WESTWOOD—September, for decades tinged with grief, also sees the return of at two major local sporting events, both of which celebrate the community and the power of inspiration.
The Second Annual Haydn S. Smith Memorial Basketball Tournament is set for Sept. 10 at Hegeman Park, Sand Road.
The Fifth Annual Boots vs. Badges Softball Tournament, honoring the memory of Detective Tyron Donta Franklin, is set for Sept. 24 at Westvale Park.
Mayor Raymond Arroyo tells Pascack Press that both growing borough traditions are “hugely important community-unifying events representing the best of Westwood: fellowship, inclusion, and memory. They honor the indelible mark that Haydn and Tyron left upon us and our town.”
Do you play basketball? Do you have a team you can assemble? Then you’re ready to go! That’s the introduction propelling everyone’s invitation to join the Second Annual Haydn S. Smith Memorial Basketball Tournament. Flyers are going up all over the borough.
Smith was a longtime Westwood resident and prominent community leader, instrumental in the revitalization of Hegeman Park and the development of members of the Westwood community.
The tournament, pitting Westwood’s police and fire department players against their Paterson colleagues, is free and open to the public. On tap: food and drinks for purchase, vendors, and a DJ.
Smith died on Dec. 1, 2020 at age 69 after a lifetime of service.
At the first annual tourney honoring Smith, Arroyo said “Haydn’s contribution was invaluable. And his devotion to our Westwood community is memorialized in this event.” Arroyo told Pascack Press on Aug. 9 that first tourney was “a smashing success.”
Cassiel Smith, Haydn’s son, told Pascack Press on Aug. 9, “What people can expect is to experience the things he was able to contribute to the community, specifically Hegeman Park and the Sand Road community, but at the event we can expect to have a lot of fun, and to connect with neighbors and other community members, maybe people we have not seen in a long time.”
He added, “There’ll be amenities at the park that cater to kids, so bring your kids out.”
He recalled he he used to play football in the area as a Westwood Wolverine. “We used to call it the dumps… This is a special community. A lot of people put a lot of love into it.”
Register at 10 a.m. Tip off is at noon. Visit on Facebook at Haydn Smith’s Community Legacy. For more info: Cassiel Smith at cassiel.s.s.smith@gmail.com or (336) 577-7442, or Tina Jackson at tnamae030@icloud.com or (201) 485-9842.
Boots vs. Badges
Westwood’s Fifth Annual Boots vs. Badges Softball Tournament is in memory of Paterson PO Tyron Donta Franklin, who in 2007 was shot and killed after being identified as a police officer during a thug’s robbery attempt at a fast food restaurant.
The “Officer Down Memorial Page” explains Franklin, of Westwood, was paying for his food when the suspect approached him and demanded his money.
“During the ensuing struggle, the man shot him four times. The man then shot him two more times as he lay on the ground after a witness yelled at him saying the victim was an officer. The man also shot and wounded a citizen who attempted to come to Officer Franklin’s assistance.
“The suspect fled the scene after the shooting. He was arrested by officers from the Paterson Police Department and the United States Marshals Service in nearby Irvington on Jan. 16, 2007. On May 9, 2008, the man was convicted of Franklin’s murder and sentenced to 37 years in prison,” the site explains.
Franklin had served with the Paterson Police Department for eight months. He is survived by a son.
In 2020, Bevennia Franklin-Marks followed in her brother’s footsteps and joined the Paterson police force.
In 2021, Boots vs. Badges changed step as the borough’s volunteer fire department had an unavoidable scheduling conflict. Civilian volunteers stepped up to prove that the show must go on.
At Westvale Park that day, Lebanon Baptist Church pastor JerQuentin Sutton — “the tournament’s spiritual leader and Westwood’s right fielder” in Arroyo’s subsequent report — “pulled his glove from a shrink-wrapped plastic bag, much like King Arthur retrieving Excalibur from the stone.”
His honor added, “And his WPD team played royally, like kings, showing much early promise. Bats and gloves came alive in the first game. WPD batters lined rope after rope, finding all the gaps in the PFD defense to take an early lead that they never relinquished.”