Chum Chandler back in the day Photo/courtesy of the Chandler family
Well, once we published our first in a series of good (old) neighbors and asked for nominations, it didn’t take long to get an onslaught of nominations to feature Fair Haven’s Chum Chandler as a shining example of neighborliness.
So, Chum is our Retro Pic of the Day good neighbor.
Chandler, who passed away not long ago, was a native Fair Havenite, RFH grad, local businessman, Fair Haven Fire Company lifetime member and just all-around quirky, personable character. Anyone who knew him would tell you that he embodied all that’s good in this slice of suburbia.
He was known as a tall order of tough pull-yourself-up-by-the- bootstraps love always ready to lend a hand, share a good joke, poke a little fun and spread his zest for life and, yes, the town that he loved.
The man who was known as a good neighbor to the entire borough also believed in paying it forward; and he did just that.
Thank you to neighbor Chum Chandler. People are paying your message forward.
First grade with Mrs. Kamin at Knollwood in 1966 Photo/School picture
It all just seemed so simple then. Going to school and living in Fair Haven.
We were neighbors and friends. We walked and rode our bikes to school. And we couldn’t wait to find out who our teacher would be. We always found out in time to talk about it at the Fair Haven Firemen’s Fair.
So, back in 1966, a class of familiar community faces found out that they had Mrs. Kamin for first grade at Knollwood School.
That year was the beginning of a lot of longstanding friendships and neighborhood bonds. Treasured time.
Treasured time that warrants a look back in our Retro Pic of the Day and an anecdote about remembrance and gratitude. Remember where and how it all started and how lucky we all were to have had one another in our lives, many for a long time.
Mrs. Kamin still lives in Fair Haven. Some of these kids are grownups still living in town. Some have, sadly, passed. Some still have family here. Some are running businesses here and live one or a few towns away.
Recognize anyone? What did you learn from them or your time in that first grade class in Rumson or Fair Haven? What stuck with you most?
It’s not yet set in borough books, or even officially been introduced; but, if there are no cuts from the draft, Fair Haven property owners could be facing an average hike of roughly $102 in municipal taxes in 2015.
Average means what quantifies as the current average assessed property value in the borough of $720,900, up from $688,540 last year, Borough Administrator Theresa Casagrande said at Monday night’s Borough Council meeting. It actually means a lower tax rate per $100 of assessed value, but the rise in average assessed value naturally raises the rate on the average home.
What it boils down to is that “the conceptual average home will pay 101.83 more than it did in 2015,” Casagrande said. “I want to make it clear that this is not 1-2-3 Main Street. I could sit here and tell you that our tax rate is going down, but (the reality is that) as your average assessed value increased what we did was we calculated what an average assessed home paid this year versus what the average assessed property paid in 2014.”
In the grander scheme of budget talk, it means that spending plan in the borough, with its budget rough draft, went from about $8.3 to $8.4 million, or roughly a 3 percent increase.
The amount to be raised by taxation, or “appropriations minus revenue,” has been drafted at $6.1 million for 2015, calculating an increase of $231,591.
The number is arrived at from figuring the “combination of a slight increase in appropriations with a reduction in anticipated revenue,” which Casagrande said is down this year by about $148,000. That loss is largely due to the borough not being able to calculate in the $117,000 it got from FEMA last year for Hurricane Sandy damage.
A portion of the tax hike blame rests with unavoidable standard raises in employee health care costs and pensions, which, this year, will cost the borough $437,696.
“It’s a good budget. We have to maintain a level of affordability with quality municipal services,” Council President Jonathan Peters, liaison to the borough Finance Committee, said. “We don’t want to be a high cost, low service town.”
And while most council members at Monday night’s council meeting called the spending plan, in the works since January, a “good budget,” Councilman Robert Marchese said he “cannot stomach raising taxes. This gives me pause. Period. We need to care about seniors and those living on a fixed income. Taxes just can’t keep going up.”
And, Mayor Ben Lucarelli said, when considering per capita expenses, or municipal services offered, Fair Haven is beyond the high end, comparatively, at about $1,397 on an average per capita spending of $1,295 to $1,350 in small versus large towns. But, he said, the services provided are much better than those in larger towns with lower taxes.
When that per capita number is lowered, “the level of services drops dramatically,” he said. And, he added, Fair Haven is known for providing a premium of municipal services that most people, in his experience, do not want to do without.
With this budget, officials said, a lot of the debt service in the borough, or $189,00, was wiped out, bringing the total debt down to $3 million.
“We’re now at the same level we were at in 2008,” Lucarelli said. “The budget has been chopped down and creeped up since then, but has never exceeded the 2008 number.”
For six years straight, from 2008 to 2013, Fair Haven boasted holding the line on municipal taxes, which comprises a little more than 20 percent of the tax bill, with no municipal tax hike (and one minuscule decrease) until last year.
Today, we take a look back at the Fair Haven Reorganization and the first responders sworn in and offer another thank you to all of those who volunteer to protect us.
The other fire companies that responded to the Blithewald fire were: Sea Bright, Little Silver, Shrewsbury, Highlands, Atlantic Highlands and Asbury Park.
Fair Haven officials have said all along that once the transformation to passive recreation park takes hold, a plaque commemorating the Williams family and its Robards descendants will be anchored on the site. The plaque will include a brief history of the land’s significance.
For now, though, getting set for some major landscaping is the priority.
“The DPW is finishing up with clearing the property of any remaining bits of debris from the demolition,” Fair Haven Mayor Ben Lucarelli said. “The borough’s arborist has assessed the trees on the property and made a determination of which can be cut down and which must be saved. Becker Tree Service, which has a contract with the borough, will soon remove the trees that cannot be saved.”
After that, the property will be readied for turf and landscaping.
Taxpayers contributed roughly $200,000 to the acquisition of the $1.2 million plat. The remainder of the money to purchase it came from state, county and non-profit grants — all of which were contingent upon a commitment to eternally preserve the land as open space.
Take a look at the above slideshow for a glimpse into the property’s history, from borough acquisition to the home’s demolition.
The 160-year-old waterfront DeNormandie Avenue home that freed slave Charles Williams built — and made home to his immediate family and Robards family descendants — was demolished to make way for a passive park was on the banks of the Navesink River in Fair Haven.
The acquisition of the property has been in the works, via several funding avenues, for the better part of a decade.
The borough finally acquired the 6.9-acre property in the fall to preserve a rare swath of waterfront open space for future generations to enjoy, rather than letting it be sold to a private developer and closed off from public access.
The house, officials have said, was in too much disrepair to preserve. Also, as part of the deal for procurement of funding for the $1.2 million acquisition, borough officials had to agree to demolish the home.
The most recent owners, the Robards descendants, had lived in the house since 1855.
“Winifred Robards (who lived there since 1855, when she was 3) was known to invite kids onto the property to play and enjoy it all the time,” Lucarelli said.
It was her wish to pay that forward, Lucarelli had said. A plaque commemorating the Williams-Robards families will be erected on the site with a recounting of its history, Lucarelli said at the announcement of the acquisition in the fall.
The uncharacteristic March cold staved off progress for a bit, but with the spring warmth come the finishing touches of the Fair Haven Streetscape project.
And with the final phase of work, that will continue for about another three weeks, comes a minor traffic delay, with one lane closed, during daylight hours on River Road.
“We’re executing the rest of the Streetscape East program,” Mayor Ben Lucarelli said. “We started last fall at around Buena Vista Avenue on the north side, just to get that last part of the project started, then winter kicked in.”
As with the rest of the Streetscape project that spans from the business section by the Acme and now through to the Rumson border, sidewalks are being replaced on both sides of River Road and the consistent historic-looking lighting is being installed.
The last part of the east portion of the project is under construction on the south side of River Road, from Buena Vista to Oak Place, or roughly 911 River Road where the Shrewsbury Yacht Club sits, Lucarelli said.
Next, the project will be competed on the north side of River Road in the same area.
Melanie Stewart at Oceanic Free Library selling her jewelry, wreaths
Photo/screenshot of Stewart’s Facebook page
Melanie Stewart’s wreaths
Photo/screenshot of Stewart’s Facebook page
Site of Cravin Haven in April of 2015
Photo/Elaine Van Develde
Sign on the door of Locals Foodery in Rumson
Photo/Elaine Van Develde
Sign on the window of the former et al in Rumson
Photo/Elaine Van Develde
Site of the former et al in Rumson
Photo/Elaine Van Develde
Store for rent in Fair Haven Acme plaza
Photo/Elaine Van Develde
Former Doc Shoppe in the Fair Haven Acme plaza is for lease.
Photo/Elaine Van Develde
Former Fair Haven Doc Shoppe for lease
Photo/Elaine Van Develde
All it takes is a drive around the Rumson-Fair Haven area to see that there’s a lot of business news around the towns.
Some retail spaces have been cloaked in brown packing paper with and/or without some sort of literal sign of change. Others have interesting temporary venues and yet others are just starting out and telling their story via social media.
Here’s the business buzz in the Rumson-Fair Haven area:
Fair Havenite, Handmade Haven and Your Karma is Rockin’ owner Melanie Stewart
The jeweler/crafter is selling her wares right now out of the Oceanic Library in Rumson.
After leaving the short-lived brick-and-mortar location on River Road in Fair Haven, Stewart and her husband David have been crafting and selling wherever the opportunity presents itself.
They told Rumson-Fair Haven Retrospect back in October that it’s proven more cost-effective to have a traveling venue.
So, when there was an opening at the library in Rumson, Melanie, according to a Facebook post, created like crazy and set up shop.
Her creations will be there through the end of the month.
From Melanie Stewart:
“Please shop at the Oceanic (Rumson) Library the month of April. They are featuring my jewelry and wreaths and will receive a donation for each purchase you make!
Anyone from the public is welcomed to visit and shop! 109 Avenue Of Two Rivers Rumson, 07760 732-842-2692 for hours ~ Photos of creations that are featured with price list. Thank you!”
Cravin Haven, Fair Haven
Carolyn Beamish Furguson, of the Fair Haven Business Association, tells Rumson-Fair Haven Retrospect that the popular Avon-based vegan restaurant, Seed to Sprout, will replace Cravin Haven.
Cravin Haven, the short-lived, super-sized deep fryer-meets-barbecue sandwich spot in the Acme shopping center is now completely shut down.
The eatery, for which owners gave all indications that there would be a remodeling with possible reconfiguration in business in February, not so long ago sported a sign that said the business was for sale. The 1,200-square-foot space was listed for lease at $1,500 per month as a turn-key restaurant with equipment.
Now the windows are covered with brown packing paper. The inside is not empty and the sign remains, but it is still listed as one of two in the plaza for lease on loopnet.com.
Cravin Haven’s website, though, gives no indication that the business has folded. It still says that it is only closed for renovations. There is information about off-site catering. Click here for more information.
Empty storefront Acme plaza
The other unit for lease, the 900-square-foot 560 K, is next to the laundromat Wash House, a few doors down. It is empty and windows are not covered.
The information on loop net.com says now that rental rates for both are negotiable.
Replacement for Doc Shoppe?
The spot where the Doc Shoppe sat for years, in the other section of the Acme plaza fronting River Road in Fair Haven, is also for lease.
The Doc Shoppe relocated to a larger store in Red Bank last year.
The roughly 900-square-foot store is for lease through Metro Commercial Real Estate at 856-866-1900.
Fair Haven River Road business district
And in the Fair Haven business district east of Fair Haven Road, there’s been an announcement by Lisa Tave Taffin on social media that physhions, a “fashion-forward fitness apparel and accessories boutique” is opening in May at 813 River Road.
A Rumson Locals resurrection or closure?
Seemingly since the dawn of time, or roughly four decades at least, the spot at 91 East River Road in Rumson was Butler’s Deli. It was a frozen-in-time stop for anyone from old-timer townies to teens to grab those classic breakfast and lunch sandwiches and sides.
Butler’s closed in 2013 when then owner Paul Stout retired. Then well-known Rumsonite Dave Ciambrone opened Locals in the same spot in January of 2013.
Ciambrone is no stranger to Rumson business, having owned Murphy’s Tavern at one point and part of the family that owned Val’s Tavern for most of its existence.
There was a rumor that Butler’s was coming back. The sign on the door has said “Sorry, We’re Closed.”
Who knows? Mayor John Ekdahl said he isn’t certain, but did hear the rumor. The eatery, he said, has been closed since the beginning of the year.
And, it looks like the day after the photo was taken of Locals cloaked in brown packing paper with a “Sorry, We’re Closed” sign on the door, it was revealed that former owner Paul Stout is coming out of retirement to reopen as Butler’s Market. Soon. Stay tuned.
Across East River Road in Rumson at gourmet food stop, et al …
A sign on the window at 114 East River Road says, “For Rent.”
No further information was available at the site that was formerly Le Bon Panier.
The et al eatery now has a location in Highlands. There was a plan for et al to have two locations, in Rumson and Highlands, after renovations. But the sign indicates otherwise.
Time will tell.
What would you like to see at one or any of these business locations?
Fair Haven firemen and fire police stationed at Smith Street and River Road man and block off the street Wednesday night. Photo/Elaine Van Develde
If you live in the area of River Road, between Hance and Smith Street, in Fair Haven you may have heard a boom and been without electricity for a short period of time or longer around 6 p.m. on Wednesday.
While Fair Haven Fire Police were too busy redirecting traffic to provide an answer, a drive to the area would show that that block-long stretch of River Road was cordoned off, fire trucks, an ambulance and utility trucks were out.
No one has confirmed exactly what the issue was, but, with the presence of utility trucks and the outage, it seemed to be a power issue that was being tended to.
As of 7:45 p.m., the road was still blocked.
This post will be updated when more information becomes available.
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