Former Penn Street School focus of television program, cleanout, and upcoming sale

SHENANDOAH – Standing atop a bin and amidst the putrid smell of long-stagnant water, Matt Paxton dug through an 8′ tall pile of stuff seeking items of value.

“These are still worth something,” he said, looking over stock certificates for the former Gulf States Utilities Company. He explained to a member of JC’s Hauling and Snow Removal, Bloomsburg, how the certificates had been converted, showing the markings as such.

Deeper in the pile, he found a small drum he estimated was at least 150 years old.

“There’s a lot of value in this room,” Paxton told the Sentinel, pointing to a lampshade made with parchment. “That’ll be worth a lot.”

Paxton is the host of the Discovery television program Filthy Fortunes which is taping an episode for the upcoming third season at the former Penn Street School, which later became the Rainbow Sportswear factory. The show most recently was in Buffalo, New York and will be in Easton, Northampton County soon.

“We typically do a lot in Pennsylvania,” Paxton said. “It’s usually central PA. It’s hardworking people and they’ve saved a lot of things for good reason. For us, that’s great. It’s really cool to see why people kept what they kept.”

He described the show as a cross between American Pickers and Hoarders, the latter of which he starred in for over a decade.

Though, while the Sentinel was on set, it was more of a job site than a television production, at least inside. Paxton and a few helpers from JC’s Hauling were working to clean out a former classroom with only a GoPro mounted above a doorway capturing the action. The camera crew focused on co-stars Mike Kelleher and Kayland Brock outside at the time.

“We like to find houses that have a lot of stuff but also some value and some history,” Paxton said.

Chris Davis, lead picker on the program, said he’s known Paxton for over a decade and that the Penn Street School is among the top clean-outs he’s been apart of.

“Just from the massive amount of stuff he has, this is definitely one I’m going to remember for a long time,” Davis told the Sentinel.

Michael Reffie, Jr., bought the property in 2005 from Dominick Amato. Reffie was an assistant propmaster on numerous Hollywood films, including the 2001 production A Beautiful Mind.

A New Jersey native, Reffie attended Kutztown University and settled in the New Tripoli area. He needed a place to store memorabilia from productions he worked on, leading to the purchase of the building.

Over time, items accumulated and recent challenges prompted Reffie and his family to clear out the property.

“Mike’s family realized this was too much for him to do on his own and he reached out to us for help,” Paxton said. “It’s a pretty common story in America right now: someone from a younger generation inherits a property and it’s just filled to the brim.”

“Our goal is to sell everything that’s here,” Paxton added. “The family needs to sell everything so that’s our goal. Help the family as much as we can and make them as much money as we can.”

There will be a public estate sale this weekend where attendees can buy items and meet the cast of the show. That will take place on Sept. 12 and Sept. 13 from 10am to 5pm each day at 227 North Catherine Street, the garage side of the property.

Attendees should not show up early as Paxton said they will not be ready before 10am.

While the program will likely focus on items and stories of broad appeal, Paxton said highlighting and preserving the local history is key as well and the production has been in contact with the Greater Shenandoah Area Historical Society.

The Penn Street School itself is a historic building in this section of town.

It was built by the Shenandoah Borough School District around 1909 as the Line Street School. At the time, Washington Street was known as Line Street and the building was fronted there. Mine cave-ins were a common nuisance along Washington Street west of Jardin Street for years and threatened to bring down the school.

The school board had the building physically moved back to Penn Street in 1912 and it was then known as the Penn Street School. As one of Shenandoah’s neighborhood elementary schools, it had four classrooms and housed Grades 1-4. A playground was located on the Washington and Catherine Street portion of the property.

In 1944, the United States Marine Corps presented the Congressional Medal of Honor to Anthony P. Damato’s family in a ceremony at the school.

A few years later, in 1948, the school board voted to shutter the building. It was sold and quickly found new life as a garment factory.

Rainbow Sportswear operated out of the old schoolhouse and a single story cinderblock addition was added in 1953, opening in 1954. This includes the garage portion that remains today.

The factory closed in 1982 among several garment factory closures in town. The industry limped along into the early 2000’s and Reffie recalled that his purchase sparked brief hopes that sewing machines would once again whirr in the old schoolhouse.

He said that rumors had spread that he had the money and intentions to reopen the factory, none of which was true.

Season 3 of Filthy Fortunes is expected to air early next year on Discovery and HBO Max.

Additional Photos

The article Former Penn Street School focus of television program, cleanout, and upcoming sale first appeared on The Shenandoah Sentinel.