Retro Little Folk Singin’ Fair Ladies — Rumson-Fair Haven Retrospect

Fair Haven Folk Singers at the Fair Haven Firemen’s Fair circa 1960s
Photo/Jack Croft via Mary Croft

There’s nothing better, or more carnival apropos, to kick off the Fair Haven Firemen’s Fair than a parade. And, back in the day, like the ’60s or early ’70s day, it happened.

And since there’s nothing more Americana than a big small-town fair, what better group to march in it than a band of merry kid folk singers, a/k/a The Fair Haven Folk Singers, clad in red, white and blue outfits singing and strumming their guitars.

And, the treat at the end of this parade was, of course, the fair. As with many Fair Haven parades, all ends at the firehouse. This one, though, had an even better firehouse end — the fair.

Yes, there was a time, many decades ago, when the fair started with a parade. And while some, including this folk singer of the past, don’t recall folk singer parading for the start of the fair, others do, including the troupe leader Barbara Leslie and her son, Frank.

So, here we have a parade’s end capture at the firehouse before the troupe of Folk Singer kids were let loose on the grounds for a few rides, some fair food and a bet or a few for a prize at a wheel game of chance.

The feeling, judging by the looks of the familiar kids in the photo, such as Mary and Lynn Croft and Susan and Nancy Wilson, that the year was likely 1968, give or take a few years.

There was proof of a parade to kick off the fair in 1968 from a clipping in the Aug. 21, 1968 Daily Register. Here’s the kick, kids: Bill Van Develde, my father, was the fire company parade marshal, leading the very big parade, according to the Register’s account. William Lang was the fire chief in that year’s line-up.

The story also said that “television cameramen” would be on hand “filming sequences for a commercial.” Which commercial it did not say. The list of those marching included the RFH Drill Team, led by none other than George Giffin, and a series of out-of-town groups. A prize was to be give for the best showing.

The Fair Haven Folk Singers were not listed among the parade celebs, but who knows? On the other hand, the pictured parade may have been a bit later than ’68.

Either way, these Folk Singers may not have had the whole world in their hands after that parade, but they definitely had the big world of the fair in front of them for at least a little while.