Despite feeling like she was going to cry, Rhonda Palmeri, general manager of Cook’s Corner, steadied herself as she opened the door to the iconic biker roadhouse in Trabuco Canyon on Friday morning.

It was the first time daylight streamed through the doors into the bar since three people were killed and six more were wounded when a retired police officer walked inside and shot his estranged wife and others on Aug. 23.

Palmeri had announced the 11 a.m. soft opening on social media and a crowd of bikers and other community members gathered on the outdoor patio near a monument dedicated to Tanya Clark, 49, of Scottsdale, Arizona, John Leehey, 67, of Irvine, and Glen Sprowl Jr., 53, of Stanton, who died in the shooting.

Cook’s Corner had been closed since the mass shooting. But, as so often happens after a terrible tragedy, the place where the terror unfolded was also the place where people came to confront their feelings and begin healing.

“I almost had a nervous breakdown,” Palmeri said, tearing up. “I saw all those people and the media out there. You just don’t know what to say. We were all just hugging each other. A madman came in here and killed our friends. He had an agenda and nothing was going to stop him.”

Now, Palmeri’s goal was to bring some semblance of healing and calm to the popular biker bar and restaurant and focus on taking care of her staff of 16, who live paycheck-by-paycheck.

“All the employees wanted to open,” she said. “And all those who were here in the shooting will be working this weekend. It’s so beautiful that we’ve got so much support from the community.”

On Wednesday, Aug. 30, Palmeri said there was a closed meeting for victims, their families and for Cook’s staff to come and share their grief.

“We saged and smoked everything out,” she said of a ritual some of her staff had requested. “They are doing so much better than I thought.”

By noon on Friday, the line to order food stretched through the restaurant, across the outdoor patio and over the bridge walkway leading to Cook’s Corner’s front door.

People stood in small groups talking; some hugged each other and wiped away tears. Others sat eating burgers, fries and other sandwiches at outdoor tables on the front and side patios, surrounded by dozens of motorcycles lined up like sentries. The area of the restaurant closest to the stage – where the shooting began and where music had played that night – was eerily empty, with only flowers standing in vases on several high-topped tables.

Some patrons, like Rick Anderson, sat at the bar. The Fullerton resident has been a regular at Cook’s for at least two decades and, in that time, participated in many of Palmeri’s fundraisers, such as the annual 9/11 ride, chili cook-offs and the annual Blessing of the Bikes.

“Rhonda is like the sister I never had,” he said, giving her a hug. Besides his support for her and the staff, he was there to remember Sprowl, whose son “Little G” is good friends with his own son.

“My son called me crying,” Anderson said about finding out Sprowl had been killed when he attempted to stop the gunman.

“He jumped up when he heard the shots,” Anderson said of Sprowl. “That’s the kind of guy he was. He was a standup dad; that’s why I respected him. My son and I, we’ve got his son’s back.”

Anderson, who also is a regular at the Wednesday Spaghetti Nights, said the shooting won’t tarnish his image of the bar, popular not only with bikers but families, local hikers and visitors and bike clubs from all over the world.

Besides the live music, it’s a quirky gathering place, with happy hour and open mic night on Mondays, Taco Tuesdays and Thirsty Thursdays. Most bands that started in Orange County had gigs there, Palmeri said.

“I’ve come here 20 years and I’ve never seen a fight,” Anderson said. “I listen to country music; this is my version of Kenny Chesney’s ‘Bar at the End of the World.’”

Roland Trudell, also of Fullerton, sat at the bar eating a burger. He had come there earlier that morning to collect a check to help Sprowl’s son and stayed when he saw the doors open.

“I’m not going to stand down to this reckless man,” Trudell, a reserve police officer, said about coming back as a patron. “We’re here to support and get behind this business.”

Amber Hill and her husband, Mike, sat at another table. The couple from Rancho Santa Margarita are regulars. It’s the place they’ve come with their children as they grew up and where they always celebrate Mother’s Day and Father’s Day.

“This is my family’s happy place,” Amber Hill said. “We want to be here and show that we’re not staying away. There’s nothing uncomfortable here. We’re coming on Monday to hear the bands and we’ll be back for Spaghetti Night.”

Out on the patio, Brenda “Sunshine” Pollins was enjoying her food when she saw fellow biker Junior Skolnick. After a hug, the two sat down to talk about “something meaningful” they could do to help.

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“It feels good to be here,” said Pollins, of Huntington Beach. “I think we needed to be here to regroup and support each other.”

Sloknick, who owns Lifestyle Cycles and has been a supporter of Cook’s Corner since 1992, couldn’t agree more.

“There are so many reasons I wanted to be here, but mainly, I wanted to hug people,” he said. “As I walked across the bridge, a woman I’ve known since 1992 hugged me. She was within feet of where John (Leehey) was shot. She told me she was having a real hard time. I told her everyone involved that was hurt wouldn’t want her to feel bad.”

“This is the place,” he said, “we come to forget our troubles.”

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