Last Oct. 24, after a long wait, Stewart’s Shops finally came to Onondaga County when the doors swung open at 7667 Morgan Road, just north of Liverpool.
Now there are 332 Stewart’s Shops located across Upstate New York and Southern Vermont, with three-quarters of the shops selling gas, as they do at the Morgan Road location.
The convenience store chain based in Saratoga Springs boasts a proud history dating back more than 90 years to 1921, when dairy farmers Charles and Percy Dake began selling Dake’s Delicious Ice Cream. The Stewart’s name was adopted in 1948 after the Dake family purchased Donald Stewart’s Ballston Spa dairy and ice-cream shop that he’d closed during World War II.
Remember pay phones?
So it’s no wonder that Stewart’s describes its still-delicious ice cream as “old-fashioned.”
What is a wonder at the Stewart’s Shop on Morgan Road is the old-fashioned pay telephone that hangs on the wall just inside the front door.
Remember pay phones? They’re pretty hard to find these days, but it’s good to know that Stewart’s has one just in case your cell-phone battery has suddenly given up the ghost.
Anyhow, Stewart’s Shops — will also sell pizza, beer, soups and sandwiches — is a 1/3 employee-owned and 2/3 family-owned convenience store chain, which explains why you get such fast, friendly and efficient service whenever you’re there; 652-4558; stewartsshops.com.
Stewart’s is also generous. While earning an estimated $1.6 billion in annual sales, the chain donates some $2.5 million to local charities each year.
After the ribbon-cutting last Oct. 24, the chain handed over checks to Stephen Zakerakis, deputy chief of the Moyers Corners Volunteer Fire Department and to John Mark, executive director of the Northern Onondaga Volunteer Ambulance.
“That’s part of our commitment to give back to the communities in which our shops are located,” a company press release stated.
Hoffmann concert Aug. 12
This summer — for the second year in a row — Stewart’s is sponsoring one of the free concerts at Johnson Park. They’ve donated the money to pay the fee for Mark Hoffmann & The Hoffmann Family Band, performing at 7 p.m. for Wednesday, Aug. 12, as part of the 30th anniversary concert series presented by the Liverpool Is The Place Committee.
The Hoffmann Family Band features the stellar guitar work of Mark Hoffmann, a Syracuse Area Music Awards Hall of Famer and a former member of Jam Factory, a stellar six-man soul band from Syracuse, 1970 to ’72. Jam Factory’s big hit for Epic Records was “Talk is Cheap.”
On Monday, Aug. 10, another Sammy-winner, Isreal Hagan and his R&B band, Stroke, will entertain people at the park; 457-3895; liverpoolistheplace.com.
Three Rivers reunion
Speaking of great local musicians, Liverpool’s own Joe Riposo – a legendary music educator at Liverpool Central School District and former director of jazz studies at Syracuse University – is hosting an Aug. 9 reunion of musicians who played regularly at Dom Bruno’s Three Rivers Inn in the 1950s.
The reunion at Joe’s new home on Black Willow Road in Clay is in honor of his older brother’s 90th birthday. Tony Riposo, a talented pianist and bandleader, retired a few years ago as music director for the world-renowned McGuire Sisters.
The Riposos’ invited guests on Sunday include pianist Frank Puzzullo, drummer Peter Procopio and vocalist Adele Durham.
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