Tag Archives: RFH

Looking Back: Donovan’s Sandy Demise

By Elaine Van Develde

Seven years ago it began. And when Superstorm Sandy stopped its swirling on the sliver of peninsula that is Sea Bright, it plopped the iconic Donovan’s Reef down in bits and pieces.

People of the Rumson-Fair Haven area mourned the loss to a relentless, remorseless Sandy. And when they were allowed to travel over the bridge into Sea Bright, many diehard loyalists of the tiki hut by the sea could be found just sitting and staring at what once was. They walked the sea wall looking for souvenir scraps reminiscent of their glory days at Donovan’s. They talked. They even cried.

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Retro RFH Ghostly Gaggle

An RFH ghostly gathering on Halloween in 1977
Photo/George Day

A Halloween reprise to honor the season of the ghost …

Scary season has set in. People in the Rumson-Fair Haven area aren’t just out raking leaves, either. They’re haunting up their homes, crafting costumes and getting into the spirit. So, why not add a little extra retro spooking from RFH students of the past?

BOO … who or what? It was all in the haunt for RFHers back in the 1970s. They started getting the Halloween party going early on and ended up with a pretty festive feast of ghouls on the grounds of the high school and, yes, beyond.

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Retro RFH Football Stripes Earned

In case you haven’t seen this one before and in honor of football season … a reprise …

RFH football team of the past
Photo/RFH

Do we have a cheer for RFH football? Yes, football season has kicked into high gear at RFH, so let’s take a moment to tackle this handsome team of players of an unknown year as well as the issue of name and uniform style.

Is it all in a name or uniform? Certainly not. It’s all about the game and how it’s played, of course. But, there are some quirks worth taking the ball and running with for a bit. No harm, no fumble. Just fun.

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A Retro RFH Surf Team Thumbs Up

RFH surfer boys at the Sea Bright beach circa 1978.
Photo/George Day

With all the talk about the RFH Surf Team’s success, thoughts of the good ol’ days of surfing with the RFH cool guys prompts a thumbs up for those bygone years, just like in the photo that so many have seen before.

Hey, it’s worth one more reprise, considering …

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Scene Around: RFH Surf Team Triumph

RFH Surf Team after their NSSA Northeast Conference High School Championship win
Photo/RFH Surf Team/Facebook

The Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School (RFH) Surf Team rode a wave of success on Sunday. The team took fourth place in the National Scholastic Surfing Association (NSSA) Northeast Conference High School Championships competition on Sunday in Spring Lake.

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Retro RFH Foul Weather Junior Lounging

Juniors of the RFH Class of ’79 lounge in the Junior Lounge
Photo/George Day

Some moments are meant for just lounging … like the persistent foul fall weather of the past few days. There was a place for that for juniors at RFH back in the day.

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Retro RFH Powder Puff Cheer Boys

The boy cheerleaders of RFH Powder Puff Football 1977
Photo/George Day

RFHers have fallen into football season with the usual panache. Everything about playing the game has always been done in true pro style — from the players to the cheerleaders.

Though, while cheerleaders are still cheering at RFH, they do so with different outfits and cheer style. And seeing cheerleaders all dressed up like some 1977 guys on the sidelines is something that never happens (or at least like this) anymore.

The boy cheerleaders of RFH Powder Puff Football 1977
Photo/George Day
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RFH Girls Soccer: Scoring Wins on Field & In Charity

RFH Girls Soccer Team
Photo/RFH

The Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School’s (RFH) Girls Soccer team is putting itself in someone else’s cleats.

The girls’ team has come a long way since the late 1970s, when one girl raised a ruckus by scoring a goal for girl athletes by using some fancy footwork to earn a spot on the boys’ team. Since 1984, there’s been a girls’ team at RFH and its a winning one in more ways than one — teamwork to score for one another and others.

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Scene Around: Fair Havenites’ Run for Heroes’ Sake

2019 Tunnel to Towers Race in NY
Photos/Bill Heath

There’s a lot of casual hometown pride running through Fair Haven and it has to do with a hero’s run in New York and a couple of longtime borough residents, friendship and many years of brotherhood in emergency response.

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Retro RFH Girl’s Soccer

Chris Bowden, RFH Class of 1976 was the first girl to play soccer on the boys’ team.
Photo/RFH 1976 Yearbook

1975-76 RFH Soccer Team Photo/RFH 1976 Yearbook

A reprise in honor of girls’ soccer season at RFH …

Yes, soccer season has kicked in. And there are and have been girls teams at RFH since 1984. But, that was not always the case …

When Rumson-Fair Haven Retrospect shared a photo of the boys’ team from back in the late 1970s, RFH grads challenged all to remember who the first girl was to play on the boys’ team.

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Retro RFH Teacher & Administrator Coolness

A look back at RFH science teacher James Parker and Assistant Superintendent Donald Trotter Photo/George Day

An R-FH Retro reprise …

Well, all are back to school at Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School (RFH), too. Back to school experiences on the brain, we look back to the new experience of high school for freshmen.

With back-to-school thoughts and new beginnings come hopes of a good teacher or two and memories of the ones who we thought were the coolest and, yes, the worst and scariest to a newbie RFHer. There were also those administrators who weren’t just a Charlie Brown teacher voice cawing rules over the ol’ daydreaming student’s non-thought process. Some, or a couple in particular, are remembered as a real education innovators.

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