On January 19th 2012, the Governor of the State of New Jersey, Chris Christie, came to Christian Love Baptist Church in Irvington for a Town Hall Meeting.

The purpose of Christie’s visit was to get feedback from people in the city. The church was standing room only, and the overflow room downstairs was packed. Hundreds came out to hear what the governor had to say about crime, taxes, politics, and the state of New Jersey. Several clergy, politicians, dignitaries, bossiness owners, community leaders, and NJ residents from all over the area were in attendance.

Pastor Reginald Jackson performed the opening prayer. Irvington Mayor Wayne Smith welcomed everyone, and Rev. Ron Christian asked the crowd to remember that they are in a church, saying “Let’s be civil here today, and remember we can all agree to disagree.”

At about 10:45 A.M., the governor came out and took the podium. The crowd applauded him, not because of his political stances, but because he showed up to speak to the people.

On Saturday, August 13th, around 50 family, friends and supporters were waiting to greet some cyclists who rode cross-country in a fund-raising effort. As predicted, the cyclists were seen on Court Street turning onto Broad Street in Newark around midday. Everyone started cheering and congratulated Irvington Council President John Sowell and his partner Joe.., Local Talk congratulated the two great bike riders, who achieved the goal in precise timing as predicted.

The Final Numbers for the entire coast-to coast trip are:

-          3,053: Total Miles from Oceanside, California to Irvington, New Jersey

-          212: Total hours in the saddle (on the bike seat)

-          186,829: Total calories burned or 53.25 lbs. of body weight, 3,500 calories equals 1 lb.

-          28: Total number of consecutive cycling days to complete trip from Jul. 17 to Aug. 14

Here it the final report:

Day No. 25: We are both feeling jittery knowing that we are so close to home. We started rolling at 6:30 AM from Frostburg, Maryland en route to Chambersburg, Pennsylvania 100 miles away.  The day was off to a terrific start, left the parking lot turn right and we had a 10 mile downhill, and we hardly pedaled for the first half an hour. It was a cool morning maybe 65 degrees, going downhill right from the start made it feel even colder.

Irvington – Essex County Executive Joseph N. DiVincenzo, Jr. announced on Thursday, July 28th that a project to develop a synthetic grass soccer field and enhance three park entrances at Essex County Irvington Park was completed. The project is part of the County Executive’s ongoing initiative to modernize recreation facilities and ensure that the county’s parks continue to meet the changing needs of the community.

“Throughout Essex, school athletic teams, municipal recreation programs and residents casually playing sports rely heavily on the County Parks System for fields and facilities. Improvements like these enable us to provide safe, first-class facilities and maximize use of the space,” DiVincenzo said. “We are pleased to partner with I-ART on another project to modernize Essex County Irvington Park and provide our children and residents with modern, safe and attractive facilities for recreation,” he noted.

John Sowell will not be presiding over the next Township Council meeting here Aug. 10 - but he is being excused for a good cause.

Sowell, 44, anticipates being most of the way home from his anticipated July 17 start from Oceanside, California. He and concurrent bicyclist Joe Batista, 62, of Cranford, will be seven days west of finishing their nearly 3,000-mile cross-country trek in Newark.

"We'll be flying out in anticipation of starting in Oceanside," sad Sowell to "Local Talk" after the July 12 council meeting. "We anticipate traveling 90 to 120 miles a day, depending on weather and terrain. It'll be a straight trip through 10 states."

Sowell and Batista have considerable practice in bicycling long distances. The former Newark official in charge of city park cleanups, for example, has been a long-time member of the Major Taylor Cycling Club - New York/New Jersey Chapter.