Hats on to old RFH friends!
Continue reading Retro RFH Girls’ Hats On & Cheers MomentTag Archives: RFH
Honoring an RFH Icon: George Giffin Memorial Fund Created
Move their feet to the beat of a George Giffin Memorial Fund is exactly what Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School (RFH) alumni, in partnership with high school’s Education Foundation, have done. The foundation was created to honor and advance the passions of the iconic longtime RFH biology and dance teacher.
George, or “Giff,” as his students affectionately called him, garnered iconic status in his 35 years, from 1956 to 1991, at RFH. The Class of 1991, the last class for which Giff taught, dedicated its senior yearbook to him.
For a stint during his RFH tenure, Giff served as chairman of the high school’s Science Department. He also taught an elective ballroom dance class at RFH that quickly became a must and was known to keep students on their toes, dancing with class in any social setting. Post high school, Giff showed up at many an RFH reunion or wedding to get the dance party started and going all night. If you saw him around the towns in his retired years, he’d gladly tell you all about the joy that dancing in and out of those high school years gave him. And he wasn’t alone. For RFH alumni, a dancing Giff appearance always made the celebration complete at any event.
For that reason, the money raised for the new George Giffin Memorial Fund will be used to support RFH programs for which Giff held a deep commitment — those with which he aimed to empower students at RFH to achieve their goals and develop a true love of learning and living.
Remembered by countless students for his quirky, enigmatic personality, Giff was known to pepper his lessons with a lot of laughter, cheer, soft-shoe steps and jokes in and out of the classroom.
In addition to teaching, Giff was, at different times, both the girls’ and boys’ basketball coach as well as the RFH Golf Team coach. Known as always the fearless pioneer, while looking for an opportunity decades ago for girls to be more involved in school activities, Giff created and directed the RFH Girls’ Drill Team.
The girls on the team practiced twirling rifles Giff-choreographed routines at football halftimes. At one time, the team was comprised of 100 girls; and, in addition to football game performances, marched, for years, in the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in NYC.
Word among RFH alumni spread recently when members of the RFH Class of 1973 spearheaded the effort to create the memorial fund in Giff’s honor.
“We had many outstanding teachers at RFH,” said Class of ’73 grad Bill Davidson. “Mr. Giffin was not only an outstanding teacher but an energetic, spirited, and talented individual who was admired and remembered by so many.
“Giff taught students over four decades which saw so much change but he never lost his ability to connect with students over those years! He was a gift!”
Classmate Cindy Sherman elaborated, saying, “George Giffin saw something in me that I did not see in myself … for that, I am forever grateful.”
Along with Davidson and Sherman, Steve Farely and Ellen Spears comprise the four-member Steering Committee for the Fund.
The RFH Education Foundation, a charitable organization with the mission of enriching the high school curriculum by funding projects and grants that fall outside of the school system’s mainstream budget.
George Giffin died in 2014 at the age of 85. He was a longtime Fair Haven resident. His wife, Marcia, a former Knollwood School English teacher, still lives in Fair Haven. Prior to his time at RFH, he served as a captain with the U.S. Marine Corps during the Korean War. A 1951 graduate of Colby College in Waterville, ME, he earned a master’s degree from Colby as well as from the University of Vermont.
Outside of the RFH halls and grounds, Giff was an active member of various local religious, social and charitable groups. He was a founder of the Fair Haven Fields Committee and the director of the Fair Haven Recreation Commission for several years.
To donate to the fund campaign starting on April 1 (no joke), visit the RFH Education Foundations’ website.
— Elaine Van Develde & RFH press release information
Retro RFH Dudes’ Surf into Spring
A classic reprise for some cheer, just because we’re warming up for spring fever …
That winter chill is still in the air. The beach is pretty barren. But thoughts of catching a wave into some forecasted spring weather tomorrow are with many in the Rumson-Fair Haven area.
Continue reading Retro RFH Dudes’ Surf into SpringIn Memoriam: RFH Grad, Fair Haven-Raised Sara Rita Mackin, 56
There will be one more empty chair at the next Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School (RFH) reunion.
Continue reading In Memoriam: RFH Grad, Fair Haven-Raised Sara Rita Mackin, 56Retro RFH: Masked & Living to Ride
The sun has made an appearance or three lately, snow is being sopped up by fertile soil and people are getting ready to make a break for it and ride out of bleak pandemic times and into the sunset. Free.
Continue reading Retro RFH: Masked & Living to RideRFH’s Hayden Marciszewski: Composing Winning Music
Call it composing for COVID-19 composure.
Continue reading RFH’s Hayden Marciszewski: Composing Winning MusicIn Memoriam: Longtime Little Silver Resident, RFH Class of ’52 Grad, Phyllis Darragh, 87
Former longtime Little Silver resident and Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High (RFH) School Class of 1952 graduate Phyllis Ann Darragh passed away on Feb. 10 at her son’s home in Windham, NH. She was 87.
Continue reading In Memoriam: Longtime Little Silver Resident, RFH Class of ’52 Grad, Phyllis Darragh, 87Retro Fair Haven Snow Day Creation
A reprise from February, 2017 in honor of the next snowfall due today …
With the onslaught of snow and pandemic cloistering lately there’s been a lot of chatter about snow days and how to get creative with the white stuff. Well, in the 1970s, a few R-FH area kids took their creativity farther than most would be allowed to these days. And that chatter could have well been the chattering of teeth in the freezing weather.
Retro Party On with RFH Besties
“Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha omg. I miss those days of laughing so hard and almost peeing my pants.”
Lisa Friedman Schermerhorn
There’s something about laughter among childhood friends …
Continue reading Retro Party On with RFH BestiesA Virtual RFH Student-Athletes’ Signing
They did it the pandemic way. Nine Rumson-Fair Haven High School (RFH) student-athletes made their college choices official on Wednesday by signing Letters of Intent virtually, committing to their respective college academic/athletic careers.
Continue reading A Virtual RFH Student-Athletes’ SigningRetro RFH Kids’ Snow Time
A reprise, because, in this weather, there’s no business like snow business …
Snow days due to the recent pandemic time snow-in bring back memories of winters way past. RFHers of yesteryear always found some simple fun pretty fast when the school bell didn’t ring and the fire horn signaled no school.
Continue reading Retro RFH Kids’ Snow TimeRemembrance: Fair Havenite, RFH Grad, Musician, Shannon Gilvary; Fundraising for the RFH Band in His Memory
The Rumson-Fair Haven community and beyond is in mourning over the death to COVID-19 of Terence “Shannon” Gilvary, a musician and former longtime Fair Havenite and Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School Class of 1986 graduate. He was 52.
Continue reading Remembrance: Fair Havenite, RFH Grad, Musician, Shannon Gilvary; Fundraising for the RFH Band in His Memory
You must be logged in to post a comment.