Almena ? After this town of 500 lost its only grocery store to a fire in December, residents not only raised money to rebuild it, they helped with the construction.

Janette Callaway, who owns the Almena Market with her husband, Jeff, said residents had helped put on the roof, cleaned up after the construction crew, hauled in equipment, stocked the shelves and raised money. At one fund-raiser, rib cooks let residents vote with money for their favorite slabs, with the proceeds going to the store.

Construction started March 15, and the store, which is three times the size of the original, opened June 1. Grand opening festivities are scheduled for Saturday.

After fire destroyed the Almena Market, Jeff Callaway wasn’t sure he would rebuild and waited until February to decide. He could have changed his career, but the support from Almena people convinced him.

“I like Almena. I was born and raised here, and it will always be home to me,” he said.

No one is exactly sure when the store first opened, but Janette Callaway says elderly Almena residents tell her they worked there in high school. The Callaways bought the store in 1994 from Janette Callaway’s parents.

Drake Gebhard, an Almena school board member and owner of a small construction company, knows how important the store was to this Norton County town, which is about 300 miles northwest of Lawrence.

“If you don’t have a school, you don’t have a town. If you don’t have a store, you don’t have a town,” Gebhard said.

Gebhard and his employees at Gebhard Construction and Cattle Co. worked for break-even pay on the store’s interior, with assistance from the Callaways and volunteers.