Bill Payne to Be Honored

On Thursday, May 5^th, Essex County Executive Joseph N. DiVincenzo, Jr. will honor the memories of five people who made positive contributions to the Essex County community during a celebration of their lives in the Cherry Blossom Welcome Center in Essex County Branch Brook Park. The County Executive will announce that five memorial park benches have been dedicated to the five people who passed away in the last year and that their names have been added to the Cherry Blossom Giving Tree in the Cherry Blossom Welcome Center. Those being honored are Jeanne S. Duffy, a long-time education advocate and volunteer with the South Orange-Maplewood Education Foundation; Barbara Lardieri Lawton, owner of The Funding Group, which successfully procured State and Federal funding to benefit green spaces, public health and safety, public utilities, roads, historic preservation, and social services; James M. Mooney, a retired Newark Fire Department Captain who also was an accomplished singer of Irish melodies; William E. Payne, the longest serving elected official in West Caldwell when he retired from the Council in 2009; and Joao “JC” Silva, a beloved chef at St. Philip’s Academy in Newark who positively influenced students about healthy eating and lifestyles.