BELLEVUE, Neb. (KMTV) — “It would have been our 36th year in May. I just never saw it gone,” said Michelle Lyons, the daughter of Nettie’s owners Kathy and Mike Boyles.
Last Friday, as most folks were preparing for the big holiday weekend, one family watched as decades of their history went up in flames.
“I have been groomed my entire life to take care of this restaurant. I was very close to my grandma Nettie. To see what she worked so hard to build being gone, is just beyond words,” said Lyons.
It would take firefighters working for hours in sub-zero temperatures to control the blaze, and investigators have not determined what caused the fire.
Despite their best efforts the blaze totally consumed Netties, destroying the family business and the decades of memories and mementos they had collected over the years.
“Those are lost. I am sure there is no way of getting those back. It is heartbreaking. There is more to it than brick and mortar,” said Lyons.
The loss of Netties is being felt by the community as well.
A Facebook post about the fire quickly garnered thousands of shares and hundreds of comments where folks shared their condolences and favorite memories at Netties.
“It warms your heart. Every time I read them there is, I have been coming here since I was born. My kids come with me now, they have known nothing but Netties their entire life,” said Lyons.
There have even been several GoFundMe fundraisers started to support the family and Nettie’s employees and fellow local business DJ’s Dugout have donated funds to help the family as well.
“That can help us give our employees some financial relief until they find a temporary job,” said Lyons.
The future of Nettie’s is still up in the air and Michelle doesn’t know what the family's next steps are.
But she does know that the Nettie’s family has been through tough times before and is hopeful that someday they will be able to bring back their family legacy.
“We are lucky to have survived 2008 when the market was down. We survived COVID and we can survive this. We are a strong family. I'd like to see it open. I'd really like to see it reopened but it's going to take a lot of money, a lot of work,” said Lyons.
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