NEWS from the
TOWNSHIP OF IRVINGTON

"It is the goal of this administration to investigate and implement any initiative that will improve life in Irvington, and to do so with all due care, commitment and concern."
MAYOR WAYNE SMITH

The Irvington Dr. Martin Luther King Commemorative Committee will hold its 23rd annual tribute on Saturday, January 19, 2008 at Irvington High School, 1253 Clinton Avenue.

The program begins at 2:00 p.m. and will feature performances by the Irvington High School Gospel Singers, Union Avenue Middle School Chorus and the Berkeley Terrace School Chorus.

Ahmed Screven, a lifelong Irvington resident and member of the Board of Education since April 2005, will serve as guest speaker. His extensive record of community involvement includes the establishment of the Ahmed Screven Civic Association and the sponsorship of the Annual Irvington Senior Citizens' Easter Brunch.

Screven will compare the epic, historic mission of King, who fought for social and economic freedom, to that of Moses, who led his people from physical "enslavement."

Screven is a lifelong member of Bethesda Church of God in Christ in Newark, where he serves as assistant pastor, in addition to holding other leadership positions. He serves the national headquarters of the COGIC ministries as executive secretary for the Department of Evangelism, the director of operations for the Auxiliaries in Ministry and the assistant legal counsel in the Office of the General Counsel. A graduate of the Rutgers School of Law, Screven is the managing partner of the Screven Marc LLC law firm in Irvington, an attorney-at-law for the U.S. District Court and a professor of law and justice at Essex County College and at Gibbs College.

In 1986, Screven was a fellow and lecturer of the Oxford Roundtable at Oxford University, England.

Mayor Wayne Smith will award U. S. savings bonds to the winners of the annual school district-wide essay contest held in honor of the civil rights leader. "This encourages our children to recognize the legacy of Dr. King, who paved the way for the freedoms they enjoy today," Smith said.

The annual Dr. MLK Memorial Award will be bestowed upon Sandra R. Jones, council member for the South Ward, Irvington's largest. "Her longevity and commitment" to community embody the spirit and mission of Dr. King, according to At-Large Council Member D. Bilal Beasley, chairperson of the commemorative committee. Jones is the president of the decade-old advocacy organization, Friends of Irvington Park; and is coalescing area residents to form the Friends of Chancellor Park, site of an $860,000 community center that was christened in October 2007. She formerly represented the: Board of Education as vice president, the Camptown Business Improvement District as a member and the Township of Irvington for the Essex County Open Space Fund.

For more information about the King celebration, call (973) 371-6954.

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