A little river walk or ride does a mood good on a crisp, sunny spring day.
Here’s how that day wound down by the Fair Haven Dock on Wednesday …
— Photos/Elaine Van Develde
Tag Archives: Fair Haven
Retro Fair Haven Centenarian
Photo/Curchin family
It’s a pretty well-known fact by now that Fair Haven’s Ken Curchin turned 100 on April 19.
The centenarian who’s favorite mantra is “Never quit!” led what he called a simple life enriched by family and attaining his dream of becoming a pilot when the odds were against him. After helping construct the Alcan Highway in Alaska during World War II, Ken Curchin ended up flying a B-17 Bomber in the war.
Ken Curchin: Fair Haven’s Centenarian
Video and stories by Elaine Van Develde
Ken Curchin has been all over the world. He’s done and seen a lot. He flew a B-17 Bomber in World War II. He married his best gal and became a dad to five children. He was a barber in his family’s shop on Mechanic Street in Red Bank. He jumped off the Fair Haven Dock. All this and he says, with an eye twinkle and a his own brand of hearty hyena chuckle, that he’s “never been in the newspaper until now, sons a b******!”
Well, this is the second (or, we’re told, third) time, Mr. Curchin. Born on April 19, 1917 in the building that is now Frame It Yourself on River Road in Fair Haven, he is 100 years old today. Rumson-Fair Haven Retrospect caught up with him for a second time on Easter. And what a time it was!
Happy Birthday, Mr. Curchin! Listen and learn … (Be sure to click the video to enlarge!)
Focus: Solitude & Dusk at Fair Haven Dock
Sometimes a little solitude, a stroll and a serene scene down by the Fair Haven Dock is the best thing for the soul.
While the scenery may look the same, no two riverfront snapshots in time are ever identical. Each moment is unique. Each picture different. The effect, too, of given day down by that Navesink River can change like, well, the seasons.
It’s spring in Fair Haven. And that riverfront stroll is as soothing as the sun’s warm embrace. That’s because it’s a walk home.
Take a look …
— Elaine Van Develde
Retro Happy Easter
Nothing says Easter quite like a good ole Easter bonnet.
So, the Retro Pic of the Easter Day is just that.
It’s your editor in her Easter bonnet back in the early 1960s. Yikes!
The whole outfit was quite fancy, as this kid’s Fair Haven mom made sure of it.
Happy Easter, all! Bask in that sun and enjoy this spring day!
Fair Haven Students’ Visit with a Famous Author
Photo/Fair Haven School District
A wish came true for students in the Fair Haven School District when children’s author Patricia Polacco paid a visit recently.
Continue reading Fair Haven Students’ Visit with a Famous Author
The R-FH Area Weekend: Egg Hunting & Street Fair
After a week peppered with foul weather, forecasters are seeing the light — sunlight — peering through and making way for some weekend activity in the Rumson-Fair Haven area.
Continue reading The R-FH Area Weekend: Egg Hunting & Street Fair
Knollwood Students Get a Glimpse into the Life of an Author
Photo/Fair Haven School District
Award-winning young adult fiction author Jordan Sonnenblick visited Knollwood School recently to give students a glimpse into the mind of a writer who explores teenage life.
Continue reading Knollwood Students Get a Glimpse into the Life of an Author
Focus: Sunny Daze River Romp
Well, after more soggy, rainy days, the sun made an appearance in the Rumson-Fair Haven area and beckoned people back to the Navesink riverfront.
At the Fair Haven Dock, the scene was one of solitary sun worshipping and a little riverfront romping. Contentment. Comfort on the homefront.
As the forecast tells, the sun will just do a bit of peering on Monday. Then we’ll be hit with hazardous rainy conditions by Tuesday. So, enjoy and get your river romping in.
According to the National Weather Service, there will be rain after 11 p.m. on Monday and showers with a possible thunderstorm and a flood watch on Tuesday. Though, the temperature will hit the mid-60s. The sun comes back on Wednesday.
Happy Monday!
— Elaine Van Develde
Retro Fair Havenite’s 100th; Mrs. Suggs
Friends, family and neighbors will gather on Saturday morning to say goodbye and pay tribute to longtime Fair Havenite Mrs. Lucille Suggs.
It wasn’t all that long ago when Mrs. Suggs hit her 100th birthday.
So, the Retro Pic of the Day, offers a glimpse back to that milestone day in August of 2016.
Godspeed, Mrs. Suggs! Your memory keeps many a Fair Havenite smiling!
Saying Goodbye to Fair Haven’s Lucille Suggs, 100
It wasn’t all that long ago when Lucille Suggs was still living in the Fair Haven neighborhood that she loved.
Tucked away contentedly in her modest home, neighbors, friends, family were known to stop by for a visit. Then there were the police officers who had grown up knowing her as a loving, welcoming presence in the borough who would pop in to make sure that she was safe and cared for during a storm, bout of bad weather, or “just because.”
Mrs. Suggs not too long ago, after more than half a century there, left the Fair Haven home and community she loved in her 90s to be closer to her son and cared for in a nursing home where he lives in Cincinnati, Ohio.
She hit 100 in August of 2016 with a big smile on her face, surrounded by loved ones and missed dearly by Fair Havenites who had grown so accustomed to her warm grin, embracing, graceful manner and soulful sense of humor.
Lucille Brooks Suggs passed away on March 23. And she is coming home to Fair Haven tomorrow, Saturday, to be bid farewell at her church, Fisk Chapel AME Church, 38 Fisk St., with a viewing beginning at 9a.m. and funeral services to follow at 11. Interment will be at the Shoreland Memorial Gardens, Hazlet.
Her son, Dennis, posted the following tribute to his mother the day after her death …
“Last night at 11:30, the inimitable Lucille Brooks Suggs decided enough was enough and peacefully took her one woman show ‘to loftier climes.’
“After 100 years and 6 months of being a constant protector, inspiration, non-stop joke machine (I could never figure out where she learned all those, let alone remembered them) as well as an endless source of real POSITIVITY (You should have seen the aides guard her like she was the Queen of England as she declined this week at twin towers), I believe it’s safe to say she felt her time here was well spent, but alas, it was time to go.
“She will be well-remembered and sorely missed. I know if you asked her what to think she wouldn’t want mourning or solemnity, she’d want you to laugh(alot), love people, do kind things and live to the fullest.
“We will be bringing her home next weekend so that she can rest in final peace next to her partner of nearly 50 years, so they can get back to playing pinochle, something I’m guessing is already taking place. Enjoy the day, your friends and loved ones. Cheers!!!”
Click here for Mrs. Suggs’ obituary.
RIP, Mrs. Suggs. You, a forever Fair Haven friend and neighbor to many, will always be remembered as an embodiment of what this small town is all about.
Rewind: A Look Back at Knollwood’s Chamber Music Recital
And the middle school musicians played on … in the Fair Haven School District’s annual Chamber Music Recital at Knollwood School recently.
Continue reading Rewind: A Look Back at Knollwood’s Chamber Music Recital
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