All’s cool with these little rats in the pool … or, more like down by the river! A reprise from 2018 in ode to the tradition of summer recreating on the river in the Rumson-Fair Haven area. It’s all about River Rats, one summer rite of passage in the area … 

Summers in the Rumson-Fair Haven area are rife with river-oriented activities that have become tradition.

River Rats’ sailing “camp” is no exception. OK, nobody was camping. It was more like a little club. Still is.

It’s been a sort of rite-of-living-on-the-Navesink passage for decades — since 1955. Kids learn how to boat and do a lot of summer fun bonding in the process.

It all started like this: “In October 1955 shortly after he moved from New York, Captain Walter Isbrandtsen wrote to a friend: ‘I have purchased a house in a small community on the New Jersey coast where I am gradually becoming active … in an organization known as Dads Incorporated … whose activities include a newly established program designed to take full advantage of a neighboring river …'” Captain Isbrandtsen organized the family-oriented sailing group and became the first Skipper of River Rats, as it is written in the River Rats’ biographical history.

So, the Retro Pic of the Day takes us back to the U.S.A. bicentennial year of 1976 and a bunch of young River Rats.

This crew is comprised mostly of RFH classmates who gathered by the boat launch at the end of Battin Road in Fair Haven to offer a glimpse of their day as a reminder of what growing up by the river is all about.

Sail on! Recognize anyone?

— Elaine Van Develde

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