A look, in photos, of latest area events, local everyday people and places.
Since the announcement of New York Yankees icon Yogi Berra, it’s been all about Yogi. And, why not?
The athlete who had that special penchant for those kooky quotes dubbed Yogisms, such as “It ain’t over ’til it’s over” and “When you come to a fork in the road, take it,” died on Sept. 22 at the age of 90.
There has long been a debate in the Rumson-Fair Haven area about the merits and menaces inherent in skateboarding as a sport.
In the late 1990s and 2000, a contingent of parents and teens rallied for a skate park in Fair Haven. And there was also a group as enthusiastically opposed as supporters were supportive.
The sun was out on Sunday and so were water sports enthusiasts.
It was day for windsurfing, paddle boarding and some local summer sunning and lounging on the bay side of Sandy Hook.
Kayak rentals and windsurfing lessons were in full swing.
Take a look to get a glimpse into the day and mood. Enjoy!
And don’t forget to click the lower right icon on the slideshow to enlarge.
— Elaine Van Develde
Here’s the new Holy Cross Church, here’s the steeple. Pretty soon the doors will be open and there will be people, as a Rumson twist on the classic rhyme goes.
If you drive by the revamped Holy Cross Church in Rumson, you’ll see that it’s ready for parishioners.
However, as Catholic church discipline dictates, there must first be a dedication before a Mass is celebrated in a new or rehabilitated house of worship.
That dedication will take place on Saturday at 4 p.m. A reception will follow in the gym of the school on the campus.
Read more about the church’s revamp and see old photos by clicking here. (For history, click on each of the links.)
For more about the dedication tradition, click here.
— Elaine Van Develde/photos and story
Fall is here and school is in full swing.
At Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School students are back in class, in the halls, in the cafeteria, in study hall … somewhere in that building on Ridge Road with the tower.
You get the drift.
However, on March 13, 1979, they were outside — in force.
They had staged a walkout “in protest of the Board of Education’s decision to terminate three teachers in order to stay within its state-mandated spending limit,” according to the archives of the Red Bank Register.
So, the Retro Pic of the Day takes us back to that day with a photo of an unpublished Register photo of that day that appeared in the 2011 Monmouth County Library exhibit entitled Red Bank Register: 40 Photographs, 1976-1985.
The exhibit featured the work of several Register photographers. The photos came from years’ worth of preservation of negatives from the work of Carl Andrews, James J. Connolly, Carl Forino, Dave Kingdon, Don Lordi and Larry Perna.
While the records did not indicate which photographer took the RFH shot, it’s a classic, so we’re sharing it in our look back for the day. Carl Andrews was a Rumson resident. Though it’s not clear if he took the photo.
While I was in my first year of college when the photo was taken, I do recall hearing about this walkout. RFH students were always very proactive with school politics.
“The students, who said the Board‘s decision showed ‘callousness and disdain for teachers as individuals,’ argued that the school should have waited for older teachers to retire instead of firing younger ones with less seniority,” the photo description for the exhibit said. “Tora Doremus, Board president, stated that the quality of education at Rumson-Fair Haven would be maintained and that ‘I don‘t think this walkout served the students‘ purpose.’ More than 300 students participated in the demonstration on Friday morning, March 13, 1979.”
Hey, I think that’s Erin Bell, daughter of RFH English teacher Marilyn Bell, right in the front.
The Red Bank Register Negative Collection is in the Monmouth County Archives and the exhibit featuring the 40 photos was at Monmouth County Library Headquarters in Manalapan in October of 2011.
The weather couldn’t be more cooperative for a shining locals’ summer season.
The above photo gallery of Sea Bright beach provides yet another glimpse into the celebrated season of the area.
Click on each photo to enlarge. Enjoy!
— Elaine Van Develde
It’s widespread area news that RFH Class of 2006 grad Brooks Robinson was sworn in as a Fair Haven Police Department patrolman Monday night.
Robinson started in the department in 2012 as what is called a special officer. Pretty serious stuff, right?
They call it locals’ summer for a reason.
Sometimes the shore area roads are so congested with out-of-towners in the summer that its hard to even get to the beach with a buddy, even on a street where one lives.
Well, local summer has started, beaches are more sparse, buddies are back together and there’s some quiet solo solace on the shores of Sea Bright.
Take a look.
— Elaine Van Develde
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.
“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?
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
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.
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