Newhard film to premier in Vegas
A Northampton landmark, Newhard Pharmacy, owned by father and son Jack and John Pavis, and its staff will be premiered in Las Vegas on July 8.
Although not Hollywood with its usual brilliant red carpet treatment, the event will be just as exciting. Amerisource Bergen will select its "Good Neighbor Pharmacy of the Year," at which time the video of the four finalists, including Newhard's, will be shown on a large screen.
Whatever the outcome, Newhard's owners are happy just to be selected as finalists.
"We feel that we are already winners," said Jack Pavis.
The other three finalists, chosen from a pool of 49, are from California, Ohio and Michigan.
Newhard's is no stranger to the winner's circle. The landmark pharmacy was named Lehigh Valley Magazine's Pharmacy of the Year five times and Northampton Business of the Year in 2006.
Filming took place two weeks ago over a span of two days. Film crews interviewed Jack and John Pavis and their staff.
Shots were taken both inside and outside the pharmacy at Main and 10th streets, where the Northampton and Bath Railroad terminal once stood.
Crews spent a third day out filming community landmarks such as the Roxy Theatre, Atlas Cement Memorial Museum, the Northampton Area Historical Society's Siegfried Station and the historic block house.
As the longest standing pharmacy in Northampton and the surrounding area, Newhard's traces its roots back to 1895 when Dr. Charles Meixsell owned two drug stores.
Aaron Newhard acquired the business in 1943 from Meixsell.
Newhard sold the pharmacy, then located at Main Street and Laubach Avenue, to Jack and Charlotte Pavis and Peter and Jackie Stahl Feb. 4, 1969. The new owners decided to keep the Newhard name. In 1975, they moved to the current location, which features 9,600 square feet. The previous location offered only 2,000 square feet.
Since then, Newhard Pharmacy has grown in many new directions. Staff travel to local businesses and assisted living facilities to offer vaccinations to residents during the flu season.
The store also offers robotic dispensers, Medicare accreditation, diabetic shoe fittings, CPAP and mastectomy products. The pharmacy employs 68 people.
"Being a GNP pharmacy gives us a big company feel by being part of a recognized pharmacy corporation," Jack Pavis said.