Tag Archives: feature

Local Life

Focus: Sunset River Walk Reflection

Gallery

As the sun sets over the Navesink River, a walk on the Fair Haven Dock sheds light on river time that saw its season, its sunshine — river time that stays within and keeps us warm with a vivid picture of where we were, where we are.

And when you’re lucky enough to go back in river time with a first childhood friend, the winter walk gets warmer with each step. Each step forward brings you back to the same place, together, half a century later, where the sun shines bright, searing the power of one place into your forever inner child’s mind. The sear is an intricate lightning caress. A tidy, stinging storm of light.

It hits hard, bloated with love, and courses through all that you are, all that you were. It knows the two are the same deep inside. The searing light pens the picture pristine, the detail intricate, embeds it in each smile line on your face. It etches, never turning the picture to ash, only refining it.

You can see it all … in that river walk back with that childhood friend. It’s clear — so clear that you can hear it. You can hear the splash as you turn to the girl who dared to jump with the cool kids all those years ago. She smiles at the girl who stood and watched, still anchored, never wanting loose her footing on that piece of home. She’s docked there, forever reminding her friend that she is, too.

They pluck oyster shells from the shore to mark the splash made, the picture emblazoned. The sun sinks into the horizon. Its light stays within. The shells once held a pearl. The river remembers it all. It holds on tight as the friends walk away … clasping their pearly shells.

— Elaine Van Develde

Any time is river walk time. The sun is another story for the rest of this week and through the weekend. Here’s the forecast from the National Weather Service …

Local Life

Retro Just Ducky Times at McCarter Pond

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Three Fair Haven kids and the ducks at McCarter Pond circa 1950s
Photo/Kathy Robbins

Duck, duck … goose? Nope. This is more like the “Duck, duck, duck, duck, duck, duck, duck, duck, duck … kid, kid, kid … and a pond” game. Yeah, that’s it. Whatever way you look at it, it’s a pretty simple concept, just like that old Duck Duck Goose game.

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News

Rumson-Sea Bright Bridge Construction Travel Advisory

In this week’s Rumson-Sea Bright Bridge construction update and travel advisory, Monmouth County officials stress that extra travel time should be factored into the plans of those traversing the area of the bridge, particularly on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.

In its update, county officials added that the work schedule has been significantly expanded on Monday, with work continuing from 4 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Ocean Avenue in Sea Bright and the usual 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, unless otherwise specified.

Here’s what to expect, directly from the county’s weekly advisory …

On Monday, March 6, from 4 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Ocean Avenue in Sea Bright …

  • Concrete trucks will be entering and exiting the Sea Bright construction area frequently between 6 a.m. and 5 p.m.
  • The northbound shoulder of Route 36 will be closed from 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. for queueing of the concrete trucks.
  • Sea Bright Police will assist with traffic control.

On Tuesday, March 7, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Rumson Road in Rumson …

  • Alternating traffic on Rumson Road (CR 520) due to overhead lighting work.

On Friday, March 10, from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Rumson Road in Rumson …

  • Traffic shift and alternating traffic on Rumson Road due to pavement restriping.

Stressed advisory for area drivers to remain keenly aware of construction vehicles …

  • Temporary delays are possible on any contractor work day as construction vehicles enter and exit the work areas.

A sidewalk on the bridge is CLOSED …

  • The sidewalk on the south side of the bridge will be closed until further notice. Sidewalk users must use the north side walkway to cross the bridge.

Work activity continues in Shrewsbury River ..

  • Bridge replacement work is ongoing on both sides of the river south of the bridge.
  • The 65’ navigational channel width is expected to remain in effect until Fall 2023.
Local Life

Retro RFH Foul Weather Funning

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The RFH boys of the Class of 1978 lounge and play backgammon
Photo/George Day

Did someone say backgammon? Originally posted on Dec. 3, 2019, we’re bringing this RFH Senior Commons Retro Pic of the (George) Day back, because that conversation pit pic got those ’70s RFHers talking about the oh, so trendiness of backgammon and games in the pits and on the tabletops of that Senior Commons. We’re not so sure these guys were actually playing, but … the foul weather brings out those RFH Senior Commons memories and everything gets a bit more fair-weathered again. Go back again with us …

Snow day, anyone? Nope. Not this year. Dank days certainly are a bit too plentiful, though. Really, what’s an RFH student to do when the studying mood hasn’t struck, the weather stinks and a little peppering of now is not quite snow day worthy? Hang out in the Senior Lounge and play backgammon, of course. Or something like that. We stress “something like that.”

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Local Life

Retro Fair Haven Folk Singer Parading

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Fair Haven Folk Singers in a Fair Haven parade circa early 1970s
Photo/Jack Croft via Mary Croft

They had the “whole world” in their hands. The whole wide world. And they didn’t even know it.

It was a song the Fair Haven Folk Singers used to strum, sing and march to in parades. It encapsulated some happy insular times in one tiny niche in the world aptly called Fair Haven. The mission of the Fair Haven Folk Singers was a simple one — learn to play the guitar, all three chords, strum, sing, smile and spread the joy of music.

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Local Life, Opinion

Old News: A ‘Cheers’ to Iconic Places & People

There’s a reason why the 1970s and ’80s TV show Cheers was so popular.

The title song said it all in one sentence “You wanna go where everybody knows your name, and they’re always glad you came.” It resonated with millions. Everyone wanted that place to go to where they knew they belonged. A nose-to-the-screen-free environment. Face-to-face social interaction with a family of another kind that, good or bad, always showed up. Regulars. A place like Cheers — with parents.

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