Retro RFH Rainy Day Tricks & Treats — Rumson-Fair Haven Retrospect

Lounging in the RFH Senior Lounge on a "free" with Jim Scanlon and Mark Cardwell Photo/George Day — Lounging in the RFH Senior Lounge on a “free” with Jim Scanlon and Mark Cardwell
Photo/George Day

A reprise from Oct. 1, 2015 to give a little cheer on a dank day. A little tricks and treating among RFH loungers. Always an adventure of some sort at RFH …

There was nothing quite like becoming a senior at RFH and being able to hang out in a special lounge just for you and your classmates, especially on a dismal October day.

Nothing was getting anyone down if they were senior lounging in the cozy RFH indoors. Of course, there was always something seniors were up to. Call it mod. Literally.

Those were the days — in the 1970s.

The whole senior scene, in fact, was quite mod, or literally modular.

There was the modular scheduling, which was pretty much akin to a college atmosphere, giving good students a lot of freedom during free periods, or, as we called them, “frees” to do anything from hunker down in a language lab or the library, to studying outside to wandering over to Piping Rock Park or The Campus luncheonette across the street.

Or, if you were a senior, you could just go hang out in the Senior Lounge. It was a mod spot with that ever-so-cool sunken floor in the center, couches, tables and chairs and bean bags.

Many students credited modular scheduling with a much smoother adjustment to college life, since it created the same type of flexible, honor system-type scheduling.

The day was broken down into several 10-20 minute mods, as they were dubbed, with varying class lengths and chunks of time out of the classroom and just about anywhere else.

So, the Retro Pic of the Day honors the old mod system in the “mod” senior lounge of 1978.

Here, Mark Cardwell and Jim Scanlon are chatting at a table and Jeff Tyrell is sporting his best Ed Norton look. Looks like it was Halloween. Either that or Jim Scanlon had some strange taste in clothing for a preppie school. I vote for the former.

They’re on a free.

Frees anyone? Where did you go when you had a free?

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