George Gramby Day turns 19 in Morristown

Some impressive numbers were put up on Saturday at Morristown’s Abbett Avenue playground:

• 1,000 hot dogs (estimated)
• 1,000 hamburgers (estimated)
• 49-45, score of Morristown basketball victory against Newark team
• 8-7, score of softball victory by Eva’s Kitchen halfway house of Paterson against Morristown’s Market Street Mission.

But the biggest number was 19: Saturday marked the 19th year for George Gramby Day.

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George Gramby was a recovered drug addict who started a substance abuse referral program called Beginnings, which the town funded until 2006. George died of AIDS in 1992.

His life is celebrated every year with games and food and face-painting for the kids.  Saturday was a chance to relax and enjoy a slice of summer with friends. We especially enjoyed chatting with members of Morristown High’s state champion football team.

Defensive star Shawn Bell is preparing to head to Lackawanna College this fall, where he plans to play basketball and football. It’s a two-year program; at the other end, he hopes to attend Rutgers. Shawn said his friend Kevin Gaskins, the Colonials’ great running back, also is bound for Lackawanna, with an eye toward landing in the backfield at Boston College.

Also on hand Saturday were Kamau Dumas, Tramar Howell and Mike Conway, who all are returning to MHS this year to strive for another state title. It’s going to be a challenge; the team lost 18 seniors to graduation.

“We lost a lot of seniors. But so did a lot of other teams,” said Kamau, a cornerback who will be a junior this fall.

Being champs required a lot of sacrifices, like passing up classmates’ victory parties.

“But it was all worth it,” Kamau said, proudly showing his cell-phone screensaver–a photo of his championship ring.