Darlene and Danielle Dalessandro had an idea and decided to go for it.
“People are still coming in to ask if we give haircuts,” joked Darlene Dellessandro who owns the consignment shop with her daughter Danielle Dalessandro. The Dunmore consignment shop opened last month.
And thanks to a close friend, Judy Cosgrove, from the Green Ridge section of Scranton, the mother-daughter team decided to open up D Marie’s Consignments at 108 Potter St., Dunmore, the former location of the Sports Page barber shop..
Darlene is married to Dr. David Dalessandro, a noted cardiologist who has his own private practice in Plains. The couple has one daughter Danielle, 28, and a son Nick, 31, who works in finance in Philadelphia.
Darlene received a bachelor of science degree in biology in 1986 from the University of Scranton where she met her husband.
D Marie’s Consignments specialize in high end women and men’s clothes and other accessories such as shoes, hats, purses, jewelry, belts and other items.
Shown from left are: Judy Cosgrove, Darlene Delassandro, and Danielle Delassandro at their new consignment shop.
“It’s been very nice,” Darlene said. “There has been an outpouring of support from this area. So far it’s been such a great experience.
“My daughter and I have always been fascinated by the clothing industry. We’ve been involved with consignments for the past 10 to 15 years. The opportunity came up and we thought it was a great idea. Our friend Judy Cosgrove pushed us and here we are. Judy runs the store for us. We make a great team.”
Darlene said D Marie’s is also looking to start adding young adult and teenager clothing and accessory items.
“Our consignment shop makes you feel like shopping in a boutique without the high prices. We try to cover everyone. That is the aim of our shop.”
Danielle, also the owner of Next Door Real Estate, and her daughter live in Moosic but are quickly adapting to the Dunmore community.
“The Dunmore community has been so great,” she said. “All of the Dunmore business owners sent their support and well wishes. And so have the customers and clients.
“We find ourselves doing the same with them.
“We find the businesses in Dunmore help each other word of mouth. I like the networking. Dunmore is such a nice area. The people in this community are so friendly.”
D Marie’s is open Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday from 11 a.m, to 5 p.m., Thursday from noon to 6 p.m. and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Darlene was born and raised in central New Jersey before she attended the University of Scranton. Her husband is from Exeter. The couple currently reside in Moosic.
“I’ve always loved the clothing industry. Judy Cosgrove is one of the big reasons we opened our store. She has been fabulous and such an asset to our store. She runs it for us. She is by far the best in the business and a wealth of knowledge.
“This is so exciting for us right here in Dunmore. We enjoy it and all the great customers who come in.”
Early last month the Dunmore community was in shock over vandalism to a statue of the Blessed Sacred Heart of Jesus.
The shrine is located on the campus of Marywood University and owned by the Sisters of I.H.M.
It can easily be seen while driving on Interstate-81. Located on the Dunmore side of the campus off I-81, borough residents were enraged that vandals would attempt to destroy the shrine.
Then local residents and volunteers came to the rescue.
Pat McMullen, 22, of Roaring Brook Township, in particular.
Son of Kristi Walsh and Patrick McMullen, the North Pocono graduate owns Electric City Power Washing, LLC.
He volunteered his time and utilized his skills to restore the statue and its foundation and remove all of the graffiti vandals inscribed on the shrine.
After about four or five hours of hard work, the young man was able to completely restore the shrine and remove all the graffiti. The statue was as good as new, even better.
“There was graffiti on both sides of the statue,” he said. “It was not easy to get off, but I have the power washing equipment to do it. The hardest part was getting all of the graffiti off because it soaks into the rock.
“I was able to power wash everything and clean up the statue and foundation.”
McMullen said it felt good to give back to the community.
“My dad called me to tell me about it,” he said. “He said it would be nice if I could clean it up.
“I immediately jumped at the opportunity to help out. I was honored to do it because the Sisters at I.H.M. do a lot for the community. I thought I could give back. I like giving back. The surrounding community has always been good to me.
“The Sisters of I.H.M. were very happy. I’ve received a lot of thanks from them and other people in the community. I must have received a thousand calls. I liked doing it. I think it’s terrible that it even happened. And the police still don’t know who did it.”
McMullen has owned and operated Electric City Power Washing, LLC, for the past year and a half. He also works for Standard Iron Works, a structural steel business owned by his mother and her two brothers in Scranton.
His dad used to run the former McMullen’s Restaurant and Bar in the Green Ridge section of Scranton. His grandfather, also Pat McMullen, was the owner of the popular establishment which was sold several years ago.
McMullen said he hopes to eventually expand his power washing business. “I wanted to own a business ever since I was in the eighth grade,” he said.
As far as his latest project, he says, “I wanted to make this religious shrine look nice. As it should be.”
The Fortunes Band in 1959 included, from left: Stan Svetovich, Don Reese, the late Jimmy Keese, Jack Skosko, and Eddie Switala.
By Steve Svetovich
Sometimes stories have happy endings. And miracles do happen.
Take the case of Don Reese, for instance.
You would have to be an old time musician from this area between the age of 70 to 100 to remember Don Reese.
And there are those still living who do, the oldest being Gene Dempsey at 97.
Then there is my dad. Don Reese was a guitarist in my dad’s band, The Fortunes, in the 1960’s and early 1970’s.
As a matter of fact, it was Reese who named the band, “The Fortunes” on the way to a band job in the Pocono Mountains.
The band remains “The Fortunes” to this day, with my dad still as the leader and drummer.
The older group of musicians besides my dad and Dempsey who remember Reese includes Jimmy Tigue, Billy Woelkers, Jack Skosko, Frannie Burne, Roger Finnerty, Sam Cortese, Paul Ardito and Eddie Switala, who still performs in Hilton Head, South Carolina.
My dad, Switala, Skosko, the late Jimmy Keese and Reese were all a part of The Fortunes as far back as 1959 and into the 1960’s.
Some of the old-time musicians who passed away in recent years and remembered Reese include Art Stanton, Johnny Cognetti, Teddy Munchak, Johnny Cardona, Pete Pusateri, Chuck Morris, Joe Chesarini, Teddy Mileski and Wally Aikens.
Reese was raised in the Pinebrook section of Scranton. He quit high school to care for his ailing mom, so his father could work. He had no other family.
A self-taught musician, he started playing guitar at local clubs in the Scranton and Dunmore area.
He was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1957 where he served in the band. Upon returning, he joined The Fortunes performing in Downtown Scranton clubs at “The Strip” on Lackawanna Avenue and at resorts in the Pocono Mountains.
Reese was known as a character who enjoyed his beer. And did he enjoy his beer! Short and round in stature, he had a thick mustache and a jolly, jovial nature.
Every local musician had a story to tell about his drinking exploits and some of the situations it would place the band in. Reese didn’t have a driver’s license, so other band members would pick him up for a job. He was kind of a simple guy who liked to read comic books, drink countless beers and strum his guitar. He had no other income other than the money he made playing.
He called a gig in The Poconos “a five quart job” meaning he would have time to drink five quarts of beer while getting a ride to the job.
He was a splendid guitar player and had a habit of tapping his foot to the music while performing on stage. The combination of foot tapping and alcohol sometimes led to his falling off the corner of the stage. But that was the nature of Don Reese, the character fellow musicians became accustomed to. He still played a whale of a guitar and was likeable. The key was to get through a job without him stumbling, falling, or passing out on the floor.
So what happened to Don Reese?
Jimmy Tigue, a talented piano player and singer who once appeared on “The Tonight Show,” went to San Diego, California, with Reese in the mid 1970’s. The pair went to visit Pete Barbutti, a stand-up comic from Scranton, in Las Vegas before heading to San Diego. Barbutti was a regular on the late Johnny Carson’s “Tonight Show” and even served as a substitute host. Barbutti, 88, still performs and lives in Las Vegas.
Following the visit with Barbutti, the pair also stopped in Utah before settling in San Diego. Tigue and Reese began performing in local clubs, but Reese’s drinking habits got them in trouble and soon Tigue was performing alone.
“He was there about a year with me,” said Tigue. “The last time I saw him was on a street corner in San Diego. He had been drinking and said he was going to hitchhike with his guitar to Tijuana, Mexico. I saw him with his thumb out and off he went. I never saw or heard from him again.”
My dad and Woelkers soon after received letters from Reese stating he was hitchhiking to Tijuana, Mexico. That was in 1975.
Tigue soon after returned to Scranton and performed with The Fortunes and other local bands.
Tigue, Woelkers, my dad and the other musicians never heard from Reese again. There were no letters or phone calls from him. There was no known address. He had no family left to ask.
All the local musicians had left were countless stories about Reese. As the years went on, many thought something may have happened to him in Mexico. Attempts were made to find him in the advent of the Internet age, but there were no records or traces of him. Many feared he had passed.
So for decades, the local musicians thought Don Reese was gone for good.
Until late last month.
My sister Denise was on a Pete Barbutti fan page website on Facebook. She suddenly noticed a Don Reese sent the fan page a text asking how Barbutti was and stating he was a former classmate and band mate with him as a teenager in Scranton.
My sister felt a chill. Could this be the Don Reese who has been missing and not heard of for nearly five decades?
She showed me the text which we noticed came from a woman’s Facebook page. The woman’s first name is Linda. We searched her Facebook page and then googled her name. We found about four phone numbers.
First my sister communicated with Linda via private messages. She confirmed he was the Don Reese from Scranton and that he was even asking how my dad was doing. She was helping to care for him in San Diego.
I called Linda on one of the numbers. She answered and told me she had been messaging my sister back and forth. She told me Don Reese was sitting right next to her and wanted to talk to my dad. I spoke to Don first. I had not seen him since I was 14, but recognized his voice. He confirmed it was him and began mentioning his hometown and previous fellow band members. Then I put my dad on the line with him.
My dad thought he was dead for over 40 years. But Don Reese is alive and well at 89 in San Diego and still strums his guitar.
What he doesn’t do anymore is drink. And that probably saved his life.
He told me he quit drinking a little more than 40 years ago to turn his life around. Don told me he diligently attended Alcoholics Anonymous meetings for years to help keep himself sober. He has not had a drink in over 40 years.
Don said he never came back to this area or contacted his old musician friends because he was told by Alcoholics Anonymous to leave his previous life and friends in the past.
But he was sure happy to reconnect with my dad.
So for all of you old musicians still out there, Don Reese is not dead or missing in Tijuana, Mexico, like many surmised.
He is alive and well in San Diego, California. More alive than ever.
“It’s a miracle,” said my dad. “It’s hard to believe.”
