Community rushed to clean up Volpi’s after vandalism

Restaurants have been hit especially hard in this pandemic, with limited options to serve the customers they love. Without any outdoor seating space, and with a menu meant to be served at an oversized table not a tiny take-out box, Volpi’s Ristorante & Bar has been closed since last March, waiting patiently for the return of indoor dining.

Even while closed, the family gathers at the Washington Street restaurant every day to share a cup of coffee and keep the building clean and orderly. When they arrived this morning, however, they were greeted by an ugly swath of graffiti, which spanned most of the side of their building along Keller Street.

“They had to be out there a long time, it was a huge. It covered the entire wall. My dad was out there scrubbing, at 85,” said Deanna Volpi of her accordion-playing father John Volpi. “We didn’t know what to do.”

Luckily, having run a popular restaurant since 1925, the Volpi family has many friends in the community. When asking around about how to clean it up, they instead got a crew of volunteers. Without being asked, they arrived with trucks and cleaning chemicals.

“All of these wonderful people just showed up and started scrubbing,” Volpi said. “These are business owners, busy people, and that they dropped everything to come here means the absolute world to us.”

The crew included Joe Kreger of Pinky’s Pizza Parlor, Jeff and Kevin Pottorff of North Bay Landscaping, Bill Dobbs of American Tree Experts and Jake Spaletta.

“With a team of all those guys and my dad, it took about three hours to clean up,” Volpi said. “I just want to thank them, from the bottom of my heart, for taking the time and bringing the equipment. In the rain and everything.”

She said two spray paint cans were taken by police, who plan to look for fingerprints. Police are also looking for surveillance video of the area, she said.

With the building freshly scrubbed, the iconic red and green sign was again the only adornment on the west side of the building. Volpi said the family is ready to get back to the kitchen, although the pandemic has provided a sort of unexpected vacation.

“This is the only time my parents have ever not worked, and they’re 85 and 84,” Volpi said.

Luckily, because the family has long owned the building, they’ll be able to recover financially, she said. But everyone misses their regular customers and the hum of a busy restaurant.

“We can’t wait to come back,” she said.