BOYERTOWN, Pa. - A new pizza and Italian ice shop in Boyertown is opening its doors.
"One time he asked me, 'if I wasn't in construction what would I do?' And I jokingly, I said 'I would open a pizzeria,'" said Mark Potash.
Potash was cooking in the kitchen at 'Carmelo's Pizza and Italian Ice' in Boyertown.
"Our logo is actually made from a picture of him as a younger kid," said Potash.
With every slice of pizza made, there isn't a moment that goes by that Potash doesn't think of his son, Mark Sturgis.
"That was our way of making sure he was here every day," said Potash.
Before working the oven, Potash spent more than two decades in construction.
"After he was murdered, going to work was, it was the most difficult thing I could deal with. I totally lost my passion for it," said Potash.
Sturgis was one of four men killed and buried on a farm in Solebury Township, Bucks County in 2017.
Today, Potash takes his pain and trades it for a new passion.
"When this place in Boyertown came up, it interested us. And we came out and checked it out, and it was in a great location," Potash said.
Green, red, and gold balloons and banners decorate the shop on East Philadelphia Avenue.
"Everything you see here has been redone, the seating area, the floors, the ceiling, everything, all the equipment," said Potash.
After three months of hard work...
"We're giving kids free water ice. And you could try our pizza and let us know what you think," said Potash.
The shop will be open every day except Tuesday.
"It's bittersweet. I wish my son was here," Potash said.
But Potash reminds himself he'll always have that logo as a reminder to keep going.
"We needed a fresh start, something new, something that I didn't dread getting up to do every day. Every day is still painful, but it's, it has promise now," added Potash.
