Stepping Back in Time to Lugara’s Store
This past May, 95-year-old Kenilworth native Rose Lugara Muravsky revisited 488 Washington Ave., the site of Tony Lugara’s Fruits and Vegetables store. A mom-and-pop store, her parents, Antonio and Francesca Lugara, owned and operated it. Born in Italy in the 1890s they came to America in 1910, found their way to Kenilworth, and opened a store. Before that he worked on the Holland Tunnel. The family lived behind and over the store where Rose and her six brothers and sisters were born.
In a June interview, Rose stepped back in time to share memories of the store and of growing up in Kenilworth. Built about 1910, the building still stands but is no longer in the family nor is it a store.
Rose stated, “The store started before I was born and sold mostly fruits, vegetables, bread, and round hard cheese my father cut and sold in chunks. Both of my parents worked in the store. Customers of all nationalities walked to the store and carried their items home in a paper bag. If a customer could not pay, they used the honor system and paid later. I would watch the front of the store when my mother was cooking in the kitchen behind the store front. I stocked shelves, organized, cleaned, and swept the floor.” Other Lugara children helped, too.
Rose continued, “My father stopped driving after a bad car accident and could no longer pick up the produce for the store. So, the Tripodi brothers drove him to Newark to get them.”
After the store closed in the early 1950s, her father obtained a job at Volco Brass and Copper in town. The former store area was converted into their living room.
“As a child,” recalled Rose, “I played marbles, hopscotch, and climbed and picked pears from a tree in the backyard with friends and my brothers and sisters. Many times, during the summer, the Tripodi brothers drove our family to the seashore.”
In Rose’s youth there was no Catholic Church in town. Of that she said, “On Sundays when the weather was nice my mother would tell us to go to church. We would walk with friends down Orange Ave. to St. Michael’s Church in Cranford.”
She commented, “The old firehouse across the street had a very loud horn that blew and blew when there was a fire. Old man Stein [David Stein] lived next to the firehouse and had a horse and wagon.”
Rose attended Harding School and recalled long-time principal William Deans. Of high school she noted, “I took a bus to Jonathan Dayton Regional High School in Springfield for two years until my girlfriend and I decided we wanted a job to earn money. So, we dropped out and worked at the Gering Plastic Factory.” The factory was at the end of Monroe Ave. at 7th St.
In 1948 wedding bells rang when Rose married Michael Muravsky of Linden. He served in WWII with the Army Air Corps. It appears that Rose holds the honor of currently being the oldest woman residing in Kenilworth who actually was born here. Thanks to Rose for her story.
Research provided by Walter E. Boright, Ed. D. and Historic Signs, Inc., in addition to the interview and data from her family. Persons with questions about this article or any aspect of Kenilworth history may contact Dr. Boright at 908-256-5200 or drbori@aol.com.
