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Did You Know ?
(miscellaneous tidbits about Irvington and it’s people)
Did You Know That ?
Milton Weiner turned 100 years old on October 26, 2008.
Irvington baseball great, Karl Gordon, Class of 70, is now an Athletic Director at North Plainfield High in NJ.
Did you know that Bill Mericle dropped out of Irvington High School during World War II to join the Navy? And later he retired as Principal of the very same school.
Kathy Goeb, Class of 71, owns two dogs that she trains in agility and obedience which she hopes to enter into competition. “Hey Goeb, can I post the video?” ...lol.
Ray Boyer, Class of 72, played professional baseball as a outfielder, with the Boston Red Sox Triple A team called the Pawtucket Red Sox. Playing on the parent club at the time were Red Sox outfield legends: Dwight Evans, Jim Rice, Fred Lynn and Carl Yazstremski. That made it a little hard for Ray to make it to the major league level... lol.
Debbie Evers, Class of 72, and her husband proved to be outstanding business persons. They built a very successful telecommunications business and were able to retire very early in life.
Chet Parlavechhio, former PAL Colt, became an All-American football player at Penn State.
Jerry Russomanno once built a portable boxing ring for the young boxers of the Irvington PAL.
Elaine Francovitch, Class of 71, became a marathon runner in her spare time in her mid-40s and once ran 50 miles straight through.
Michael Hammer, Class of 72 President, was once denied the Lions Club Youth of the Month award for declining to cut his long hippie-like hair. The award was traditionally given out to the Class President every year in September. But his long hair was deemed unbefitting for a Class President and the award was not extended to him.
Al “Red” Weiner (brother of Milton) earned 15 varsity letters in four years while playing track, football, baseball and basketball. This is the all-time record.
Claire Russomanno is a master musician and graduate of the famed Julliard School of Music.
Vinnie LaSalvia, Class of 73, shown here with high school sweetheart, Carol Misuraca, also Class of 73, recently appeared on the TV Show called DEAL OR NO DEAL. You can click this link to see Vinnie being interviewed on the show: VINNIE LaSALVIA. “8 (NBC) "Deal or No Deal." Vinny LaSalvia is a hardworking guy from from Newark who wants to make sure his family is financially secure and has enough to buy his dream car. So what's he do? Goes on a game show, of course, where winning the big money is like finding a needle in a haystack.”
Irvington High held its first classes in 1926.
Milton Weiner earned All-State honors in football in 1935.
Maureen McMinn, Class of 68, daughter of Gloria McMinn, was voted “Teacher of the Year” within her school system in 2008. And very deservingly so. Maureen has worked long and hard year-in and year-out to achieve this prestigious accolade.
Michael Vargas, Class of 74, once scored 50 points in a Small Fry Basketball game.
Peter Gangi, IHS teacher passed at the young age of 36.
Stan Wnek, one of Irvington all-time greatest athletes, played briefly with the New York Yankees. Connie Mack signed his contract on the hood of a car. He captained the Greater Newark Tournament championship team of 1938, was chosen all-State catcher and named the MVP in the tough Greater Newark Tournament. Wnek was also named all-Metropolitan MVP by the New York sportswriters. He batted .545 for Doc Gantz in his senior year.
Olympic Park’s swimming pool was the largest pool of it’s kind in the world.
Bruce Warshawsky nka Warner, Class of 71, aside from being a successful divorce lawyer, is also a sports radio host for many years in South Florida. He is currently doing the University of Miami college football pre-game show on www.790TheTicket.com. “790 The Ticket” is the #1 sports station in South Florida. He is shown below in action on 790 co-hosting a show with his close friend, the renowed, ultimate professional, Frank Forte. Bruce previously worked with the New York Yankees before moving to Florida. His lovely wife Debbie is a highly sought-after singer for weddings, corporate events and Bar-Mitzvahs. She has recorded CDs of her music..
Pete Dudak, Class of 70, goes on over 40 hikes per year (an average of over 400 miles per year) at some of the most gorgeous locations all throughout Washington State and Canada. His breathtaking pictures will soon be featured on the web site.
Eddie Kirchgessner, Class of 72, has recently become a company CFO.
Jimmy Bellis, Class of 74, brother of Frank Bellis (Class of 71 President), was one of 22 young kids designated as All-American by the National Junior Football Federation.
Officers Gus Zelles and Joe Marke were the founders of the Irvington PAL.
Bob Miller Jr., Class of 64, (son of Bob and Marion Miller) graduated at the top of his class at the Army Academy in West Point.
The Town of Irvington had it’s centennial in 1974 and held great shows and celebrations all throughout that year.
For many years, Marvin Rich was the Director of the Irvington PAL.
Bob Miller, aside from being Irvington Mayor for two terms, was known as the Knute Rockne of PAL football for the glorious all-time victory records that he coached The Irvington PAL Colts to.
Yvonne Russomanno, Class of 71, is a Yoga Master who conducts yoga retreats in places like Costa Rica, Panama and various island resorts. She is also a guitar teacher and songwriter. In her younger days, Yvonne was also a prima ballerina and dance instructor.
Fran Zangari-Hozonitz, Class of 73, lovingly donated one of her kidneys to her husband Luke Hozonita, Class of 72, who had a kidney ailment.
Denise Marcell, Class of 71 beauty, has become a successful real estate agent, in the Wildwood, NJ area. She has a nice home a block away from the ocean in Diamond Beach.
Brother’s Perry and Dominick Campilillo, still run the family business, Camp Marine, which was once located right on Chancellor Ave. in Irvington. They have relocated the business “down the shore.”
Irvington’s beautiful Joyce Tyleske, Class of 49 former IHS majorette, was the very first person ever to be voted Mrs. America.
Max Deutsch, Irvington Juvenile Officer back in the day, once appeared on the Johnny Carson Show, on a night when Jerry Lewis was hosting the show. Max was brought out as a “blast from the past” surprise to Jerry Lewis. I was watching the show that night and it was funny to see Max nervously walk out onto a “live” national TV show stage and sit next to Jerry, who then interviewed him.
Billy Prisco, Class of 69, became an outstanding college football receiver at Glassboro State.
John Manning, Class of 71, is now a highly respected and successful high school wrestling coach.
Bob Miller, Jr., Class of 64, coached and trained women’s Olympic athletes in Florida.
Both The Old Homestead & the famous Jimmy Buffs locations in Irvington are now torn down.
The great ice cream place, Dairyland, is still operating at the same location in Irvington across from the old Valley Fair on Chancellor Ave.
Mark Russomano, Class of 73, is a rabid dance enthusiast who studies all kinds of styles and performs with dance partners several times a week. Mark also performs admirably as a Frank Sinatra-style singer.
Sportsman Club member, Sol Schwartz, Class of 44, and Jerry Lewis were childhood friends.
Jerry Lewis graduated from Union Ave. School. He also attended Irvington High. He was expelled from Irvington High. Allegedly, the story goes like this: Jerry was roller-skating in the high school hallway. Because of that, he was summoned down to the principal’s office. While at the principal’s office, words were expressed to which Jerry took offense. His reaction was to punch the principal and he was promptly expelled. He then went to South Side High School in Newark & then to Irvington Vocational School on Myrtle Ave. later known as Essex County Vocational & Technical School.
Jerry Lewis Union Ave Grammar School picture in 1940. Can you pick him out?
Irvington musicians Paul “Wisk” Whistler and Jerry Ciccone were members of the Shangra-Las, the famous girl group band in the 60s who sang, Leader of the Pack.
Jerry Ciccone, Irvington’s “Godfather of Guitar” once sang and jammed with Eric Clapton at Criteria Studios in Florida. One of the songs Jerry sang with Eric was Key To The Highway.
Amazingly, Greg “Murphy” Druker, a tough Irvington boxer, once did over 4,000 consecutive situps on the gym floor of Union Ave. School while being supervised & observed by a teacher. In the end he was told to stop. And he could have continued. What an unbelivable feat !!!
Jerry Russomanno, in his teenage years, was able to do 40 to 50 chinups.
Mike Vargas, Class of 74, was the youngest President in the history of the Newark Jaycees.
Ken Negri once scored 5 touchdowns in a single game for the Irvington PAL Colts in 1967.
People who hung out “down the brook” in Irvington ran the risk of being washed away by drainoff water spawned by rainfall that happened in areas like South Mountain Reservation. Apparently there were people who perished in this way.
Frank H. Morrell was the first Principal of Irvington High School.
 Alan A. Siegal is Irvington’s Historian and has written books about both Irvington and Olympic Park. Alan’s great work is published with the Historical Society.
Seasonally, every Sunday morning for many years, the Irvington Park Pond was the home for remote control model boat hobbyists.
Irvington Park Pond was frozen in the winter time and was just the most wonderful place for ice skating and meeting up with friends. Saladino’s Candy Store, on the corner of Augusta and May, was where people went to take a break and get warm with hot chocolate.
Marie “Re-Re” Aiello-Poliseno , Class of 75, is a a Certified Professional Dog Trainer and in addition to working her full time job on Wall Street, runs her own business training dogs in obedience and agility and specializes in behavior modification especially as it relates to aggression. Marie has the designation of CPDT and is one of only 1100 people in the world who qualify for such a distinction. She is also an avid equestrian and has a string of 3 horses that she competes in dressage with. Last year, Marie was awarded a Bronze Medal for her work by the Eastern States Dressage Combined Training Association with one of her horses. In addition, she and her husband have built their dream home on several acres in Montana. I have seen the pictures and the house and grounds are spectacular. Something you would expect a movie star to have built. Damn !!!...Take the girl out of the city and look what the hell happens to her! ... LOL. You go girl !!!
Here is one that I was always proud of. For many years Irvington had the #1 pistol team in the state. And Walter Panek was the #1 individual shooter in the state. It was very rare that Walter did not get a perfect score of 300 and right behind Walter in sharpshooting was Joe Marke. Irvington would routinely win the State PBA Championship and other events. They even topped the much feared FBI team.
Jerry Lewis used to work at Parnes Cleaners on Chancellor Avenue.
Doc Gantz, legendary “Mr. Baseball of New Jersey”, led his Irvington High baseball teams to 15 state and sectional crowns and never had a losing season, winning 436 games while losing only 97. Highlight of Gantz's career was Irvington's record of winning the state's major baseball classic, the Greater Newark Tournament, on five occasions, a feat that has never been equaled.
When doing my (Joey Vargas) Star-Ledger paper route, if I ever had any extra papers, I could always count on going into Buff’s Diner on Lyons Ave. and Coit St. at the end of my route to sell off the remaining papers.
Steve Bubniak, Class of 72, is a successful CPA in Florham Park, NJ.
Grove St. used to end at Lyons Ave. but Imminent Domain was enacted at that location in the mid-60s to make the street continue through to feed into Coit St. I remember that a friend named Richard O’Toole (and his family) were one of the families on Lyons Ave. who were displaced because of that.
Alan A. Siegal is the President of Clinton Cemetary on Union Ave.
Geri Besta, an avid enthusiast of Olympic Park history, has amassed a collection of over 100 postcards on Irvington. Her postcard collection will eventually be scanned and shared with Joey Vargas and Alan A. Siegal and a special section on the web site will be created to house Geri’s treasure trove.
Class of 54 grad Lucille Sena Anlas produces a fabulous Irvington newsletter called The Torch. This newsletter is available via subscription and is beautifully done !!! You can contact Lucille at 732-458-2161 or lanlas@aol.com if you would like to subscribe.
Ex-PAL Colt, Chet Parlavecchio, while an All-American linebacker at Penn State, opened the 1981 Fiesta Bowl with a fumble provoking hit on Southern California’s Heisman Trophy winner Marques Allen. Chet went on to play one season of pro football that was divided between the Arizona Cardinals and the Green Bay Packers. He is now a vaunted head coach in New Jersey formally at Passaic Valley High School and presently at Elizabeth High.
As a 14-year old, Joey Vargas set a state record for a softball throw. The official record was set on the 2nd of three throws at a distance of 309 1/2 feet. On the 3rd throw, the ball traveled 330 feet. However it was disqualified because it landed a hair outside of the 10-yard wide accuracy boundary that was established for the competition.
Two strongmen: Mike Lisanti and Phil Sgroi were co-captains of the 1972 IHS football team.
Three popular and talented players: Warren Gross, Charlie Beach & John Rich were named as the tri-captains of the 1971 Campers football team.
Warren Gross, Class of 71, was suddenly taken from us at the end of his senior year in a tragic accident on the Garden State Parkway.
Irvington’s David Schnitter became a world-class jazz musician playing and touring with some of the greats. He played with Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers. He now has his own band, does session work and teaches at ‘The New School’ in NYC.
Jill Santoriello, the very talented daughter of Joan and Monty Santoriello, wrote the book, lyrics & music for the musical "A Tale Of Two Cities". Opening night for this play in NYC was September 17th, 2008. Hope it will be a rousing success.
The opening night of Jill Santoriello’s play A Tale of Two Cities in NYC.
Left to right: Jill’s brother and stage actor, Alex Santoriello, and the two very proud parents, Joan and Monty Santoriello, both Class of 50, with the author of the book, the lyrics & the music for the show, their beautiful daughter, Jill Santoriello.
Mitch Axelrod, Class of 72 Vice President, has been a respected corporate motivational speaker and trainer. Mitch has produced an outstanding catalog of self-improvemnt video and periodicals.
The genesis of the Irvington PAL Colts was Bob Miller, Jr asking his father the simple question if he would be willing to coach him and his friends so they could play some ball together.
The “Pride of Irvington”, the Irvington PAL Colts, were established in 1958. From 1958 until the team was dissolved in 1975, they amassed an astonishing record of 160 wins, 19 losses and 9 ties. They became a Town Institution that rose to unprecedented local and national glory with several National Championships and were a virtual factory for teaching values, building character and helping to prepare thousands of young kids to grow into fine adults. Just a remarkable story that has an unquestioned, all-time place in Irvington history !!!
The Underwood Dodger’s Little League team once won 33 straight games in the 60s. They had a team loaded with excellent young players like Joe Paolella, Mike Malgeri, Jack Healy, Steve Araneo, Artie Reiter, Craig Schreiner, Joe Longinotti, Dennis Testa, Vic Cotugno and Gene & Frank Travisano. They were coached by Mr. Travisano, Mr. Longinotti and Mr. Araneo.
Joe Hrasna, Class of 72, is a songwriter in Nashville, TN. You can check out his music page at www.myspace.com/jhrasna to hear songs and to see recent photo's. After high school, Joe went to Vanderbilt University in the Nashville area and has been there ever since.
Roslyn Rose, a wonderful soul from the Class of 47, is a creative artist who does Photographic Montages. Her works are exhibited in many galleries. Click here to see the list of places where Rose’s work can be seen. You can also visit her website at www.roslynrose.com
Bob Ackerman, Class of 57, is an incredibly talented Irvingtonian. He is top jazz musician who records and plays professionally. He also runs a saxophone, horn & mouthpiece business. See www.bobackermansaxophones.com . If you would like to check out Bob's musical prowess in person, you can do so at T"s Trattoria on 1090 Bloomfield Ave. in West Caldwell. His wife Pam plays with him as well. Complete dates are on www.pampurv.com
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