And there’s nothing quite like a costume party full of festive, fun fiends who take full advantage of the season to say the devil made them do it when it comes to tricks and the sometimes questionable treat of their disguises.
Reprise, because the countdown to Fair Haven Firemen’s Fair time has begun! Yes, there are games of chance at the fair, but most would agree that everyone’s a winner with the fair and its cache of memories for any area-raised kid. Spin …
“Round and round she goes; and, where she stops, nobody knows.”
That usual was the sing-song mantra echoed through the grounds of the Fair Haven Firemen’s Fair back in the day. It was emanating from the guys manning the game of chance booths that still line the grounds — the loud ticking of the wheel with the spin, numbers going round and round, fingers crossed, breath held … until they stopped on that winning number. “Aaaaaand we have a WINNER!” Woohoo!
The heat is on and the countdown has already begun to the Fair Haven Firemen’s Fair.
And, back in the day, the 1960s day, the fire department, rather than raffling off a car, SUV or a big chunk of cash (as in Super 50/50), decided to make a boat the prized prize of the fair. And they advertised that with the help of some fire department-affiliated bathing beauties.
Who’s who and what? Well, in Fair Haven, starting at the literal top of the list, the borough’s new administrator, Christopher York, started work on Monday.
Former longtime Fair Havenite, police officer, fire company member and Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School graduate, Richard Post, died on Monday, June 10, at Grand Strand Medical Center in Myrtle Beach, SC., surrounded by his children and grandchildren he loved and loved to spend time with.
Fair Haven Fire Department Old Timers’ Day circa 1960s Photo/FHFD
What a ride!
Indeed. It’s been quite a ride in many ways for the Fair Haven Fire Department, which just celebrated its 120th anniversary on June 1. Still in service to the community. Always celebrating another year of service and camaraderie. And when you pair some classic Fair Haven Fire Department old timers — actually one then new-timer, now a real old timer — with an old classic of a car on a fun day back in the 1960s, you get a classic snapshot begging for a caption.
“Where’s your father?” my Fair Haven neighbor shouted to me from across the street some years ago a bit before Memorial Day.
“Uh, whaaat??” I answered with a chuckle. “Um, he’s in the cemetery?”
“Which one?” he asked.
A bit befuddled and more focused on taking the garbage out than my long-deceased dad’s whereabouts, I shook my head and laughed as he continued with “We can’t find him.”
Flanked on Sunday by friends, neighbors and fellow Fair Haven Fire Department (FHFD) volunteers, seemingly forever Fair Havenite Ann Dupree bade goodbye before leaving her River Road home of more than half a century.
Photos by Kathy Robbins … Slideshow by Elaine Van Develde
A reprise celebrating Fair Haven Fire Department Installation Dinners of the past with good line officers and department members of the past, many now gone, because the department reprised its traditional Installation Dinner over the weekend. Look back with us and remember the faces of those who served and leave behind a strong legacy to help.
It’s an honored, good-time tradition. The Fair Haven Fire Department recently had its Installation Dinner. Every New Year, new line officers are officially installed and honored and outgoing officers and members are honored in a thank you dinner dance.
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