Munchie’s owners Sophia and Reid Taylor (Facebook)
When my wife Sophia, aka Munchie, and I moved to South Orange in 2007, we felt we’d found a community that gave us the very best mix of where we’d come from, Newark and Hopewell (by Princeton) respectively. Then, when we got the chance to open our restaurant on Irvington Ave. in 2010, it was a perfect fit. We quickly learned how disdained, by much of South Orange, and neglected, by the city’s elected officials, Irvington Avenue was.
So, when Sheena Collum was campaigning to become Trustee, she was the very first direct outreach that we’d received from the town. She sat and asked us what progress we’d like to see on Irvington Avenue, and what help she could be in realizing it. At the time, I didn’t believe her promises, but I should have.
Amazingly enough, Ms. Collum has not only been true to her promises, but in the scant year and a half of her term, she has greatly surpassed them — bringing real and substantive positive change to the now branded Seton Village area. From decorative lights, as seen in the Village, to fantastic events, the Food Truck/Craft Beer extravaganza, and her most recent success, partnering with Maplewood and Newark to win $850,000 in Grant money to improve the entire Irvington Ave. corridor, Ms. Collum is breathing new life into our, previously, economically stagnant business corridor.
The continued future of our restaurant, in large measure, is tremendously more optimistic, because of Ms. Collum making a priority of turning things around in Seton Village. Her great energy, her passion for inclusivity and her great capacity to listen and communicate for the benefit of all of South Orange make us quite confident that she has only just gotten started, and once elected South Orange President, we will all see great things happening in South Orange.
Sincerely,
Sophia and Reid Taylor
South Orange, NJ
