A look, in photos, of latest area events, local everyday people and places.
It’s sunset at the riverfront in Fair Haven. A sea of anchored sailboats cast a shadow on the Navesink River at low tide. The sound of the river lapping onto the shore is rhythmic, soothing. The site of a solitary row ashore is a sign that it’s time to take it all in and exhale a content sigh that this is home.
See for yourself …
— Elaine Van Develde
We say it every year, and it bears repeating …
Yesterday was Father’s Day.
And, we at Rumson-Fair Haven Retrospect are of the mind that the day is really about much more than flipping a burger and patting a good ol’ dad on the back.
It’s bigger than that. It goes way beyond your own dad’s back yard and a grilling or two.
Growing up in a small-town niche like the Rumson-Fair Haven area carries with it that family tie feeling. Some of us were fortunate enough to have great dads. Some not.
But, what we all somehow did and still do have is a strong kinship to the dads of our towns. Even if we just recall a look, a bellowing chide or a chuckle over some stupid kid thing we did, we remember the dads with whom we grew up.
Now, many of those kids are dads, too, and living where their dads raised them. Perhaps, or likely, finding themselves bellowing the same chidings, trying to impart the same wisdom.
So many of these men were volunteers we saw all over town, characters whose nuances or sayings we remember, or that one poor patient guy who ended up being the poor soul to pick us up when we were stupid enough to get caught hurling eggs and toilet paper on Mischief Night — or something equally as dumb.
Yes, we do and should memorialize our own dads. Believe me, I, for one, am still looking for that money tree my dad told me was in the back yard and that gal named Dumb Dori whom he said I emulated when lacking “street smarts” to a pathetic degree.
Yet, I also vividly remember the calm, “I’m going to kill those idiots” smile on my friend Stephanie’s dad when he picked us up at the police station after following through on a really dumb dare. Then there was the “To tell you the truth, my friend, I don’t know” quote that consistently came out of Daryl’s dad’s mouth as he shook his head in wonderment over our mangled teen logic.
There were those dads for all of us — each leaving his own patriarchal imprint in our juvenile minds. For them we are grateful — for raising us here, for coming together to protect and nurture us and for offering a communal scolding or 100, for loving all their village’s children.
They were part of this community’s foundation — everyone’s founding fathers.
Our Retro Pic (or video) of the Day honors the area’s dads of those days for those reasons and so many more.
We don’t have nearly enough photos to encapsulate all the love and all of the dads, but this is a sufficient sampling to get the message across.
Happy Father’s Day to all the dads in the community who have been there for us and given us lessons and words to live by!
— Photos/courtesy of Rumson, Fair Haven family members via Facebook
Well, graduation is upon the RFH Class of 2017.
What better time than to take a look back at a couple of RFH graduations of the past?
So, in order to pay homage to the evening, the Retro Pic(s) of the Day offer a look back at a couple of the milestone days in RFH history.
Above is a photo from the RFH Class of 1979’s graduation at Borden Stadium, taken by George Day. There are also a couple of pics looking back at the RFH Class of 2013 graduation when it poured just after the start of the ceremony and it had to be quickly moved inside. Below is a look at the 2016 graduation at Monmouth University, where they now take place.
Share your photos of past RFH graduations with us by emailing them, with proper credit, to [email protected].
In the meantime, congrats to the RFH Class of 2017!
It all started six years ago with a centennial celebration. Now, six years later, a community tradition begun continues — Fair Haven Day.
The weather was more than fair for the annual fete, bringing community cohorts together to celebrate the borough they’ve made home.
There was plenty of sunshine, food, drink, festivities and fun to be had.
Take a look … (And DON’T FORGET TO ClICK TO ENLARGE!)
— Elaine Van Develde
The longstanding annual St. George’s-by-the River Canterbury Fair tradition in Rumson has always been, let’s say, something to talk about.
The Fair Haven Fire Department Wetdown on Saturday brought a huge community contingent out.
Call it a christening of sorts — a wetdown. It’s the traditional ceremony celebrating new trucks and honoring the retired ones by hosing them down, the drivers of the old ones turning over the hose to the new.
And the Fair Haven Fire Department Triple Wetdown Dedication did just that on Sunday to celebrate the arrival of a new (1372 Mack) truck and two command vehicles (1366 and 1355), a fire chief’s command and first responder command vehicle. The old 1372 was retired after 41 years of service.
The celebration is a grand one in fire company tradition. In addition to the wetdown rite of passage, there’s a community party with music, food and drink and fire departments from all over joining in the welcoming of the new and retiring of the old.
Take a look … (Be sure to CLICK on each pic to enlarge!)
— Elaine Van Develde
Half a century of Stokes! Today marks the milestone for Fair Haven students, parents and Knollwood School staff.
They’re homeward bound, satiated with 50 years of it all.
Some stalwart traditions have changed in the evolution of the trip, but one thing has remained the same — lifetime connections forged and pranks aplenty pulled.
One such classic story is that of Knollwood teacher and Stokes organizer Andy Dougherty and Jenny Jones Costello.
The two grew up as Fair Haven neighbors whose parents were best buds. They, of course, went to Stokes in the 80s. They forged a friendship, as their siblings also did, from the time they were babies. And they were mighty cute babies, as only their babysitter would know for sure (ahem). Call it another kind of family tie. Best of neighbors and second string siblings. It all started more than 40 years ago.
They both graduated from RFH. Still on the block. They spread their wings and flew the neighborhood coop for a bit. Eventually Andy ended up becoming a teacher at the very same school, though not on the block where his parents stayed until they passed away. Jenny and her family ended up back on the same block.
She ended up volunteering year after year to be a parent counselor at the camp. And, two of her children have already been indoctrinated into the Stokes tradition. Andy has become an anchor in the annual trip.
This year, Jenny was back for the 50th with her son Nick, like Mom, a pretty happy camper.
The kids have their own little pranks going on at Stokes. Hey, it’s a tradition. We’ll just pretend for now that such things no longer happen with the young ones. But, since the statute of limitations is up for the “elders,” or something like that, they got right back to it.
In the interest of keeping with tradition, Andy and Jenny revisited an old prank. It all has something to do with a swim suit and a case of botched identity … or not, Doug Herty. And laughs. Lots of laughs.
Hey, that’s what friends and Stokes are for!
So, raise some frozen underwear up the flagpole, put some itching powder in a sleeping bag (well, maybe not) and remember the good ol’ days. Tradition!
What was your Stokes prank?
What would a Donovan’s Reef reopening be without a spotting of its unofficial, or official, mascot — the iconic guy about town everyone knows as Dizzy Dave?
Well, lots of area folks were there for Sunday’s (delayed from Saturday) grand reopening. And, while it was pretty packed and running into Dave was tantamount to playing a giant game of Where’s Waldo, one devout Donovan’s fan, Gerry Ryan, found him and struck the classic pose.
Ryan’s wife, former Red Bank Councilwoman Grace Cangemi Ryan, grabbed the photo op and shared it with Rumson-Fair Haven Retrospect.
Rumson Mayor John Ekdahl told us he was there as well, but, no roving photographers seemed to capture him, either. He said he did not see Dizzy. “It’s surprising that I didn’t,” Ekdahl said on Memorial Day. “He’s pretty hard to miss!”
The new place got a thumbs up from the mayor. The Ryans and all other locals and fans we spoke with gave the new Donovan’s rave reviews.
Now, where’s Dizzy Dave?
The Memorial Day parade may have been rained out in Rumson, but those who fought for their country and lost their lives in war were remembered.
Take a look … (Don’t forget to click to enlarge!)
— Elaine Van Develde
The rain may have stopped the Memorial Day parade, but Fair Haven folks still paid homage to those who lost their lives in war defending America.
Rumson-Fair Haven Retrospect could not make the ceremony at Knollwood School on Monday, but signs of remembrance remained all over the borough on the drizzly day.
Take a look … (Click to enlarge.)
— Elaine Van Develde
It’s day that many Rumson-Fair Haven area locals have been anticipating since the ravaging dawn of 2012’s Superstorm Sandy — the reopening of the devastated iconic Donovan’s Reef in Sea Bright.
After many fits and starts, that day, save for any unforeseen issues, now appears to be set. It’s Saturday, a Twitter post confirmed, though with a praying hands emoji.
“4+ years ago we were washed away 
? thanks Sandy,” a post on the Donovan’s Facebook page says. “NOW, there is light at the end of the tunnel. You can sit at the inside bar & take in this amazing view! Can’t wait to see you! Hope for no delays and we open MDW!”
Take a look at the progression since Sandy in the below photos …
— Photos/Elaine Van Develde
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