The rides are dismantled. The chowder is sold out. The grounds are cleared. Games of chance are won and done. Town tales spun, lifetime friendships rekindled and begun. The 2019 Fair Haven Firemen’s Fair has come to a close for another year, but not before a banner finale.
Here’s a glimpse into fair closing night happenings and people on Saturday, from daylight to dark … (Don’t forget to CLICK on each photo to enlarge! Click again on same photo to advance to the next. Enjoy!)
There have been a lot of significant beginnings and endings lately. 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 brings me, and probably more than a few others, back to that middle.
The 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. 31, 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 later at the fair …
Retro Fair Haven Firemen’s Fair stock room days in the 1970s Photo/FHFD booklet
By Elaine Van Develde
It’s been 36 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.
Sally Van Develde selling balloons at the Fair Haven Firemen’s Fair Grab Bag Booth
The following piece was originally published in August of 2015. Here it is again in honor of the Fair Haven Firemen’s Fair and my mom, Sally Van Develde, to whom this site is dedicated …
Growing up in Fair Haven with parents in the fire company, Fair Haven Firemen’s Fair time meant time spent inflating punch balls during the day and helium balloons at night.
Call it a fair beginning. The end of the summer signals the start of The Fair Haven Firemen’s Fair — more than a century’s worth of big tradition in the small peninsula borough.
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.
Well, the word is official. After a few great weather days, the Fair Haven Firemen’s Fair has been rained out due to Mother Nature’s lack of cooperation.
That means that the rides and other attractions will be shut down for the evening. That’s the bad news.
The good news is that the kitchen is open, volunteers are cooking and people are invited to grab a seat in the dining room for fair food or hit the take-out window to bring some home and brighten the dank day with a little of the fair’s finest comfort.
As the sign on the firehouse says, “Only dining room is open tonight — 6-10 p.m.”
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