Photo by Chris Sykes Irvington Mayor Tony Vauss, left, stands beside Irvington Chamber of Commerce President Sandra Ferguson as she points to the image of the mayor that was presented to him in honor of his status as the 'quarterback' of Irvington on Thursday, Oct. 13, at the Irvington Chamber of Commerce's 31st annual Police and Fire Heroism Awards Dinner at the Hanover Manor in East Hanover. The new 'quarterback' award was created to honor the mayor's many accomplishments since being sworn into office in 2014.
Irvington Mayor Tony Vauss, left, stands beside Irvington Chamber of Commerce President Sandra Ferguson as she points to the image of the mayor that was presented to him in honor of his status as the ‘quarterback’ of Irvington on Thursday, Oct. 13, at the Irvington Chamber of Commerce’s 31st annual Police and Fire Heroism Awards Dinner at the Hanover Manor in East Hanover. The new ‘quarterback’ award was created to honor the mayor’s many accomplishments since being sworn into office in 2014.
IRVINGTON, NJ — The Irvington Chamber of Commerce hosted its 31st annual Police and Fire Heroism Awards Dinner on Thursday, Oct. 13, at the Hanover Manor on Eagle Rock Avenue in East Hanover.
This year’s honorees included: Deputy Chief Michael Rosa, captains John Del Sordo and John Durish, Lt. Evan Jones; and Irvington firefighters Paul Atkinson, Tyrone Brown, Carmine Martignetti and Michael Randolph; Irvington detectives Mitchell Molina, Christopher Jenkins, Brechner Jeannot, Jamar Neal and Shanara Cannon, and officers Benjamin Ramos, Stanton Holder, Ajah Dobson, Michael Scottbey, Peter Rosemy, Dwight Jackson, Betty Ramos and Doral Love; and Essex County Sheriff’s Department Detective Capt. Vito D’Alessio, Irvington Police Department Detective Sgt. Barry Zepeda, Bloomfield Police Department Detective Anthony Piccinno and detectives Noel Mendez, Jimmy Rodriguez, Christopher Bozios and Gino Izzo of the Essex County Sheriff’s Department Bureau of Narcotics.
Awards from the chamber are given to individual officers and firefighters or select units based on specific cases or incidents they were involved with during the course of the previous year, in which they performed their jobs or assigned tasks particularly well or otherwise went above and beyond the call of duty.
Irvington Chamber of Commerce President Sandra Ferguson said Thursday, Oct. 13, “It’s important that we honor anybody in any organization that goes above and beyond their call, like the police and firemen. Their job is risky as it is. But when they extend themselves to help the community to better it and cut down on the crime and maybe the fires that’s going on with the Fire Department, they need to be awarded for it. We need to show them how much we appreciate the job that they’re doing.”
Teamwork is important in any profession, Ferguson said, and it’s also integral to improving a community and bringing it together for a common cause of prosperity.
“There is a link between public safety and business, because the Chamber of Commerce deals with the Police Department, the Fire Department and the other entities in the community,” Ferguson said. “All of them work together, hand-in-hand, to help better the community.”
The Irvington Chamber of Commerce presented its first-ever Quarterback Award to Mayor Tony Vauss, for individual effort, accomplishment and leadership.
Stuyvesant Press owner Mike Roesch showed up to the event with the award and described it, saying, “It has the mayor’s face inside of it and he’s holding a football that says ‘Irvington’ on it, because he’s the quarterback of Irvington and I think it’s appropriate because he’s doing a great job.”
Staying with the football theme, Ferguson said if she had to equate the town government and business community’s working relationship to a football team, she would be playing linebacker.
Roesch said he knows exactly which position he would be playing, too.
“I know what position I play; it’s left out,” said Roesch. “We really need the people of Irvington to support the chamber and the chamber really needs to continue to support the people of Irvington. So it’s a good mix.”
“I was not a quarterback when I played football for Irvington High School back in the day, but I can play quarterback,” said Vauss on Thursday, Oct. 13. “I’m being called the quarterback by the Chamber of Commerce; by an outside agency. This is great. I’m just glad that everyone in town, we’re on one accord, we’re in one step. We’re really trying to make Irvington better together and that speaks volumes, comparing to any other community around. That sort of thing doesn’t happen.”
Public Safety Director Tracy Bowers and Sgt. Sheyla Zepeda of the Irvington Police Department served as the masters of ceremony at the dinner. Bowers is also an Irvington native who attended Irvington public schools with Vauss, and played on the football team with him.
“He wasn’t the quarterback in high school; he played linebacker and I played wide receiver,” said Bowers on Thursday, Oct. 13. “I think it’s very fitting that he got an award for being the quarterback of Irvington because, just like in football, he has his hands on every play. Every play starts with the quarterback and he directs the players to go this way and that way and we have had tremendous success with him being the quarterback.”
“He gives me what I need, in terms of fighting crime and public safety, so what more can you ask for,” asked Bowers. “So that’s my ball.”
Vauss said he appreciates being named the award, because he believes in teamwork and the entire team concept.
“Being a quarterback means nothing if you don’t have somebody to hike you the ball; you don’t have somebody to block for you; you don’t have somebody to hand it off to; and you don’t have somebody to throw it to,” said Vauss. “So being a quarterback means nothing if you don’t have a team around you. It’s just a testament to the town buying into what we’re doing, not just individuals buying in, but the whole community buying in, and I just think it’s great.”
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