A witchy retro bike ride at RFH circa 1970s Photo/George Day
Yes, it is the season of the witch … and pumpkin carving, and falling leaves, and goblins, and ghouls, and all sorts of tricks and treats. Something like that.
So, to capture a sort of catapult into the time of year, which people seem to already be riding into, we take a look back at a time in the 1970s when Halloween planning at RFH was almost a full-time job. Never mind homework. This was it.
The Retro Pic of the (George) Day is symbolic of the culmination of all that planning and, of course, the ride — a tandem witchy ride into the festivities with the bike and the broom … stick … back-up. Oh, they were well on their way and got where they were going.
You could say these two RFH ghouls’s mission took flight without a hitch.
Must have been the season of the witch. Know who they were?
— Elaine Van Develde
Oh, and thanks, again, to George Day for a great RFH glimpse back in time with this photo!
Sometimes you just don’t get to the church on time … for the blessing of the pets.
That’s what happened on Sunday for some trying to make it to the feast of St. Francis of Assisi blessing of the pets at St. George’s-by-the-River Episcopal Church in the West Park section of Rumson.
So, in the haze, sights were still seen to sum up a hazy, maybe not lazy, but a bit slow of a late Sunday afternoon in the area.
People seemed to be soaking up the West Park atmosphere with some simple fall stuff like walking the dogs (yes, someone else missed the event), goin’ fishin’ and just getting a glimpse of the river on a pensive kind of day.
Friday night the game’s on at Middletown South at 7 p.m and, yes, there are South bleacher security rules, too. It’s a sign of the times.
The open letter of rules goes like this …
“Middletown South contacted me with information regarding the football game at Middletown South on Friday Night, 7pm.
“There will be NO pre-sale tickets for the game
An additional entrance will be established for RFH fans — on the visitor side of the bleachers
“Backpacks and large bags, including large pursues, will not be permitted into the game. Smaller personal bags will be subject to search by Middletown Police
“Parking will be very tight on campus and families are encouraged to car pool as possible.
Respectfully,
Chris Lanzalotto
RFH Athletic Director
Go Bulldogs!”
But, back in the day, at least in the 1970s, there was little, if any of all that. Teens bagged it and packed it all up with lots of smiles and innocent, well, pretty innocent antics.
So, the Retro Pic of the (George) Day offers a glimpse back to the RFH bleachers again … with some smiles.
Recognize this crew from the Class of ’79? There’s one gal here who recently came home and married a fellow RFHer who she didn’t know in high school (’cause he was a tad older). He brought her back home to Fair Haven. And they live there again together … happily ever after … or at least smiling like in the old days on those bleachers when they hadn’t even passed by one another in the hallway.
The forecast calls for a dim, drizzly, damp weekend in the Rumson-Fair Haven area. And what that amounts to is the postponement of one event and the literal blessing of another to go on as planned.
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?
Sometimes you just need to escape to an island. And all you need to do is look out onto the Shrewsbury River to find one.
If you can’t get in your gondola and paddle over there, the 32-acre Gunning Island preserve, 20 acres of which has been owned by Rumson since 2007, is close enough to see from the banks of Rumson or Sea Bright. For RFHers, it holds a cache of party and young pleasure boating memories.
It now seems to beckon with a sigh of serenity and solitude in its wildlife preserve state.
Exhale and take in the memories with the scenery …
Author Mary Beth Connor Gibson’s story started with her mom, a walk to her hometown library, a passion for books and her own writer’s pen.
She took that walk 57 years ago, in May of 1959, to the Fair Haven library with her mom. The native Fair Havenite said she knew something special was about to happen. And it did. She, a then 6-year-old, got her first library card and the first glimmer of what turned out to be enduring, loving support from her mom to live her dream and love of books and become an author.
She is now what she dreamed of then — and has been for a while now. And, most recently, she took a long walk (OK, ride) back to her hometown on Sunday — but not to the library this time. That trek had already been taken more than half a century ago. This journey back home was one to the Fair Haven Firehouse, a Connor family home-away-from-home anchor for the siblings and longtime members, with family and friends for a book signing of her novel Aroon.
The parents Mary Ellen and Joe were there in spirit and pictures hanging on the walls.
And the journey to authorship was remembered as one taken with a mom and family ’til the end.
Mary Ellen Connor Photo/Mary Beth Connor Gibson
Connor Gibson’s mother lived her dream with her, supporting her little girl all grown up every step of the way, on another walk to another part of the country.
But it started like this … “I knew by her (Mom’s) enthusiasm that something special was about to happen,” Gibson said. “Once we reached the library, she leaned over and said, ‘You are now old enough to have your own library card.’ I can still feel the pride in my heart as I checked out the first stack of books in my own name. My passion for books is just as strong today.”
Eventually Connor Gibson emigrated from home and ended up living in South Carolina.
“Living in South Carolina, Mom accompanied me on several research trips, like Savannah’s Ships of the Sea Maritime museum or the Redcliffe Plantation,” she said. “She passed away before I finished my book, but she was always encouraging.”
She was encouraged along the way by people other than her mom, but Mom was the mainstay.
“My second grade teacher, Mrs. Pauline Gibson, was the first to encourage my writing, allowing me to read a fairy tale I wrote for the principal, Mr. Petrisin. I think it was about a goat,” she said.
That elementary school goat rather than fairy tale manifested in a dabbling in short stories and such over the years.
But, “when approaching 40, I decided to go for it and write children’s books. Later, I expanded my subject matter to adults, giving me the freedom to explore the challenges and struggles of all classes of people. After learning of the martyrdom of an 18th century Tipperary priest, Nicholas Sheehy, I decided to focus my first novel during that time period.
“The title, Aroon, is the Anglicized version of the Gaelic, a rún, which literally means ‘my secret’ while it’s also used as a term of affection. I interpret it as “my secret love,'” Connor Gibson explained.
Aroon, already an award-winning novel, is set in 18th century Ireland, where jealousy, lust, and oppression lead to gruesome visions with only one way to stop the torture — a killing. So goes the description of the book.
It’s not a spoiler. It’s a delicate tease, as Connor Gibson sees it. She’s not giving away any of the intricate plot. You’ll have to read the devil in the details for yourself.
Here’s a bit of a tidbit more …
“Richard Lynche, anguished heir of Duncullen, clashes with his overbearing letch of a father. The lad’s only solace, the arms of homesick new maid, Eveleen, becomes his greatest agony when he finds himself terrorized by grisly apparitions. The result? One cold corpse.”
“Years of research took me places I’d never guess existed. Bringing it all together dramatically has been extremely gratifying,” said Connor Gibson. “I plan to release the sequel, Harps Upon the Willows, early in 2017.”
So, what’s a little Fair Haven girl to do with a cold corpse, some torture, solace, jealousy, lust and oppression on the mind? Mix the elements in the mind with some notes and thought after a long walk … to the library.
It may not be Oz, but there’s no place like home and the memory of a walk and a mother’s support for the writing of a book and the wrapping of it all up in a signing with lots of hugs and smiles as this author sees it.
About Aroon and Mary Beth Connor Gibson …
Aroon has been awarded the Carrie McCray Literary Award for Novel First Chapter and was a finalist in the Pacific Northwest Writers Association Literary Contest for Historical Fiction.
Her first chapter, printed in the anthology, The Petigru Review, was nominated for a Pushcart Prize.
Gibson dedicated more than three decades to teaching adolescents in rural South Carolina everything from literature to mathematics to conflict resolution. She passionately believes in the value and dignity of every human being, which she’s carried from her classroom to the pages of her books.
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