What's Up with the Message on the Ioka Marquee?

Over the weekend, a new message went up on the marquee at the Ioka in downtown Exeter.

"Welcome Back A Picture's Worth a Thousand Words," read the message, prompting people to start asking members of the Exeter Theatre Company what it all meant.

As it turns out, the message was put up by the Ioka's owner, Alan Lewis. The welcome back part refers to the used book and framing business A Picture's Worth a Thousand Words.

The business, located at 65 Water St., was forced to close on May 9 due to severe flooding in the Masonic Lodge building where it is located.

"On May 9 we got a call at 1 in the morning that a pipe had broken upstairs and flooded us," said John Segal, who has operated the business with his wife Jennifer for almost 29 years.

The water had entered the ceiling and found a fire alarm, which alerted the Fire Department. But the carpet and floor were drenched, and many of the books badly damaged.

All of the books that survived – hundreds of boxes worth – had to be removed from the space so that it could be dried out and the floor rebuilt.

With the store rebuilt, the Segals were finally able to reopen in mid-July.

"We're happy to be back," John Segal said. "We're still not 100 percent of where we want it to be. We make progress in here every day. It's kind of like dancing in a phone booth. Working every day, you make a little progress."

A grand reopening will be held the Saturday after Labor Day, with food and other refreshments.

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