IRVINGTON, NJ — Irvington is getting ready to host its annual Unity Day celebration on Saturday, Aug. 11, in Orange Avenue Park.
“It all works together,” said Department of Recreation, Parks and Cultural Affairs Director Donald Malloy on Monday, July 23. “The common objective is to move the two forward — people and community. That’s what it’s about.”
That’s why Malloy said he, Mayor Tony Vauss and the Team Irvington Strong team are working to make Unity Day 2018 a special community event.
“We’re gearing up for the 17th annual Unity Day Celebration at Orange Park on Aug. 11, from noon until 6 p.m.,” said Malloy on Tuesday, July 14. “We’re looking for vendors. Anyone interested in being a vendor can call 973-399-6597. Otherwise, we’re inviting everyone in town to come out and enjoy food, fun rides for kids, entertainment, senior events, music and free pool admission for the day.”
Last year, singer Melba Moore headlined the Unity Day 2017 event, which also featured performances by members of classic rhythm and blues singing groups the Delfonics, Blue Magic, and Ray Goodman and Brown, while DJ Qua and his son, DJ Taj, rocked separate crowds of all ages. House music performer Aly-Us closed out the concert with a mix of dance music and hip-hop.
Malloy said this year’s Unity Day 2018 event would feature a lot of “new stuff.”
“This year, we’ve got the hip-hop artists coming in,” said Malloy on Monday, July 23. “Slick Rick is headlining. Then we have Byron Stingily, Ted Mills of Blue Magic with the group Soul Generation, and a bad group of guys called Anonymous. We’re adding gospel this year. A group called Yah Squad. We have Cream and house music legend Kenny Bobien and Cynthia Tucker. She’s performing and she’s hosting and taking over the whole Unity Day stage. And we have Uncle Majic for the kids and DJ Tash for the kids’ music.”
Malloy said Unity Day 2018 is looking to be one of the best yet.
“We have a lot of new stuff this year, so it should be a bang-up show,” he said.
Vauss could not be reached for comment about this year’s Unity Day event by press time this week, but he heaped a lot of praise on Malloy and the other municipal employees last year.
“I want to give kudos to Donald Malloy, our director of recreation; every year, he puts his heart and soul in this event and we’re just really proud to have this for our community and preach unity and lead by example in the community each and every year,” said Vauss at last year’s event. “So it was a tremendous event today. The weather couldn’t stop us here in Irvington, so I’m just happy that we were able to have this.”
Malloy was modest in accepting praise from the mayor last year.
“It’s something to be very proud of on this day,” Malloy responded. “The mayor always preaches teamwork, teamwork, teamwork and, when … everybody is of the like mind … then you get 150 to 200 percent support … man, you can’t ask for anything better.”
“It’s just a great day for Irvington,” Malloy added. “Our volunteers here, our police staff, fire, everyone that was here did a wonderful job and look, we’re just going to get bigger and better every year. That’s what it’s about.”
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