2024 -- H 8065

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LC005690

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2024

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H O U S E   R E S O L U T I O N

JOYOUSLY CELEBRATING THE 40TH ANNIVERSARY OF "NICK & JOAN'S PLACE" IN

WARWICK

     Introduced By: Representatives Vella-Wilkinson, Shekarchi, Blazejewski, Solomon,
McNamara, Bennett, Shanley, Place, Kennedy, and Ajello

     Date Introduced: March 14, 2024

     Referred To: House read and passed

     WHEREAS, Forty years ago, on March 14, 1984, Nick Degaitas and his wife of now 46

years, Joan Degaitas, opened their restaurant "Nick & Joan's Place" and have conducted business

every day based on the Golden Rule of treating each and every customer like a valued family

member and close friend. Abiding daily by these rules as well as offering delicious food at

family-friendly prices explains why "Nick & Joan's Place" has become a fixture and beloved

institution in Warwick; and

     WHEREAS, Nick Degaitas learned the skill of cooking as a youngster while watching his

father and working in the family's restaurant, John's New York System in Providence. At the

urging of his wife Joan, the Degaitases went about looking for a place to open a restaurant

despite, in the words of Joan, only having $100 dollars to their name; and

     WHEREAS, Thankfully, a suitable place was found, and on March 14, 1984, "Nick &

Joan's Place" opened on Warwick Avenue in the Gateway Shopping Center. Through the years

the interior has pretty much remained the same, with the exception of a few repairs, while the

menu changes on a daily basis, offering everything from the best wieners anywhere, thanks to

Nick's father's special meat sauce recipe, to what many say is the best breakfast in town; and

     WHEREAS, "Nick & Joan's Place" is a true family-run business with Nick manning the

grill daily, and Joan waitressing, simmering soups, cooking the daily specials and whipping up

delectable baked goods. Through the years, their four children and nineteen grandchildren have

all contributed to the restaurant's success, learning about cooking and conducting business; and

     WHEREAS, Over the years of running the restaurant and conducting business, Nick and

Joan have never wavered from their moral and religious principles. They were the first local

restaurant to ban indoor smoking, to their customers' applause, and never wavered from closing

for business on Sundays, in order to keep the day for family and worship. The Degaitases are also

devoted to making their community a better place in which to live. They have brought soup to

sick customers, many of whom are shut-ins, regularly visit hospital rooms, and even attend the

funerals of departed loyal customers. "Nick & Joan's Place" is a restaurant that truly puts its

customers and the community first and that's why it has been such a success for the past forty

years and assuredly for the next forty years; now, therefore be it

     RESOLVED, That this House of Representatives of the State of Rhode Island hereby

joyously celebrates the 40th anniversary of "Nick & Joan's Place" in Warwick. We thank Nick

and Joan Degaitas for all they do to enrich the local community on a daily basis and wish them

many more years of success; and be it further

     RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and hereby is authorized and directed to

transmit a duly certified copy of this resolution to Nick and Joan Degaitas.

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