How the Irvington Remembered web site project began and who it is dedicated to

The initial inspiration for this web site came directly from my reconnection with the wonderful Jerry Russomanno. We were talking on the phone on the 4th of July in 2007 after many years of not having contact. And we were reminiscing about the old days of Irvington. And I was just so stuck by the purity and depth of his love for the Town of Irvington. I mean his voice was just dripping with unsullied pride.

Right then and there, I decided quietly that I would take on the task of building a web site that celebrated the old days of Irvington and would serve to bring people together again. And I would dedicate it to some of the people during my time who helped to make it a special experience for the town youth. So thank you, Jerry. Your unwavering love for the town inspired me to begin this project.

I’m certainly no historian. In fact I know very little about the history of Irvington. So I’m probably ill-qualified to even be doing this web site. Not sure if I can do it any justice. But I will try in my own amateurish way. I’m much more interested in people and connecting with their spirit and their souls. It is people that I care about. All the rest to me is disposable.

A note about Jerry Russomanno: As far back as I can remember, Mr. Russomanno was one of those people that consistently demonstrated the best of intentions in his everyday life. He was a family man first and he always shot from the heart and one of the things that was the closest to his heart was the Town of Irvington and its youth. He, along with his wife Claire Russomanno, were a shining example of why Irvington was a great town to grow up in, especially for us kids. He always stayed very involved in so many aspects of the town. Whether it was The Father’s Club, The PTA, The Colts, The PAL, the Miss Irvington Pageant, producing local plays and providing musical direction (along with Claire, who was a musical prodigy and a graduate of the famed Juilliard School of Music), spearheading Fund-raisers and Anti-Drug campaigns, writing articles for the Irvington Herald, fashioning portable boxing rings for local boxers and on and on. He always took the time to give back to the community. And he always sought out a way to give recognition and put a smile on someone’s face and to make them feel special while never seeking recognition for himself. How blessed we were to have such genuine people as he and Claire amongst our community. And anyone who really knew him would echo these same thoughts. And truth be told, this web site is another example of Jerry getting involved. We are talking on an almost daily basis and it is advancing to the point that he will produce or co-produce portions of the site. As always, his contributions are quiet and straight from the heart. He doesn’t give himself credit, but I will.

As Jerry explains “Irvington was a blue collar town. Everybody basically was equal. Like any other place, we had our ups and downs, but overall it was a fantastic place to grow up in. We were a community, we stuck  together and we cared about each other. It always had the “feel” of community.”

And indeed it did !!! Thanks to the generosity of Dawn and Marvin Rich, I was able to get a  peak into how the parents of Irvington felt about the community through their touching, heartfelt personal letters of gratitude for having built such a fertile environment for our youth. There is perhaps no better testament than those letters coming from town parents.


Web Site Dedication: to The Miller’s, The Rich’s, The Venturi’s, The Fenchel’s, The DeLucia’s, The McMinn’s, The Russomanno’s .... and many other’s.

After all these years, I have had the unique opportunity to reconnect with the following notable townspeople. These are people from our past who cared and “made a real difference” in our community: All of them will be profiled in the TOWN NOTABLES section of this site.

Amongst the people I have had the honor of reconnecting with are:

- Marion Miller, the former President of the Women’s Auxiliary and the widow of Irvington’s former Mayor & Chief of Police, “the one & only” Bob Miller. Many of us knew him simply as “Coach”, the architect of the PAL Colts who became an Irvington Institution.  Bob Miller was a truly great man and Marion was the proverbial great woman behind that man.

Marion is seen below celebrating with her husband at the Olympic Restaurant after winning their initial Mayoral election.

- Bob Miller Jr. (Bob & Marion’s son). Bob would later become an outstanding coach in his own right. And he is such a wonderful, sensitive, caring person. And now a treasured friend.

- Dawn and Marvin Rich, the former Director of the Irvington PAL.  Marvin Rich was another great man in Irvington history, who was omnipresent around town and relentless in doing his part to make Irvington an exceptional community.

- Joyce and Danny DeLucia, who “lived and died” for Irvington youth. Heck, Danny had to be dragged away from coaching a game on his own wedding day with Joyce....lol.

- The ever delightful Gloria McMinn, former head of the PAL cheerleaders, and her absolutely lovely daughter & my Irvington Park clique friend, Kathleen.

- Sol Schwartz, who has heartfeltly organized outstanding Irvington reunions in Florida & New Jersey for many years.

Here are some of the people from my past that I hope to reconnect with soon or just wish to remember posthumously:

Amongst those people are Ellie Venturi, the widow of the late, great John Venturi. I can’t express how much I wish her husband John Venturi and John’s close friend Bob Miller were still alive for me to tell them in person how much of a difference they made in my spirit.

I would also like to remember Bernie DeLucia, Pell Giameo, the late Max Deutsch, the late Fred Panek and his brother Walter, Herman Fenchel & his late wife Betty, the late Charlie Reitz, the late Joanna Stahl, who has a special place in my heart and Rocco Greco. Rocco can still be seen from time to time sitting on a bench in Triangle Park by Don’s Diner. Some of these people have passed, but from my personal standpoint, none of them will ever be forgotten.

Thank you all for everything you and your families have ever done to help give us kids a chance to be involved in worthwhile activities that helped to shape our minds, motivate our spirit, teach us values and prepare us for adulthood. Your selfless efforts will never be forgotten. I count you amongst the people whom I have loved the most throughout my years of growing up in Irvington. I am so thankful and thrilled to have many of you back in my life after all these years. Your generosity in sharing and communicating with me has humbled me tremendously. I don’t know how else to say it, but THANK YOU !!! And it is to you and to people like you that I dedicate this web site.

Lastly, thank you Joanna Junger Ciccone for giving a name to this web site.

Very sincerely,
Joey Vargas

Well Now..... after all that talk, I’m ready for one of these “doubles” from everybody’s favorite hot dog place .... lol.