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Go ahead, raise a toast to the new Pitman, N.J.

The Women's Christian Temperance Union fountain stands in the heart of Pitman, in a park named - as is the borough - for a minister, and across the street from a 19th-century Methodist camp meeting site known as the Grove.

Justin Fleming, Pitman born and raised, opened Kelly Green Brewing Co. on May 7 on South Broadway. It marked the first time a mug of suds was legally sold in Pitman since the borough was incorporated in 1905, if not earlier.
Justin Fleming, Pitman born and raised, opened Kelly Green Brewing Co. on May 7 on South Broadway. It marked the first time a mug of suds was legally sold in Pitman since the borough was incorporated in 1905, if not earlier.Read moreElizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer

The Women's Christian Temperance Union fountain stands in the heart of Pitman, in a park named - as is the borough - for a minister, and across the street from a 19th-century Methodist camp meeting site known as the Grove.

The fountain is no longer functional. The Grove has become a working-class neighborhood of picket fences and gingerbread porches.

And after having endured for more than a century as perhaps the driest among South Jersey's dwindling number of dry towns, Pitman awaits the debut of its first wine bar, the opening of its second microbrewery, and a nonbinding Nov. 8 referendum on whether to license restaurant sales of martinis and other libations.

Doing so "may well save this town," says Anthony Asbury, whose pioneering and stylish Sweet Lula's is among the handful of Pitman restaurants that could benefit from a liquor license.

Although borough voters overwhelmingly rejected a similar referendum in 2007, "the naysayers are dying off," Asbury says.

"Young people are moving to Pitman and saying, 'We think it's time for a change.' "

Mind you, not everybody in the 2.3-square-mile Gloucester County community of 8,900 people is ready for this sort of evolution.

"Being a dry town is part of the DNA of Pitman, and always has been," says Jane McCausland, a retired decorator, fourth-generation borough resident, and head of the Pitman Historical Museum.

"My personal preference is that Pitman continue to stay dry," says April Miller, 35, a homemaker and mother of two, adding, "Our community is quite family-friendly. And there's been a huge revitalization."

Mayor Russ Johnson says "we're letting the people decide," adding that he can "see both sides" of the issue.

With a gently rolling landscape of handsome homes, walkable streets, and leafy parks, the borough is indeed an appealing place. But as I stroll South Broadway, the main street in what's known locally as "Uptown" Pitman, the revitalization seems a tad . . . tentative.

At least a half-dozen storefronts are empty, and an imposing, but vacant, former bank building looms over the intersection with Pitman Avenue.

A landmark hobby shop, as well as a beloved bakery, a newsstand, and a live music venue, departed in recent years. Pedestrians are few.

But Kelly's A Taste of Ireland, a shop offering all things Celtic, is celebrating its 20th anniversary, says proprietor Mary Miller. She says restaurant liquor sales are a great idea.

And at Endgrain, a coffee roastery that opened a year and a half ago just off Broadway on Second Avenue, proprietor Joe Fultano says he is enjoying "super good" business.

The Clayton resident, 36, attributes his success to Pitman's "cute, walkable vibe" - as well as its emerging community of young merchants and makers of artisanal products.

Such as beer.

Justin Fleming, Pitman-born and -raised, opened the Kelly Green Brewing Co. on May 7 on South Broadway.

It marked the first time a mug of suds was legally sold in Pitman since the borough was incorporated in 1905, if not earlier.

"We're at the hub of change," says Fleming, 35, noting that another brewery is coming soon to the same block.

"Why Pitman? Because it's an ideal place because of the theater and restaurants and retail stores. It's a place where families still come out and stroll in the evenings," says Megan Myers, 32, a Mantua resident who is set to open her Human Village Brewing Co. on Nov. 18.

State law made possible the breweries and the sale of New Jersey wines by the glass and bottle, even in dry communities.

"That was a quantum leap for this town, and I think it would be nice to just keep it at wine and beer," says Sherri Hilt, manager of the Samaritan Thrift store on South Broadway.

Fleming and Fultano aren't necessarily sold on the idea of liquor by the drink, either.

But at the elegant Mannino's Cucina Italiana, owner Vito Mannino calls the potential addition of restaurant liquor licenses a "phenomenal" idea.

"A lot of people were against [the brewery]. The talk of the town was, 'Oh my God, we're going to have all these drunks,' but it's been very successful and no trouble at all.

"With the liquor license, we can do the same thing. People can enjoy a good dinner, have a cocktail, and go home."

Surely one of the things that has made the borough distinctive is its dry character.

But that's already been altered by the sale and consumption of wine and beer. So while I understand and respect the concerns of opponents who love their town the way it has been, I'd vote yes, were I living in Pitman.

I'm not, so I call up Peter Slack, the hometown hero who renovated and revived the wonderful Broadway Theater, to have the last word.

By Christmas, he expects to open a wine bar next to the Broadway, where The Will Rogers Follies is currently on stage.

Slack, who lives in Pitman, says he's already voted yes "because it makes sense economically, and there's a good reason" to add a dash of liquor to Uptown's mix.

But if the proposal is rejected and the borough decides not to make the change, he says, "the town is going to do just fine."

kriordan@phillynews.com

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