The weather and spirits were on the side of all the good ghouls who came to the grounds of Forrestdale School for Rumson’s Halloween parading and festivities.
Hundreds of costumed kids and families gathered for games, goodies and socializing.
Take a look (And don’t forget to click to enlarge!) … Oh, and Happy Halloween!
— Elaine Van Develde
Well, you could say the third time was a charm for the first annual Fair Haven Trucktoberfest.
The new, more family-friendly, sponsored by the non-profit Foundation of Fair Haven, had been put off twice before Saturday due to inclement weather.
But, Saturday it was this time. And the weather was fine and, by the looks of the faces and the mood, people were pleased.
Take a look (Don’t forget to click to enlarge!) …
— Elaine Van Develde
Fall is in the air. The weather is forecasted to be quite fine for the weekend, and there’s plenty going on.
The fall air was crisp, the clouds clinging to it and the colors vivid. It was another dusk at the Fair Haven Dock.
The scene just doesn’t get old for most. The serenity. The stillness. The Navesink River resting at the end of the day.
You can almost hear the exhale.
Give a listen. Take a look …
— Elaine Van Develde
She’s coming home. Longtime Fair Havenite Evelyn Halliday Murphy will be honored and bid farewell on Friday and Saturday in her hometown community where she lived most of her life, raised a family, volunteered and was a bright, kind comforting everyday presence — a gentle, beaming reminder around every corner of what hometown really means.
Evelyn passed away at 97 on Sept. 3 at the home of her son, David, in Florida, where she had been living. The family is reuniting with the community to say goodbye in the town she loved surrounded by people and places she loved.
Many remember her bright red hair, warm smile and kind no-nonsense words. A volunteer at Knollwood School, the Fair Haven Election Board and Church of the Nativity, where her funeral service is set for Saturday, Evelyn also participated in local theater and worked at Steinbach’s Department Store in Red Bank for 35 years, retiring at 83.
Evelyn eventually came to Fair Haven from Tarrytown, NY, where she was born. She had spent her summers in Rockaway Beach where her parents ran a restaurant on the boardwalk.
Shortly after World War II, Evelyn met her husband, John. In 1950, they moved to Fair Haven, where they raised their seven children. After John’s death in 1980, Evelyn continued to live on Hunting Lane until moving to Jensen Beach, Florida, where she lived with her son David and daughter-in-law, Dorothy and eventually passed away peacefully.
In addition to her husband, Evelyn was predeceased by her brother, Herbert Halliday. She is survived by: her children, Christopher, Kenneth, Timothy (Karen), Thomas, David (Dorothy), Eileen Pedersen (Jeffrey), Jeanne Wnorowski (Mark), ten grandchildren and ten great-grandchildren.
For all those in the community who would like to say goodbye and honor Evelyn Murphy’s memory, visitation will be held Friday, Oct. 28 at John E. Day Funeral Home, 85 Riverside Ave., Red Bank from 2 to 4 and 6 to 8 p.m.
A Celebration of Life Mass will be held at the Church of the Nativity, 180 Ridge Rd., Fair Haven at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 29. The interment will follow at Mount Olivet Cemetery in Middletown.
You may visit Evelyn’s memorial website at www.johnedayfuneralhome.com.
From John E. Day Funeral Home (edited) …
Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School (RFH) alumnus and former longtime Fair Havenite Douglas Day Sidun, most recently of Little Silver, passed away peacefully on Sunday. He was 59.
Born in Red Bank to his parents, Cyril and the late Eleanor (Day) Sidun, Doug graduated from the University of Denver, CO, with a bachelor’s degree after graduating from RFH.
He continued school at the American Academy McAllister Institute of Funeral Services in New York City and began his career working as a funeral director at the John E. Day Funeral Home, which was established by his grandfather, John E. Day in 1932.
Doug was a member and past president of the Red Bank Kiwanis Club, and a member of the Knights of Columbus, Fair Haven Council, the Monmouth and Ocean County Funeral Directors Association, the Chamber of Commerce, and a communicant of St. Anthony of Padua Church in Red Bank.
He also enjoyed snow skiing and water skiing.
Doug strongly believed that each and every family he served in the community reminded him how individual we all are in what we need as we grieve for a loved one. His commitment to each family was to learn more about them and their loved one. He firmly believed the end result should always be a meaningful and memorable final tribute.
He is survived by: his three loving daughters, Victoria, Kristen, and Natalie Sidun; his father, Cy Sidun and his wife Carol; his five siblings and their spouses, David and his wife Linda, Charles and his wife Virginia, Andrew, Jeanne Sidun-Wark and Theodore and his wife Jennifer, and his ten nieces and nephews.
Visitation will be held at the John E. Day Funeral Home, 85 Riverside Avenue, Red Bank, on Thursday, Oct. 27 from 5 to 8 p.m..
A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at St. Anthony of Padua RC Church in Red Bank on Friday, Oct. 28, at 10 a.m.. Burial will follow at Mt. Olivet Cemetery in Middletown.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be sent in Doug’s memory to The Kiwanis Club of Greater Red Bank, P.O. Box 8221, Red Bank, NJ 07701-8221. Please visit Doug’s memorial website available at www.johnedayfuneralhome.com.
He’s a Fair Haven police officer. He’s a Middletown firefighter. He’s a husband. He’s a dad. And he’s a fighter for what he feels is the right thing to do. But, John Waltz will tell you that the latest volunteer project he was involved in was not about him or his fight at all. It was about kids all over the country and the fight to find a cure for childhood cancer. He just played a small part in the much bigger scheme of the cause and its hopeful end. Now he, and the others involved, are asking for your one-two punch in the fight as well.
In August, Waltz, along with fellow firefighters and a host of children with cancer, adults and others, fought their part of the good fight by participating in a music video aptly dubbed Fight and sponsored by Infinite Love for Kids Fighting Cancer filmed at Middletown Fire Department’s Fire Company 1, Station 8.
The video, released today, features the song written by singer/songwriter Taylor Tote and filmed by Right Stuff Studios. Its message is a simple, poignant one of the day-to-day fight.
“I have to say it was truly moving to be a part of it,” Waltz said in August after filming. “I couldn’t believe the suffering of these poor children and seeing how hopeful they are. Seeing the pain they are in made me very sad. But they are such heroes.”
Tote, after being chosen as the band for the next Infinite Love fundraiser, forged a friendship with non-profit founder Andrea Gorsegner’s children Natalie Grace and Hannah Rose Gorsegner.
Natalie Grace was the inspiration behind Infinite Love. Now 6 and in complete remission since 2014, she was diagnosed in August of 2012 with high-risk acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). The family launched into an effort to fund childhood cancer research and raise awareness of the disease.
“About two months into Natalie’s fight, the Gorsegners quickly started discovering the ugly truths behind childhood cancer, like for one that it’s the number one disease killer of our children in this country,” an excerpt from the Infinite Love website says. “As one shocking stat after another began to unfold they knew that they had to do everything that they could to raise both awareness and funding for research, and so they began campaigning via Natalie’s Facebook page asking that everyone send them just a single dollar to go towards childhood cancer research. In just three short years the family has raised nearly half a million dollars with every penny having gone towards fulfilling research grants!”
Funds have been raised and donations made to the cause in every way from personal family contributions, such as time and talent, to a $1 drive for the cause to bake sales and even firefighters just passing hats.
Mom Andrea “was the driving force for this project. She was determined to raise awareness and funds for childhood cancer research,” Waltz said. A photographer, Andrea, for instance, has offered free photo sessions for cancer patients and families. There have been classic galas and more. Anything and everything for the cause, the kids, the research, the cure.
Now, the latest effort is the video.
“I was absolutely honored to be a part of this and I really didnt know on such a large scale that children were so affected and I took a stance and a promise to Andrea that if she needs anything or I can help in any way with future anything she does or needs I am in the game 110 percent,” Waltz said. “I was truly touched, saddned and honestly honored to be part of a collaboration that hopefully raises tons of money and the video goes viral.”
And that’s the goal.
The challenge is to make spread the word, purchase it from iTunes and spread the word. All proceeds from the iTunes purchases benefit the cause. So, getting it to go viral is the goal. To care, all you need to do is share … the video, Waltz said.
Read more about the video and Infinite Love by clicking here.
For the full list of video credits, click here.
The Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School (RFH) Tower Players’ fall production, the farce Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, is set for its debut on the school’s stage soon.
Continue reading RFH Stage Set for ‘Sir Gawain and the Green Knight’
Sunday was a great fall day for a Halloween parade — the Fair Haven Halloween Parade.
The longstanding tradition started many years ago … and continues in the same fashion: Costumed parading from Knollwood down Hance Road to River and the Fair Haven Firehouse for prizes, cider and donuts.
Rumson-Fair Haven Retrospect could not be there this year. But, the site’s followers have offered their photos of the day, with a little before and after happenings captured.
Take a look …
Thanks to Susan Sorensen, Bonnie Wiehl and Jenny Costello for the photos!
Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School (RFH) recently hosted visitors from its sister school in China.
The group of 14 students, parents, and chaperones from the Hangzhou Entel Foreign Language School (HEFLS, or Entel) in Hangzhou, China visited on Oct. 7. RFH and Entel had entered into a partnership with the goal of building a bridge between language programs at the two schools.
The visitors from Entel enjoyed a week-long tour of various high schools and universities in the United States, making stops in Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia before arriving at RFH.
There they attended an information session with members of the RFH administration before taking a tour of the school and participating in a few athletic activities. Members of the Entel group then shadowed RFH students as they attended either an English or History class.
Next up was a visit to Rebecca Wang-McKenna’s Chinese class, where the visitors participated in cultural activities in both Chinese and English.
The visit culminated in a luncheon for the guests attended by RFH Chinese Teachers Rebecca Wang-McKenna and Matt Yang, several RFH students, and several members of the RFH administration.
Previously, RFH students and chaperones had visited Entel for two weeks on two separate occasions in April of 2013 and November of 2015.
RFH and Entel are now exploring the possibility of an exchange program, or a shadowing program in which three to five Entel students will attend classes with RFH students throughout the school day.
— Edited press release from Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School
The weather has once again put the kibosh on the Fair Haven Trucktoberfest.
The event that was rescheduled for today from the previous Saturday has, once again, been put off for another week, due to the uncooperative weather.
“MOTHER NATURE IS NOT WITH US TODAY,” announced Susan Sorensen, councilwoman, event coordinator and Foundation of Fair Haven chair. ” … and with the rain – then high winds we truly have to postpone.”
So, the event is set for next Saturday, Oct. 29, but earlier — from noon to 7 p.m. this time.
“We realize that many of you have Halloween Parties to go to – and we hope that you will join us earlier in the day to help support future Fair Haven Days – and enjoy another fun community event,” Sorensen said in her announcement on Facebook. ”
She added that “many of the food truck vendors have already confirmed they are in, as well as many of the additional vendors. We are working on the Band line up as well.
“We are going to also incorporate a Halloween aspect – where the vendors will allow trick or treating at their sites.”
Specifics on those additional Halloween-themed plans will be announced as they come together as will vendor and band confirmations.
In addition, due to the weather, the Halloween Egg Hunt has also been postponed to next week.
Local summer snuck back into the Rumson-Fair Haven area Wednesday and made a grand appearance on Sea Bright Public Beach.
Sun beams cast a glow on many content beachgoers getting a good dose of rays on what may have been the last of those warm oceanfront days.
Take a look …
— Elaine Van Develde
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