The following is an edited press release from Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School:
Just in time for the winter months, animals at the Associated Humane Society shelter in Tinton Falls were provided with warm bedding thanks to a recent fundraiser.
The Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School (RFH) organization Paws and Claws — dedicated to assisting and spreading awareness of organizations that support domestic pets and wildlife — held a towel/linen drive from Oct. 20 to 31.
It’s that time of the year — the time when all good Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School (RFH) football enthusiasts take to playing the game a different way.
This particular tradition may not die hard, but how it was back in the day decades ago, in 1977, the girls played a junior vs. senior game as they were cheered on by a strange gaggle of senior guys.
The above picture includes four who are still pretty well-known in the area.
Here are your hints: one is now a retired Fair Haven police officer and still a resident, another is a former Fair Havenite and Rumsonite who runs his business out of Fair Haven, another is a Rumson dad with his own brood of RFHers, and yet another is the owner of a popular restaurant in Sea Bright that used to be Ichabod’s, this class’ favorite hang-out, post-graduation, of course.
By Elaine Van Develde
“I call him Charles in Charge,” Fair Haven Borough Administrator said with a smile when bidding goodbye to the town’s well-liked director of the Department of Parks and Recreation and, more recently, Special Events, Charlie Hoffmann.
That was Monday night at the Borough Council meeting, five-and-a-half years after Hoffmann first met Fair Haven and fell in love at first sight.
“When I interviewed for this job five-and-a-half years ago, I had no absolutely no intention of taking it,” Hoffmann said at the meeting. “Someone just told me to come here and practice interviewing. I took a drive around. I was pulled over twice — so, good job with your men, chief — and instantly fell in love with this town. Then I met (then) Mayor (Michael) Halfacre in his Hawaiian shirt and said (to myself), ‘I need to work here.’ It’s probably the best decision I’ve ever made, professionally.”
Since then, Hoffmann worked as the full-time Recreation director until two years ago, when he announced his resignation. The notice was met with such chagrin that Hoffmann ended up staying on part-time transitioning D.J. Breckenridge, now director, into the job. Once that transition was complete, Hoffmann continued until now as Special Events director.
It was a transition that Borough Administrator Theresa Casagrande said was “seamless” for the residents and good for the town.
That’s because, she said, “I think it’s fair to say that Charlie is near and dear to the hearts of the people of Fair Haven. For many people, he was the face of Fair Haven, because they saw him (spearheading events around town) more than us. I think he has done an exemplary job.”
Hoffmann called attention to some new events he brought to the borough that he was particularly proud of, and thanked all those residents and officials, especially Recreation commissioners and council members Susan Sorensen and (former) Bob Marchese, who helped bring them to fruition as standing new traditions: the annual campout, father-daughter dance, grants, concerts on the dock and the centennial celebration, which has now turned into an annual Fair Haven Day.
Saying he was “dealt a great hand here” in Fair Haven, Hoffmann signed off by saying, “The ZIP code 07704 will always have a special place in my heart.”
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