With the loss last month of Randy Raymond, proprietor of the Movie Pizza Shoppe in Waldoboro, years of the man’s contributions to local individuals and organizations have come to a close.
Raymond, 55, passed away at his business Jan. 3. The shop has been closed since and, according to Sharon Hart, Raymond’s widow, plans for the business’s future have not yet been determined.
Some of Raymond’s close friends recently spoke with The Lincoln County News about the man’s connection to and impact on the town of Waldoboro.
Raymond worked for a hardware company as a troubleshooter, helping struggling stores get set up properly, before he came to work at the then-meat locker plant in Waldoboro in the 1980s, according to Bill Maxwell. Maxwell, a friend of and fellow Mason with Raymond, said he knew Raymond since the first day he came to town.
Starting out as a meat cutter and then working as a manager at the locker plant, Raymond got into videos during the “video craze,” as Maxwell put it, and started renting out videos right there at the plant.
In 1987, Raymond opened his own business, the Movie Shoppe, which grew into the Movie Pizza Shoppe, according to his obituary.
Residing in Fairfield, Raymond made the roughly hour-long commute seven days a week for years to run his business, Maxwell said.
Raymond always had a vision for running a pizza place in town, according to Maxwell, after he worked in his aunt’s pizza place as a teenager.
“I do know some of his pizza recipes; the way he’d make the sauce is a family hand-me-down recipe,” Maxwell said. “That’s kind of what he thrived on, the recipes of his aunt or grandmother.”
Raymond had to adjust the sauce recipe after the pizza side of the business opened because he received a lot of complaints, Maxwell said.
“When he first started making pizzas and selling food, I said ‘Oh wow, this pizza is the best pizza I’ve ever tasted,'” Maxwell said. “It’s because of the sauce, and it was kind of spicy. He had to tone it down because it was too spicy.”
Raymond was very particular in the way he cooked, and aimed to provide a quality product, Maxwell said.
“If you ordered a pizza loaded, he’d pride himself on making sure you got toppings. There was no cutting corners and skimping or anything,” Maxwell said. “I don’t think there’s a person in town he hasn’t cooked for over the last 20-some-odd years.”
The business was a conduit for Raymond, not only for providing a connection to the locals, but also for his efforts of philanthropy and support.
“He’d help anybody, and I think that’s what people would miss too,” Maxwell said, recalling Raymond occasionally buying someone in need a barrel of heating oil when they needed it. “He wouldn’t bat an eyebrow.”
Raymond also supported the town’s fire department by providing discounted or free pizza to feed members during training, and would support the Waldoboro Firemen’s Association through donations or buying raffle tickets, Maxwell said.
Mark Wallace, a good friend of Raymond’s and a fellow Mason, recalls the Movie Pizza Shoppe being a bit of a haven for townspeople when they lost power, with Raymond sometimes cooking food with gas in the dark.
“You could always depend, if there was a snowstorm and there was no power, he was open,” Wallace said.
Wallace recalled Raymond closing the shop only three days out of the year.
“He worked seven days a week. I think he had three days a year off, that being Christmas, Thanksgiving, and Easter,” Wallace said.
One focus of Raymond’s philanthropic interests was children.
“He would hear of a child being sick, and their parents would come in to get a pizza and it was no charge. He was just that kind of guy,” said Al McKay, a former master of King Solomon’s [Masonic] Lodge in Waldoboro, of which Raymond was a member. “He was just a community- [and] civic-minded person who had a soft spot for children and poodles. He loved his poodles.”
When Maxwell took over coaching the little league team the Panthers, he approached Raymond to ask if he would serve as the team’s sponsor.
“He didn’t even question [it]. He just said, ‘How much?’ It wasn’t about the money, he wanted to know what he could do to help the kids,” Maxwell said. “I do know that right to this day, he was still sponsoring that team.”
Raymond also worked with Pepsi to secure the electronic scoreboard at the John Foster Little League field on Kaler’s Corner Road, Maxwell said.
The Ice Cream Korner at the Movie Pizza Shoppe was regularly swarmed with masses of kids in like-colored uniforms who went there for a celebration – or consolation – after their Little League baseball or softball games.
Raymond’s connection to the town’s children was not just through sports, though. According to McKay, Raymond used to donate to Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, and to the Shriners Hospitals for Children.
“He was a big driving force for us, for the Masonic lodge, giving bicycles to the library for their reading program,” McKay said. “If there was a benefit that had anything do with a child, Randy was there. Either a cash donation or a gift certificate or both, usually both.”
McKay and Maxwell are both certain Raymond’s passing will leave a hole in the fabric of Waldoboro.
“He did a lot and he kind of wanted to stay in the background, but he was definitely generous. He’ll be missed by a lot of organizations in the town and the surrounding communities,” McKay.
“He was a good egg,” Maxwell said. “He was a real good man, and a good friend of mine. He will be missed in this community.”
