The Fair Haven Firemen’s Fair may be over, but there are always remnants of it stowed away either in memory or in print somewhere.
We unearthed a 1983 ad for the fair from the archives of the Red Bank Register.
So, the Retro Pic of the Day is an image of that ad.
There’s nothing quite as wonderful as an old friend who’s known you since you were a kid. And there’s also nothing worse than losing that friend at a young age.
The worst of it happened a couple of days ago to friends in the Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School alumni community.
A wave of shock and sadness engulfed the Class of ’78 with the announcement of the death of 55-year-old classmate Debra “Debbie” Clarke Crowell on Sept. 8.
There have been some losses of the all-too-young in the class already. This was the latest.
Continue reading Remembrance: RFH Grad Debra Clarke Crowell Dies at 55
“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. 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.
I forget what her name was, but she scared the bejesus out of us, especially a determined mini me. No, not much has changed.
However, that rope would have probably somehow been considered inhumane now, I’m thinking. Hey, they needed to keep us walking in tow.
And, guess what? They did, despite the fact that this one little girl’s small world was turned topsy turvy because she couldn’t walk next to Pam.
There were loops for our little hands to grasp onto on either side of the rope.
You see, no one drove anyone to school then.
You could say that we were more environmentally conscious. Or you could just say that we were probably poorer. Simple.
No one drove kids to school, mostly because there was only one car per family. There was no Third Street congestion problem. Nope.
Granted, a lot of moms stayed home. And when the dads went to work, unless they worked close enough to come home for lunch, mom didn’t have a car until after 5 p.m.
If moms worked, dads dropped them off and picked them up or vice versa. A lucky few had two cars. So, needless to say, the transportation for kids was that rope. That lady picked us all up, as I recall, on Hance Road somewhere.
That rope — well, that was our kiddie bus. And we liked it — sorta. We just had to.
This 1965 kindergarten class in the Retro Pic of the Day was the last to take the daily rope trek to the Youth Center.
Front and center in this photo, taken by the family of Diane Smith Carmona, are Frank Buchanan and Bobby McLellan. They’re holding the loops, but not looking all too pleased about it. I’m pitching a fit somewhere in the back. School days, rope days …
Imagine that. Mommy drops you off at the rope, not the bus, and you have to walk to school next to someone you didn’t know until the first day of school?
Oh, the trauma of it all. I guess they thought we’d be trouble makers. I wasn’t even allowed to sit near Pam in class!
Whaaaaaaa! How was your child’s first day without a rope?
The following recent contempt of court arrests were made and reported by Middletown police:
• Leonardo Bambina, 42, of Terry Lane in Middletown, was arrested on Aug. 25 by Patrolman Christopher Dee on a contempt of court warrant issued by the Middletown Municipal Court.
He was released posting $250 bail.
• Kiera Ferreira, 29, of North Concourse Road in Keyport, was arrested on Aug. 27 by Patrolman Jesse Toma on a contempt of court warrant issued by the Middletown Municipal Court.
She was released after posting $750 bail.
An area teen has been arrested on burglary and drug possession and dealing charges in connection with a Tuesday morning burglary at a Middletown home.
Robert Fiore, 18, of Glenwood Avenue in the Leonardo section of Middletown, was arrested by Middletown Police Detectives Daniel Sullivan and Keith Hirschbein following the burglary of a home on Garfield Avenue in the Belford section of Middletown after recovering valuables allegedly stolen from the home and drugs in Fiore’s possession, a release from Middletown police said.
Fiore was charged with: burglary, theft, criminal mischief, possession of and possession with the intent to distribute 232 tablets of Xanax, possession and possession with the intent to distribute Ecstasy, possession and possession with the intent to distribute MDMA (Molly), and possession and possession with the intent to distribute more than 50 grams of marijuana, according to police.
Fiore was committed to the Monmouth County Correctional Institution in Freehold and is being held on $62,500 bail.
By Elaine Van Develde
As Ben Franklin said, “In this world, nothing can be said to be certain except death and taxes.” Yet, if he lived in Fair Haven, he may have added “… and seeing Dale Connor when you hand over the check.”
Not too long ago, it was tax time in Fair Haven. And, for some, what can be a daunting trip to Borough Hall was not met this time with what they’ve come to know as a soothingly familiar face. For the first time in 38 years, Connor, whom residents have long known as the borough’s tax collector and court administrator, wasn’t there on the other side of the plexi-glassed drop-off spot.
It was the first time since she retired in May that the latest quarterly trek didn’t end with her and, perhaps, some sort of simpatico.
Continue reading Missing You: Fair Haven’s Former Tax Collector, Court Administrator’s Journey
The following recent arrests were made and reported by Middletown police. An arrest does not constitute a conviction.
• Talia Lopez, 24, of Easton Avenue in Somerset, was arrested on Aug. 25 by Patrolman Patrick Leonard and charged with driving while intoxicated.
She was released pending a court date.
• Paige Padla,19, of Statesir Place in Middletown, was arrested on Aug. 25 by Patrolman Raymond Sofield and charged with possession of under 50 grams of marijuana.
She was released pending a court date.
• Emanuel Papasavvas, 41, of King George Apartments in Edison, was arrested on Aug. 25 by Detective Kelly Godley and Patrolman John Walsifer and charged with interference with custody, endangering the welfare of a child, criminal restraint, unlawful possession of Xanax, unlawful possession of Suboxone and distribution of Xanax.
He was held on $55,000 bail, set by Judge John Tassini of the Monmouth County Superior Court.
As summer came to a close on Monday, the sun shone bright, the temperature was still soaring and some took advantage of some final seasonal moments on the Navesink River.
There were a few sailors still sailing, motor boaters motoring, fishermen fishing and some just soaking up a little Labor Day’s end sun on the Fair Haven Dock.
Take a look. Good night, Rumson-Fair Haven area. Local summer starts tomorrow.
It was 50/50 announcing business as usual for John Riley on the last night of the Fair Haven Firemen’s Fair. It was also his 69th birthday.
Someone got a hold of the mic that’s usually always in Riley’s hands and announced that the birthday on Saturday.
So, Monday’s Retro Pic(s) of the Day is dedicated to Riley.
Riley is pretty modest. And he looks exactly the same as he did back in the early 1970s when this editor first met him during her childhood.
Riley has been a lifetime Fair Havenite and a decades-long member of the Fair Haven Fire Department. He also worked in the borough’s Department of Public Works seemingly forever.
He always has a smile on his face. He wears his modest, gentle demeanor and love of hometown on his sleeve and in his eyes.
Happy Birthday, John Riley! Thank you for all you’ve done for the love of Fair Haven!
— Elaine Van Develde
As Yogi Berra said, “It ain’t over ’til it’s over.”
That’s sort of how it goes when the Fair Haven Firemen’s Fair ends after it’s traditional end-of-summer week-long stint — because it’s never really over.
The fair never really ends. And most of the people running it are still around year-round.
So are the fairgoers in the area. It’s called community. And it’s something that may culminate annually at the fair, but is a mainstay of life in the Rumson-Fair Haven area.
But there is that annual closing night. There are also some fair traditions that have not ensued over the years. Do you know what they are?
We do.
Did you know? …
• that there used to be a high wire act on closing night? It dates back to the mid- to late- 60s and early 70s. I think Batman may have actually been there, too.
• There also used to be a band playing nightly on the front balcony of the firehouse. The bands King James and His Court and Pete Galatro’s Orchestra were staples. And, in later years, there was carnival music piped onto the grounds. Notice that there is no longer any music?
• Candy apples, a longtime fair treat, are no longer made and sold at the fair.
• There used to be a booth where you could win Kewpie dolls and many of them served as toilet paper covers, with embroidered skirts to cover the roll.
• There was also a booth where television sets and other smaller appliances were prizes.
• There was no super 50/50. There was a car raffle.
• There was a carousel ride.
• The Zipper has been a fair ride since the dawn of time.
Generations of Fair Haven Fire Department people have worked the fair for decades. Tradition. Some things never change. It ain’t over.
— Elaine Van Develde
As closing time for the Fair Haven Firemen’s Fair came, yet another old picture popped up, and there was a little chat on the fair grounds with a present co-chairman of the fair and the stockroom guy of more recent years — Andy Schrank and Frank Leslie.
Schrank, now one of three co-chairs, took us back in time a bit. He reminded us of the times when there was only one chairman. Before there were the present three, Gary Verwilt, former longtime Knollwood School teacher, had the job. Back in the day, though, from the late 1960s to the late 80s, that guy was James Acker.
So, the Retro Pic of the day features a photo of Acker peering out of the stockroom at fair time somewhere in the middle of those years.
What does the chairman do? Well, it’s what it sounds like. He has to make sure that everything is up and running right, son Bill said.
There’s some haggling that goes on over purchases, rentals and state operation licenses.
In then end, though, it’s all boils down to just making sure things are always running smoothly. And they always have.
James Acker, or Jimmy, as my dad called him, always had a sincere smile on his face and twinkle in his eyes, especially when talking about the fire company. He always looked people straight in the eyes when talking to them, too. He was just a nice guy who, his son reminds us, was stubbornly dedicated when it came time to chair that fair — but always a friend.
“I remember going to New York to Conelle’s to buy stuff (prizes) for the fair and rent the tents,” Bill said. “When Dad and Mr. Conelle got together, it was like watching two dogs fight over a bone. But when it was done, Mr. Conelle and Dad were like old friends again.”
Yes, James Acker was loyal. He loved his fire company and his friends. A perfect example of his extreme loyalty was his helicopter dad manner when protecting the fair’s famous clam chowder secret.
He had the secret recipe to the much sought-after soup. He got it from an old Fair Haven friend. He made that chowder with that recipe, Acker kids getting things cooking beside him, for decades.
As promised, Bill said, the recipe went to the grave with him. He had promised the hander-down of the hush-hush concoction that it would never be shared with another soul. It wasn’t.
It was a measure of commitment to the best for Jim Acker, loved his fellow firemen — enough to make sure he got the fair the best chowder around. And it was bowl-licking good.
Oh, the new recipe is good, too, but he and some others would have to argue that the secret recipe version had a bit of an edge.
A 1983 story from the Red Bank Register archives on the fair has Jim Acker quoted. He said that the fair drew about 5,000 people a night then. He also said that it took about 225 people a night to operate it. Don’t forget, there was no internet purchasing then. He said he started going into New York and buying $25,000 worth of prizes in January (from Mr. Conelle, whose first name escapes Bill) for the 15 games of chance.
The big prize in 1983 was a Dodge 400 convertible, rather than the present super 50/50.
Oh, and among the prizes purchased were cartons of cigarettes for the Big Six tent, now the Money Wheel.
Step right up for a spin on the fair memory wheel! Game of chance? No. It’s a sure bet that there are many more where it came from.
RIP James Acker. Thanks for the memories … oh, and the chowder!
Everything’s still coming up — and down — in Sea Bright.
It’s been nearly three years since Hurricane Sandy just about leveled the peninsula town.
Since then, homes and businesses have been rebuilt, raised and razed. And, just recently, there have been some more changes to the landscape with more raising and razing.
Some homes are just now being lifted and revamped; and the old firehouse and police station are gone, leaving a clear view from Ocean Avenue to the ocean.
Take a look at some before and after photos of the same scenes.
— Elaine Van Develde
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