Almost one year ago to the day, Brian Noody’s West Wind Custom Archery and Taxidermy business burned to the ground in an accidental fire that took both his and the neighboring business with it.

But now, Noody has much to celebrate, as his “new” business, West Wind Taxidermy Studio, has opened at 4910 Webster Road in Pomfret.

“Everyone said ‘everything happens for a reason’ when it happened, but I still think about it daily,” Noody said. “It’s a huge improvement over the other places I have had to work. It’s still very tight paying for it all, because the insurance didn’t cover everything, but that’s my fault.

“I didn’t have enough coverage,” he added in regard to the insurance. “My business grew and I never increased what my business was worth.”

It has been a long and challenging road back for Noody. But thanks to hard work and a generous benefit at the hands of the community, West Wind Taxidermy Studio is up and running while also enabling Noody to do better work than ever before.

“Unfortunately, I didn’t have enough to continue the archery shop, but just my work area here is four times larger than anything I’ve ever had to work with.” he said. “Now I can do bigger and better pieces. Plus, I don’t have the overhead I had at the other places so I can concentrate on my customer’s pieces, which is what I really want to do.”

Noody went on to explain that not only did the fire cause him to lose the physical aspects of his business, he lost many customers as well.

“I didn’t get much business,” Noody said of the time between when his previous business burned down and the reopening. “I know some people didn’t come to me because of the fire. The problem was they probably thought it was me or didn’t realize the real reason why it started, which had nothing to do with me or what I did. When someone has a fire at a business, people are afraid to go to that person.”

But once customers view the new facility, and the quality of work Noody is now able to produce more frequently, rebuilding a customer base shouldn’t be an issue.

“The new location is right next door to my home so I will be able to help out my customers a lot better during hunting season,” Noody said. “The larger location will also allow me to do larger mounts a lot easier, such as life-sized pieces. I will just be able to spend more time in general because I won’t be driving or doing errands. It gives me so much more time to spend on doing what I want to do.

“I had the same type of equipment at the other facilities, but now everything is upgraded,” he added. “My tanning machine can hold more capes, I have an area where I can wash the capes better once they’re tanned or prior to being tanned and just all of the amenities have been upgraded so I can utilize everything better and faster.”

The new showroom features multiple pieces of Noody’s work on display throughout the walls and in display cases. The wood panel walls give the entrance and showroom a rustic, cabin feel while Noody does his work on brand-new equipment just around the corner.

The new facility will likely afford Noody and his customers opportunities that were previously unattainable. And for Noody, he knows none of this would have been possible if not for the generosity of those in the community he serves.

“The generosity of the hundreds of people who showed up (to the previous benefit) and the hundreds of donors and people I didn’t even know … it’s amazing,” Noody said. “The generosity in this county and community for those that really need it is amazing. In my life it has helped me think about paying it forward. If we all help each other, the world would be a lot better place.”