Category Archives: Opinion

Editorials, letters to the editor and other articles reflecting on iconic people, places and traditions related to them in the area.

Local Life, Opinion

Retro Appreciation for RFH English Teacher Bob Berberich

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RFH English teacher Bob Berberich

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 →

Local Life, Opinion

Retro RFH Gym Teacher Appreciation: Pat Robinson, a Near-Centenarian

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  • RFH gym teachers of the 1970s Photo/RFH yearbook
Pat Robinson as a WAVE and RFH teacher
Photos/family and RFH yearbook

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.

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Local Life, Opinion

Scene Around: A Teacher, A Test & A 90th Birthday

Former Fair Haven Knollwood School teacher Jack Graybill on his 85th birthday
Photo/Kristie Kelty

Remember when you were a kid and you thought that your probably 40-year-old teacher was ancient? It’s a pretty common notion for young ones. Then they reach their 40s and wonder what the heck they were thinking.

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Local Life, Opinion

Focus: River Reflection

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Sometimes the reflection at the waterfront in the Rumson-Fair Haven area is a mirror glass one. Still. Vivid. A picture with a clear message staring back at you from beneath.

It’s a picture of calm insight. It’s casting back of a similar scene with something new to see in the frame freeze of the water. Reflection. It gives you the chance to see more … without the blindness that the light can bring.

Take a look and find your own retrospective view …

— Photos/Elaine Van Develde

Obituaries, Opinion

Remembering Rumson Police Chief ‘Rick’ Tobias

“The Rumson Police Department is mourning the loss of Retired Chief Richard ‘Rick’ Tobias.

“For several years, Chief Tobias served as juvenile officer for the PD. His efforts changed the paths of countless members of Rumson’s youth for the better. 

“Chief Tobias was known for his big heart and willingness to help anyone in need. He was a great asset to the community and will be missed.” 

Rumson Police Department

It’s the story of a retired police chief, an officer on the Rumson beat for many years who passed away on Jan. 18 at 67 after a heroic battle with cancer. And there’s always an image to illustrate a story.

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Local Life, Opinion

Focus: Fall Riverwalk into Dusk

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Riverwalk at dusk by the Fair Haven Dock
Photo/Elaine Van Develde

It’s a fall Sunday. It’s a day’s end. The start of a new week. The hush of the lapping river soothes. Dusk dances in the river’s reflections. It’s riverwalk daze at the Fair Haven Dock. A silent call to the comfort of home.

Everything is always alright in that riverwalk moment. There are many like it for a Fair Havenite — drenched in riverfront peace. Childhood laughing and splashing dancing in the mind. The cadence of it that soothes. It never gets old. It’s new with each step, each flicker in the tide, each lull in every water lap, each heartbeat that pulses home.

Take a look. Dive into the silence, the memories, each moment down by the river. Inhale home.

— Elaine Van Develde

Fair Haven riverwalk at dusk
Photo/Elaine Van Develde

Ripples of light dancing from Fair Haven Dock
Photo/Elaine Van Develde
Local Life, Opinion

Focus: Dock Daze of Crabbing

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Sometimes all it takes to brighten a dreary day is a net, a fishing pole, a dock and some bait. It’s all about getting crabby.

No matter the catch haul, after a day of this at the Fair Haven Dock, someone fishing for some simple solace and smile will likely end up with a bucket of cheer called home —and some dinner.

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Local Life, Opinion

Hometown Gem: Fairing Well with Fair Haven’s Ray Taylor

When you run into forever Fair Havenite Ray Taylor, you’re always met with a smile and a lot of gratitude. Never a complaint — unless the 97-year-old is told to slow down.

The conversation may have been had days, weeks, months or years ago. Yet, if it’s a conversation with Mr. Taylor, it will usually come back to bless you at the strangest of moments, make you smile and motivate you to be a better person, a bigger part of your community. A little mazeltov, if you will.

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Local Life, Opinion

Retro RFH Teacher & Administrator Coolness

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A look back at RFH science teacher James Parker and Assistant Superintendent Donald Trotter Photo/George Day

An R-FH Retro reprise …

Well, all are back to school at Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School (RFH), too. Back to school experiences on the brain, we look back to the new experience of high school for freshmen.

With back-to-school thoughts and new beginnings come hopes of a good teacher or two and memories of the ones who we thought were the coolest and, yes, the worst and scariest to a newbie RFHer. There were also those administrators who weren’t just a Charlie Brown teacher voice cawing rules over the ol’ daydreaming student’s non-thought process. Some, or a couple in particular, are remembered as a real education innovators.

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Local Life, Opinion

Retro Whistle Stop Kids’ Scene

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Sept. 11 marked the 35th anniversary of the iconic Fair Haven Whistle Stop owner Frank Leslie’s death. So, in honor of Mr. Leslie and the wonderful memories he and his wife, Barbara, gave so many Fair Haven kids, we are reprising our piece on the Leslies and their oh, so sweet after-school stop. Thank you, Frank Leslie. You are remembered. Thirty-five years? Wow.

By Elaine Van Develde

Sometimes all it takes is a jawbreaker, a slice of Elio’s frozen pizza, pinball and friends all enveloped in a gingham-curtained room with a jovial giant of a dad host to make a bunch of kids smile.

Sometimes. Some simpler time back in time.

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Local Life, Opinion

Reflection: All’s Fair in the Middle

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There have been a lot of significant beginnings and endings lately. The end of summer. The beginning of locals’ summer. The start of school — new chapters and first days.

But, what about the middle? The end of the Fair Haven Firemen’s Fair brings me, and probably more than a few others, back to that middle.

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