I woke up this morning and looked at my phone. The date said Tuesday April 19th 2022. Every year April 19th is a very tough day for me and many others in Sussex County. We knew two young men who needlessly lost their lives on that day. Today it has been 25 years. George Gallara, the owner of Tony's Pizza and Pasta in Hardyston was only 25 years old. Jeremy Giordano was his friend and right hand man. He was just 22 years old. Back then my wife and I ordered pizza from Tony's all the time. I wrote and produced George's radio commercials. So I called him often. I admired this young business man who was working so hard to be a success. The week before they were both murdered on Scott Road in Franklin. I stopped in to pick up my family's pizza and dinner order. Jeremy held the door for me as I left. He smiled and said "have a great night." I didn't know it would be my last memory of both of them. Two weeks before a sporting goods store on Route 23 in Franklin was broken into and several guns were stolen. It was a news story on WSUS the next day. I hoped that the people who stole the guns wouldn't use them to hurt anyone. That would not be the case. On the night of Saturday April 19th 1997 I was in my office getting airline tickets and Disney passes together for the annual WSUS Group Trip to Orlando. My 5 year old son Matt was helping me. My wife was at our home in Hamburg packing. It was pretty late when I got everything together and left the office with Matt. As we sat at the Mabie Street light a car made a left off Route 23 and rushed past us. When I arrived home the master bedroom window was open. There was a nice cool breeze. My wife and I heard the gunshots. We had no idea what had just happened. We left for Orlando with 15 other families on our group trip early the next morning. The gun shots we heard were the ones that killed George and Jeremy. They were trying to deliver pizza to an abandoned house on Scott Road. The two young men who fired the shots planned to kill the first pizza delivery man they could lure there. George was leery of delivering pizza that late. So he closed the restaurant and rode with Jeremy. The two men who murdered George and Jeremy were caught and will spend the rest of their lives in prison. They are not worth mentioning here. I got to know Jeremy's parents after he was murdered. When I started to attend the Stockholm United Methodist Church. His mom sang in the choir. Jeremy's dad would eventually try to recover from loosing his son by volunteering as a Big Brother. George's family continues to operate the business he started in his loving memory. I stop in for lunch and to pick up pizza quite often. The restaurant hasn't changed much in 25 years. There's still a Wednesday Pizza Special. George's high school graduation picture hangs on the wall. His sister is always there behind the counter taking customers orders. His parents Angelo and Connie are there most days too. Angelo turned 80 years old this year. Please keep the Gallara and Giordano Families in your prayers today. I hope we never forget them or the wonderful sons they lost on this day 25 years ago.
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