So, the Retro Pic of the (George) Day is, well, several pics in a slideshow of none other than those fabulously fun RFH students of the Class of ’78!
So, here’s to the retro spirit of haunting from a classic RFH gaggle of ghouls!
Can you guess which is your R-FH Retro publisher/founding editor?
And, thanks to the fabulous George Day for these spectacular shots! Be sure to click on the video and click the right corner to enlarge! Enjoy, trick-or-treaters!
Halloween parading in Sickles School in Fair Haven in the 1980s Photo/Kathy Robbins
So, a karate kid, a baseball player, a cop, two witches, a vampire and a boxer walk onto a school stage …
That means only one thing. It’s Halloween and it’s school pageant time — or whatever they call it. Yes, it’s that time when all the little guys and ghouls in school get dressed up and parade through the classroom, down the hall and into the auditorium for a spooky show of Halloween spirit.
And there’s nothing quite like a costume party full of festive, fun fiends who take full advantage of the season to say the devil made them do it when it comes to tricks and the sometimes questionable treat of their disguises.
An RFH Halloween ghostly gaggle of the 1970s Photo/George Day
A reprise from 2017, just because … BOO!
Scary season has set in … in more ways than one.
People in the Rumson-Fair Haven area have been haunting up their homes, crafting costumes and getting into the spirit. So, why not add a little extra retro spooking from RFH students of the past?
BOO who or what? It was all in the haunt for RFHers back in the 1970s. They started getting the Halloween party going early on and ended up with a pretty festive feast of ghouls on the grounds of the high school and, yes, beyond.
The following opinion piece on Halloween through the generations in Fair Haven was originally published in 2015. It is reprised annually …
Before the parade passes by, this kid from Fair Haven has some parading memories on which to reflect. Remember this scene?
It’s a longstanding tradition — the Fair Haven Halloween Parade.
I remember it well — from my first parade trek back in the late 1960s to the ’70s, 80s, 90s and now.
It all started at age 7 with a wish to be Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz. I’ve noticed a few in more recent years and the green-eyed jealousy monster of a near senior has reared its head. But I digress … That little dress-up fantasy of the 60s of mine was foiled when my mother couldn’t get the gingham outfit together, my pigtails were not so poised for the silver screen look and my sister refused to crawl down Hance Road as Toto.
I guess it was bad enough that from the age of 3, she was forced by this pint-sized dominatrix 5-year-old Dorothy to crawl on a makeshift Funk and Wagnall’s encyclopedia Yellow Brick Road to Oz in the living room. The neighbors never quite got over it, either.
Lunch time for Halloween trick-or-treaters at RFH circa 1977 Photo/George Day
Well, rainy days like today and hangin’ in the Senior Commons at RFH were just about as cool as The Carpenters’ hit song in the 1970s. It didn’t have to be on Monday, though. And nothing got RFHers down when it came to Halloween fun and lounging. The fun just stayed inside and all RFH cozy-like.
It’s also not every day that you get the chance to “cop a squat” in the RFH senior lounge to ingest the spirit, or spirits, of the day in the company of Harpo and Groucho Marx.
And back in 1977, it was a really happy one for the RFH Class of ’78 and some underclassmen. It was a tradition back then to get the Halloween party started early — like from the beginning to the end of the day at school.
So, RFHers arrived via the bus or (ahem) other appropriate or inappropriate mode of transportation all dressed up for the occasion with somewhere to go. RFH. They spooked, laughed, pranked and played all day and even paraded over to the Rumson elementary schools.
Yes, RFHers did Halloween in grand style. Take a look …
(Click, WAIT — give it a minute to load — and watch our slideshow. And click on that full screen button to get the best view!)
May the retro spirit of RFH haunting be with you!
Can you guess which character is this RFH Retro publisher/founding editor?
And, thanks to the fabulous George Day for these spectacular shots!
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