DREW PLANTATION – A town toy factory destroyed in a fire a few days before Thanksgiving will be reborn thanks to a 10-year, $100,000 loan.

David Smalley, owner of Elves and Angels, said he is about to conclude a deal with a Vermont man, one of his best customers, to secure a loan within a week that will allow him to restart his home-operated business. He declined to name the customer.

“I have said yes to the guy,” Smalley said. “I have to give him my Web site [www.elves

andangels.com], and he will do all the retail marketing and help out with the wholesale business. It’s a good deal. I’m satisfied with it.”

Smalley hopes to start to rebuild his family-owned and operated factory some time this week, he said. With luck, he will be back in business by late spring, at the latest. He hopes to begin shipping product in March.

The Nov. 23 fire damaged four interconnected buildings – a wood shop, storage area, chapel, and a home office-schoolhouse – ruining about $70,000 in dollhouses, toy kitchens, castles and play stands, office equipment and tools. About $150,000 in damage was done, with no insurance to help.

Rebuilding the business is a relief and a challenge, Smalley said.

“It feels great. I was lost. This business is so much of our life here,” Smalley said. “I went into Haskell Lumber and just had the greatest conversations with people. … One guy in Aubuchon Hardware looked into my eyes and said, ‘It’s good to have you back. I was beginning to wonder about you.’ I was lost without it.”

Smalley remains, he said, deeply thankful for all of the charity he and his 13-member family have received. About 40 people helped him rebuild his family home in the immediate wake of the fire. About $18,000 in donations came in through family, friends and area churches and relief organizations, he said. There also were many donations of wood and other building materials, and some businesses forgave debts.

“To tell you the truth, I don’t know how I would have dealt with it if people didn’t come forward,” he said. “It’s overwhelming anyway, but it would have really been overwhelming without that.”

Smalley is planning the new factory building, he said. It will be simple, a single floor with an external heat source and plenty of fire extinguishers and other fire detection and suppression devices. It will not be connected to his farmhouse, like the previous building was. He hopes to have more friends and family help with its construction, he said.

“I think we can make extremely good progress once the floor is down,” he said. “We may be able to prefabricate a lot of it before anyone gets here.”