RFH guys spread winter cheer circa 1970s Photo/courtesy of George Day
Raise your plastic cups and party on! It’s time for a little chill and retro toast to the impending weekend of breaking out of all the snow and taking the snap out of the cold snap with the warmth of some RFH guys of the late ’70s and early ’80s.
Snow day fun for RFHers in the 1970s. Photo/George Day
Snowy days — or, rather, snow avalanche of late — bring back memories of winters past and how RFHers of yesteryear found some simple fun pretty fast when the school bell didn’t ring … or it did, but there was an escape to a thrill of a hill.
Sally Van Develde at the Fair Haven Firemen’s Fair in 1969.
Sally Van Develde and Mary Farley
Our annual reprise honoring the inspiration for R-FH Retro — my mom, Sally Van Develde — on what would have been her 103rd birthday. A birthday wish … Happy Heavenly Birthday, Mom. You remain in the hearts of so many … Besides, I won’t let them forget.
“If I ever go looking for my heart’s desire again, I won’t look any further than my own back yard. Because if it isn’t there, I never really lost it to begin with! Is that right?” ~ Dorothy, The Wizard of Oz
For the love of home and a Fair Haven mom … that’s right.
Sometimes a birthday without her is about lighting the candles, making the wish, sustaining the simple legacy of going home, staying home with my mom, Sally Van Develde.
Today would have been her 102nd birthday. If she had lived to blow out all those candles on her cake, I wondered what she would have done. What her wish would have been.
The following is a reprise of our Old News column, originally posted on Jan. 30, 2024, about the Fair Haven Fire Department’s Spaghetti Dinner, because tonight’s the night for the longtime annual tradition. Mangia!
It’s the stuff … ing presidents are made of — or something like that.
In honor of Presidents’ Day (week), we’re honed in on presidents of the high school class kind — not country. And there have been many class presidents at RFH, some of whom have stuck out like beacons of, well, zaniness. Call them fearless fun leaders.
Spirit of ’76 captured by the RFH Class of ’76 Photos/RFH Yearbook
It’s Presidents’ Day, officially Washington’s Birthday. So, it seemed only appropriate to continue in that theme with retro RFH photos — class presidents, their teams and even the top administrator.
Why not? If the day fits … And, lest we forget that back in the 1970s, there was a bicentennial for the U.S.A. going on. And there was much making of the year in the theme of RFH festivities and the yearbook.
The RFH Class of ’76, in fact, reprised its own ode to our first president, George Washington, with a mock crossing of, shall we say, McCarter Pond?
Rumson-Sea Bright Bridge’s old structure broken down for transport to Sandy Hook Photo/Nick Lenczyk
Yes, the new Rumson-Sea Bright Bridge is complete. It’s been functional for months now. Still, there are some finishing touches on and around the bridge continuing.
Call it Valentine’s sustenance. Since Cupid’s arrow was first slung back in the dark ages, there have been hard hits, softer ones and total misses since. But there’s always been a little bit of sweet, sour and downright doughy satiation for the Valentine’s Day palate, with a little kooky sprinkled on top.
RFH library aides do chair battle in the 1970s Photo/RFH Yearbook
Once upon a time, when the cold snap started, so did the antics in the library at RFH. And there to keep everyone in line and keep up one step, or a chair, ahead of the antsy foul-weather pranksters were those library aides.
The Sandy Hook Foundation, the nonprofit dedicated to the preservation of Sandy Hook’s natural, cultural and historic resources and visitor experience enhancement, has named two new members to its Board of Trustees, one a Rumsonite.
You must be logged in to post a comment.