Category Archives: Local Life

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

Local Life

Scene Around: Rumson’s RFH Senior Celebs & Fetes

They’re pretty famous as Rumson parenting and Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School history goes. Add a few banner birthdays and community connections to that and you have some celebrities who are still celebrating and going strong.

They are Tony and Sharon Mellaci, their buddy Diane Dey and kids, also RFH grads. Tony celebrated his 100th birthday in May. Sharon just celebrated her birthday (as the lead photo shows) and Dey, 92, turned 90 in 2020. The three got together recently for Sharon’s festive 90s celebration. The trio, who raised their kids in Rumson, were joined by those kids, Merrall Dey Freund and Jim Mellaci, RFH Class of ’78 grads. And there are a few more Rumson connections sprinkled in the company. Know them? Cake, anyone?

Here’s the glorious RFH couple’s scoop. Sharon graduated from RFH in 1947. Tony, a celebrity centenarian in his own right, graduated in ’41. And he did so after making RFH football history. “Dad scored first touchdowns at the new Borden field in the fall of ’40 when it opened,” Jim said. “His senior year was the first winning season Rumson (RFH) had.”

Now, that’s some history and longevity worth toasting to for the weekend! Cheers, Mellaci and Dey folks, kids and friends!

R-FH Retro will be chatting with all three in the future.

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Local Life

Retro Stokes Hip to Be Square Dancing

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Square dancing at Stokes in the 1970s
Photo/courtesy of Lisa Ericson

A reprise from 2019 in honor of the annual tradition of that trip to Stokes State Forrest. In honor of wrapping up the Stokes experience with that last dance … Dance on and dose doe, sixth graders!

It was truly terrifying. The mandatory square dance at the Fair Haven sixth graders’ Stokes State Forrest trip.

Continue reading Retro Stokes Hip to Be Square Dancing →
Local Life

Focus: An Eco Rally for the Rivers

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They rallied for the rivers in Rumson.

The 4th Annual Rally for the Two Rivers Eco-Fest, hosted by Clean Ocean Action (COA) on Saturday at Victory Park was a success, organizers said. Hosted by Clean Ocean Action (COA) and the Rumson Environmental Commission (Rumson EC), the event designed to raise awareness of waterway mindfulness for a healthy environment had about 200 attendees.

Continue reading Focus: An Eco Rally for the Rivers →
Local Life

Retro Happy Stokes Campers

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Stokes girls’ cabin 1978
Photo/Angela Carpenter

A reprise in honor of the culmination of the usual end of the sixth graders’ trip to Stokes State Forrest

It’s all about another stoked for Stokes moment. The year was 1976, and a bunch of girls gathered in their cabin for that classic snapshot of sixth grade bunk mates.

Continue reading Retro Happy Stokes Campers →
Local Life

Retro Sea Bright Summer Daze & P House Ways

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Elisha Slocum poses on Sea Bright Beach circa 1937. Photo/courtesy of Jo Ann Slocum Mazucca
Elisha Slocum poses on Sea Bright Beach circa 1937.
Photo/courtesy of Jo Ann Slocum Mazucca

The sun is shining again and things are warming up, so we’re thinking back to summer days and a bit of a daze from decades way back in Sea Bright. Call it a retro summer day’s capture with many different messages.

Continue reading Retro Sea Bright Summer Daze & P House Ways →
Local Life

Scene Around: A Fair Haven Author & Her Honor

Write on!

That’s the literal sentiment around the Rumson-Fair Haven towns and far beyond concerning Fair Havenite Jane Waterhouse’s recent honor for her legacy memoir Valor in Action. The book spotlights the artwork of her father, U.S. Marine Colonel Charles Waterhouse, who, in his final years, illustrated the valorous moments of hundreds of American heroes in wartime.

Continue reading Scene Around: A Fair Haven Author & Her Honor →
Local Life

Focus: Rumson Country Clubbing for the Non-Profit Stephy’s Place Cause

Rumson Country Club was appropriately purpled out and primed for bolstering the efforts of a good cause on Saturday night with a gala to benefit Stephy’s Place: A Support Center for Grief and Loss.

Hundreds gathered at the Club’s Riverhouse to celebrate the anniversary fo the support center founded in 2015 by Sheila Martello-Diorio, a woman who believed strongly that anyone who has suffered the loss of a loved one should not have to navigate the journey alone.

More than 300 supporters celebrated the anniversary while raising funds for Stephy’s Place to continue its work. There was entertainment, gift, trip, autographed celebrity memorabilia, designer handbag and jewelry and sporting event ticket auctions, and food, drink, dancing and mingling.

Take a look at the above photo gallery, courtesy of Stephy’s Place, for a glimpse into the evening. (Be sure to CLICK on ONE photo to enlarge and scroll!) Who’s who? Who do you recognize?

About Stephy’s Place …

For more than six years, Stephy’s Place, headquartered in Red Bank, has operated as a non-profit 501 (C)3 organization offering free support services to anyone surviving grief and loss.

Stephy’s Place currently offers 52 support groups, a resource center and mindful meditation to support more than 500 people who currently use the services.

The proceeds from Saturday’s Rumson Country Club gala will benefit the Marion Fitzgerald and Kevin Keelen Endowment Fund to support the operation of Stephy’s Place.

— Photos/courtesy of Stephy’s Place

For more information on Stephy’s Place, 210 West Front St., Red Bank, or to make a tax deductible donation, call 732-614-1142 or visit the website at www.stephysplace.org.

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