Page 8 — THE BERLIN DAILY SUN, Friday, June 17, 2011
Mr. Pizza in Gorham has new owners
BY GAIL SCOTT THE BERLIN DAILY SUN
GORHAM—Mr. Pizza in Gorham has new owners, but there will be no changes in the restaurant’s popular format. The new owners—Lou Anne and Jim Pelkey— have been the managers for the past two years and worked at Mr. Pizza long before that. “Jim started here as a dishwasher when he was in high school in 1993,” said Lou Anne in a recent interview. “I waited tables for ten years before we took over.” Lou Anne explained that previous owners and founders, Leonard and Carol Lacroix, let the Pelkeys know that they were ready to retire, after their 25 year ownership of the restaurant. The Lacroix offered them a two year lease with the option to buy as well as the option to withdraw, if the Pelkeys changed their minds any time during the two year trial. “They gave us training wheels,” Lou Anne said. “Now we’ve moved on.” After the trial period, the Pelkeys decided they wanted to continue and on May 20, they became the official owners. “We have big shoes to fill,” said Lou Anne. “It was a pleasure working with them and the Lacroix have given so much to the community.” There will be no changes at the restaurant, both Pelkeys said. They plan to maintain high standards of food preparation and service and their desire to work with the community. As example of their community contributions, Lou Anne mentioned the program, “Every child counts,” they sponsor at Ed Fenn. “It’s a math incentive program,” she said. “Each student has a monthly calendar and keeps track of things with their family. They are required to have X number of minutes of counting and at the end of the month, they get a coupon for free ice cream at Mr. Pizza. The program had amazing support from Ed Fenn teachers and parents. It’s a fun way to look at numbers.” Lou Anne said they were inspired to sponsor the program because they find that “kids can’t count the back change (when working at Mr. Pizza). In this business we see that math is necessary. We’re trying
Jim and Lou Anne Pelkey are happy to announce that they are now owners of Mr. Pizza in Gorham. They have been the managers for the past two years and worked at the restaurant for many years before that. Jim says the only reason he has a beard is because the Bruins are in the play offs. When the play offs are over, the beard goes. (GAIL SCOTT PHOTO)
to help youngsters make sense of numbers. Martha Sappington has been wonderful as a go between (from Ed Fenn) and keeping tally of each class.” Maintaining high standards at the restaurant comes first in their planning. Lou Anne noted that they have as many as 54 employees at the height of the summer season and, she said, “they are family.” “We look at the restaurant as our home and the staff is our family,” she said. The Pelkeys plan to
continue to work hard to make Mr. Pizza an attractive place for customers and to thereby protect their family of employees. They both have come to restaurant management with experience working elsewhere. Although Jim worked at Mr. Pizza while he was in high school, he went to the police academy and then worked at the state correctional facility, but he continued working side jobs for the Lacroix. In 2001 Lacroix asked him to be the manager at Mr. Pizza and Pelkey, in effect, came home and has been on the job ever since. Lou Anne remembers that as a little girl, she used to take orders (for meals) from her family and helped her mother make change for customers at a concession at the Lancaster Fair. She waited tables to pay her way through college. She earned a business degree from “Berlin Tech” and went on to manage “a few places—retail, offices, different jobs.” But she hated being stuck in an office. “I love being with people,” she said. So she returned to the restaurant business. She and Jim met at Mr. Pizza, married, and put their combined expertise together to manage and now to own the restaurant. “Going forward,” Lou Anne said, “we would like to get all the Gorham businesses together to do collaborative advertising.” She particularly mentions the snowmobiling community, hoping to let them know what’s available and helping with the trails. “In the winter, that’s a market we count on,” she said. She mentions being contacted by a group of 26 sledders who wanted to visit Gorham but weren’t clear about the rules of the road in the town, just because they didn’t know how to find out. She’d like to work with others to let that community get the information they need to make plans to visit Gorham. Reflecting on their work at the restaurant and looking to the future, Lou Anne said, “We have wonderful staff, and wonderful customers. We are so blessed. We want to keep our 54 employees working and to make sure that they are taken care of and that the customers are happy and I feel if we can do that, we have done what we are supposed to do.”
Mark Lemelin wins Caron Building shopping spree Spring Shopping Spree winner takes home $1,000 in merchandise
BERLIN -- Spring just got a little more Golden for Caron Building Center’s customer Mark Lemelin. On June 1, Mark Lemelin was chosen as the winner of the Caron Building Center’s $1000 Spring Shopping Giveaway. Lemelin was selected at random from more than 1000 entries submitted at the store from March 1, to May 31. Lucy Letarte, advertising manager, said that Caron’s is delighted to provide one of its customers with the
opportunity to make their spring projects a little more exciting. “Everyone has a few extra chores this time of year, and we’re glad that Mark will be able to choose whatever tools he wants to get the job done. We thank all those who entered the giveaway for their participation.” Caron Building Center is located at 39 Union St, Berlin, NH, and has been serving customers in the area for 35 years. Caron’s offers a complete line of lumber, window and and door, kitchen and bath, power tools, plumbing, hardware, electrical and much more for you do-it-yourself homeowners to the professional. Caron’s has been a Do it Best Corp. member since 2004.
Mark Lemlin was the winner of the Caron Building Center’s spring shopping spree.
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