Halloween was a lot of treating and no tricking, except for trickery of disguise, in the Rumson-Fair Haven area.
The weather was hauntingly good and a good time was had by all where we got a glimpse at a howling haunt on Third Street in Fair Haven.
There were nerds, angels, monsters, princesses and even a gigantic group of emojis.
Take a look.
— Elaine Van Develde
Happy Halloween, R-FH area people!
Here are the rules for ghosting and ghouling tonight …
• Trick-or-treaters under 18 and not supervised by an adult must be off the roads by 8 p.m.;
• Never, ever go trick-or-treating alone;
• Exercise caution around strangers both on the street and at homes;
• Do not go inside homes;
• Do not eat candy until you get it home and it is inspected by parents;
• Wear a highly-visible or reflective costume, walk on sidewalks and walkways and carry a flashlight and cell phone.
The main message: Stay safe, stay out of trouble and have fun!
Happy Halloween!
There was no tricking and a lot of treating going on Sunday when Rumson and Fair Haven both hosted annual Halloween festivities.
You’ve probably already seen the slideshow that tells the story, in photos set to music, of how it all started with a parade in Fair Haven that culminated with costume prizes, some socializing and snacks at the firehouse. Then, in Rumson kids of all ages paraded a short route from the front to the back of Forrestdale School where some costume judging and prizes ensued along with some carnival-type fun and games.
Here, we have made available any of the photos for purchase. Just click on the “buy photo” tag and follow the instructions.
*Note: Photos for purchase are for personal use only. They are copyrighted and may not be reproduced in any other publication. Thanks and enjoy!
Call them Halloween house haunts of the Rumson-Fair Haven area. They’re those subtle little decorations that pop out to give passersby a bit of a “Boo!”
Perusing the area, there were a few that just seemed to summon the spirit of the season.
Take a look. We will be adding new haunting discoveries to this photo collage until Halloween. Do you know of a ghoulishly good lawn scare? Let us know and we’ll stop by to take a pic.
— Elaine Van Develde
There was no tricking and a lot of treating going on Sunday when Rumson and Fair Haven both hosted their annual Halloween festivities.
It all started with a parade in Fair Haven that culminated with costume prizes, some socializing and snacks at the firehouse. Then, in Rumson kids of all ages paraded a short route from the front to the back of Forrestdale School where some costume judging and prizes ensued along with some carnival-type fun and games.
Take a look at Rumson-Fair Haven Retrospect’s slideshow for a peek-a-BOO into the day. Enjoy!
We will be posting the photos in a separate gallery for purchase if you’d like your own copies.
— Elaine Van Develde
The Halloween spirit is in the air and festivities to conjure it up into a hearty haunt abound this weekend.
There are parades, parties, costume contests, a haunted theater a regional run, and an egg hunt — yes, an egg hunt.
It all starts on Friday night with …
• Brookdale Community College’s Haunted Theater:
Adult tours are held Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 7 to 10:30 p.m. at the college’s Performing Arts Center.
General admission is $12, senior admission is $10 (age 62 and up, college staff and alumni), high school students pay $8, and Brookdale students are admitted for $5 (two-ticket limit).
Saturday …
• Fair Haven’s Halloween Egg Hunt starts at 5:30 p.m. at Fair Haven Fields near the concession stand.
It’s a play on the Easter Egg Hunt with a Halloween twist. The fields will be peppered with black and orange candy-filled eggs. Be there 15 minutes early and bring a bag for eggs.
The hunt is free.
• After the hunt, borough boy scout troops are hosting their Haunted Hike at 6:15 p.m.
The hike will take participants through the Fair Haven Fields Nature Area. Admission is a canned food item for donation.
Sunday …
• The regional 22nd Annual Trick or Trot 5K Race and Pet Walk, hosted by the Jersey Shore Running Club (JSRC) and the Deal Fire Company No. 2, will take place at 11 a.m. at the Deal Casino in Deal.
Proceeds from the event will benefit the homeless animals at the Monmouth County SPCA and the Deal Fire Company. Over the past 21 years, the Trick or Trot has attracted nearly 50,000 participants and raised more than $25,000 for its beneficiaries. Formerly held in Long Branch, the large, regional run is now in Deal.
Race-day registration in person begins at the Deal Casino at 9:30 a.m. The Trick or Trot Kids Dash starts at 10:30 a.m., followed by the 5K Race at 11 a.m., with the Pet Walk at 11:05 a.m.
The People and Pet Costume Parades will take place at 11:45 a.m., followed by awards and prizes! Deal Fire Company will host a post-race party on site with hot dogs, beverages and music.
Registration costs for the 5K and Pet Walk are $25. Registration for the Kids Dashes is $15. Long-sleeved t-shirts are provided to all who pre-register.
• The Fair Haven Halloween Parade/Costume Contest lines up at Knollwood School on Hance Road at 1:30 p.m. and makes its way down Hance and River roads and to the Fair Haven Firehouse at 2 p.m.
Prizes will be given out at the firehouse.
Children of all ages are welcome.
• The Rumson Halloween Parade and Party runs at Forrestdale School from 3:30 to 5 p.m.
Line-up is at the school’s main entrance at 3:15 p.m. There will be a costume contest and prizes, thematic games and activities, hot dogs and beverages and a trick-or-treat.
Few words are needed, if any, when taking in the view of the river from the banks of the Navesink in Rumson and Fair Haven.
Soaked in the sun of a warm fall day, the scene just doesn’t get any more comforting. It seems to smile back and embrace. And it never gets old.
Get a glimpse. Take it in.
— Elaine Van Develde
By Elaine Van Develde
He lived his dream.
And for now former Fair Haven Police Chief Darryl Breckenridge, retirement doesn’t mean he’s awakening to any harsh reality — just vivid gratitude.
While he’s been officially off the job since Oct. 1, the chief’s surreal 38-year career culminated in a lucid award-strewn farewell retirement dinner last Thursday.
Roughly 200 state, county and local dignitaries, police and chiefs from several nearby towns, family and friends gathered at Raven and the Peach in Breckenridge’s hometown Fair Haven to celebrate his accomplishments, honor him with certificates and awards — even the key to Fair Haven — party with him and just plain thank him for his service.
“I just love this man!” a teary eyed Eileen O’Neill, widow of former Chief Bobby O’Neill said as she hugged and held the face of the man she knew as the kid her husband took on ride-alongs and mentored .
There were other mentors, too … former chiefs Ricky Towler, Lou DeVito. Then there was, of course, the chief who started it all for a 5-year-old Breckenridge when he stopped at his house to offer his mom a job as a crossing guard — Carl Jakubecy.
Then there was his mom, Dorothy — the woman Breckenridge credits with giving him the “character” to succeed and realize his dream.
“To have a dream at five years old and to actually see that dream come to fruition … Just being a patrolman and being fortunate enough to rise through the ranks of chief of police in the town where I wanted to do so is truly amazing … It’s more amazing when you go back and look at at our country in the 1960s … there was so much turmoil in the world, so much unrest within our country, there were riots on the street and hatred … there was so much uncertainty …”
Breckenridge’s children, Tyler, D.J. and Whitney, stood before their dad, certain of his success and their pride in him. “There aren’t enough words to describe how proud we are of our dad,” Whitney said.
The sentiment was echoed by D.J., who is now Fair Haven’s Recreation director.
He talked about the respect and pride his father, passing down that “character” his grandmother taught, was grateful, not only for the success, but also for the community in which he was raised. That community, Fair Haven, has always been family to him as well, D.J., a little choked up, said.
“I know that it’s very important for him to have all these Fair Haven residents here in addition to everyone else,” he said. “Because Fair Haven, for my dad, was always family and it always will be …”
Yes. Protecting and serving his hometown family was Darryl Breckenridge’s dream. He’s still living it in its second act. Although now, as he told the crowd, “I can let my hair down … Well, I can let down what hair I have.
“For me to have a dream of that magnitude and to be able to realize it … It’s really amazing. It happened because we are in this country. We have the best country in the world. God bless America. God bless you all.”
Congrats, Darryl, from your Fair Haven family!
Don’t forget to click on the lower right icon of the slideshow to enlarge. We had a few photo tech issues. So, in addition to the somewhat compromised quality of some of the photos, we also apologize for the fact that somehow the entire police department ended up looking like something out of a Halloween movie — all white eyes. Who knew? Officers of the Corn? Sorry!
By Elaine Van Develde (photos and story)
The namesake of Church Street in Fair Haven will soon be gone.
The steeple of the longstanding Episcopal Church of the Holy Communion at the corner of the aptly coined Church Street and River Road is still standing, but most of the house of worship has been demolished.
As part of a Planning Board-approved subdivision plan, the demolition of the six-year-shuttered church on a .54-acre parcel, the last renovation of which was deemed a “do-it-yourself project by a very adventurous (group of) builder(s)” in the late 1960s by Rumson builder Kolarsick attorney Brooks Von Arx, began on Tuesday.
As of 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday, only the front quarter of the church remained.
Von Arx had said that razing the church was warranted to make way for the unanimously board-approved three-home subdivision because the structure was found to be in disrepair and lacked the architectural integrity or historic background to warrant preservation.
Along with the church, a two-story dwelling and former nursery school on the site were demolished.
The with no historic or architectural integrity to warrant preservation, will now be razed, as will a former nursery school, sanctuary and two-story rectory dwelling that sit on the site.
A church has sat at the location since the late 1800s, thus the namesake street.
For more information on the issue, click here.
No, the scene just never gets old for many. It’s that scene, or one or a few of many, from one perspective or another, soaked up from the banks of Navesink River by the Fair Haven Dock.
The sun was shining brightly on Monday. Warmth enveloped — both temperature and tone.
Here’s another view. Enjoy!
— Elaine Van Develde
By Elaine Van Develde
There’s nothing like the wrap — of anything, really.
It represents a feeling of accomplishment — in a way. In show business, “Its a wrap!” brings on a sigh of relief and some celebration. In other circles, such as food forums, it prompts some speculation and, yes, satiation.
When you have an option of choosing a wrap to eat, for instance, it often represents several ingredients you like wrapped up in some sort of flour tortilla or variation thereof, a/k/a wrap.
A lot of area eateries offer a wrap version of a favorite luncheon-meat-and-cheese- or salad-stuffed something or other.
Then there are those who like to eat it raw — the wrap and its contents. For them there is such a thing as a collard leaf-stuffed vegan variety. And they have it at Seed to Sprout in Fair Haven.
As Lucille Ball said in her Vitameatavegaman commercial on I Love Lucy, “It’s tasty, too!”
So, as the first in Rumson-Fair Haven Retrospect’s I’ll Just Pick weekly series, the pick of the week is the raw cashew collard wrap from Seed to Sprout — and from a non-vegan who really relishes a big fat meaty sub for some lunch solace on a bad day.
This wrap, enveloping the taste buds with a creamy, crunchy vegan catch-all, features a mash of organic raw cashews topped with alfalfa sprouts, shredded carrots, tomato and mixed with extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice, apple cider vinegar and filtered water. Then there’s a nutritional yeast additive.
And, of course, the whole thing is wrapped up in a collard leaf. Call it a foodie Collard Patch doll.
Call it that, because even if you’re not a vegan, you may want to adopt this lunch lifestyle change.
It’s a cashew hummus sort of splendor all wrapped up and ready to healthily munch. Really.
Seed to Sprout opened a few months ago in July in the Acme Market shopping plaza, off River Road (officially 560 River Road, though), in Fair Haven.
Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School graduates Cara Pescatore and Alex Mazzucca own and operate the eatery, which is a second location to the original in Avon.
The menu is replete with all sorts of all-day organic vegan breakfast dishes: granola and yogurt parfait, sprout breakfast bowl and avocado breakfast sandwich.
Under the raw header, there’s also a sunflower burrito wrapped in collard and raw pizza.
There are also lots of grilled sandwich goodies, that are not quite what they sound like, such as the bacon cheddar melt, which features coconut bacon and not your average cheddar. The grilled avocado sandwich, RFHers tell us is a favorite, too, not to mention the seed salads and rice bowls.
There are also soups.
Check out the menu by clicking on the photo above or check out the website by clicking here.
Seed to Sprout is open from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. Dinner is served at the Avon location on Thursday nights.
The mucky state of McCarter Pond has pushed a passel of residents to try to get the Fair Haven governing body to find a better way to resolve the issue so people can see clear through the green, get the blob out and keep the longtime borough focal point functional.
It’s a matter that has been discussed at many a Borough Council meeting. Aerators have been installed to clear up what has become a meadow of tangled duckweed and algae.
But, residents have said, it doesn’t seem to be enough.
So, some got together on Sunday and formed a group to brainstorm fiscally prudent ideas and research remediation.
Here’s what Councilman Rowland Wilhelm had to say in a Facebook post on the matter …
“This past Sunday, concerned residents who live near McCarter pond got together to form the Friends of McCarter Pond. This group’s goal is halt and reverse the deterioration of something that is a large part of the fabric of this town and will work with regional groups and Fair Haven’s government to do so (Full disclosure: I was elected to council in 2010 and still hold office).
“It is our belief that F.H. governing body recognizes the problems with the pond and has addressed some issues (five aerators have been installed and a contractor hired to remediate the green blob (its actually primarily duckweed)).
“However, dredging still needs to be done; as many of you already know the south side of the pond is turning into a meadow. As such, we will endeavor to assist the town council by providing focused research and alternative remediation and financing ideas.
“Why are we posting to Facebook? Frankly, we need help and know that there are many of you out there who care about this important focal point of our town as deeply as we do.
“What are we looking for right now?
“Simply your name and email address. What will we do with this information? 1) we can anonymously show town government exactly how many people care and 2) put your name on an email list to keep you current on our efforts. We will NOT SELL your information or give it away. How do you get this info to us … Just message me here (on Facebook).
“Please help us save the pond!”
Yours,
Rowland Wilhelm and Friends of McCarter Pond
Note: The photo is one from a winter gallery of skating on the pond and does not represent the group.
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