A year in the life: Me, Luke from 'The Gilmore Girls' and a very jolly Haddonfield

Tammy Paolino | Cherry Hill Courier-Post

It’s that time of year, when journalists everywhere are looking inward like old Ebenezer, guided by the deadlines of Ghost of Editors Present, at their stories in Spiral Notebooks Past.

My notebooks, if I still used notebooks and not Word docs, would be filled mostly with interviews of chefs, restaurant owners, food truck entrepreneurs and craft brewers. Here and there would be interviews with poets, artists, musicians and museum directors – and the occasional celebrity.

When I was asked to reflect upon the story that made the greatest impact on me this year, I was pretty sure the arrival of the Hello Kitty Food Truck at the Cherry Hill Mall was the story with my byline that racked up the highest number of views on our website in 2019.

But really, what more can I say about that? It came, they lined up and ate their mini Hello Kitty cakes, and it drove away.

But then I remembered Luke. Or should I say, Scott. Scott Patterson, aka, Luke Danes.

Now, I have been the features editor of this newspaper since 2003. That’s longer than I’ve lived in South Jersey. It’s longer than I’ve been a mother. It’s a lot longer than Hello Kitty has been a global market phenomenon.

Earlier: Hundreds of fans turn out for Scott Patterson Day to see 'Gilmore Girls' star in Haddonfield

Earlier still: Scott Patterson talks Haddonfield childhood, 'Gilmore Girls,' Comic Con and coffee

But it was not until this summer that I discovered Patterson, curmudgeonly owner of Luke’s Diner on the hit WB TV series “The Gilmore Girls’’ (2000-2007), hailed from Haddonfield.

I can rattle off a long list of celebrities who are from South Jersey, everyone from Bruce Willis to Patti Smith, but dreamy, infuriating, steadfast, cranky … did I say dreamy? … Luke Danes, he of the backwards baseball cap, grouchy comebacks and giant mugs of coffee? I had no idea.

Patterson, who lives with all the other movie stars in LA, came back home this summer to participate in Keystone Comic Con in Philly, an invite proffered because he also stars as the sheriff in the “Saw’’ horror franchise and is part of the animated “Justice League Unlimited.''

We had a great time on the phone talking about his growing up years in Haddonfield, something I expected when he agreed to the interview. What I didn’t expect is how much this Hollywood star – who also starred in the 2016 “Gilmore Girls A Year In the Life’’ reboot on Netflix – missed Haddonfield, and South Jersey in general.

To hear him tell it, he could live anywhere – well, maybe not Stars Hollow or wherever Hello Kitty makes her plastic pink-and-white home, but anywhere real.

“Haddonfield still beckons to me,’’ he told me at the time. “What does Cervantes say, ‘It beckons to me in no uncertain terms?' ’’

The best part of covering this story for me came after my initial interview with Patterson ran. For one thing, he was super nice, not cranky at all, and thanked me for my story.

But then I got an email from someone on behalf of the mayor of Haddonfield, who went to high school with star. Mayor Neal Rochford wanted to invite Patterson back home for a visit.

Patterson was thrilled to hear from him and made the time to come back to the borough for official Scott Patterson Day, where the actor greeted a host of “Gilmore Girls’’ fans at the Kings Court gazebo, and dined with old neighbors and friends.

I was only the messenger here, but it was cool to watch it unfold.

I reached out to Mayor Rochford recently and asked him if he had a Christmas greeting for his old buddy.

“On reflecting on 2019, Haddonfield’s Scott Patterson Day was definitely a highlight for the year,’’ said Rochford in an email. “Hundreds gathered at the town gazebo on a warm August night to hear Scott’s heartwarming memories of growing up in Haddonfield. Wishing Scott and family all the best for the holidays and hoping that we can welcome him back very soon, either for another event, or to possibly move back to the great town of Haddonfield!"

I called Patterson shortly after Thanksgiving. He wanted to share some of his favorite winter memories of growing up in South Jersey, especially the times when it would snow and he and his friends would hit a favorite hill to go sledding or have a snowball fight or build a snowman.

“There was a hill, I forget what it was called, but the road was usually blocked off by the police so we could sled down this hill … And it was just a ton of people having a ton of fun in winter snow and ice. It was great!

“There was always a snowball fight breaking out, which was all in good fun. And we would go to Elizabeth Haddon (Elementary School) and play football all weekend in the driving snow. It was a great place to grow up!’’

Even more fun than a snow day was when Patterson’s neighbors across the street, the Podolins, would head for the ski slopes in the Poconos and pull him out of school for the day to go, too. (The Podolins were there to greet him when Haddonfield honored him this summer.)

Though he still acts on occasion, Patterson is a family man these days, spending a lot of time with his wife and son.

And, as it turns out, he’s still pouring coffee.

Patterson owns his own coffee company, Scotty P’s Big Mug Coffee, a retail coffee business which also being offered now wholesale to hotels and restaurants.

“We have a partnership program, and we are supplying whole beans and ground coffee in three different blends to any restaurant, office or coffee shop that wants to sell by the bag. We started our partnership the other day, and we already landed a big account in Aspen, Colorado, at an iconic spot called Bonnie’s Restaurant at the top of the hill, ski in and ski out. They will be selling my coffee by the cup.’’

I think he means by the big mug.

I asked Patterson if he had any special holiday greetings for his old neighborhood:

“To all the good folks in Haddonfield, I want to wish you all a very merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year, and I wish I were back there with you!’’

I'm not a gambler, folks, but I would bet my whole pile of Hello Kitty mini cakes Patterson would like to move back home, although at present, rumors are swirling about a "Gilmore Girls'' reboot sequel.

You know, "Two Years in the Life ...''

Who knows? Maybe it’s not too much to dream that one day I, like Lorelei Gilmore before me, will be able to walk into a local coffee shop and ask the surly guy behind the counter for a big mug and gaze out the window with the small-town bustle -- the snow ball fights, the impromptu football games in the snow — unfolding before me there in Stars Hollow.

Er, I mean Haddonfield.

Because, you know, I’m a journalist. Coffee beckons to me. It beckons to me in no uncertain terms.

Merry Christmas, Scott Patterson, wherever you are.

For more information

Scott Patterson: Visit www.scottyp.com

Tammy Paolino covers restaurants, breweries, food trucks and arts events for the USA TODAY New Jersey Network. She’s an award-winning reporter and editor who has covered the Garden State for more than 30 years. Reach her at tpaolino@gannett.com or 856-486-2477 or on Twitter @CP_TammyPaolino. Help support local journalism with a Courier-Post subscription.