The Pilot News - Walters recall ‘great fire of 1942’ that left Ora a tiny, quiet town

“I remember the fire of 1942 and how devastating it was,” said Walters. “My parents had a store that was located next to the barber shop and everything burned beyond belief,” he said.
The “great fire of 1942” brought major destruction to the once thriving, small community.
“Many years ago, Ora had grocery and convenience stores, a hotel, post office, gas station and a handful of taverns, but the fire destroyed everything along both sides of Main Street. To this day, no one knows how the fire started,” Walters said.
Both Walters and his wife grew up in Ora. After they married, they decided that Ora would be their forever home.
“After the great fire, it was a while before any action took place,” Walters said. “However, my parents decided to rebuild their store, but not many others in the town decided to rebuild,” he said.
The Walters inherited and ran the family store, which was a small grocery and gas station, for 23 years.
“Unfortunately we had to close the store due to a lack of customers in the winter, participation and because we weren’t making any revenue,” said Walters.
Today, Ora is home to 120 residents. And the Walters both work to preserve their small town way of life. Walters serves as the town trustee, and his wife Donna is the town clerk.
“I assumed the duties of town trustee after our long-time trustee, Alma Paulson passed away,” said Walters. “As trustee, it is my job to set up an advisory board, which is made up of people in our community, to make sure papers are correct and in order, figuring out finances and seeing that the town budget is set, and to discuss the salaries of the trustee and clerk,” he said.
The advisory board meets every two to three months and at this time of the year, they are meeting to discuss the budget for the upcoming year.
Even though the Walters accepted long ago their little piece of heaven would never be like it once was, they are very content with their life in Ora. They hope to continue serving as the Northbend Township town trustee and clerk for many more years to come. “We know just about everybody and our small community is so friendly,” said Walters. “Even though there are no stores and only a post office in our little town, it makes the feeling of community stronger and has more meaning,” he said.
Editor’s note: There’s a story behind this story. We sent intern Justine Ciboch on a trial assignment: Find Ora, find a story in Ora. We know many people who can’t find Ora, and finding a story is difficult because the community is so small. Ciboch passed her test with flying colors.