Board member since: January 2012
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| Tom and Lisa Checkosky |
“I don’t believe in
coincidences.” Tom Checkosky will be the first person to tell you that he’s here
(meaning Ashland) “by the grace of whatever it is you want to call God.” Checkosky
used to be operational partner for 7 Domino’s Pizza restaurants in Western
Pennsylvania. He started out as driver, became manager, worked his way up the
ladder, and then left.
Before the recession
hit, he was a regional manager of Best Buy for three days until the economy made
them cancel plans for 10 new stores.
Then, after almost two
years out of the food sector, he went into a local Pizza Pan restaurant to pick
up an order and then proceeded to reconfigure the entire kitchen for the owners
who seemed to be having “organizational issues.” This lit the fire
within Tom to get back into the pizza business.
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| Pepi seriously enjoys summer! |
After an exhaustive
search, Tom stumbled onto a pizza place for sale in Ashland, Virginia. The
landlord gave him a great deal on rent and even paid to move his store when
Smokey Pig Catering left the space next to Ashland Ace Hardware. Other local
residents wowed Tom with kindness, dinner, and good advice. "I'm from up
north. I'm not used to people being nice to me without there being some
kind of ulterior motive. I was sold."
And so Pepicelli’s Pizza of Ashland was established. This was in 2007 and they are about to celebrate their 5th year in business.
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| Tom with Jimmy and Ani |
Tom brought down his
wife, Lisa, and two kids, Jimmy and Ani and they've been here ever
since (EVERYONE helps at the store when necessary).
"Something always seems to happen every couple of years or so to make us move or whatever. We've been in Ashland five years and it hasn't happened yet. I'm convinced that we're supposed to be here."
The Checkoskys (and Pepicelli's Pizza) are active
throughout the Ashland community via MAP, the Ashland Street Parties, and
several other activities.
Through
a strange series of “non-coincidences,” the Checkoskys became aware of CJ’sThumbs Up Foundation and were touched by the Reynolds’ story. Tom was
so moved that he decided to do everything he could to help make CJSTUF
successful and even quit smoking as a result of his involvement with the
Foundation.
Pepicelli’s
Pizza donates meals to The Lunch Bunch (A joint effort between CJSTUF and
Conner's Heroes Foundation to feed the families on the 7th floor
of Children’s Hospital of Richmond) and was the Business Of The Month in May of 2011. They will be the BOTM again in September,
donating a portion of the month’s sales to CJSTUF. On Monday, September 24th, CJSTUF co-founder Roger Reynolds will be delivering pizzas to Pepicelli's customers who add a small donation to their order.
Tom has dived into his CJSTUF participation with both feet and has become one of our most enthusiastic supporters.
Which
is why we wanted to know the answers to:
4 and
1/2 Questions!!!
1) How often do you
eat pizza made by another pizza place?
Answer: “Only on vacation and
only mom and pop places. Leonardo’s Pizza in the Outer Banks is a particular
favorite as well as Causeway Pizza in Garden City Beach, NC.
2) Can you describe an
atom? (I stole this from a website on interview questions)
Answer: “He’s the husband of
Eve.”
(smart aleck)
3) How much taller
than you is your wife, Lisa?
Answer: “5 inches.”
4) What animal, that
you don't currently have, do you want most of all right now?
Answer: “I want either a big
bird like an African Grey or a Cockatoo or a big dog (even though I already
have two of each).”
and
1/2) Don't you
just love it when...
”employees don’t show
up for work?”
Answer: “Yes I do!!!” (There
may have been a touch of sarcasm in his voice)
Visit www.pepicellis.com for information about Pepicelli's Pizza of Asland.
