CAVE CREEK, Ariz. - Thanksgiving morning 2015, smoke and flames filled the skies over a Cave Creek landmark.
Nine months later, the smell of sawdust and linseed oil fill the air.
The Buffalo Chip Saloon is on the rise again, a project the owner, Larry Wendt, says he thought twice about taking on.
"But there was such an outpouring from this community, and from our customers and the town government," Wendt confessed. "Within three or four days, we knew we had to rebuild."
The plea to rebuild, well, that came with a special request.
"'Larry, you've just got to try and build it back like the old Buffalo Chip,'" Wendt said others told him.
That's an order that might prove to be as tall as the new ceilings in the new "Chip," so Larry and his team started at ground level.
"The depressed area in the floor is a dance floor, an all hardwood dance floor with 3-inch oak in it," he said.
For decades, Green Bay Packers fans have found a home away from home at the Buffalo Chip. Recently, a local fan found a new home for one of the Packer greats.
"He brought this life-size Jack Dowd original of Bart Starr," Wendt said standing in front of the 400-pound bronze statue of the NFL Hall of Fame quarterback from the Packer glory years of the 1960s.
Wendt says from his perch at the front of the restaurant, Bronze Bart has been "keeping an eye" on the crew as they go about their work.
He also said dozens of people nostalgic for the old saloon, which was built on priceless memories and mementos, have come forward wanting to contribute to the rebuilding project.
So for two weekends -- Sept. 3-4 and Sept. 10-11 -- the Buffalo Chip is accepting Western-themed items to fill a "Relics of Past" wall on the east end of the building.
The space is sizeable, but if you remember the old Chip, Wendt says, "No, we won't have any problem filling that wall!"