"I" is for Irvington, in my Municipal Collection.
The first thought I had when writing this post was: "What is Irvington doing here?" There must be a million people living there.
Population just doesn't make a place a City. Even though the record shows a population of 53,000, this place is incorporated as Township, not a City.
With this community clearly identified as a Township I made the count of badges in my display to see where it sits in alphabetical order. It is number 19. It sits in the 3rd row.
The sad news here is, I'll never get a piece for every municipality in New Jersey. There are over 500. I can't even name half of them.
When I grew up in Newark the family estate (35' x100' lot) was in an area that bordered on three other communities. I could walk to any of them in less then five minutes. Irvington was the closest. I walked there often.
I went to Church in Irvington. The girls I dated were from Irvington. I got married at Sanford Heights Church in Irvington. God that was 45 years ago. I even lived in Irvington for a couple of years. God, I have of roots in this township.
During my career I often had jobs there. Sometimes my memories as a kid crossed with a job assignment as an adult. The boy in me remembered Olympic Park. It was a well known amusement park. It had a nice pool, a huge wooden roller coaster, and nice area where bands played. My dad, a Newark Cop, moonlighted by playing clarinet with Captain Joe Basile's Band on Sunday's. Dad had enough seniority that he got quite a few Sundays off.
One of my work assignment took me into Olympic Park. I got in free! This time the park closed was closed. The pool was empty, the roller coaster was silent, and the band was gone. A Detective from Irvington and I spent a few hours checking out attractions finding only memories. Even though we could not find this dumb kid, we established a good working friendship. When we talked there were usually three subjects that came up. First was Olympic Park, Second was my Badge Collection, and Last was something to do with the Job.
Harry eventually made a nice donation to my collection. In fact he had three pieces for me. All I had to do was get him some information. I was so motivated I made this trade 'face to face' in less than an hour. It was just better to do it that way. Of the items he donated to my collection none were from Irvington. What I care about today, as you have ascertained, is the memories, and to have this fine badge to in my collection.
It is a design used by many municipalities. This one is stamped, on the top panel, "IRVINGTON," while the second panel reads "Police." In the number box is the number "90." It's simple, It's traditional, and It's a keeper.
