The hot dog stand founder died Saturday of brain cancer at age 85.
LEWISTON – Simones’ Hot Dog Stand, the unofficial hub of Lewiston politics, will be closed Monday and Tuesday while family and friends say good-bye to the man who greeted them there for more than six decades.
George Simones died Saturday at 85.
His passing drew condolences Sunday from some of Maine’s top politicians including Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins, Rep. Michael Michaud and Gov. John Baldacci.
For each of them, the hot dog restaurant beside the park was a key stop on the campaign trail.
“The day after my election as governor,” Baldacci said Sunday, “I stopped by Simones and spent time with George, his son Jimmy and their customers, thanking friends and getting the political pulse of Lewiston.”
He called the business “the center of the Lewiston community” and Simones “a kind and caring man.”
George Simones created an easygoing atmosphere where anyone might feel welcome, his son James Simones said Sunday.
“To him, everybody was the same,” he said. “It didn’t matter who you were.” Mill workers and bank presidents both felt comfortable coming in, he said.
A modern pollster might say the place has “quality demographics.”
The first politicians started appearing to capitalize on a busy place with lots of votes, James said.
“You could use it like a soap box,” he said.
In its heyday in the 1940s, ’50s and ’60s, Lewiston’s downtown bustled with factory workers who could buy a Simones’ hot dog from a walk-up window as late as 2 a.m.
Almost always, George Simones was there. He began as a boy, when the place was run by his father, James, and his Uncle John.
George left during World War II, joining the Army Air Corps. But he came back when the fighting ended. When he had children, they worked there too.
“He never yelled or told us we were in trouble,” James said. “He would just say, ‘We’ll take care of it.’ He was very easy going.”
“He was a magnificent person in all respects,” said Sen. Olympia Snowe, who knew Simones since she was a little girl. She grew up in Auburn and attended the Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church where George was a lifetime member.
In later life, she sometimes campaigned at the hot dog stand.
Snowe said Simones encouraged people to speak however they wanted and let politicians talk to folks as they munched on red hot dogs.
“He created an institution,” said Snowe. “Everybody who runs for local, county or state offices goes to Simones.”
Sen. Collins and Rep. Michaud echoed Snowe.
“George Simones provided elected officials and aspiring elected officials the opportunity and the venue to connect with the pulse of Maine citizens,” Michaud said.
George Simones was there until the day after Christmas, greeting people as they came in, bringing the regulars their usual meals and making people feel welcome, said James.
But that Friday, doctors discovered that he had a brain tumor. Nothing could be done, they said. George died without pain and surrounded by his family, James said.
On Sunday, signs were posted at the hot dog stand, telling customers that the restaurant would be closed on Monday and Tuesday.
At the bottom of each, it read, “Papou.”
“Literally, it means ‘Grandfather’ in Greek,” said the Rev. Ted Toppses. “But many people called him ‘Papou George.'”
The restaurant will reopen on Wednesday.
“That’s what my father would have wanted,” said James.
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