Monthly Archives: September 2022

Crime, Regional Interest

Prosecutor: Former Cop Gets Jail Time for Evidence Tampering

A former Aberdeen Township police officer has been sentenced to nearly a year in jail for tampering with evidence on two separate occasions last year, Acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Lori Linskey announced on Friday.

Continue reading Prosecutor: Former Cop Gets Jail Time for Evidence Tampering →
Local Life

Focus: Sea Bright Sunrise on Locals’ Summer

A Sea Bright beach stroll at sunrise
Photo/Jo Ann Slocum Mazzucca

That new day has dawned. It’s officially locals’ summertime in the Rumson-Fair Haven area.

Call it that back-to-school nap time respite for the Jersey Shore kid in all. Pull out the mat and hit the beach time. Inhale the scene’s solace. Exhale the power in its beauty.

The return of some solitude and quiet savoring of the sunrise on a pristine beach in Sea Bright encapsulates the mood. After a flurry of a Labor Day weekend, down came the rain and washed the bustle away.

Up came the sun … and dried up all the crowd overload. Ahhhhh …

Welcome, locals’ summer!

The sun has risen for the inaugural locals’ weekend. Here’s the weather forecast for the Rumson-Fair Haven area from the National Weather Service …

** Thanks to RFHer and Rumson-raised Jo Ann Slocum Mazzucca for this glimpse into a mesmerizing sunrise in Sea Bright. Oh, and that’s her husband in the solo walk shot. **

Sunrise in Sea Bright
Photo/Jo Ann Slocum Mazzucca
Investment Process
Local Life, Opinion

Retro First Day of School: Walking the Rope

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Our annual back-to-school Fair Haven rope walk reprise …

“But I don’t wanna walk on the rope next to her!” I cried from under my fresh-cut kindergarten bangs. “I wanna walk on the rope next to Pam!”

Pam was my neighbor. She was my best buddy.

It was 1965. It was the 60s. The memories are there, but fuzzy. I can sill see it — with my reading glasses, of course. One thing’s for sure: Our Fair Haven kindergarten class was the last to have its first year of school at what was called the Youth Center, now the Fair Haven Police Station and Community Center on Fisk Street.

We kindergarteners were also the last to be tugged down the street on a rope, yes a rope, headed by an official-looking police-type lady.

Continue reading Retro First Day of School: Walking the Rope →
Crime, Regional Interest

Prosecutor: Area Couple’s Deaths Deemed Murder-Suicide

An investigation has found that a husband and wife who were found dead in their Marlboro home earlier this week appear to have died as a result of a murder-suicide, Acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Lori Linskey announced on Thursday.

Continue reading Prosecutor: Area Couple’s Deaths Deemed Murder-Suicide →
Obituaries

In Memoriam: Longtime Fair Havenite, RFHer, Carpenter, Rudy Kastner III, 58

“They say some people have 9 lives … Well, my brother had at least 29 … until today. He marched to his own drummer ( Neil Peart). He will be missed, but I’m sure he’s at that boat ramp in the sky having a beer with Terry, his dogs and many others we lost too soon. Rest in Peace, my brother. As he would say … PEACE LOVE OUT …” ~ Lori Kastner Slocum, Rudy’s sister

Longtime Fair Havenite Rudolph “Rudy” Ernest Kastner III passed away on Sept. 5. He was 58.

Continue reading In Memoriam: Longtime Fair Havenite, RFHer, Carpenter, Rudy Kastner III, 58 →
Local Life, Opinion

Retro Back-to-School Neighborhood Line-Up

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First day of kindergarten in Fair Haven 1965
Photo/Sally Van Develde

A back-to-school reprise dedicated to everyone’s first friend on that first day of school as a kindergartener. My first friend and neighbor in Fair Haven was Pam Young (second from right), who passed away in July of 2020 … Everyone can relate. Go back with us. Remember your first day of school and that first friend …

Knock-kneed, nervous and all dressed up with somewhere to go, this gaggle Fair Haven neighborhood girls of 1965 lined up so their moms could get that classic first-day-of-kindergarten shot. And there wasn’t a smile among them.

Continue reading Retro Back-to-School Neighborhood Line-Up →
Obituaries

In Memoriam: Longtime Fair Havenite & Teacher, Pat Egan, 82

On the cusp of the start of the school year, Fair Haven lost one of its most popular former longtime teachers.

Fair Havenite and retired 25-year Knollwood and Viola L. Sickles schools teacher Patricia “Pat” Egan passed away peacefully on Saturday, Sept. 4. She was 82.

Pat Egan
Photo/family via John E. Day Funeral Home

“Patricia devoted her life and love to family and to children of all ages. She had a boundless faith in God and was a parishioner of the Church of the Nativity in Fair Haven. Patricia’s enthusiasm, love, humor, and smile touched the lives of many, leaving a legacy of innovative education, dedication to family, and a loving devotion to
all who were blessed to be by her side.” 

Loved ones of Pat Egan in her obituary


Born in Teaneck on Christmas Eve 1939 to Elwyn and Marguerite Norton, Pat was one of eight children. She graduated from William Paterson University with a bachelor of arts degree in Education and taught first at the Longfellow School in Teaneck and then for 25 years in Fair Haven at both the Viola L. Sickles and Knollwood schools.
  
Pat was pre-deceased by: her beloved husband, James S. Egan in 1986; her parents, Elwyn and Marguerite Norton; and two brothers, Robert and Roy Norton. 

She is survived by: her four cherished, loving children and their spouses, Kevin Egan and wife Anne, of Westborough, MA, Richard Egan and wife Carolyn, of West Long Branch, Christen McMahon-Vota and husband Tim, of Little Silver, and Michel Chojnacki and husband Jerzy, of Shrewsbury; her 12 cherished grandchildren, Kevin (Meghan), John and Adelene Egan, Jaimie, Jessica and Emily Egan, Jack and Cole McMahon, Violet and Rowan Vota, Christian and Reed Chojnacki; five siblings, Richard (Camille) Norton, Ronald (Virginia) Norton, Kevin (Barbara) Norton, Kathleen (Joseph) Mobilio, and Dennis (Patricia) Norton; and many nieces and nephews.

— Photos/Family, Eileen Kubaitis and Jeni Weber


Family and friends may visit on Friday, Sept. 9, from 2 to 4 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. at the John E. Day Funeral Home, Red Bank. A funeral mass will be held at 10 a.m. on Saturday at Church of the Nativity, Fair Haven, followed by burial at Fair View Cemetery, 456 State Route 35, Middletown. 
  
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Patricia’s memory to Grace Healthcare Services, 105 Fieldcrest Ave, Suite 402. Edison, NJ 08837. Email: [email protected] 

Rest In Peace, Pat Egan. Thank you for all you have taught so many Fair Haven kids that will endure their lifetimes. You are remembered.

— Edited obituary prepared by family via John E. Day Funeral Home

Investment Process
Local Life

Focus: Fair Reunions, Faces & Places

Well, that’s a wrap for the Fair Haven Firemen’s Fair 2022.

The tradition holds strong. The fair was, as always, a midway full of fun, food, festivities, reunions and camaraderie, holding true to the sentiment that all’s fair and always has been, for more than a century in Fair Haven at fair time.

Take a look at the photo gallery below for a glimpse into those moments — the reunions, faces and places — that make the Fair Haven Fireman’s Fair a microcosm of the fairest of all in Fair Haven those eight days signaling the end of summer. (Be sure to CLICK on one photo in the photo mosaic below to enlarge and scroll. Enjoy!)

Local Life, Opinion

Retro Fair Sweets Queens

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Millie Felsmann making cotton candy at the Fair Haven Firemen's Fair circa early 1990s Photo/Elaine Van Develde
Millie Felsmann making cotton candy at the Fair Haven Firemen’s Fair circa early 1990s
Photo/Elaine Van Develde
Millie Felsmann and her candy apples back in the 1960s Photo/courtesy of Monica Felsmann
Millie Felsmann and her candy apples back in the 1960s
Photo/courtesy of Monica Felsmann

This Retro Pic(s) of the Day story was originally published on Aug. 25, 2015. It is being run again in honor of the Fair Haven Firemen’s Fair and the Felsmann family to honor them in light of their recent loss of Millie Felsmann’s son, John, or “Smokey,” husband to Trudy and dad to his fair-raised children. He didn’t like getting his picture taken, so we will respect that and honor him via his family. This is how they concoct and serve up those sweets at the fair … 

When it came to cotton candy — that fluffy spun light blue and pink sugar on a cone that melts in your mouth, on your mouth and many times on your hands, too — Millie Felsmann was the pro at the Fair Haven Firemen’s Fair.

Don’t get us wrong, here. We know that Millie also commandeered the candy apple making. Yes, Candy Bennett was there, too — for many hours a day, making and selling those candy apples, apropos name and all.

Well, she was, after all, Candy, the candy apple lady. Yes, Candy had a lot do do with those candy apples — but Millie was the boss. She, along with her troupe of kids and Candy, Betty Acker and Mrs. Frank, started work on those apples as early as 6 a.m.. And, even further back, to 1965 or 66, Mrs. Topfer made those apples, too.

Continue reading Retro Fair Sweets Queens →