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WILKES-BARRE — Circles will remain on the Square.

Circles on the Square, the sandwich shop and so much more that has been a fixture in the downtown for 32 years, is reopening Tuesday. And those fresh-made sandwiches with clever names will be back.

Tuesday’s menu, however, will be dedicated to Phil Rudy, the owner/operator of the delicatessen/emporium who died Thursday at the age of 68. His funeral service was held Sunday.

As life went on Monday morning, a UPS driver was delivering packages and a man was washing the store’s windows, where the neon sign “Boar’s Head Brand” brightened a corner. A sign on the front door was posted notifying those somehow unaware of Rudy’s death that the store will reopen Tuesday morning.

Here’s the lineup for Tuesday’s specials:

• Le Grande Fromage — that’s how Rudy signed all of his gift certificates, a/k/a The Big Cheese

• A Bright Star Dimmed

• R Hearts R Broken

• We Will Miss You

• Goodnight Shuga — that’s how Rudy said goodnight to his staff each day

• R.I.P. Phil

And at the bottom of the specials page, a simple, “Always in our hearts — from your gang.”

More memorials are planned to keep Rudy’s memory alive in the deli, including a picture of the unique owner/operator.

But all one has to do to remember Phil Rudy is step inside the door of Circles on the Square — Rudy is everywhere.

His incredible sense of humor can be found throughout the store, evidenced by the items that really can’t be found anywhere else.

As Billy Scholl and Kathy Alaimo busily went about the task of reopening the business, Rudy’s personal touch could be found in the items offered for sale.

“We would often wonder why Phil would order this or that, then somebody would come in and buy one,” Alaimo said, standing next to a bowl of self-sticking glow-in-the-dark critters — offered at the close-out price of six for a dollar.

The walls are adorned with signs that make you smile — sometimes laugh out loud — but somehow find their way to a wall in your house. Such as: “Beware pickpockets and loose women” or “Please do not throw cigarette butts in urinal. It makes them soggy and hard to light.”

You could almost see and hear Rudy laughing as he placed the order for those.

In one corner of the store there are T-shirts, mugs and hats that feature Wilkes-Barre. A sign attracting customers to the display shows Beatles legend John Lennon wearing a Wilkes-Barre T-shirt.

There are greeting cards, mostly funny, a few very suggestive. There are specialty food items — licorice, cookies and wafers, wooden “DCUKS” (the brand name of ducks made of bamboo), salsa, pickles, preserves, sauerkraut, shredded beets, candies, mints, chocolate and various teas. There are several varieties of soaps, including “Pope Soap.” There are busts of Beethoven, Mozart, all the classical composers, Shakespeare, Lincoln and more — and they sell.

Coffee mugs are everywhere — a customer favorite is one that reads “Freudian Sips.” Another features Curly of The Three Stooges — it reads, “NYUK University.

When you walk into Circles, you will hear all types of music. As Alaimo said, “Anything from Frank Sinatra to Frank Zappa.” But probably no Beatles tunes.

Phil Rudy died Thursday, but the world he created inside his Circles on the Square lives on, as will his memory.

He is everywhere in the delicatessen that his sense of humor created and that he molded into a reflection of who he was, what he liked and what customers wanted — perhaps not until they saw it in Circles. The only place Rudy can’t be found is in his black chair in the back room, where his mind constantly worked to create each day’s specials.

On the Circles on the Square website, it states: “We don’t advertise: our customers do that for us.”

And in the frequently asked question department, you will find vintage Phil Rudy:

“SOAP? In a delicatessen? So, being an “emporium” grants a bit of leeway in merchandising, eh? Well in a word, YES! But please understand that it does comply with our mission to bring products of high quality and aesthetic merit to our public. A fine soap is as intimate as a ham sandwich: both interact with our senses on an admittedly very personal level. Come. Smell. Imagine.”

And then: “High quality need not be without humor.”

For other local news stories, click here.

‘Le Grande Fromage’ will be the first featured sandwich on Tuesday’s menu. Rudy always signed his gift certificates ‘Le Grande Fromage’ — the Big Cheese.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/web1_TTL030717Circles2-2.jpg.optimal.jpg‘Le Grande Fromage’ will be the first featured sandwich on Tuesday’s menu. Rudy always signed his gift certificates ‘Le Grande Fromage’ — the Big Cheese. Aimee Dilger | Times Leader

All the specials on Tuesday’s menu at Circles on the Square are dedicated to the memory of Phil Rudy, the 68-year-old owner who died on Thursday.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/web1_Circles-Specials-2.jpg.optimal.jpgAll the specials on Tuesday’s menu at Circles on the Square are dedicated to the memory of Phil Rudy, the 68-year-old owner who died on Thursday. circlesonthesquare.biz

Kathy Alaimo was in Circles on the Square on Monday with co-worker Bill Scholl to prepare for the store’s reopening Tuesday. Owner Phil Rudy died Thursday, and Tuesday’s menu will feature sandwiches in his memory.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/web1_TTL030717Circles1-2.jpg.optimal.jpgKathy Alaimo was in Circles on the Square on Monday with co-worker Bill Scholl to prepare for the store’s reopening Tuesday. Owner Phil Rudy died Thursday, and Tuesday’s menu will feature sandwiches in his memory. Aimee Dilger | Times Leader

By Bill O’Boyle

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Reach Bill O’Boyle at 570-991-6118 or on Twitter @TLBillOBoyle.