By Felice Freyer
![lauras_diner.jpg]()
SMITHFIELD, R.I. -- The "open" sign outside Laura's Pleasant View Diner was a welcome sight Saturday morning.
![lauras_diner2.jpg]()
Providence Journal photos / Felice Freyer
Laura's Pleasant View Diner, encased in snow, is open for business.
Owner Laura Branca started serving coffee to firefighters at 6:30 a.m. and opened to the public at 10. Jay Dunlea, the manager, dug out with a snowblower he managed to find at Home Depot Friday, one of the last ones.
Laura Branco, owner, and Jay Dunlea, manager, inside the diner.
The diner, a fixture in Smithfield for decades, did not lose power, nor did most of the town.
"Smithfield is doing a great job clearing the snow," said waitress Kate Branca, Laura's sister.
Waitress Jessica Randle said she had to put on her snowsuit and crawl through snow up to her chest to get to her car, but she, too, had no trouble driving in to work.