Tag Archives: Fair Haven

In Memoriam: Rumson-Raised Longtime Fair Havenite, RFH Grad, Pauline Sorrentino Smith, 85

Rumson-raised longtime Fair Havenite and Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School (RFH) graduate, Pauline Ann Sorrentino Smith, passed away peacefully in her sleep on Feb. 25. She was 85.

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Retro RFH Boys’ Wintry TGIF Toast

RFH guys spread winter cheer circa 1970s
Photo/courtesy of George Day

Raise your plastic cups and party on! It’s time for a little chill and retro toast to the impending weekend of breaking out of all the snow and taking the snap out of the cold snap with the warmth of some RFH guys of the late ’70s and early ’80s.

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A Birthday Wish: Going Back Home with Mom

Our annual reprise honoring the inspiration for R-FH Retro — my mom, Sally Van Develde — on what would have been her 103rd birthday. A birthday wish … Happy Heavenly Birthday, Mom. You remain in the hearts of so many … Besides, I won’t let them forget.

“If I ever go looking for my heart’s desire again, I won’t look any further than my own back yard. Because if it isn’t there, I never really lost it to begin with! Is that right?” ~ Dorothy, The Wizard of Oz

For the love of home and a Fair Haven mom … that’s right.

Sometimes a birthday without her is about lighting the candles, making the wish, sustaining the simple legacy of going home, staying home with my mom, Sally Van Develde.

Today would have been her 102nd birthday. If she had lived to blow out all those candles on her cake, I wondered what she would have done. What her wish would have been.

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Old News: Stirring the Pot at the Spaghetti Dinner

The following is a reprise of our Old News column, originally posted on Jan. 30, 2024, about the Fair Haven Fire Department’s Spaghetti Dinner, because tonight’s the night for the longtime annual tradition. Mangia!

People have been filling their gullets with a heaping helping of spaghetti and meatballs at the Fair Haven Fire Department’s annual spaghettini dinner for several decades. And tonight will be no exception.

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Old News: Valentine’s Day Sweet, Sour and Doughy Deeds

A Valentine’s Day reprise from last year …

Call it Valentine’s sustenance. Since Cupid’s arrow was first slung back in the dark ages, there have been hard hits, softer ones and total misses since. But there’s always been a little bit of sweet, sour and downright doughy satiation for the Valentine’s Day palate, with a little kooky sprinkled on top.

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Retro Skate on Thick Ice

Carson Kirman gets to the winter sport of hockey and skating on McCarter Pond in 2015
Photo/Elaine Van Develde

It’s not as if most any adventurous kid wouldn’t try a little skating on thin ice in more ways than one. But, the ice was definitely thick enough at McCarter Pond in Fair Haven this one January day in 2015.

As people flocked to the Navesink River, which hasn’t been frozen enough to even walk on for years, over the weekend, the usual Rumson and Fair Haven spots were still prime for some solid, frozen adventuring. So, we’re taking you back just more than a decade to an iconic spot with some longtime Fair Haven adventurers — or something like that.

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