The 2019 Wakefield 4th of July Parade Grand Marshal Announcement

The 2019 Wakefield 4^th of July Parade Grand Marshal Announcement

By Amy Braid, WIDC Secretary

The Wakefield Independence Day Committee is proud and happy to announce the Grand Marshal for the 2019 Fourth of July Parade.  The honor this year goes to Jimmy and Maria Assimakopoulos, proprietors of Brother’s Restaurant and Deli on Main Street in Wakefield.

Brother’s is a staple on Main Street.  If you haven’t been in yet, or its been many years, we recommend stopping by for breakfast or lunch any day of the week.  There you can meet Jimmy and Maria, the happily married couple who own, run and love Brother’s Restaurant. 

When you step up to the counter, Jimmy will greet you with a hello and how are you, then take your order.  He loves to make small talk and joke around with his customers, making everyone feel like the most important customer they have.  And he’s sure to ask after your health, especially if you skip out on bacon; “You don’t want bacon?  Are you sick?”  We asked Jimmy how he can remember all those orders without writing them down, and we love his response: “I focus on the customers and their orders because I want to make sure everyone leaves happy.”  Mission accomplished Jimmy!  Maria will meet you at the end of the counter, ready to get you some desert, or a drink before you check out.  Just like Jimmy, she greets everyone and always has a smile on her face. 

The menu at Brother’s can be daunting with so many mouthwatering items to choose from.  We thought we would ask the experts what their favorite dishes are.  Maria loves the baked Haddock and the turkey, while Jimmy loves the lamb.  With spending so much time at the restaurant cooking, we asked them who does the holiday cooking.  They responded that they cook the holiday meals together and love it.  We bet those holiday dinners are absolutely delicious!

Jimmy and Maria are originally from Greece, though they did not know each other before they emigrated to the United States.  Jimmy was twenty years old when he came over and settled in Fitchburg for a few years before moving to the Mattapan area.  He comes from a large family, six brothers and one sister, all of whom are still in Greece.  The last time Jimmy visited his family was in 2012 when his mother passed away at the ripe old age of 109.  Maria emigrated with her mother and brothers when she was nineteen years old.  She too comes from a large family, with four brothers and three sisters.  Her father passed away when he was only 45, leaving her mother to raise the eight children, aged 3-16, all on her own.  Maria’s mother also took over the restaurant business they had in Greece, before moving to the US, where they opened their first Brother’s Restaurant in Mattapan.

One fateful day in 1974, Jimmy visited the family restaurant.  There he met Maria.  It was love at first sight! Not long after meeting, they were married, on January 19^th, 1975.  They have three children: Terri who lives in Greece; Angie who has a beautiful little boy named Alexandros; and Arthur who is their youngest.  Both Angie and Arthur work at Brother’s full time. 

Brother’s is first and foremost a family business, one which both Maria and Jimmy love to be a part of.  It all started in Mattapan with Maria’s family, but soon expanded.  The second Brothers was in Chelsea, then moved to Lynn, then Peabody and then on to Wakefield where they have been for thirty-four years.  Jimmy and Maria also had a pizza shop called Mattapan House of Pizza.  When asked what their favorite aspect of working in Wakefield was, Jimmy and Maria said, “Wakefield is like family, where everyone looks out for everyone and tries to help and support each other.”  We couldn’t agree more with you!

Brother’s is also very involved in the community they love.  They love supporting the schools, Girl Scouts, churches, local organizations, the Police Department, and the Fire Department to name a few.  A few years ago, Brother’s hosted a fashion show to support the Food Pantry.  In 2015, Brother’s graciously hosted the Lake City Minnesota High School Marching Band on July 5^th, for breakfast, after their performance in the 4^th of July Parade.  They welcomed the band into their restaurant, free of charge, and were rewarded with a beautiful song sung just for them. 

We asked Jimmy and Maria if they have a favorite memory of the 4^th of July parade.  They replied, “it is a family tradition for us to come to the parade every year to celebrate the 4th of July. We have many great memories but our favorite one is the year the parade came back. We hope the Wakefield 4th of July Parade will go on forever. It is a great event.”  Thank you, Jimmy and Maria, we hope it goes on forever as well!

Jimmy and Maria were excited and honored to be nominated as the Grand Marshals this year.  “We appreciate the love and support we have received from the Wakefield community all these years and we would like to thank you for this honor of being The Grand Marshals of the 4th of July Parade.”

We want to thank Jimmy and Maria Assimakopoulos for their service to their community and for their wonderful restaurant, Brother’s.  Wakefield wouldn’t be the same without their vibrant personalities greeting us as we walk in the door for another delicious meal.