Category Archives: Local Life

A look, in photos, of latest area events, local everyday people and places.

Retro Swim Days with Connor Jaeger & Sis

Connor and Dana Jaeger at in the much younger years of swimming Photo/courtesy of Jaeger family (photo of a photo)
Connor and Dana Jaeger at in the much younger years of swimming
Photo/courtesy of Jaeger family (photo of a photo)

It wasn’t that long ago that Connor Jaeger made the U.S. Olympic team by winning first place in two events in the trials: 400- and 1,500-meter freestyle.

When he first started swimming, decades ago, though, it was after taking lessons at Dosil’s Sports Center in Middletown mostly so he “wouldn’t drown” at Surfrider Beach Club, his mom Bernadette had said. He swam in many meets at the beach club. Then he then joined Central Jersey Aquatic Club (CJAC) and swam competitively year-round.

When Jaeger first started swimming in races at Surfrider, it was with his sister Dana. She has said that she just watched him get faster and faster the older he got. The two have said that they have always had a close sibling relationship.

Connor Jaeger is now on his way to the Olympics for a second time, this time competing in the two categories and going for the gold.

So, the Retro Pic of the Day, courtesy of the Jaegers a few years ago,  offers a glimpse back to Connor’s early days of swimming with his sis. Know where this was taken?

Congrats, again, Connor!

Simple Summer: A Surfrider Swim Meet Win

A swim meet win at Surfrider Beach Club and smiles from the team enjoying a simple summer. Photo/Colleen Dougherty Doogan
A swim meet win at Surfrider Beach Club and smiles from the team enjoying a simple summer.
Photo/Colleen Dougherty Doogan

With many Rumson-Fair Haven area people’s minds on Olympian RFH grad and former Fair Havenite Connor Jaeger’s road to the summer competition in Rio de Janeiro lately, thoughts turn back in time to when Jaeger spent his summer days at Surfrider Beach Club in Sea Bright.

Well, decades may have passed and Jaeger may be far away from the Surfrider pool, but kids are still swimming and they were winners recently.

The above photo is a reminder of the simple fun in a summer swim competition at a local beach club.

This crew was celebrating a big meet win on July 14.

Thanks to native Fair Havenite and teacher Colleen Dougherty Doogan for this classic shot!

Happy simple summer!

 

 

Retro Fair Havenite Fishin’

Fair Havenite Chum Chandler fishing Photo/Chandler family
Fair Havenite Chum Chandler fishing
Photo/Chandler family

There’s nothing quite like going fishing on the Navesink on those summer days.

So, today’s Retro Pic of the Day honors the tradition with a look back at a very popular native Fair Havenite doing a little solo fishing — Chum Chandler.

Chum passed away in March of 2015. He lived his life in Fair Haven, knew everyone and every simple pleasure about local life. Know when and where this pic was taken?

So, here’s to a happy, healthy summer from a real local perspective!

RIP, Chum Chandler. Gone fishin’!

Photo/courtesy of the Chandler family

Simple Summer: River Kayaking

It’s summertime and the living is filled with typical summer activity — and not-so-typical. We’re in the midst of a heatwave.

A lot of people in the Rumson-Fair Haven area have predictable seasonal habits — like vacationing, beach clubbing, beachfront partying … any number of things.

Then there are others who have opted to take the opportunity to just simply enjoy some quality alone time.

That was the idea with this kayaker who was just enjoying some coasting and contemplation time on the Navesink River at Victory Park in Rumson. This is a bit of a retro pic, as it was taken a couple of years ago, before the clinging jellyfish fear set in. But, you get the idea.

This moment is the kind of thing it’s all about with our Simple Summer weekly feature. What’s your favorite simple thing to do in the summer?

It may just be sitting at the end of a dock or taking a stroll on the beach or a swim. We’ll be out and about capturing those simple summer moments.

Enjoy!

Olympian Connor Jaeger: Present Day & Retro

You could say that former Fair Havenite Connor Jaeger is swimming in Olympic success.

Continue reading Olympian Connor Jaeger: Present Day & Retro

Retro Fair Haven Kindergarten

Fair Haven Youth Center kindergarten p.m. 1965-66. Class Photo
Fair Haven Youth Center kindergarten p.m. 1965-66.
Class Photo

Recent talk about kids moving on up to full-day school and into middle school from elementary prompted a look back to what Rumson-Fair Haven Retrospect thought was the first kindergarten class in Fair Haven at Knollwood School.

It turns out that we were wrong. Many people responded saying that they had attended kindergarten at Knollwood and what was Willow Street School in those earlier years.

We’re not sure if it was that things got switched around a lot back in the late 1950s and into the mid- to late-60s or if, perhaps, it was the morning classes that attended Knollwood and Willow Street or the kids were just split among classes due to that Baby Boom, but we do know that there was a rope and kids were walked to kindergarten at the Youth Center in the borough in 1965-66.

So, the Retro Pic of the Day is a look back at that afternoon kindergarten class to which yours truly, your editor, was toted daily at the tender young age of 5. Yikes.

There are a few familiar faces in this photo. Some are still in the area. One is a popular funeral director. Another just recently wrote a book and has a younger brother who is a popular landscaper/photographer.

Oh, and the teachers were Mrs. Oliverson and Mrs. Wikoff (sp?).

Recognize anyone?

— Elaine Van Develde

Clinging Jellyfish: The Facts

With the rise in rampant fear looming over the dime-sized clinging jellyfish’s sting to people recreating in the Shrewsbury and Navesink rivers that border the Rumson-Fair Haven peninsula, Fair Haven officials have issued a fact sheet advising people of the jellyfish’s characteristics and where they thrive.

Here it is …

The Clinging Jellyfish (Gonionemus vertens) is a small hydrozoan jellyfish about the size of a dime that can be found in bay and estuarine waters.

WHERE ARE THEY FOUND?

Clinging jelly sh are native to the Paci c Ocean. They were introduced to the eastern Atlantic Coast as early as 1894 in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, but can be found from Maine to North Carolina. Clinging jelly sh thrive in temperate regions, and can be found in sheltered shallow bay and estuarine waters where tides are not strong enough to dislodge them.

They prefer to cling to vegetation and other substrates (e.g. shells) during the day. They typically feed at night in the water column on small marine animals (zooplankton), but have been observed during the day. They are not typically found in coastal ocean waters.

HOW BIG DO THEY GET?

This is a small jelly sh that only grows to about 25 mm (1 inch) in diameter, but it can expand to about three inches in diameter. They have 60-90 tentacles that contain the nematocysts or stinging cells.

WHY ARE THEY IN NEW JERSEY WATERS THIS YEAR?

Although they have not been previously reported in New Jersey waters, their presence here may be a recent introduction, or they may have gone unnoticed in the past. They do not produce large populations as do some other jellyfish, but can be found in local areas in small to moderate numbers.

Continue reading Clinging Jellyfish: The Facts

Focus: People of ‘R-FH Retro’

It’s been two years since Rumson-Fair Haven Retrospect’s (R-FH Retro) domain names were registered and, bit by bit, publishing began.

 

In those two years, myriad locals at community events have been captured by this founding editor’s lens.

Check out our most-viewed shots of the people and events of the Rumson-Fair Haven area since the inception of the hyperlocal news and features site that ties the treasured past of the area to the present.

Thank you for supporting Rumson-Fair Haven Retrospect! Stay tuned for many more special local news spotlights to come!

Retro R-FH Retro

Yes, friends and fans, it’s been exactly two years since Rumson-Fair Haven Retrospect (or R-FH Retro, for short) registered its domain name and got started.

It’s been a great two years, sharing news, features and photos from the past and present with all of you!

So, to honor the first days of the website, we are posting the first photos posted on www.rfhretro.com. The very first, and featured photo, was a look from the dock of Eventide in Sea Bright looking onto the shores of Rumson. The other (below) is a photo of the Navesink River and Oceanic Bridge from the shores of Victory Park in Rumson.

Thank you all for your support and patronage of R-FH Retro. We look forward to bringing you more news and looks back than ever in the coming year.

Reach out to us at [email protected] and find out how you can advertise on the site for a nominal fee and support the continued flow of news, features and photos at no cost to readers.

Thank you and enjoy! Here’s to the view from this beautiful peninsula we all call home!

With all thoughts good and hyperlocal,

Elaine Van Develde

publisher/founding editor

Scene Around: Sea Bright Skeletons in the Jeep

Skeleton beach buds in Sea Bright Photo/Jennifer Weber-Zeller
Skeleton beach buds in Sea Bright
Photo/Jenifer Weber-Zeller
Skeleton beach buddies cruising in Sea Bright Photo/Jennifer Weber-Zeller
Skeleton beach buddies cruising in Sea Bright
Photo/Jenifer Weber-Zeller

Summer has started. Beach weather has been prime lately.

And while getting some beach time in at Sea Bright Public Beach, an area resident caught a glimpse of two Jeep-cruisin’ dudes who look like they got fried right to the bone, but were loving every minute of it.

Check out the view of these buddies Rumsonite Jenifer Weber-Zeller caught from the back and side of the Jeep that got these two to their sun-filled siesta destination.

Have you seen them around the towns?

 

Fair Haven Update: More House on Church Street

It was March of 2015 when the Fair Haven Planning Board approved a three-home subdivision on the .54-acre swath of land where the Episcopal Church of the Holy Communion long stood, the namesake of Church Street.

The church was demolished seven months later, in October. Now, the last and largest of the three homes built by Kolarsick Builders, a 3,000-square-foot residence, is nearing completion. The other two have For Sale signs out front.

 

There is no remnant of a church remaining on Church Street, except the name of the street. While old-time residents of the street that fronted River Road with the Church of the Holy Communion have expressed chagrin over the change, experts had testified before the Planning Board that the church was a bit of an architectural shambles and not preservable.

The subdivision was deemed by the board to be the only viable option for the site, as the church function on the property had been stagnant since it was put on the market in October of 2010. After being shown a reported 43 times since (between 2011 and 2014) and for various uses, the subdivision was deemed the most appropriate fit by the Planning Board.

Residents, who long lived on the street and have remained friends over the years, want to know what it’s looking like without the namesake church.

Here it is, folks …

— Elaine Van Develde