But, what about the middle? The end of the Fair Haven Firemen’s Fair has always brought me, and many a “fair” kid, back to that middle haven. It’s home … It’s that time — the time when you held it and walked with it (that balloon that eventually got away) that made you smile — like a memory. Letting it go never takes that middle away. ~ Elaine Van Develde
Call it finding a new “middle.” The end of the Fair Haven Firemen’s Fair 2025 came on Saturday night.
The beginning of the end-of-summer tradition — for not only Fair Havenites, but the many who’ve bonded with it in a community brick-and-mortar-like solidarity — came more than 120 years ago.
Our annual reprise about what it really means to experience all that’s fair for a Fair Haven kid …
There are a lot of significant beginnings and endings this time of the year. 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 has always brought me, and many a “fair” kid, back to that middle haven. It’s home.
The Charleston, flying trapeze artists, the Zipper or not, the Fair Haven Firemen’s Fair has been an end-of-summer tradition since its inception in 1921. Yes, some things never change — like the fair’s core of community legacy.
Yes, legacy. It’s a concept that those lacking a sense of community and connection in their souls just don’t get. Their loss. And it’s a big one.
It used to be called Firemen’s Night. It was the night when firemen from all over the state rode in to the fairgrounds at the Fair Haven Firemen’s Fair on their firetrucks amid a flurry of blaring sirens and flashing lights.
Fair Haven Folk Singers at the Fair Haven Firemen’s Fair circa 1960s Photo/Jack Croft via Mary Croft
There’s nothing better, or more carnival apropos, to kick off the Fair Haven Firemen’s Fair than a parade. And, back in the day, like the ’60s or early ’70s day, it happened.
Our annual reprise in celebration of opening night of the Fair Haven Firemen’s Fair …
All’s fair. The night before. The decades later. It’s something a Fair Haven kid will always see … a shooting star that they grabbed and tucked away in their heart, holding onto the glistening, magical light.
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.
It’s that night of the Fair Haven Firemen’s Fair that’s a gleaming, blaring, whirling truck-loving kid’s dream. It’s Firefighters’ Night; and it was last night at the fair.
Fair Haven Firemen’s Fair take-out booth of 1995 Photo/Elaine Van Develde
It’s that time again. Fair Haven Firemen’s Fair time is drawing near. The end-of-the-summer tradition that’s been celebrated for more than a century in the Rumson-Fair Haven area. The community eats it all up. That and the food.
Call it fairly literal. With the not-so-fair weather lately, thoughts tend to turn to the hometown warmth and fun that is the Fair Haven Firemen’s Fair.
Well, for the past eight days, every night has been a fair night in Fair Haven. The more than 100-year end-of-summer Fair Haven Firemen’s Fair tradition in the small town by the river never skips a year — except for pandemic times and one other war year in history.
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