go up.

“It’s always been a restaurant,” said Jim Rickwood, mayor of Biggar. “It’s been a staple of Biggar’s mainstay of Main Street. When the CN came down at the end of the block in 1908, this was one of the first buildings. So, it’s a tragedy.”

Rickwood says fire crews responded at around 4:30 a.m. on Sept. 25 and quickly worked to limit the spread of the fire to neighbouring buildings. He says only minor smoke damage affected the grocery store on one side, but no damage was reported to the auto shop.

“They were quick, they were effective, they were efficient,” said Rickwood. “They were here most of the morning and watching for flare-ups. The fire investigator was here in the afternoon as with any tragedy of this nature, and the RCMP will continue the investigation with the fire investigator.”

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Rickwood says no injuries were reported, but the restaurant’s owner for the last 32 years says she didn’t have insurance on the building, and it’s a total loss.

“I had to pay a lot more money than a normal building because it’s a very old building,” said Maggie Tan, owner of Snow White Family Restaurant. “To run a small restaurant business through COVID-19, through everything, it’s very hard to pay those bills after I pay the food, the employees, there’s not much left.”

But in the days since the fire, Tan says her social media has been flooded with messages of support, and donations to help her start over.

“My employee Christina, she started the fundraising, and it’s very touching,” said Tan, who plans to pay for rent with the funds. “Every single penny, I wanted to say, I don’t know your name, but I wanted to say thank you.”

Despite the devastating loss, she plans to restart her restaurant. She’s using a Bruce Lee quote as motivation to push through the tragedy, and possible inspiration for a new name.

“Bruce Lee would always say, ‘be water,’” said Tan. “What it means, be water, I have to adapt to the situation. If I don’t adapt to the situation, honestly my mental and emotional health would be way far off now.”

And Rickwood says the residents are eager for the return of Tan’s cooking.

“That’s good, we want to hear that,” he said. “After 32 years, Biggar’s her home. This was her life, and we’re looking forward to chapter two of Snow White.”

Rickwood says the cause of the fire is still under investigation.

The GoFundMe has raised more than $8,000 already.