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Schools Scene

R-FH Area BOE FYI: Summer Tidbits

School may be out for summer in the Rumson-Fair Haven area, but there are some tidbits about things going on in the hallowed halls and in the office that residents may find useful.

In Fair Haven …

• Superintendent Sean McNeil has been at work since July 1, the start date of his contract. He has had meet-and-greets with parents, students and staff and has met with police and borough officials.

McNeil comes to the Fair Haven School District from Middletown. Learn more about him by checking out our story about his hiring and contract signing by giving the highlighted section a click.

Click here to read his letter to Fair Haven families.

• There are office hours at Knollwood from 8 a.m. to noon Monday through Thursday throughout the summer. The office is closed on Fridays.

• Longtime Fair Haven Board of Education member and former president Claudia Brasch has stepped down.

She and her husband are retiring and moving out of the area.

Marisa Coar will be filling Brasch’s unexpired term through the end of the year.

“I welcome Marisa Coar to the Fair Haven Board of Education today,” Fair Haven Board of Education President Bruce Padula said to the Fair Haven PTA on Facebook earlier in the month.  “Claudia Brasch, thank your for your many years of service. Fair Haven is a better place because of your service to the Board.”

If Coar wants to run for a full BOE term after filling Brasch’s unexpired term, she must run for a seat in the November election.

In addition to Brasch’s term expiring in 2016, Michael Bernstein’s seat is up and so is Jeff Spector’s.

Those interested in running in November must file a nominating petition. Check out how under the Rumson School District’s tidbits (below).

In Rumson …

• The terms of three BOE members on the nine-seat board are up at the end of the year. Those members are: Elaine Melia, Diane MacGillis and Russell Binns.

So, on its website, the Rumson School District is advising all that to run for a seat, the deadline for submitting a nominating petition with the Monmouth County Clerk is Monday, July 25 at 4 p.m. The election is set for the usual general election day on Tuesday, Nov. 8.

To get a petition, email dallen@rumsonschool.org.

Check the board association website at www.njsba.org/candidacy for more information.

• Summer office hours at the Rumson schools’ office are: 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday until Aug. 25. Then, from Aug. 29 to 31, Monday through Wednesday, for three days, the office is open again from 8:30 a.m to 2:30 p.m.

• Did you know that the Rumson PTO raised $85,891 for the 2015-16 school year? Check out this post …

“The REF is immensely proud to work alongside the Rumson PTO in support of our Rumson public schools. Please join us in congratulating them in their very successful fundraising for the 2015-2016 school year!”

• And the Rumson Education Foundation donated $108,006 to the Rumson School District this year.

Click here to find out where the money went.

Have any BOE tidbits to share? Email them to us at evd@rfhretro.com.

Enjoy the rest of the summer!

News, Obituaries, Opinion

Remembering RFH’s Mr. Botti

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Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School (RFH) graduates going back several decades are honoring the memory of former RFH math teacher and basketball and baseball coach, Thomas Botti.

Botti passed away in July 6 at what had become his Royal Palm Beach, Florida home in 1999 after retirement, according to his obituary on legacy.com. He was 87 and was laid to rest today at South Florida National Cemetery in Lake Worth, FL.

Botti taught math for more than four decades and was chairman of the Math Department at RFH until the end of his tenure there in addition to coaching freshman baseball and varsity basketball.

“RIP Coach,” said RFH grad Troy Brandon on the Fair Haven Facebook page.

“He was a super teacher and class advisor to the graduationing class of 1963,” said Jacqui Foster Reynoso on the Facebook page.

“I had Mr. Botti for Algebra I in freshman year,”  RFH grad Susan Mapes Zimmermann said. “My only A in mathematics, and I never did much good after that. I liked him very much.”

So, the Retro Pic(s) of the day honor the math teacher and coach with the above shots of Mr. Botti in action coaching and being a department head in the RFH yearbooks of the mid-1970s. Anyone remember who that is in the featured photo with the coach?

RIP, Mr. Botti. Coach. You are remembered.

Some things you may or may not know about Mr. Botti from his obituary …

Botti had a master’s degree in Education from New York University. He also served in the United States Marine Corps for a year, from 1950 to 1951.

He worked summers at Monmouth Park in Oceanport while teaching and became a mutual clerk after retirement. He enjoyed golf and ceramic painting.

Mr. Botti is survived by: his wife, Vivian; daughter, Liz Newsome and son-in-law John Newsome, of Wellington, Fl.; and daughter Cindy Morgan, of Hackensack; grandson, Spencer Morgan, of Montclair; and granddaughters Emily and Katherine Newsome, of Wellington, FL.

 

Local Life

Retro Fair Havenite Fishin’

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Fair Havenite Chum Chandler fishing Photo/Chandler family
Fair Havenite Chum Chandler fishing
Photo/Chandler family

There’s nothing quite like going fishing on the Navesink on those summer days.

So, today’s Retro Pic of the Day honors the tradition with a look back at a very popular native Fair Havenite doing a little solo fishing — Chum Chandler.

Chum passed away in March of 2015. He lived his life in Fair Haven, knew everyone and every simple pleasure about local life. Know when and where this pic was taken?

So, here’s to a happy, healthy summer from a real local perspective!

RIP, Chum Chandler. Gone fishin’!

Photo/courtesy of the Chandler family

Local Life

Simple Summer: River Kayaking

It’s summertime and the living is filled with typical summer activity — and not-so-typical. We’re in the midst of a heatwave.

A lot of people in the Rumson-Fair Haven area have predictable seasonal habits — like vacationing, beach clubbing, beachfront partying … any number of things.

Then there are others who have opted to take the opportunity to just simply enjoy some quality alone time.

That was the idea with this kayaker who was just enjoying some coasting and contemplation time on the Navesink River at Victory Park in Rumson. This is a bit of a retro pic, as it was taken a couple of years ago, before the clinging jellyfish fear set in. But, you get the idea.

This moment is the kind of thing it’s all about with our Simple Summer weekly feature. What’s your favorite simple thing to do in the summer?

It may just be sitting at the end of a dock or taking a stroll on the beach or a swim. We’ll be out and about capturing those simple summer moments.

Enjoy!

Local Life

Olympian Connor Jaeger: Present Day & Retro

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You could say that former Fair Havenite Connor Jaeger is swimming in Olympic success.

Continue reading Olympian Connor Jaeger: Present Day & Retro →

Local Life

Retro Fair Haven Kindergarten

Fair Haven Youth Center kindergarten p.m. 1965-66. Class Photo
Fair Haven Youth Center kindergarten p.m. 1965-66.
Class Photo

Recent talk about kids moving on up to full-day school and into middle school from elementary prompted a look back to what Rumson-Fair Haven Retrospect thought was the first kindergarten class in Fair Haven at Knollwood School.

It turns out that we were wrong. Many people responded saying that they had attended kindergarten at Knollwood and what was Willow Street School in those earlier years.

We’re not sure if it was that things got switched around a lot back in the late 1950s and into the mid- to late-60s or if, perhaps, it was the morning classes that attended Knollwood and Willow Street or the kids were just split among classes due to that Baby Boom, but we do know that there was a rope and kids were walked to kindergarten at the Youth Center in the borough in 1965-66.

So, the Retro Pic of the Day is a look back at that afternoon kindergarten class to which yours truly, your editor, was toted daily at the tender young age of 5. Yikes.

There are a few familiar faces in this photo. Some are still in the area. One is a popular funeral director. Another just recently wrote a book and has a younger brother who is a popular landscaper/photographer.

Oh, and the teachers were Mrs. Oliverson and Mrs. Wikoff (sp?).

Recognize anyone?

— Elaine Van Develde

Local Life, News

Clinging Jellyfish: The Facts

With the rise in rampant fear looming over the dime-sized clinging jellyfish’s sting to people recreating in the Shrewsbury and Navesink rivers that border the Rumson-Fair Haven peninsula, Fair Haven officials have issued a fact sheet advising people of the jellyfish’s characteristics and where they thrive.

Here it is …

The Clinging Jellyfish (Gonionemus vertens) is a small hydrozoan jellyfish about the size of a dime that can be found in bay and estuarine waters.

WHERE ARE THEY FOUND?

Clinging jelly sh are native to the Paci c Ocean. They were introduced to the eastern Atlantic Coast as early as 1894 in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, but can be found from Maine to North Carolina. Clinging jelly sh thrive in temperate regions, and can be found in sheltered shallow bay and estuarine waters where tides are not strong enough to dislodge them.

They prefer to cling to vegetation and other substrates (e.g. shells) during the day. They typically feed at night in the water column on small marine animals (zooplankton), but have been observed during the day. They are not typically found in coastal ocean waters.

HOW BIG DO THEY GET?

This is a small jelly sh that only grows to about 25 mm (1 inch) in diameter, but it can expand to about three inches in diameter. They have 60-90 tentacles that contain the nematocysts or stinging cells.

WHY ARE THEY IN NEW JERSEY WATERS THIS YEAR?

Although they have not been previously reported in New Jersey waters, their presence here may be a recent introduction, or they may have gone unnoticed in the past. They do not produce large populations as do some other jellyfish, but can be found in local areas in small to moderate numbers.

Continue reading Clinging Jellyfish: The Facts →

Local Life

Focus: People of ‘R-FH Retro’

It’s been two years since Rumson-Fair Haven Retrospect’s (R-FH Retro) domain names were registered and, bit by bit, publishing began.

 

In those two years, myriad locals at community events have been captured by this founding editor’s lens.

Check out our most-viewed shots of the people and events of the Rumson-Fair Haven area since the inception of the hyperlocal news and features site that ties the treasured past of the area to the present.

Thank you for supporting Rumson-Fair Haven Retrospect! Stay tuned for many more special local news spotlights to come!

Local Life

Retro R-FH Retro

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Yes, friends and fans, it’s been exactly two years since Rumson-Fair Haven Retrospect (or R-FH Retro, for short) registered its domain name and got started.

It’s been a great two years, sharing news, features and photos from the past and present with all of you!

So, to honor the first days of the website, we are posting the first photos posted on www.rfhretro.com. The very first, and featured photo, was a look from the dock of Eventide in Sea Bright looking onto the shores of Rumson. The other (below) is a photo of the Navesink River and Oceanic Bridge from the shores of Victory Park in Rumson.

Thank you all for your support and patronage of R-FH Retro. We look forward to bringing you more news and looks back than ever in the coming year.

Reach out to us at evd@rfhretro.com and find out how you can advertise on the site for a nominal fee and support the continued flow of news, features and photos at no cost to readers.

Thank you and enjoy! Here’s to the view from this beautiful peninsula we all call home!

With all thoughts good and hyperlocal,

Elaine Van Develde

publisher/founding editor

News, Regional Interest

Draft Ocean Action Plan to be Unveiled

From the Monmouth University Urban Coast Institute …

Monmouth University will serve as New Jersey’s site for the unveiling of a historic draft Ocean Action Plan for the Mid-Atlantic region on July 14.

The draft plan is the product of nearly three years of deliberations and stakeholder outreach by the Mid-Atlantic Regional Planning Body (MidA RPB), a group composed of federal agencies, tribal entities, the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council and the states of Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia.

The plan will recommend strategies and actions for improved coordination among those entities with the goal of safeguarding the region’s coastal ecosystems, cultures and economies.

In 2010, President Obama established a National Ocean Policy (NOP) which called for greater collaboration among states and regional authorities on marine issues and supported the formation of regional planning bodies to develop ocean plans for their respective territories by the end of 2016. The MidA RPB is one of eight such groups nationally to have been formed for this purpose.

“The ocean is getting busier all the time with activities such as beach recreation, fishing, shipping, sand extraction and boating,” Monmouth University Urban Coast Institute (UCI) Director Tony MacDonald said. “In the coming years we’ll see the introduction of offshore wind farms and much larger cargo vessels as a result of the Panama Canal’s expansion. A regional planning approach of this kind is necessary to avoid conflicts between these activities and keep the ocean safe and clean for all users.”

The open house will provide participants an opportunity to learn about the plan, ask questions and provide feedback that will be considered for a final document that is submitted to the federal government for adoption in the fall.

The event will be hosted by the Mid-Atlantic Council on the Ocean (MARCO), an organization formed by the governors of the five coastal states represented by the MidA RPB. The UCI has partnered closely with MARCO on several projects, most notably the development of the Mid-Atlantic Ocean Data Portal (portal.midatlanticocean.org), an interactive ocean mapping and information site that will serve as one of the core data sources for the Plan.

The event will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. on the second floor of Pozycki Hall. Parking is recommended in lots 13, 14 or 15.

The draft plan will be posted online at http://www.boem.gov/MidA-New in early July. Additional public open houses will be held on July 12 in Virginia, July 19 in Maryland, July 20 in Delaware and July 27 in New York. A public webinar for the Plan will be held on July 11. Further details on those events can be found at www.midatlanticocean.org.