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Old News: RFH Hollywood-Style Prom Glamming

The RFH Senior Prom was last week and people are still talking about it and its stylings — or writing about it on social media.

Just a few photos of prom ways and styles of 2023 and many folks of yesteryear RFH proms had something to talk about — in their retro minds, anyway.

Continue reading Old News: RFH Hollywood-Style Prom Glamming

Weekly Rumson-Sea Bright Bridge Travel Advisory

After a Memorial Day with no construction, Rumson-Sea Bright Bridge replacement continues Tuesday through Thursday during the usual 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. hours and a cut 3:30 p.m. on Friday and one major development in bridge traversing. The sidewalk across the bridge has been reopened.

Monmouth County officials’ travel advisory for users of the bridge roadway, sidewalk and waterway is as follows …

Continue reading Weekly Rumson-Sea Bright Bridge Travel Advisory

Memorial Day Remembrance: R-FH Area Vets Who Have Passed

This remembrance for Memorial Day is posted every year … 

Their faces are the faces at the core of a close-knit community.

They were neighbors, dads, and just plain friendly faces around the Rumson-Fair Haven area towns. They were also veterans.

They served. They fought for freedom in World War II and the Korean War.

They lived their lives with hometown pride, honor and respect. They were founding fathers, friends. They were cornerstones of the sense of community that is the Rumson-Fair Haven area.

The gift of their legacies bears no upscale real estate market value. They passed along a love of country and community that is priceless.

Thank you, in a Memorial Day ode, to the veterans of the area who have passed. You are cherished, honored.

Take a look at some of their faces and remember.  Thank you to those vets who are still with us.

— Elaine Van Develde

— Ray Taylor photo/Elaine Van Develde for R-FH Retro exclusively

— Photos, courtesy of families of the Rumson-Fair Haven area.

Scene Around: RFH Senior Pre-Prom Stylin’

Yes, they were all dressed up with a couple of places to go — a pre-prom party and the actual Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School (RFH) Senior Prom.

The proms of these days are not your ’60s, ’70s, ’80s or ’90s proms. And that makes sense, of course. These days, the pre-prom party is a show of its own. All the prom goers, with or without dates, and their families go to a host’s house to get their prom on sans any alcohol before the main event. The prom goers are even breathalyzed to ensure a safe, fun night.

This year the pre-prom party was at a home on Rumson Road. And, from what we hear and the looks of things, a banner time was had by all. Why not? All the elements of a good gathering were there: the place, the people, the mood and, of course, the fashion.

Speaking of fashion … The guys’ dress is a whole event unto itself this era. These days they sport anything from pretty formal to smart casual and pretty preppie shorts and dress sneakers, if there is such a thing — and there is. Gone are the days of polyester pastel tuxedoes with frilly shirts. Thank the fashion gods. Though, these guys sported an awful lot of preppie pastels. Very sharp and fitting for each boy’s personal taste and personality.

The girls? Well, they were fashionably gowned out and coiffed. Looks like long has remained fashion forward. In fact, it looks like red carpet time for these girls.

It’s been rolled out and rolled up. The party’s over, but the freeze frames remain. Until next year … Prom party on!

— Photos/Jenny Costello, Joanne Formisano and Chris Rodriguez

Retro Rumson Eighth Graders’ Memorial Day

Rumson Boy Scouts at Memorial Day service circa early 1970s
Photo/George Day

Monday marks an official post-pandemic return to Memorial Day in the Rumson-Fair Haven area of the traditional kind. The day, usually kicked off by parades in Rumson and Fair Haven and solemn services at Victory and Memorial parks, respectively, brings people in communities together. Groups, standing shoulder-to-shoulder, honoring those who sacrificed their lives in service to the country, is the usual visual.

Continue reading Retro Rumson Eighth Graders’ Memorial Day

In Memoriam: Fair Haven Native, Rumson High Grad, Parker Family Health Clinic Founder, Shirley Parker, 100

Fair Haven native Shirley Parker “peacefully and gracefully rose to her reward of everlasting life, surrounded by love, on May 21.” She had turned 100 on Jan. 17.

Continue reading In Memoriam: Fair Haven Native, Rumson High Grad, Parker Family Health Clinic Founder, Shirley Parker, 100

Retro Having a Field Day at Knollwood

A field day for Knollwood kids in the late 1990s
Photo/Elaine Van Develde

It’s field day time in Fair Haven schools! A reprise in honor of a traditional prequel to summertime for Fair Haven kids …

Once upon a time, in those school days right before summer, when Knollwood School kids gathered on Sportsman’s Field for, well, some Field Day fun, let’s just say it was a bit hard to keep them focused.

Continue reading Retro Having a Field Day at Knollwood