BY DAN VALENTI

PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY

(FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, THE WEEKEND EDITION, NOV. 29-DEC. 1, 2019) — THE PLANET officially opens Black Friday with heavily discounted gifts for city “leaders” (a word that now requires quotation marks thanks to idiot pols like the emotional Pee Pee Pete Marchetti, who with some of his colleagues was in fine form at this past Tuesday’s council meeting). We offer, then, gifts of songs and sponsors.

• Helen Moon, Ward 1 — “How High the Moon,” Les Paul and Mary Ford. Corporate sponsor: Spacely Space Sprockets.
• Kevin Morandi, Ward 2 — “The Barber of Seville,” Gioachino Rossini. Sponsor: Gillette Razor Co.
• Nick Caccamo, Ward 3 — A tune reflecting his gravitas and work ethic: “How Much Is That Doggie in the Window?” Pattie Page. Sponsor: La-Z-Boy.
• Chris Connell, Ward 4 — “Kung Fu Fighting.” This guy packs a punch. Sponsor: Gold’s Gym.
• Donna Todd Rivers, Ward 5 — “Take This Job and Shove It,” Johnny Paycheck. Sponsor: Ex-Lax.
• John Krol, Ward 6 — “I’m Outta Here,” Johnny Lee Hooker. Sponsor: Airstream Trailers.
• Tony Simonelli, Ward 7 — “Bye, Bye Love,” Everly Brothers. Sponsor: Rawlings Sporting Goods.
• Melissa Mazzeo, at-large — “Don’t Look Back,” Boston. Sponsor: Gorilla Glue.

• Pete White, at-large — Theme from “The Invisible Man,” Franz Waxman. Sponsor: Caspar the Friendly Ghost.
• Peter Marchetti, at large — “She’s Too Fat for Me,” Frankie Yankovic. Sponsor, the Goodyear Blimp.
• Earl Persip, at-large — “Moon River,” as in ” … wider than a mile,” Andy Williams. Sponsor: Dumpster(R) Rentals.
• Linda Tyer, mayor — “Round and Round,” Rolling Stones. Sponsor: Huggies.
• Mike Wynn, police chief — “Theme song from Car 54, Where Are You?” John Strauss.  Sponsor: Brinks Security.
• Jason JIV McCandless, school superintendent — “School’s Out,” Alice Cooper. Sponsor: Vaseline Petroleum Jelly.
• Kufflinks Kerwood, finance director — “They’re Coming to Take Me Away,” Napoleon XIV. Sponsor: Depends Diapers.
• Kristen Behnke — finance director, schools — “Thinking ‘Bout the Way the You Lied,” Dave Clark Five. Sponsor: Leona Helmsley.

May our Right Honorable Good Friends enjoy these bequeathals with the spirt in which they were given.

And now to an “In Memoriam” for an anchor business in downtown Pittsfield that gave citizens its heart and soul. We speak of Jim’s House of Shoes. Back in the day, THE PLANET practically lived in Thom McCann Hush Puppy desert boots with that translucent sole that put a foam-cloud under both feet. North Street will now be missing that type of modest store, where your name came first and great value came last to round up deals that were always fair, personable, and satisfying.

Why did Jim’s leave? We went to the source, THE PLANET‘s good friend, Jim Shulman.

Here’s what he told THE PLANET:

Jim’s House of Shoes is bittersweet for me as I grew up with the store in Morningside, and the store and community became my second home. There really is no “behind the scenes” story beyond retirement. It is smarter to go out of business than to try to sell it as a retail family business on North Street these days.

Owner Marc Abecassis, who was married to my late cousin Joyce Levine, turned 70 this summer. He has two sons, one in Boston and one in Nashville. Both boys, like nephews to us, are very successful in other careers and  have no interest in a downtown aging Pittsfield shoe store. In the fifties and sixties with over 100 retail businesses including a dozen shoe vendors and the City population approximating 60,000, North Street was the best place for family businesses. Other than five and tens and a few chains, almost every business was owned by a family. Now there are only a handful of those kind of retail businesses around. It amazed me that Marc would stay open so many years.

My Dad, Irving Shulman, named the store for his infant (me) 73 years ago when he opened it in the mid-40s. In 1952 his brother in law, Murray Levine, joined him in a lifelong business partnership along with their wives. When the partners retired, the two couples each had a daughter and son-in-law working in the business with two stores on North St. They consolidated into one store and opened another one in the Berkshire Mall.  My cousin Joyce and husband Marc operated North Street, while my sister, Marge, and her ex ran the mall. When they decided to close the mall store, my sis sold her share of the business to pursue her career as a teacher.  Sadly 11 years ago our cousin Joyce passed away from leukemia. It was very hard on Marc and their sons, but being a close-knit family there has been a lot of support. Of the four original partners, my aunt, Cecily Levine who is 93, is the only one still living. She and my sister, Marge, share a home.

THE PLANET thanks our good friend.

Have a great weekend, everybody.

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“An idealist is one who, on noticing that a rose smells better than a cabbage, concludes that it makes better soup” — H. L. Mencken.

“OPEN THE WINDOW, AUNT MILLIE.”

LOVE TO ALL.

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