POTTSVILLE, Pa. — It all began at a storefront on North Centre Street in Pottsville for Allan Jaffe and his family, where the new historical marker in his honor now stands.
Jaffe started his musical career in the Pottsville Area High School Band and went on to create jazz history.
Alongside his wife, Sandra, he developed Preservation Hall in New Orleans, a historic music venue made to preserve the spirit of traditional New Orleans jazz. That's where Pottsville native Joe Stolarick found out he shared his hometown with the jazz musician.
"While I was in New Orleans, I worked for a few different organizations that Allan had been involved with when he was alive at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Foundation, but the way I actually found out about Allan was his son Ben, who currently is the creative director at Preservation Hall. We were at a gathering together, and I had a Yuengling t-shirt on, and he just made sort of a passing comment about that's where my dad was from, and I knew who Ben was, and I knew who his dad was, but I had no idea that there was a connection there between Allan and Schuylkill County," explained Joe Stolarick, Allan Jaffe Historical Marker Sponsor.
Stolarick felt this connection between the jazz musician and his hometown should be recognized, "So I feel like this provides a more permanent link between Allan and his hometown," he said.
Allan Jaffe's family, who have since left their hometown of Pottsville, traveled from around the country just to be here and celebrate this historic event.
"I was sitting next to my uncle Jaffe's sister, Roda, and when they pulled off the covering and exposed the monument, she just started crying because, I'm even getting emotional. It's very emotional, you know, you see these things like, oh, it's so fun, but something like this, this is what makes you emotional when you see a comeback to where it all began," said Allison Stockel, Allan Jaffe's niece.
After the dedication, people enjoyed the reception inside the Schuylkill County Historical Society, where they could read all about Allan Jaffe's start in Pottsville.