The Perlsteins by Theresa Prokowiew
They were: Business owners, philanthropists, and involved in town activities.
My great-grandfather, Hyman 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 horse. He built a farm stand in front of their house where the family sold vegetables and homemade ice cream. 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 (Zeus) 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.
Lou owned the Phoenix Package Store, (which was eventually owned and operated by my grandfather Julius.) The building also housed the ice cream bar next-door and the rental apartments above. He also purchased the Phoenix Spring Beverage Company in 1930, employing hundreds of people over the years.
As you know, Lou went on to build the bandstand:
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.