The watermelon carving contest that my daughter had prepared an entry for was the supposed reason we were making a visit to the farmers’ market in Morris Plains on a warm August day last summer.
And if we ran into some old friends in a town we have lived in for the better part of the past three decades, that would be nice, too.
But the real reason we were going was obvious as soon as we got there: To see ‘Produce Pete.’
A line of others showed we weren’t the only ones with the idea.
Pete Napolitano was a ‘guest judge’ for the event, a role that came with a meet-and-greet opportunity with the star of the ‘Produce Pete’ segment that had run on NBC for decades, making him a trusted television friend to so many wannabe cooks and chefs of my generation.
It also came with an “opportunity” for the locals to buy books, aprons, oven mitts — really, anything he could put his name on.
Make no mistake, Produce Pete was an entrepreneur. But he was more than that. Napolitano was someone who used a family history in the produce business to create a persona — crafted over time through trusted advice more than Instagram likes — to become a Jersey original.
Napolitano died Monday at 80, following health complications that had worsened in recent weeks, according to NBC.
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Napolitano was born in Bergenfield in February of 1945, just months before the end of World War II.
He grew up like so many in that era, working alongside his father in the family business. He helped grow Napolitano’s Produce from a small family store into a New Jersey destination that served customers for more than a half century.
Last year, during an appearance on the TODAY Show, he talked proudly of his upbringing and family history.
“I come from immigrant people,” he said. “My father came here from Italy. No education, no nothing.”
But, oh, how he learned the produce business.
In 1953, as a young boy, he began selling fruits and vegetables at a neighborhood farmer’s market run by his family.
In 1970, he took ownership of the business and ran it as a seasonal operation, often selling items beyond his line of produce, geared towards upcoming holidays and celebrations.
In 1997, he turned the business over to his son, Peter Charles Napolitano. (It closed in 2006, after being a Bergen County staple for more than 50 years.
Napolitano didn’t realize it at the time, but he wasn’t just learning about produce but about connecting with people. When someone at NBC decided to do a live segment from the business, an accidental icon was born.
Soon after, Napolitano was coming to 30 Rock to do ‘Produce Pete’ segments that always ended with his trademark line: “If you eat right, you’re going to live right!”
But as popular as he got, Napolitano never forgot that his was a family business. His wife Bette, whom he met as a teenager, often appeared with him. And they often spoke of their two kids and seven grandchildren.
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Praise for Pete has been pouring in overnight. And for good reason.
For more than 30 years, Napolitano was a fixture on weekend Today in New York, delighting generations of tri-state viewers with his warmth, humor and plainspoken wisdom, officials at NBC said.
Fruits and vegetables may have been his topic, but his work was always rooted in life, family and hard-earned experience
Amy Morris, a senior vice president of news at NBC 4 New York and Telemundo 47, summed it up this way.
“He was a beloved member of our station family and our viewers felt the same way, visiting him at our Health Expo, our Feeding our Families Food Drives or the many farmers markets across New Jersey where he always felt right at home,” she said.
That’s the way it was on that day in Morris Plains.
We got an autographed apron and a picture.
More than that, we got a few moments with a Jersey original, the likes of which we may never see again.
