George Giffin moving feet to the beat with RFH Drill team girls Photo/RFH Yearbook
A reprise originally posted on, no fooling, April 1, 2021, because on a dreary day, sometimes an RFHer just has to get up and dance. Cheers to the leader, the iconic George Giffin …
The cool guys scurried to get the most popular girls as the tune countdown ticked away. I was the last girl left. Left footed, Lainey. Yep. Giff chuckled a little, looked at the two boys left as they backed into the wall like frightened wallflower turtles.
George Giffin dancing at the 1963 prom Photo/courtesy of Debra Giffin Schluter
This is a classic that’s been seen before, but warrants another look, considering the timing …
The RFH junior prom has happened — again. And the prom is all about dressing up, coupling up and dancing. Well, that’s most of what it’s all about, anyway.
RFH science teachers of the 1970s Photo/RFH Yearbook
Science! It was truly poetry in motion at RFH, just like the 1980s song by Thomas Dolby. And, no, no teacher blinded anyone with science at RFH, more like made the students see the subject — and more clearly.
That’s what is happening on the grounds of Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School (RFH) since a tree was planted on Saturday to honor iconic former science and ballroom dance teacher, Drill Team creator and leader, golf and basketball coach, mentor, and advisor George Giffin, known as “Giff.”
Dancing George Giffiin in May of 2012 at Fairwinds Deli, Fair Haven Photo/Elaine Van Develde
“When you get that beat, you gotta move your feet!”
George Giffin in 2012 at 83 (or so, as he said)
Move their feet to the beat of a George Giffin Memorial Fund is exactly what Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School (RFH) alumni, in partnership with high school’s Education Foundation, have done. The foundation was created to honor and advance the passions of the iconic longtime RFH biology and dance teacher.
George, or “Giff,” as his students affectionately called him, garnered iconic status in his 35 years, from 1956 to 1991, at RFH. The Class of 1991, the last class for which Giff taught, dedicated its senior yearbook to him.
For a stint during his RFH tenure, Giff served as chairman of the high school’s Science Department. He also taught an elective ballroom dance class at RFH that quickly became a must and was known to keep students on their toes, dancing with class in any social setting. Post high school, Giff showed up at many an RFH reunion or wedding to get the dance party started and going all night. If you saw him around the towns in his retired years, he’d gladly tell you all about the joy that dancing in and out of those high school years gave him. And he wasn’t alone. For RFH alumni, a dancing Giff appearance always made the celebration complete at any event.
For that reason, the money raised for the new George Giffin Memorial Fund will be used to support RFH programs for which Giff held a deep commitment — those with which he aimed to empower students at RFH to achieve their goals and develop a true love of learning and living.
Remembered by countless students for his quirky, enigmatic personality, Giff was known to pepper his lessons with a lot of laughter, cheer, soft-shoe steps and jokes in and out of the classroom.
In addition to teaching, Giff was, at different times, both the girls’ and boys’ basketball coach as well as the RFH Golf Team coach. Known as always the fearless pioneer, while looking for an opportunity decades ago for girls to be more involved in school activities, Giff created and directed the RFH Girls’ Drill Team.
The girls on the team practiced twirling rifles Giff-choreographed routines at football halftimes. At one time, the team was comprised of 100 girls; and, in addition to football game performances, marched, for years, in the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in NYC.
George Giffin at 83 (or so, as he said) in 2012 Photo/Elaine Van Develde
Word among RFH alumni spread recently when members of the RFH Class of 1973 spearheaded the effort to create the memorial fund in Giff’s honor.
“We had many outstanding teachers at RFH,” said Class of ’73 grad Bill Davidson. “Mr. Giffin was not only an outstanding teacher but an energetic, spirited, and talented individual who was admired and remembered by so many.
“Giff taught students over four decades which saw so much change but he never lost his ability to connect with students over those years! He was a gift!”
Classmate Cindy Sherman elaborated, saying, “George Giffin saw something in me that I did not see in myself … for that, I am forever grateful.”
Along with Davidson and Sherman, Steve Farely and Ellen Spears comprise the four-member Steering Committee for the Fund.
“The Foundation is honored to help RFH alumni recognize Mr. Giffin through the establishment of the George Giffin Memorial Fund,” RFH Foundation Board President Mary Pat Moriarty said. “During Mr. Giffin’s years of service as an educator, he encouraged and supported countless RFH students. Today, thanks to the generosity of the alumni, family and friends he inspired, he will impact a new generation of RFH students for years to come by creating opportunities for academic enrichment through the grants funded in his memory.”
The RFH Education Foundation, a charitable organization with the mission of enriching the high school curriculum by funding projects and grants that fall outside of the school system’s mainstream budget.
George Giffin died in 2014 at the age of 85. He was a longtime Fair Haven resident. His wife, Marcia, a former Knollwood School English teacher, still lives in Fair Haven. Prior to his time at RFH, he served as a captain with the U.S. Marine Corps during the Korean War. A 1951 graduate of Colby College in Waterville, ME, he earned a master’s degree from Colby as well as from the University of Vermont.
Outside of the RFH halls and grounds, Giff was an active member of various local religious, social and charitable groups. He was a founder of the Fair Haven Fields Committee and the director of the Fair Haven Recreation Commission for several years.
George Giffin at the first Fair Haven Day
Photo/Elaine Van Develde
Pat Topfer at the first Fair Haven Day
Photo/Elaine Van Develde
Fair Haven Day 2015 with lifetime friends Photo/Elaine Van Develde
Saturday was a tough day for Fair Havenites longing to keep tradition going, but flogged by a pandemic. It would have been the eighth actual Fair Haven Day on Saturday. The day that started it the annual Fair Haven Day tradition was the Fair Haven Centennial Celebration in 2012.
RFH teacher George Giffin does a cartwheel to cheer on the cheerleaders in the 1970s. Photo/RFH yearbook screenshot
With this howling chill in the air lately, people are pretty primed for the arrival of spring. In fact, you could say that they may even be doing cartwheels over it.
Well, in light of that excitement to spring into the warmer season, the Retro Pic of the Day gives a glimpse back to a beloved teacher who danced and, yes, did cartwheels over any exciting event — or just for plain old fun.
That teacher was George Giffin, otherwise referred to as Giff. He was a science teacher and was particularly famous for his ballroom dance class. And, boy, could the man dance!
The RFH community lost Giff on May 15, 2014; and, to ask just about any RFH grad or member of the community, it was a tremendous loss.
Last time this editor caught up with Mr. Giffin, he was grabbing some lunch at Fairwinds Deli. In his 80s, he was still dancing and actually launched into a little routine right there with a little cha-cha-cha and “When you get that beat, you gotta mooooove your feet!”
Who will dance or do a cartwheel when spring arrives in memory of Mr. Giffin? Oh, and send us your pics if you do!
Pat Topfer at the first Fair Haven Day Photo/Elaine Van DeveldeGeorge Giffin at the first Fair Haven Day Photo/Elaine Van Develde
Fair Haven Day is Saturday. It was a few years ago that the first Fair Haven Day took place on the borough’s centennial celebration.
Since then, the borough has lost some of its longtime residents who everyone knew in one capacity or another. They were some of the faces of Fair Haven.
So, the Retro Pic(s) of the Day honors two of those people who were there on the first Fair Haven Day, proud longtime Fair Havenites and icons: Life member of the Fair Haven Fire Department’s Ladies Auxiliary, Pat Topfer; and ever-popular RFH science and dance teacher extraordinaire, George Giffin.
The featured photo on the Fair Haven Day event announcement today included a popular longtime resident and friend to the borough, Ben Hamilton.
Since the first, on Fair Haven’s Centennial Celebration in 2012, the day has become a borough tradition.
On that first Fair Haven Day, a couple of local celebrities, longtime Fair Havenites, were there and all jazzed up with love of their hometowns to celebrate.
Since then, these two have passed: RFH teacher and dancer extraordinaire, George Giffin; and longtime Fair Haven Fire Department Ladies’ Auxiliary member Pat Topfer.
So, today, with our Retro Pic(s) of the Day, we take a look back at those smiling faces, remember what these two did for their beloved borough and its people, thank them and remember the sincerity of their giving, neighborly hearts.
RIP George Giffin and Pat Topfer. May future generations of Fair Havenites carry on with spirits as generous and caring as yours!
The popular Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School science and dance teacher and coach passed away last year. In finding a fitting way to memorialize him and garner some money for Monmouth Day Care Center, his daughter Debra Schluter and a committed group of volunteers set the dance-a-thin in motion — literally.
Take a look at the slideshow above for a glimpse into the event, and remember George Giffin.
“When you get that beat, you have to moooove your feet!” — George Giffin.
Continue reading Retro Getting In Step with an RFH Icon 
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