Category Archives: Local Life

A look, in photos, of latest area events, local everyday people and places.

Retro RFH Dismal Day Class Clowning

The RFH clown in the class circa 1970s Photo/George Day
The RFH clown in the class circa 1970s
Photo/George Day

There’s one in every class — a class clown. And when the school days are chilly and dismal and students’ silly energies are pent up indoors, clowning around becomes an art form.  

At RFH back in the 1970s, the art was taken to an extreme one fine, dull day. Not that we’re encouraging any antsy RFH students who may be a little bored and have the itch to engage in some mischievous antics …

Continue reading Retro RFH Dismal Day Class Clowning

Retro RFH Boys of Cool Lounge Daze

The RFH boys of the Class of ’78 do some senior lounging and backgammon playing
Photo/George Day

When the stinging wintry chill still pierces the air and rainy, dank days continue in the week’s forecast, the time is right for a Retro Pic of the Day reprise classic to take you back to Senior Commons lounging days with a little backgammon on the side … or something.

What’s an RFH student to do when the studying mood hasn’t struck and the weather stinks? Hang out in the Senior Commons and play backgammon, of course. Or something like that.

Continue reading Retro RFH Boys of Cool Lounge Daze

Retro RFH Boys’ Wintry TGIF Toast

RFH guys spread winter cheer circa 1970s
Photo/courtesy of George Day

Raise your plastic cups and party on! It’s time for a little chill and retro toast to the impending weekend of breaking out of all the snow and taking the snap out of the cold snap with the warmth of some RFH guys of the late ’70s and early ’80s.

Continue reading Retro RFH Boys’ Wintry TGIF Toast

Retro RFH Snow Day Hill Thrill

Snow day fun for RFHers in the 1970s. Photo/George Day
Snow day fun for RFHers in the 1970s.
Photo/George Day

Snowy days — or, rather, snow avalanche of late — bring back memories of winters past and how RFHers of yesteryear found some simple fun pretty fast when the school bell didn’t ring … or it did, but there was an escape to a thrill of a hill.

Continue reading Retro RFH Snow Day Hill Thrill

A Birthday Wish: Going Back Home with Mom

Our annual reprise honoring the inspiration for R-FH Retro — my mom, Sally Van Develde — on what would have been her 103rd birthday. A birthday wish … Happy Heavenly Birthday, Mom. You remain in the hearts of so many … Besides, I won’t let them forget.

“If I ever go looking for my heart’s desire again, I won’t look any further than my own back yard. Because if it isn’t there, I never really lost it to begin with! Is that right?” ~ Dorothy, The Wizard of Oz

For the love of home and a Fair Haven mom … that’s right.

Sometimes a birthday without her is about lighting the candles, making the wish, sustaining the simple legacy of going home, staying home with my mom, Sally Van Develde.

Today would have been her 102nd birthday. If she had lived to blow out all those candles on her cake, I wondered what she would have done. What her wish would have been.

Continue reading A Birthday Wish: Going Back Home with Mom

Old News: Stirring the Pot at the Spaghetti Dinner

The following is a reprise of our Old News column, originally posted on Jan. 30, 2024, about the Fair Haven Fire Department’s Spaghetti Dinner, because tonight’s the night for the longtime annual tradition. Mangia!

People have been filling their gullets with a heaping helping of spaghetti and meatballs at the Fair Haven Fire Department’s annual spaghettini dinner for several decades. And tonight will be no exception.

Continue reading Old News: Stirring the Pot at the Spaghetti Dinner

Retro RFH Class Prez Stuff

It’s the stuff … ing presidents are made of — or something like that.

In honor of Presidents’ Day (week), we’re honed in on presidents of the high school class kind — not country. And there have been many class presidents at RFH, some of whom have stuck out like beacons of, well, zaniness. Call them fearless fun leaders.

Continue reading Retro RFH Class Prez Stuff