Temp: 31 °F
| ||
|
By STEVE LEVINE
Courier-Post Staff
PITMAN
From its early years as a Methodist camp meeting through today a quiet home town sensibility has helped define the essence of Pitman.
Change has come gradually to the borough, a 2.2-square-mile hamlet in the heart of Gloucester County, founded in 1873.
Many shops along Broadway, the central business corridor, remain family-owned and -operated fixtures along the red brick sidewalks for decades.
The downtown area of a half- dozen blocks consists of closely- built, first-floor businesses that add to a sense of years gone by.
Among them are at least three old-fashioned barber shops, numerous eateries, and fixtures like Foley's Idle Hour used book store, the Pitman Bakery and Pitman Wigs Boutique.
Linda Voit, the owner of Pitman Wigs Boutique, said her store has been open for 35 years, a heck of a record for any business, especially one that sells wigs, wigs and nothing but wigs.
"We get everything," Voit said of her customer base. "People with thinning hair, (people in) plays, cross-dressers, you name it."
Voit said her biggest source of customers may be cancer patients who lose their hair while undergoing chemotherapy.
She said a quality wig costs about $80 or more but it's worth the money, especially if it helps restore dignity and self-esteem to someone who is suffering.
"They come from all over," she said. "I've had people from South Carolina, down the shore, and I've mailed out to the state of Washington."
A few doors away, old fashioned red-slat benches in front of Pitman Bakery beckon to passersby. Inside, warm, sweet scents of dough and confectionary sugar fill the air, whetting the appetite.
Gooey, nutty sticky buns and fresh doughnuts are among the best sellers.
Sandy Zheng, whose brother owns Ming Lok at 22 Pitman Ave., said her family is proud to run a restaurant here, a fixture in the center of town for years.
"It's quiet and the people are so polite," Zheng said. "There's a pretty big population in this town and they like Chinese food."
Across from Ming Lok, the McGowan Memorial Library is a focal point for the community.
In 2002, the first year after the library left the Gloucester County library system, there were 73,884 visits, an average of nearly eight per resident in this town of 9,300.
"It's been a wonderful year for us," said library trustee chairwoman Judith Lohmann. "We're now in the stages of planning an addition to our library."
The library, a contemporary building in the center of town, is an obvious symbol of Pitman's forward movement. Plans are in the works for a $600,000 additioncomplete with community and history rooms.
But it's the borough's history itself that may forever set its tenor.
Low-key, religious and temperate, Pitman is one of the few South Jersey municipalities that still does not allow alcohol to be sold within its borders, an apparent carry-over from its Camp Meeting days.
Mayor Bruce Ware believes it isn't so much the history of Pitman or even its homey downtown that drives its personality. "This is a town with a lot of character and people have pride in their community," he said.
Staff writers Gene Vernacchio and Bernie Weisenfeld contributed to this report. Reach Steve Levine at (856) 845-6520 or slevine@courierpostonline.com