A look, in photos, of latest area events, local everyday people and places.
The parade passed by; and, the 85th birthday of a Fair Haven man with a lot of his own townie history was celebrated in a historic way.
Continue reading Scene Around: A Fair Havenite’s 85th Pandemic Birthday Parade
You’ve heard it before — each year. We’ll say it again …
It’s Mother’s Day.
And, we at Rumson-Fair Haven Retrospect are thinking, the day should not just be one during which kids dutifully pay attention to the woman who … pretty much, well, twisted her heart up and spit it out to ride a Big Wheel at 100 miles per hour with no helmet. But, we digress.
We’re thinking that the day is not really just for all that Hallmark and social media jazz — though, it is somewhat important jazz. The day should be more about moms celebrating one another, especially to learn a little bit about one another’s roots in a tight-knit community such as the Rumson-Fair Haven area. Because, it does take this sort of village … if you let it. Embrace it. Like they did.
There are so many women in this area who served as the mortar in the in the brick foundation that is this community now. It goes back many generations. We are thankful for those women of all different motherly types — yes, different. Each unique and special in her own way. Each contributing in her own way. Each leaving her indelible fingerprint on many here, through the generations.
You see, the strong community foundation that brought us all here is not about anyone’s income figure and a few overused disingenuous promotional phrases — prime real estate value, curb appeal, flipping potential and the rest of the lingo concocted to make that sale.
The sale was made long ago and the value was tucked away in the hearts of some of these moms who were here when it all started, caring for one another through their community.
It’s about lifeblood — the lifeblood of, in this case, matriarchs who have bequested a legacy of true love.
They put the coffee on long ago. Who’s bringing the crumb cake? Yes, crumb cake. When it comes to community, you can splurge a little to keep it sweet and real.
The above photos are just a sampling of R-FH area moms gone and still with us through generations. We honor all of you. Check out our slideshow below for more …
To honor some favorite RFH teachers who have passed, we are re-running this tribute to RFH French teacher Joseph Guillory, originally published in 2015, an under-appreciated gem of a language teacher. Thank you, Monsieur Guillory. You are remembered and appreciated …
C’est toute bien.
It’s all good. That’s how things were in Monsieur Guillory’s class at RFH back in the 1970s.
The patient, kind and slightly goofy guy who taught the honors French class for many years is gone. But, no, his students and former colleagues have not forgotten him.
Continue reading Retro Appreciation for a Tres Bon RFH French Teacher
The following tribute on Teacher Appreciation Week to an RFH teacher who has passed, Bob Berberich, was originally published in 2015.
They’re the teachers who taught us how to communicate effectively, appreciate the English language and even motivate certain writers (ahem) to write — English teachers.
In keeping with our Teacher Appreciation Week theme of honoring unique RFH teachers who have passed, today we look back to the lessons learned from Bob Berberich.
Continue reading Retro Appreciation for RFH English Teacher Bob Berberich
It’s Teacher Appreciation Week. And, ironically, May 4, the start of the week, marked the posthumous 100th birthday of a former longtime RFH gym teacher and field hockey coach — icon Pat Robinson, who passed away just shy of her centenarian milestone.
Continue reading Retro RFH Gym Teacher Appreciation: Pat Robinson, a Near-Centenarian
Call it a howling success of a dog day of spring. Sunday was all about some bright sunshine washing away the pandemic fear. It was also about a bit less solitude, with NJ Gov. Phil Murphy opening the state’s parks.
Continue reading Scene Around: Socially Distanced Dog Days of Spring
Batter up! There would have been both varsity and junior varsity baseball games at RFH today had there been a baseball season. Now, though, the RFH games against Holmdel have a black line through them on the high school’s athletic schedule.
Continue reading Retro RFH Socially Distant Baseball Times
The pandemic has hijacked another high school tradition — prom. It would have been a big happening right about this time of the spring, and there would have been all sorts of prep — zoomed-in close encounter photos of friends and couples bonding, corsage and boutenir pinnings … those pre-prom poses. Time capsule moments of the bomb variety — as in disaster or picture perfection. TikTok? Hmmmmm … Not always.
Continue reading Retro RFH Pre-Prom Moments
As we continue to mourn the loss of the baseball season, among other athletics, due to COVID-19, thoughts, and a memory scroll on Facebook bring us back to the days of another kind of ballgame camaraderie — the softball league of the past.
Continue reading Retro Oceanfront Softball Team Home RunOn this dank, pandemic April day, everyone could use a little solitary solace. A reminder that the river that gives so many in the Rumson-Fair Haven area peace and happiness is still there. And still. Calm. Reflective.
So, we take you back a few years to 2016, when this photo gallery/slideshow was first published. There’s much irony in what it says. Take a look at the featured photo. It speaks an uncanny isolated truth about today and the very same spot. Their reflections are consoling.
They tell us that when everything around us is still, there is something to see in the water’s mirror. That little meaningful something may have been missed while looking too hard toward a sky that seemingly has no limits.
It’s the Wizard of Oz theory of looking too hard for your heart’s desire when it was right in your own back yard. Surprising what you’ll find in a still reflection, or a ripple that was in that limitless, reflective sky the entire time.
On that day, as today, the tide went out and the water was still.
The static water on the Navesink River from Rumson to Fair Haven was like a mirror, reflecting each waterfront image, each ripple, in detail. A reminder of what was always there.
Take a look.
— Elaine Van Develde
This slideshow, memorializing RFH Class of ’78 alum A.J. Bruder, was originally run on April 15, 2015. April 15 marked the 24th anniversary of A.J.’s untimely death. We are running it again, as we do annually, to pay tribute to A.J. This year is a special year for the special remembrance, as A.J., among other things, was a baseball player and there is no high school baseball this year due to the pandemic. He was a track star. There’s no track. Though, if he were still with us, you may see him doing a lone skate on an empty street.
The popular class officer, athlete, writer, artist, singer-songwriter, friend to many, son, brother, cousin, and all-around great guy died of lung cancer that had metastasized to his brain at the young age of 36 on the day of the 100th Boston Marathon — April 15, 1996.
He is memorialized by many at the annual Rumson-Fair Haven Run’s A.J. Bruder Memorial 5-mile run and is remembered daily by countless people whose lives he touched with his kind, generous, playfully contagious spirit. The A.J. Bruder Reach for the Stars Scholarship is also awarded annually to stand-out RFH seniors at graduation.
There are no sports this spring. There’s no close contact. Camaraderie remains — close from a distance. We have to wonder what A.J. would think. Thoughts?
Take a look at the A.J. of RFH days. Godspeed, A.J. Bruder. You are remembered.
Many thanks to George Day for the photos of A.J.!
Yes, it’s all about the high school baseball season being benched right now over the COVID-19 pandemic.
It’s game-changing news. Who knows if things will ever be the same on the high school baseball field. And back in the 1970s, the idea of RFH girls breaking into sports that were traditionally boys’ turf was taboo. Then came another game changer — a girl who wanted to be one of the boys on the field. That was Nancy Whelchel of the RFH Class of ’78.
Continue reading Retro RFH Girl Playing the Boys’ Baseball Field
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