Employee Directory

A business is only as good as the people who work there. The following is our cast of characters:

Casella, Matt

 

After graduating high school, Matt bounced around a little before landing with us in 2008. Matt has learned a lot in the last four years; some of it is even useful! He's been working out at the gym in his spare time, so don't mess with him. 

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Hamlin, Sean

Sean has been with Beekmans part time since 1995. He works for the Village of Ridgewood full time. His wine knowledge and appreciation were greatly enhanced when he completed an introductory wine course in 1998 and Sommelier courses in 2002 and 2009. Sean is as dedicated as he is knowledgeable. He is also the one to ask if you have any beer or tequila questions. After his wedding, Sean spent his honeymoon, where else? At a chateau in Bordeaux! Sean spends most of his free time with his lovely two-year old daughter, Eden.

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Karger, Barry

Barry has been with us since 1999. He has a reputation as our resident wine "geek." An English professor by day and wine lover by night, Barry is enthusiastic about wine as well as educating and serving our customers. His motto is: "Can we help?"

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McIntosh, Dave

David worked for Beekmans for 41 years (!) before becoming disabled in 2009. He passed away on December 1st, 2011. Dave was born in Glen Rock and graduated from Glen Rock High School. After serving two years in the U.S. Army, he  began working for Beekmans in May of 1968 as a stock clerk and delivery person. Eventually he became the store manager. With his outgoing personality and literally life-long association with Glen Rock, Dave was known by almost everyone in town. Knowledgeable and committed to helping customers, Dave personified the Beekman spirit.

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Mitchel, Joel

Don't be scared off by this picture! Joel is the owner of Beekmans and has been "Mr. Wine" here since 1986. A licensed Sommelier, he teaches the introductory wine course that we offer through the Ridgewood Community School, writes the monthly newsletter, and can be blamed for this web site. He also directs a wine tasting group in the area. His motto is: "I don't care about the label on the bottle; I care about the quality inside."

Judie Mitchel, RN: Joel's muse, best friend, and wife. She has nothing to do with the store except to pass judgment on samples of wine that we consider carrying.

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Mitchel, Stanley & Bernice

  

Stan passed away in 2008. Affectionately called Sam Q. Beekman, Stan founded our store back in 1956. The woman behind (or next to) the man is his wife, Bernice. People often ask how we got our name. The answer is that in the early 1950s Stan and a partner bought a liquor store in Englewood, N.J. The seller had named the Englewood store "Beekmans" because he lived on Beekman Place in Manhatten. Stan and his partner kept the name and extended it to the new store they bought in Glen Rock. Eventually the partnership was dissolved, with Stan taking the Glen Rock store. (The Englewood store still bears the name, although it has had several owners since then.) Stan's motto was, "Thank you for flying Beekmans!" For more information see below

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Parkerson, Dave

Dave graduated from William Paterson University in 2008, worked part time for us since July of that year, and has been promoted to manager. A hard worker and a fast learner, Dave represents Beekmans very well. Dave does many of the in-home wine tastings that do for customers.

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Reinoso-Sosa, Jr., Victor

Vic is one of our newest employees. A hard worker, he has already learned a lot about wine and tastes as many as he can. He has also gotten into the whole wine & food synergy thing. Vic also works part time at Best Buy in Paramus.

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Ritter, Bonnie

        

Joel's sister, Bonnie is our unsung heroine. She is responsible for bookkeeping, payroll, and numerous other unseen and under-appreciated jobs. She also does our statement mailings for charge account customers as well as our monthly newsletter mailing.

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Ryan, Chris

Still in college, Chris is one of our newest employees and one of our hardest workers. He must be very popular with the ladies, for he often asks for weekends off!

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Tolentino, Joe

Joe is our newest employees, but he has already taken the wine class that Joel teaches and has learned a great deal in a short time. He also works for CVS part time, so he has a busy schedule. We haven't caught up to him with our camera yet.

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Stanley Mitchel, the founder of Beekmans, passed away in December, 2008 at the age of 85.

Stan and Bernice with bottle of wine (Spaltenna Chianti
Classico) at their 60th wedding anniversary party in 2006

Stanley Mitchel, founder of Beekman Wines and Liquors, died in Lauderhill, Florida on December 30th, 2008 at the age of 85 after a year-long battle with gastric cancer and lymphoma. A longtime resident of Paramus and then Wayne before moving to Florida, Stan spent over 35 years working in Glen Rock. A fixture and an icon around town, he was known for stinky cigars, shmoozing, and an always hopeful (but in truth mediocre) golf game.

Stan was a local character. An early believer in recycling, once he found a joke or humorous comment or observation, he used it many times. First-time hearers always laughed; after the 20th telling, family members still smiled or chuckled appreciatively. He loved to tease, he loved to talk, and he was very insightful about politics and business, both local and national.

Stan was born and raised in Brooklyn. His father, a furrier, had come to this country from Russia or Poland (depending on what year it was), while his mother had been born in Palestine. When Stan was a teenager, his father moved the family to Wharton, NJ and opened a children’s clothing store in Dover. Stan attended Brooklyn College until the outbreak of World War II when he joined the precursor of the Air Force, working as a tool and dye maker at Picatinny Arsenal.

At war’s end, he married Bernice Stern of Brooklyn, to whom he had been introduced by a relative. Stan took a job delivering food supplies to stores and restaurants in Brooklyn; he hated it. A son, Joel, was the couple's first anniversary present. The family soon moved to Bergen County where, with a partner, Stan bought Beekman Liquors in Englewood. The previous owner had given it that name because he lived on Beekman Place in Manhattan.

A daughter, Bonnie, was born to Stan and Bernice in 1951. The business partnership bought a small deli/liquor store on Rock Road in Glen Rock in 1956 and renamed it Beekman Wines and Liquors. The partnership soon dissolved with Stan taking the Glen Rock store. When she wasn’t tending to the children, Bernice was the bookkeeper. Bonnie would later take over that function.

Although Stan loved the liquor/wine part of the business (he actually looked forward to going to work each day), he hated the deli portion and took the then-bold step of getting rid of the deli. He bought the property, and in the mid-1960s he took over the part of the building that had been a beauty parlor (now the wine room and office), put on the current brick facing, and expanded the store out the back. Stan, along with manager Andrew Frappolli, began to emphasize the wine segment of what was then primarily a hard liquor and beer industry.

After Andy left to work for the Opici Wine Group, Dave MacIntosh became manager. Joel entered the business in 1986, and Stan cut back his hours. Despite retiring in the early 1990s, he kept a watchful eye on things and always had advice for Joel and Dave. Stan and Bernice sold their Paramus home in 1999 and moved to Wayne while maintaining a winter residence in Florida. They moved to Florida full time in 2007. Bernice and Stanley Mitchel were married for 62 years. Bernice is now a resident of River Vale, NJ.

 


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Revised: January 1, 2010.