Cape Cod Family Business Destroyed By Fire

HARWICH (CBS) -- Greta Ribb was trying to keep busy on Friday, finishing floral arrangements for a weekend wedding while at the same time trying not to think about the fire that destroyed her family's Cape Cod business: the R.A. Ribb Clam Rake Company.

It was started by her dad 37 years ago.

"My father was a shell fisherman," she said. "This business was borne out of him and his friends trying to make the perfect rake."

The clam rakes were all made with a personal touch. On Cape Cod, they are put in the hands of kids and grandparents.

"It's the legacy of the family, certainly," says Maggie Ribb, who works for the company, adding that the original rakes were all made by hand in a blacksmithing-type manner in a barn area on the property.

It's a purely family business and a way of life, making a quality tool that brings joy to so many.

"That history part of it...that historical...emotional part of it that ties in with the day-to-day is what I thought about," says Maggie Ribb.

The fire, which broke out late Thursday night, couldn't have come at a worse time. Summer brings people, and people want clams and quohogs. But, the Ribb family has never been one to give in.

"We still have something here," says Greta Ribb. "We can still put it back together and keep going. We're hopeful about that."