Wright’s Farm Restaurant gets knocked by recycled news

Owner responds after year- old story spreads on social media

BURRILLVILLE – In a situation that reflects the dangers of online news in the social media era, Frank Galleshaw, the owner of Wright’s Farm Restaurant in Burrillville, released a statement on the restaurant’s Facebook page Tuesday, saying the restaurant is not being investigated by the state Department of Health or any other entity.

The post was in response to a news story – from the spring of 2016 – about a norovirus incident that sickened 30 people at the restaurant, that resurfaced this week on social media. The story was being shared so much that it began trending as a current news story.

The 2016 story popped up earlier this week as a trending news story on the website of TV news station WJAR, and was being reposted and shared by users on Facebook. WJAR acted to removed the article from its list of trending stories, but by that time it had already been shared and re-shared alike on social media.

“It’s being shared based on its headline only, and those posting it are either not reading it or not realizing that it’s more than a year old,” Galleshaw said in his statement Tuesday.

“We have always worked hard to enjoy an excellent reputation in our 40 plus years as a family-run business. This (2016) incident unfairly created a lot of damage to our good name. After a lot of work and with the support of our loyal customers, we have rebounded. However, the recent sharing of this old news is negatively impacting our business again.”

Galleshaw is asking people who see this story surfacing on their own social media channels to let the person posting it know that it is old news and to encourage that person to remove the post.

“As always, we appreciate your help, patronage and loyalty,” Galleshaw wrote.

As was reported last year, a group of diners at the restaurant reported gastrointestinal distress after dining at Wright’s. When the Rhode Island Department of Health investigated, they determined that the illnesses were the result of exposure to a patron who threw up in the restaurant near the affected diners. Wright’s nevertheless closed down for several days as a precaution and completed a thorough cleaning of the facility.

There’s been no similar incidences of illness since that time.

John Gregory, president and CEO of the Northern Rhode Island Chamber of Commerce said the chamber is doing its part to help Wright’s get the word out. Gregory said Galleshaw’s message was posted on the chamber’s Facebook page and that the chamber will be sending out an email to its membership at no charge.