Joe Cassese has lived and worked and prayed in this old town all of his life. It’s died before; and he is doing whatever he can to not let it, or his business or resolve die again. But, he admits bluntly, it isn’t easy.

“Coming down that hill every morning and leaving every night and seeing that empty parking lot messes with your psyche,” Cassese says of his daily drive to and from the family restaurant. “And I am a positive person,” he adds, with a strain and sadness weighing on the buoyant personality with which patrons of his restaurant are familiar.