Tag Archives: fair

Local Life, Opinion

Fair Remembrance: Ode to Opening Night of The Fair Haven Firemen’s Fair

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The bustle is hushed. The night remains still at the firehouse grounds. Trucks are in their place. There are no empty carnival rides, no tents, no fresh, sweet scents of cotton candy and fried fish wafting through the air. No one is cooking in the kitchen. All is quiet. Lights are out. A beacon in the mind’s eye casts shadows of decades before. The ghosts are all there, snuggled together on their grounds. They still came home. They are everywhere as we remember opening night of the Fair Haven Firemen’s Fair, which would have been this Friday BB, on a historic year without the fair ...

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.

Continue reading Fair Remembrance: Ode to Opening Night of The Fair Haven Firemen’s Fair →
Local Life

Focus: A Fair Finish

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The rides are dismantled. The chowder is sold out. The grounds are cleared. Games of chance are won and done. Town tales spun, lifetime friendships rekindled and begun. The 2019 Fair Haven Firemen’s Fair has come to a close for another year, but not before a banner finale.

Here’s a glimpse into fair closing night happenings and people on Saturday, from daylight to dark … (Don’t forget to CLICK on each photo to enlarge! Click again on same photo to advance to the next. Enjoy!)

— Elaine Van Develde

Local Life, Opinion

Reflection: All’s Fair in the Middle

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There have been a lot of significant beginnings and endings lately. 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 brings me, and probably more than a few others, back to that middle.

Continue reading Reflection: All’s Fair in the Middle →

Local Life

Sea Bright Fire Department Carnival Time

Tonight’s the night that a longtime annual area tradition sets the pace for riding into summer. The Sea Bright Fire Department Carnival is all set up and ready for its start at 5 p.m. in the municipal parking lot.

The carnival, or fair, is, as usual, is host to rides, games of chance, classic fair food, and live entertainment, and runs through Sunday.

Here’s the schedule: 

• Thursday, May 18, 5 to 11 p.m.

• Friday May 19, 5 p.m. to midnight, featuring The West End Dogs band at 6 p.m.

• Saturday May 20, 5 p.m. to midnight is also Mug Night, featuring The Jukebox Criminals band at 6 p.m.

• Sunday May 21, 2 to 9 p.m.

— Photos/Elaine Van Develde 2016

Local Life

Retro Pick of a Fair Winner

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A fair 50/50 drawing of yesteryear. Photo/FHFD
A fair 50/50 drawing of yesteryear.
Photo/FHFD

It’s one of those Mega Millions drawing nights, so it seems appropriate to take a look back at picking another winner — a 50/50 Fair Haven Firemen’s Fair winner.

So, the Retro Pic of the Day honors the picking of a winner … a fair winner … in a fair way.

In this shot, the guys are giving the tickets a tumble, poised to dig in, fetch and announce the number that will match up with the person holding the stub.

The set-up of the 50/50 Booth was similar yet a bit different back in the day. That would be Jim Butler doing something there to help and a bunch of onlookers drinking beers and hoping to get lucky … with their numbers.

Can anyone wager a guess as to how high the 50/50 has gone or did go in those days, which were likely the early 1970s? And who was the biggest winner — before the days of the Super 50/50?

Round and round she goes … Do we have a winner?