The Perlsteins by Theresa Melvard Prokowiew
They were: Business owners, philanthropists, and involved in town activities.
My great-grandfather, Hyman (Zayde) Perlstein, moved to Shirley in 1917 and purchased a home on the corner of Ayer and Clark Roads. There, they had an extensive vegetable garden, a gasoline pump, and a small farm with chickens, a goat, and a delightful horse named Dolly. He built a farm stand in front of their house where the family sold vegetables and homemade ice cream. Across the way stood an old English barn that he used to cover his wagon, shelter his livestock, and store his harvest, During band concerts on warm summer evenings, you would find the family selling their ice cream up near the flagpole in front of The Shirley Restaurant.
In the early days, my great-grandfather collected woolen clothing and metals such as brass, copper, and aluminum and then would travel through Shirley and Camp Devens with his horse and wagon selling his wares. My grandfather, Julius Perlstein, known as “Zeus” to the townspeople, and his brother Lou, pedaled their bicycles up and down the dusty roads of Camp Devens and the rifle range areas; selling apples to the soldiers during breaks in their training.
In time and with a lot of hard work, Zayde was able to save enough money to purchase the package store on Ayer Road. After a few more years, he purchased the building across the tracks, which housed the ice cream bar and rental apartments above, and relocated the Phoenix Package Store there, which was eventually taken over by my grandfather. Zayde went on to purchase the Phoenix Spring Beverage Company in 1930, which would eventually be owned and operated by Lou, employing hundred’s of people of the years.
The Perlsteins were eternally grateful for the opportunities provided to them by the people of Shirley. And in 1977, Lou learned the 39th Engineering Battalion was helping to restore the area of Fredonian Park—a Nature Center set on seven acres of land with a swimming hole, picnic tables, a flagpole and nature trails. He thought it only fitting that he have a bandstand constructed there. For Lou and his family, it was, at long last, a chance to do something which blended together two of his great loves in life—the town of Shirley—and the Army at Fort Devens.
In September of 1979, with family, clergy, and his nephew, Rabbi Marshal Press, the town’s people and invited guests in attendance, and a blend of songs from the First Army Band of Fort Devens, we watched as the Bandstand was dedicated in memory of my great-grandparents, Ida and Hyman Perlstein, their children and families, and The Phoenix Spring Beverage Company.
In addition, the Perlstein family set up a scholarship fund, The Ida and Hyman Perlstein Memorial Award for “Outstanding Girl,” presented yearly at the Lura A. White School’s eighth-grade graduation ceremony.