Jake Shoifet honored for years of service

MILLERTON — It was a proper tribute at American Legion Post 178 on Aug. 18, as nearly 100 local residents attended a program honoring Jake Shoifet, organized by the North East Historical Society and the Millerton Lions Club.

It’s difficult to pick just one of Shoifet’s accomplishments as his crowning achievement. He is a decorated World War II hero, Lions Club Citizen of the Year, children and nutrition advocate, local business owner, organizer of several youth area baseball programs, and the first Democrat to be elected mayor of the village in 112 years, serving three nonconsecutive terms beginning in 1987.

The program at the Legion Hall highlighted some of his many accomplishments in a short video presentation put together by the historical society, followed by a question-and-answer session with the public. Shirley Shoifet sat beside her husband during the program, often interjecting  with a humorous anecdote from their 50-plus years of marriage.

On display at the event were Shoifet’s medals from his service with the Air Force, as well as books filled with newspaper clippings from a variety of local and national papers. Many papers, including The Millerton News, have published articles documenting Shoifet’s efforts as mayor and children’s nutrition advocate, in addition to reflective public interest pieces looking back at his life.

Shoifet was born in 1920 in Sharon, Conn. For the first eight years of his life, he lived in the Ellsworth section of town with no electricity or running water. In 1928 his family moved down the road from Sharon Hospital.

During the Q&A, Shoifet remembered the Brick Block Hotel in Millerton, now the site of Brick Block Auto Parts, was the local hangout for most of the surrounding area.

“I spent a lot of time there between the ages of 15 to 18,� Shoifet said. “It was the only place within 50 miles that had a jukebox and a separate dance hall, where a teenager could go to dance.�

Many people remembered the Gateway Drive-In Restaurant, which Shoifet opened in 1953. That site is now the Round Tuit Restaurant, located on Route 22 in Millerton.

When the Shoifets first moved to Millerton, Shirley said she had attended a local function where a town politician who’d heard of Jake’s interest in politics warned her that Jake already had two strikes: one for being Jewish and another for being a Democrat.

“I went home that night and told Jake what the man had said,� Shirley recounted. “And Jake said ‘You tell that S.O.B. I’ll convert before I ever switch parties!’�

Shoifet’s liberal political alignment is one that has stuck with him all these years and has helped shape many of his greatest contributions to the area, whether it was as mayor or while working for the Webutuck and Pine Plains school districts, lobbying for higher quality lunches for all children.

“He knows everyone wasn’t born equally,� Shirley explained. “There were kids here who had never seen a toothbrush.�

Shoifet modestly shrugs off the implication of a higher moral conscience.

“I’ve always had a lot of fun talking to kids,� he simply said. For Shoifet, the idea of not lobbying for their behalf wasn’t even an option. “The kids and their parents, they didn’t know how to express themselves.�

Shoifet was a member of the New York State School Food Service Association Executive Board from 1971-1982, and legislative chairman of the board from 1971-1980.

“I didn’t like what was going on,� Shoifet said. “They were not feeding the kids properly. They were just interested in making money.�

He eventually testified at Senator George McGovern’s Select Committee on Nutrition and Human Needs at a hearing on Food Quality in Federal Food Programs in 1977, leading to legislation that increased the nutritional standards in school lunches.

Shoifet has been a leader in many capacities, and said he was always undaunted at the amount of opposition he faced, and the changes he brought about indicate a steadfast set of beliefs. For example, if you hear only hear one thing about Shoifet’s accomplishments as mayor, it will undoubtedly be about taxes.

 â€œIn 1988 I lowered taxes, and it took 10 years for them to get them back up to where they were in 1987,â€� he says proudly.

Bob Sadlon, owner of The Millerton Moviehouse, honored Shoifet as a “valuable historian and storyteller.

“You can enlighten us with things we don’t have any more,� he pointed out.

The audience paid respect, shared in remembrance and gently ribbed their neighbor and friend throughout the program. At one point one of the members of the audience called out, “They don’t make politicians like you anymore, Jake!�

“Just look at all the people who have come to honor you,� North East Historical Society President Ralph Fedele said. “Here is a man who has spent his whole life giving to others. I think that’s just a wonderful thing.�

Lions Club President Todd Clinton commended Shoifet for his “countless years of service and compassion.

“Our town has been blessed by your presence in so many ways,� he said.

Perhaps Shirley summed it up best with a poem she read aloud as the program concluded.

“You are aware of all the world’s problems and try to make them right,� she read.

Shoifet isn’t likely to be forgotten in the village of Millerton, even if he and his wife do decide to move to Houston in the upcoming months, closer to family. There are too many Shoifet stories and accomplishments to properly acknowledge in the confines of this paper. But the one that most resonates with his family is a personal one.  Which of her husband’s accomplishments was most important, Shirley asked this reporter, who stumbled before arguing that the legislation passed on child nutrition probably affected the greatest amount of the people.

Shirley shook her head, and pointed to a wall lined with pictures of their two children and four grandchildren.

“I think it’s Jake’s teachings,� she said. “I hope they are what has touched our children to be such decent human beings.�