Tag Archives: feature

Local Life

Retro Cool River Rat Daze

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A 1976 River Rats crew Photo/courtesy Marc Edelman, Facebook
A 1976 River Rats crew
Photo/courtesy Marc Edelman, Facebook

All’s cool with these little rats in the pool … or, more like down by the river! A reprise from 2018 in ode to the tradition of summer recreating on the river in the Rumson-Fair Haven area. It’s all about River Rats, one summer rite of passage in the area … 

Unofficial summertime is here, with the official season’s start soon to set sail. And summers in the Rumson-Fair Haven area are rife with river-oriented activities that have become tradition.

River Rats’ sailing “camp” is no exception. OK, nobody was camping. It was more like a little club. Still is.

It’s been a sort of rite-of-living-on-the-Navesink passage for decades — since 1955. Kids learn how to boat and do a lot of summer fun bonding in the process.

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Obituaries, Opinion

Ruth Blaser’s Fair Haven Mic Drop: Soaring with the Principles of an Iconic Dragon Gadfly

We are gathered here today … in gratitude for a Fair Haven gadfly. Mic drop.

Gadfly. It’s a caricature of those governing body meeting regulars, the characters who persists in challenging authority or the status quo, holding officials accountable, prompting change or even self-reflection. Gadfly. It’s not the true menace it sounds like. In fact, there’s a lot of beauty in a gadfly. Call it a dragon gadfly — a colorful, principled mosquito eater, ridding the environment to which it always returns of welt-wielding pestilence.

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Local Life

Retro RFH Pre-Prom Fun

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RFHers striking a casual pre-prom pose in 1975
Photo/Kathy Richardson Golden

A reprise originally posted in June of 2019 just because … it’s prom season!

It’s half past RFH Senior Prom time. And we know that some prom traditions have been upheld through generations while others have not — and sometimes that’s a good thing, depending on the trend.

One thing’s for sure, though, and that’s the prom fact that all good prom-goers gather before they set out for their quality prom time.

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Local Life

Retro Rumson Eighth Graders’ Memorial Day

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Rumson Boy Scouts at Memorial Day service circa early 1970s
Photo/George Day

It’s set to be a Memorial Day of the traditional kind in the Rumson-Fair Haven area — rain be damned. The day will be kicked off by parades in Rumson and Fair Haven and solemn services at Victory and Memorial parks, bringing people in the communities together to remember. Groups, standing shoulder-to-shoulder, honoring those who sacrificed their lives in service to the country, is the usual visual.

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Local Life

Retro Good Fair Haven Summertime Grilling

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Fair Havenite Paul Croft grilled for his family circa 1974
Photo/Mary Croft

Well, there’s nothing like a good Memorial Day grilling.

And there’s also nothing like getting your kid to flip those burgers and tend to the grill like a serious party master — like this barbecue scene back from 1974 in Fair Haven.

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