
Photo/Connor family
A reprise from Dec. 13, 2018, because everyone needs a little reminder of Santa time close up and personal …
As if one classic 1960s snapshot of a Fair Haven kid perched on Santa’s lap wasn’t enough … Clearly it wasn’t.

A reprise from Dec. 13, 2018, because everyone needs a little reminder of Santa time close up and personal …
As if one classic 1960s snapshot of a Fair Haven kid perched on Santa’s lap wasn’t enough … Clearly it wasn’t.

It’s the year without close Santa encounters. Santa came to town, but not to the Fair Haven firehouse, as with every year since the dawn of most area kids’ time. We’re told there have been some other masked, distanced Santa visits in 2020 pandemic holiday times, but the laptop visit is out, so is the firehouse extravaganza. So, in honor of the traditional visit, whispers, close-up scary gander at that beard, promises of being good and gifts, our annual reprise takes everyone back to that firehouse visit … or wherever … with Ol’ Saint Nick …
It’s that time of the year when a longstanding Fair Haven tradition has taken hold — photos at the firehouse with Santa.
It’s another Fair Haven tradition you can always count on.
I remember …
Continue reading Retro Santa Firehouse Visit TimesThere’s nothing sweeter than a traditional holiday bake-off between a longtime Fair Havenite and her daughter. Sugar coat that with a little dance, too, and call it a festive confection perfection. The sweetest.
Continue reading Scene Around: Baking Up Sweet Holidays with a Fair Haven MomLongtime former Fair Haven resident Virginia Woodruff MacConnell passed away on Dec. 19 in Red Bank. She was 93.
Continue reading In Memoriam: 50-Year Fair Havenite, Virginia Woodruff MacConnell, 93Countless childhood friends had remembered him. They remembered the moments. They tucked them away and then spilled them out onto a remembrance page on social media, like splashing teardrops releasing time-capsuled moments. The page was soaked.
Continue reading Remembrance of a Fair Haven Boy: John D’Amelio, 52
Yes, we are doing this again. Just because …
Remember the old Sunday night drive to check out all the Christmas lights when you were a kid?
Continue reading Lighting Up the Holidays in the R-FH AreaThe sun before the storm. It has a way of lessening the messy, blistering blow of inclement weather and times.
Continue reading Focus: Shore View & Week Ahead FYI
Four Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School (RFH) student-athletes, all football stand-outs, have made their college choices official.
Continue reading RFH Football Stars’ College Commitment SiginingFormer longtime Rumson resident and Fair Haven business owner Harral Redden passed away on Dec. 7 after a brief illness with leukemia. He was 84.
The longtime resident of Little Silver as well, was a graduate of Red Bank High School and Ursinus College, where he was a wrestler. Hal was also an insurance broker who owned the Redden Agency-Insurance in Fair Haven for more than 50 years.

“Never a summer day went by when Hal was not at Sea Bright Lawn Tennis & Cricket Club playing tennis or practicing on the ball machine, after maybe a bike ride to Sandy Hook and then to Sea Bright Beach Club for a swim and to read a book or newspaper.
“In the winter, early birds at New Shrewsbury Racquet Club, (he enjoyed a) 3-day-a-week gym workout and paddle tennis at Sea Bright Lawn Tennis & Cricket Club, then lunch with his friends at the Root Beer & Checker Club. An avid sportsman, Hal completed the NYC and Boston Marathons.
“In addition to all his sports activities, he loved classical music, and writing poems for his family and friend’s special occasions.”
Loved ones of Hal Redden in his obituary
Hal was predeceased by his parents Harral and Evelyn Schultz Redden.
He is survived by: his wife of 37 years, Bernadine “Sissie” Redden; brother, Barry (Deborah) Redden; nephew, Alex, and niece, Julianna Redden; sons, Stephen and Scott Redden; stepdaughters, Victoria (Leo) Cullen, Pamela Vallas, Christa (Richard) Lippert; grandchildren, Conrad, Justin and Hanna Lippert, Anais and Kai Cullen.
Due to COVID, a celebration of Hal’s life will be held at a later date. In lieu of flowers, please make donations to Lunch Break/Food Bank Red Bank www.lunchbreak.org.
— Edited obituary from loved ones via Thompson Memorial Home

This year was a holiday first — the year without a tree lighting gala in Fair Haven.
Continue reading Retro Santa’s Reindeer Magic
There’s no keeping Santa from a little pre-Christmas drop-in, pandemic or not, especially when there’s a fire truck for the transport.
On the heels of a canceled usual holiday celebration in Fair Haven’s Memorial Park and knee-top Santa time at the firehouse, sirens a blaring, Santa cruised all the way around town on Sunday. Fair Havenite Susan Culbert captured a moment of the drive-by.
Continue reading Scene Around: Fair Haven Santa Cruising & MusingRumsonite, U.S. Army veteran, fireman and father of the Fair Haven Police Chief, Joseph F. McGovern, passed away on Dec. 11 at Monmouth Medical Center. He was 85.
Continue reading In Memoriam: Rumsonite, U.S. Army Vet, Fireman, Father of Fair Haven Police Chief, Joseph F. McGovern, 85
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