EAST ORANGE, NJ — The annual East Orange–Barringer Old Guard Dinner will take place on Wednesday, Nov. 23, at Galloping Hill Caterers, 1085 Galloping Hill Road in Union, at 6 p.m.
The honorees are Thomas Finch, Leon Moss, Rae Oliver, Monique Redding-Munford and Fabian Thorne. In addition, the varsity East Orange football teams from 1953, 1963, 1972, 1975 and 1991 will be honored.
Stephen Shaw, a 1977 East Orange graduate who was a running back on the football team, is the president of East Orange Old Guard.
The Old Guard Dinner, an annual rite of the fall season, is held on the eve of one of the nation’s oldest Thanksgiving high school football rivalries, East Orange High School, which is now East Orange Campus High School, versus Barringer High School.
The gala celebrates a legacy of scholastic and athletic excellence, bringing together the veteran rival combatants to reminisce and swap war stories about the epic battles that oftentimes determined the state championship. One of the most memorable games was the 1967 “mud bowl” at Newark Schools Stadium. The game ended in a 13-13 tie; East Orange won the state championship, having gone undefeated the entire season.
The East Orange Old Guard Inc. is concerned with more than just football. It is a civic-minded nonprofit organization whose mission is to preserve and perpetuate the East Orange–Barringer football community. Its focus is to create sustainable youth development and enrichment programs.
The East Orange–Barringer football series began in 1897. The series was stopped for a few years but resumed in 2009. East Orange has won every meeting since 2009.
This year’s game will be held on Thanksgiving Day at Paul Robeson Stadium in East Orange at 11 a.m.
For more information on the Old Guard Dinner, contact Clarence Turner at 646-379-9474, Mada Orrell at 973-477-2050 or Monique Redding-Munford at 973-978-6359.
Photos Courtesy of Mustafa Hooten/D1MediaPro
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