Our annual reprise about what it really means to experience all that’s fair for a Fair Haven kid …
There are a lot of significant beginnings and endings this time of the year. The end of summer. The beginning of locals’ summer. The start of school — new chapters and first days.
But, what about the middle? The end of the Fair Haven Firemen’s Fair has always brought me, and many a “fair” kid, back to that middle haven. It’s home.
Continue reading Fair Remembrance: All’s Fair in the MiddleThe following piece was originally published on Aug. 31, 2015. It is being re-run, with changes only in the amount of years that have passed, in memory of my father, Bill Van Develde, former longtime Fair Haven Fire Company member, president and captain of the Fire Police and chairman of the Stock Room at the fair, on the anniversary of his death on Aug. 30, 1983. RIP, Dad. You are missed. Thank you for all the embarrassing moments that I didn’t appreciate enough. Thank you for making Fair Haven my home. Thank you for being a real dad. See you on the fair grounds …
By Elaine Van Develde
It’s been 41 years, but I can still see his face and that kooky Brylcreemed hairdo. I can still hear his crazy belly laugh and that signature “Take ‘er easy, buddy!” I can still see him slapping kids on the back, forever clutching his trusty clipboard, pencil perched behind his ear, sweat on the brow and finger wagging.
Continue reading Remembering My Fair DaddyIt’s that night of the Fair Haven Firemen’s Fair that’s a gleaming, blaring, whirling truck-loving kid’s dream. It’s Firefighters’ Night; and it was last night at the fair.
Continue reading Focus: A Fair Firefighters’ Night 
Sometimes you just have to leave things up to chance. And there’s nothing better to personify that notion than a moment at what was the Grab Bag Booth at the Fair Haven Firemen’s Fair.
Continue reading Retro Fair Grab Bagging ’60s-Style 
The following piece was originally published on Aug. 27, 2015. It’s fair time again, so it’s time to take a look back at how things were and are done a pivotal place at the fair — the kitchen and dining room.
By Elaine Van Develde
Someone’s in the kitchen at Fair Haven Firemen’s Fair grounds.
And while they may have, at one point another been with someone named Dinah, as the old ditty goes, it’s a definite they’ve been with someone named Mike, Dale, Sue (x2), Raquel, Ethel (x2), Mary, Anne, Amanda, Skippy, Hodgie, Mary Ellen, Joe, Evie, and, oh, yeah, Andy and a few others.
And they certainly haven’t been strummin’ on any ol’ banjo. They’ve been way too busy — cutting, peeling, filling, flouring, husking and just plain cooking.
Except there’s nothing plain about what’s cooking in the fair kitchen, who’s cooking it, when, where, why or how.
All’s fair — at least for Rumson-Fair Haven area folks. It’s Fair Haven Firemen’s Fair week, after all.
Continue reading Focus: Fair Riding, Gaming and Fraternizing Our annual reprise in celebration of opening night of the Fair Haven Firemen’s Fair …
All’s fair. The night before. The decades later. It’s something a Fair Haven kid will always see … a shooting star that they grabbed and tucked away in their heart, holding onto the glistening, magical light.
The night is still. A light is on. Trucks are out of the bays. Cartoony faces and ghosts in empty seats on unassembled carnival rides stare back in the dark. Someone’s cooking at the Fair Haven firehouse. It’s fair time.
Continue reading Fair Reflections: An Ode to Opening Night of the Fair Haven Firemen’s Fair
It’s that time again. Fair Haven Firemen’s Fair time is drawing near. The end-of-the-summer tradition that’s been celebrated for more than a century in the Rumson-Fair Haven area. The community eats it all up. That and the food.
Continue reading Retro Fair Taste of Take-Out Goodness 
The following story was first published on Sept. 7, 2016. In honor of the upcoming Fair Haven Firemen’s Fair on Friday and all its tradition, including that famous clam chowder, here it is again …
The recipe for the famous Fair Haven Firemen’s Fair Manhattan clam chowder was considered a highly-guarded secret. People flocked to get their fill at the fair, because they could only get it once a year. It was a secret taken to the grave with former Fair Haven Firemen’s Fair Chairman James Acker.
Continue reading Old News: All’s Fair in the Secret of a Clam Chowder Recipe 
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!
Continue reading Retro Wheel of Fair Fortune 
Call it fairly literal. With the not-so-fair weather lately, thoughts tend to turn to the hometown warmth and fun that is the Fair Haven Firemen’s Fair.
Continue reading Retro Winning Fair Daze 
A reprise, because everyone’s talking about the Jersey Springsteen concert these days; and, every fair has its surprises, stars and, well, photo bombers …
Seemingly everyone knows that Bruce Springsteen until recent years made Rumson his primary home. The Boss was always known as a big fan and frequenter of the Fair Haven Firemen’s Fair. Over the years, he’s been seen countless times casually roaming the grounds — though more often when his kids were little.
Continue reading Retro Fair Springsteen Sighting
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