Scene Around: Fair Haven Baby Celebrity Jam

Fair Haven’s Ruby Dowling was showcased for her first birthday on the TODAY Show for Smucker’s
Photo/Sceeenshot of TV

It’s pretty sweet and it’s her mom’s jam. But now one little Fair Haven girl is a bit of a celebrity stuck in that joyous birthday jam. And she’s all smiles and clueless about the fame.

If you happened to be watching the TODAY Show on Monday, got a glimpse of a familiar baby Fair Havenite on a strawberry Smucker’s jar and thought you were seeing things, you weren’t. One-year-old Ruby Dowling’s face flashed by on many television screens when she was featured in the new Smucker’s celebration of 1-year-old babies.

Most everyone knows about the sweet campaign of the jam company to celebrate centenarians that has been going on for some time now. And now and then, people will see a familiar face on that jar in the segment aired on TODAY. More like then. Familiar 100-year-olds are far more scarce a featured appearance happenstance than babies.

So how did Ruby, in a world of so many adorable 1-year-olds, land a featured spot on that jar of jam? Well, most agree that she’s pretty picture perfect. But, there was a bit of nepotism involved in airing this particular brand of baby sweetness. Hey, whatever it takes to spread the love in a baby’s bright smile.

Ruby’s mom, Sheila, has worked in advertising for Smucker’s for a few years now. “They always highlighted the 100th birthday, which is an incredible milestone,” she said. “But, as a way to keep things fresh and engage with younger moms, I thought highlighting the first (birthday) alongside the 100th would be a nice complement to the segment.”

Smucker’s ate up the idea. So, as any good mom would do, Sheila took the opportunity to slather some baby Ruby goodness on the Smucker’s team. When Ruby turned 1 on June 23, she submitted her photo and bio for the section. And there you have it … Ruby made it to the big screen early on, jamming with giants in that couple of seconds of fame preserved for all time.

The little unbeknownst star’s neighbors love it, though she was shining for them long before the television debut.

Many gushed over the appearance, including longtime former Fair Havenites who alerted R-FH Retro. But longtime neighbor Rett Kastner led the way with “Woohoo! Our smilin’ girl!” in a neighborhood post about the moment of fame.

What makes Ruby’s smile bright enough to be a nationwide beacon on a strawberry jam jar? Well, her mom tells us that she loves dogs and “they always make her laugh, even though my wife (Tara) and I don’t have one of our own.”

She likes food and is enthusiastic about tasting new things, like strawberry jam, perhaps?

Most of all, the little social butterfly bambino “loves taking walks around the neighborhood in the evening to see the neighbors and check out what’s going on.”

There you have it. A winning smile that emanates from early Fair Haven love. She knows it’s all good in the neighborhood — something to smile about for a lifetime with her moms.