Tag Archives: FHFD

Scene Around: Official Kind of St. Pat’s Party Starters

It’s not every day that you ask for selfies of post-Rumson St. Patrick’s Day Parade fun and get one single solitary photo and it’s replete with a couple of former Fair Haven councilwomen.

Sad as that is, just add a Fair Haven Fire Department affiliation or two and a Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School Performing Arts Society parent and you get a good mix for a great time at Columbus Club’s Sunday St. Pat’s fete. Now that’s a recipe for Fair Haven fun. That’s the idea.

The two former councilwomen are, of course, Susan Sorensen and Jacquie Rice. We spy at least two fire company relations: Wendy Kane and former chief, Wade Davis. And the selfie-taker, well, that’s none other than RFH PAS parent extraordinaire, Joanne Formisano.

Now, who’s cut off here — in the pic, that is? The masks are dropped and close encounters are close once again. The parade passed by thousands and the Columbus Club party was packed, so we see and heard.

Now, how would you caption this official(ish) photo? The fun started on Sunday. Look out for more fun times among green attire and beer spied this week, for St. Pat’s sake! Yours? Send your best St. Pat’s inspired selfies to [email protected].

Thanks to Joanne Formisano for this selfie gem!

The Neighborhood: Steeping in Love of Home to Honor Jane Croft

Here stays the neighborhood. Yes. For the love of home, we’re always steeping in it.

Even though another forever Fair Haven neighbor is now gone, the neighborhood stays, as always — right in that hometown heart. The one that swells with a different kind of pride and comfort that some unlucky souls will never understand.

That neighbor, the latest who has left the block, is Jane Croft. Born in Fair Haven, she lived her entire life there, always with that easy-going smile and soothing, welcoming cadence in her voice.

Continue reading The Neighborhood: Steeping in Love of Home to Honor Jane Croft

Retro R-FH Water Rescue Cruisin’

Fair Haven First Aid Squad’s Water Rescue Unit circa early 1970s
Photo/FHFD media collection

It’s the heart of summer. And with summertime in the Rumson-Fair Haven area comes a tsunami of waterborne activity.

It’s the peninsula way of life. Always has been. And because of it, back in 1962, members of the Fair Haven Fire Department’s First Aid Squad created an underwater rescue team, as they referred to it. The team would exist for water rescue and recovery emergencies. It made sense.

Continue reading Retro R-FH Water Rescue Cruisin’

In Memoriam: Longtime Fair Havenite, Joe Carroll

Forever Fair Havenite Joseph Edmund Carroll passed away on Jan. 23.

“There was nothing Joe loved more than his family and Fair Haven.

“He was married to his wife, Mary Patricia, for over 60 years and together they raised one son and three daughters. He was always willing to get involved. Joe was a member of the Fair Haven Fire Department, spent time as a recreation commissioner, and was a long time coach of baseball and CYO basketball. Even when not in an official role, he was often seen umpiring softball games or moving the chains for Pop Warner football. Joe was a proponent of equality in sports well before it was popular. His daughters were among the first to play hardball with the boys instead of softball. He was at every game his children played, always cheering them on.”

Loved ones of Joe Carroll in his obituary
Ed Carroll … Photo/loved ones via Thompson Memorial Home

Born in Long Branch, Joe was a lifelong resident of Red Bank and Fair Haven. A star athlete in high school, Joe helped Croydon Hall Academy win the state basketball championship, his obituary said.

After graduating, Joe enlisted in the U.S. Army as a paratrooper in the 82nd Airborne. After three years of active duty and several years in the reserves, he was honorably discharged and set his sights on Wall Street.

Over his 30-year career, he worked his way from an entry-level page to a member of the New York Stock Exchange, working for the First of Michigan Corporation.

After retiring, he started a second career in an area he loved — the outdoors. Joe was an avid fisherman, duck hunter, and gardener.  He worked for the Monmouth County Parks System into his 80s.

Joe is survived by: his wife Mary Patrica (Eddy); son, Patrick Carroll and wife Eileen; daughters, Sharon Everett and husband Michael, Maura Creekmore and husband Hill, and Megan Haran and husband Richard; and 12 grandchildren.

Joe is predeceased by his parents. Joseph and Florence Carroll (Hanisch).

— Edited obituary submitted by loved ones via Thompson Memorial Home

Scene Around: A ‘Clerks’ Clerk and a FHFD First Aid Captain

Actor/producer Brian O’Halloran and Dan Kane
Photo/FHFD

Saturday was a traditional night for the stars of the Fair Haven Fire Department Auxiliary to shine with its annual dinner.

And from all accounts, all stars shone brightly. In fact, there was a little bit of all-star mingling across community and career arenas going on during the event.

Fire Department fireman and first aid squad captain, Dan Kane, rubbed elbows and, more aptly, chatted and shook hands with actor/producer Brian O’Halloran, a Middletown guy who is known for his roles in the Kevin Smith movies Clerks, Mallrats, Dogma, Chasing Amy, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back and Clerks II.

Clerks came out in 1994 and was shot in a convenience store in Middletown. Do you remember which store and what section of Middletown? And, in Clerks, there is a scene in which a copy of a newspaper is seen. Do you know which weekly newspaper that was?

The story about Clerks being filmed, before it met with major success at the Sundance Film Festival, was told in that same newspaper that appears in the movie. Smith, himself, worked in the store.

The budget for Clerks was less than $30,000. Once released, it brought in more than $3 million. O’Halloran’s character always had he same last name in all the Smith movies. Do you know what that was?

As for Dan Kane, do you know how many years he has been with the fire company? In capacity as a line officer has he served over the years?

And, as for the true stars of the night on Saturday, the ladies of the FHFD Auxiliary, do you know how long they’ve been hosting this dinner? Favorite food served? What did O’Halloran eat?

Talk about a star-studded night …

Thanks to Dan Kane and the FHFD for the photos!

The FHFD Auxiliary Ladies serving up some dinner
Photo/FHFD