Carson Kirman gets to the winter sport of hockey and skating on McCarter Pond in 2015 Photo/Elaine Van Develde
It’s not as if most any adventurous kid wouldn’t try a little skating on thin ice in more ways than one. But, the ice was definitely thick enough at McCarter Pond in Fair Haven this one January day in 2015.
As people flocked to the Navesink River, which hasn’t been frozen enough to even walk on for years, over the weekend, the usual Rumson and Fair Haven spots were still prime for some solid, frozen adventuring. So, we’re taking you back just more than a decade to an iconic spot with some longtime Fair Haven adventurers — or something like that.
Photo/Picture of Register photo clip by Dave Kingdon
A reprise from February of 2017 in honor of the next snowfall due today …
With the onslaught of icy snow lately and the freeze over, there’s been a lot of chatter about snow days and how to get creatively constructive with the white stuff.
Well, in the 1970s, a few R-FH area kids took their creativity farther than most would be allowed to these days. And that chatter could have well been the chattering of teeth in the freezing weather — more like in the comfort of some kids’ self-built ice hut, or igloo. Woohoo!
The 1973 ice storm in Fair Haven. Photo/Elaine Van Develde (age 12)
Our Retro Pic of the Day is a reprise from an original 2015 post to commemorate a real chill of an ice storm that paralyzed the Rumson-Fair Haven area in ’73. A reminder in heaps of melting snow and cold that it could be worse …
Chill out with thaw and the reminder that, though it is pretty cold outside, and it’s been a pretty snowy, icy January, yes, it could be worse.
Snowy weather at RFH in the late 1970s Photo/George Day
A reprise in honor of the first major R-FH area snowfall of the New Year and nostalgia for the days of waiting for the snow day whistle to blow and goofing off. Yes, before the morning phone call and electronic communications, there was only the fire horn to listen for on what all kids wished would be a snow day. Then came the snow day misadventures …
It may or may not have been a snapshot of the infamous Blizzard of ’78, but there was not an SUV in sight, that’s for sure. Yes, those slick sedans slipped and slid their way right to school. Or not. There was a lot more fearlessness of the white stuff. That was the RFH golden rule of the era.
RFHers toga party of the 70s or 80s Photo/courtesy of Angela Carpenter
The time was always right for a toga party among RFH friends back in the 70s and 80s — especially when they wanted to chill out in the cold with a little draped sheet warmth and coolness.
Kids, you’ll skate when … the pond freezes over! Yes, Rumson-Fair Haven folks, it’s cold outside! But it’s only cold enough when the pond truly freezes over. Hell is another story, depending on the pond and the skater.
A snow day on Third Street in Fair Haven back in the 1960s Photo/Kathy Robbins
Well, after a lot of warnings and prep, the week’s ones played host to yet another snowstorm that wasn’t. Oh, there was some snow and freeze for a few morning minutes, but it was no Blizzard of ’96 or ’78. Yes, back in the day, there were plenty of snowstorms that actually snowed Rumson-Fair Haven area folks in and left them to their own devices for resorting to fun in the freezing white stuff.
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