Old News: Fair Firemen, 10-Cent Charlestons, Ponies, Carousels, Spin Art and Flying Geraldos

The Charleston, flying trapeze artists, the Zipper or not, the Fair Haven Firemen’s Fair has been an end-of-summer tradition since its inception in 1921. Yes, some things never change — like the fair’s core of community legacy.

Yes, legacy. It’s a concept that those lacking a sense of community and connection in their souls just don’t get. Their loss. And it’s a big one.

Either way, the fair isn’t and wasn’t ever meant to be a public relations magnet to boost a borough’s reputation that needs no boosting. It’s a deep-rooted modest legacy carrying a very old, caring soul. There is no price tag. Those who know really know, heart and that soul. And, yes, physical change happens — some of it good, some of it not so good, even downright awful. Hey, even the Zipper ride wasn’t fair fodder from the onset.

But, despite the myriad changes at the fair, from rides, booths, and acts to people gone, generations carrying the legacy and those stepping for the start of their own to pass on to their own, all’s always the fairest of all when it comes to memories and a “middle” in life that no one can take from you.

And for countless Fair Haven-raised kids, I don’t doubt that when the “end” comes, those cherished moments that they say flash before you in a few minutes, the fair is likely among them — even if it’s just a few seconds’ worth of that first ride, the balloon that got away, a stuffed animal win, husking corn or blowing up punch balls among friends, meeting and reuniting with the best of buds, or just the content look on your parents’ faces as you giggled and shrieked on the dizzying Sizzler ride knowing they did the right thing raising you in such a safe haven.

No, nothing is perfect. But, growing pains, heart aches, loss and all, the fair comes pretty close to it. And among those end flashes, it’s really the soul warmth in the flash that matters most, after all.

And before any of us kids even got to Fair Haven to get that little unbeknownst heart implant, you’d have to wonder if the flash may have been a few seconds of the Charleston done at the first fair on Fair Haven Road, where borough hall now sits.

Yes, according to a 1968 unbylined story in the Asbury Park Press, at the first fair in 1921, people (or couples, it said) “paid 10 cents apiece to dance the Charleston and eat homemade ice cream while an auctioneer offered homemade cakes to the highest bidder.” There were no rides as we no them today or even decades ago, not to mention a Zipper mainstay.

But, in 1968, along with the parade that opened the fair, you are not completely nuts if you distinctly remember aerial acts hovering over the fairgrounds. I could swear Batman was on a high wire one year. No mind, though, because if you have that fleeting memory, rest assured, you have not lost your little Fair Haven kid mind.

And while a search has not yet yielded any proof of the caped crusader at the fair, however, it’s been proven, with a photo and caption in the same Asbury Park Press article of Aug. 21, 1968, that The Geraldos, a aerial team flew, or balanced on some circular gizmo, through the air over the fair with the greatest of ease. Aha! And, yes, there were also bands on the balcony in the 1960s and maybe even early 1970s.

Neither appear any longer — and for decades now.

Yet, behold the Geraldos … Yikes!

And, if you were that kid who always wanted a pony, you satiated that popular kid thirst when you got a ride on one at the fair, round and round in a circle a few times, hoping the pony didn’t have to stop to do its business and shorten the ride. But, yeah, if that’s one of your life flashes, there is proof that it happened. So did that carousel, a/k/a merry-go-round. Hey, that round and round ride that no longer sits on the grounds played host to at least one celebrity — Bruce Springsteen.

As many know, he was a fair regular, having had a home in Rumson. But, it’s a pretty solid fact that Springsteen had a special love for the community, the fair tradition and that carousel for his kids. I captured a classic Springsteen carousel moment in 1995. Gotta love the photo bomber, though. After all, though, who knows? That could be one of his flashes, not to be grim reaper-ish about it.

See? Yes, YOU had a pony … at least on Aug. 29, 1968, William Lutz.

Rides and attractions aside, there were fair folks, of course. And, yes, there was always, or pretty much always, a Firemen’s Night.

It was never mixed with the Family Night. I do recall a lot of talk on the grounds that the night was made for adulting. Period. There was lots of celebrating and imbibing among a real lot of firemen from all over the state. Nothing wrong with that, of course, as it was what the night was meant for — not necessarily imbibing at the beer booth, but definitely celebrating the volunteerism among first responders. It was always a big happening. And it should always be.

Kids? Not so much. Early, yes. Later, uh, no. However, I do recall staying past the ol’ kid curfew to help with, pigtails, pre-teen stupidity and all, blowing up those helium balloons and smelling an awful lot of beer breath while some clowns (OK, I did it, too) inhaled helium to talk like Donald Duck (with a bit of a slur). Nothing wrong with a little fun among firemen. Family night, too, though? Nope. That was a big no — back in the ’60s and ’70s anyway. OK, so some kids ended up relegated to the spin art in the garage when it got dark and “dangerous” out there. Who still has their artwork? No mixing with the adult time, but paint was good. It all comes down to everyone ending up home at the end of the night. But, cheers to the new(ish) mix of a night!

Back in 1938, the Press reported that Firemen’s Night was, indeed, a big night at the fair. No need for confirmation on that one. It’s been pretty obvious over the years. Back then, though, attendance prizes were even won and written up, as with all fair things covered. Check it out …

Special nights, rides, ponies or people, the fair is still that feeling, that flash that may very well be included in those final flashes of what really mattered. No, you’re not nuts if you have or had that vision of flying Geraldos, a little dancing, a band or even a pony, carousel or Zipper ride soothing your soul in those moments, end of life or not. All’s fair when it comes to a deep love of community legacy. It stays in the soul — and that’s something that never withers or dies.