A look, in photos, of latest area events, local everyday people and places.
Leave it to the 60s playtime experts — literally. Don’t try this at home. It’s pretty likely that parents this era are looking at this retro fall Fair Haven scene in horror.
Continue reading Retro Leaving Fall to the Neighborhood Kids
Yes, class is back in session; and, it doesn’t take an RFH grad to know that two halves equal a whole. In this case, this second half a class makes a whole RFH Class of ’82 taking a stand at Borden Stadium.
Continue reading Looking Back at Where the Other Half of RFH Class of ’82 Stands
It was a parade fit for royalty — the king and queen of England kind of royalty, to be exact.
With the death of Queen Elizabeth II and all the honor and ceremony that has come with it, retro minds go back to a royal day in Red Bank when the queen, who just recently died at 96, having ruled for 70 years, was only 13. Her father, George VI, was king. Her mother, the first Elizabeth, was queen. And while visiting the United States and Canada, the royal couple made a stop in Red Bank.
Continue reading Old News: A Royal Red Bank Procession
Sometimes you just have to take a walk on the dock side — or top. And so you do …
Call it a locals’ summer stride. Any time of the year, a stroll on, below or beside the Fair Haven Dock is the most soothing way to go. Ahhhhh …
All steps lead to serendipity at the dock. Somehow, it’s there that the sun always seems to shine, casting tall dream-fetcher shadows that lead the way to goodness in every niche — from crusty little washed-up crustaceans to river rocks, oyster shells and the end of the fishing line.
It’s always in with a high tide of happiness nestled in the smallest of things at the dock — even some seaweed and a dead crab.
Then there are the footprints left behind. Kids’ feet, gulls’ claws, parents’ prints. All signs that all came together, each in his own walk and way, in search of the same sunshine and chase of what’s at the end of the good shadows — the stark peace, a piece of home.
Remember your dock walk and exhale with a smile. Get a glimpse of ours in the photo gallery above (Click on one photo to enlarge and scroll. Enjoy!).
When you’re done with your dock walk, take a look at what’s in store with this week’s locals’ summer weather, according to the National Weather Service. There’s still some sun left to soak up …
— Photos/Elaine Van Develde for R-FH Retro exclusively
It’s that time for firemen in the state of New Jersey — time to gather and go a little wild in Wildwood at the annual NJ Firemen’s Convention.
Continue reading Retro Firemen Getting Wild in Wildwood
Sometimes half a high school class just has to take a stand … or a seat … in its football stadium.
In this case, the class, or half of it, was the RFH Class of ’82. And somehow the class ended up all together at the high school’s Borden Stadium as posers rather than sports spectators.
That’s OK. It didn’t matter why they were there or how they ended up in such a collective group pose. What mattered more was that the photo ended up being a classic testament to RFH times decades ago.
First of all, let’s check out the fashion. This was a preppy picture perfect snapshot of those back-in-the-day popular wide-striped rugby shirts, plaid blazers, button down Oxford shirts and crew neck sweaters. The smiles and clowny antics? Oh, that was all RFH spirit and pure joy over taking that stand or seat in their cozy RFH class niche.
Soon there will be games to watch from that stadium for yet another football season. The spectators? They’re forever cheering from the same place for the same place — home turf.
Now, exactly what is this half of a class up to? Can you find the best group photo bomber? There are a couple of doozies in there. We know our favorite. Yours? Your favorite preppy outfit of. the era? Do the stripes get it? How about those sweaters and button downs? Hmmmmm …
There are an awful lot of stripes on these RFH stars! Ponder the take-a-Borden-stand moment of 40 years ago.
School’s back in session and it’s just about time for students and teachers to rise, shine and show off a little at Back to School Night.
And kindergarten is the first and best of what was formerly called Open House for kids and parents. First of all, the parents don’t need to tear up and down stairs and speed through hallways to make it to the next class when that bell rings. A little 5K training should be a prerequisite for middle- and high school Open House nights.
Continue reading Retro 60s Back to School: Fair Haven Kindergarten Posers
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. **
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-UpWell, 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!)
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
What a catch — or a couple of catches, that is!
The catches? The one on camera of the humpback whale sighted off the shore in Sea Bright this week and the whale’s own catch-of-the day lunch — a school of bunker.
Continue reading Scene Around: Whale of a Sea Bright Sighting
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