Tag Archives: Halloween

Retro RFH Rainy Day Lunching

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.

Let’s face it. It’s not every day that you get the chance to grab a bite of good ol’ RFH cafeteria grub — or a little scary costumed sustenance, let’s say.

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.

Continue reading Retro RFH Rainy Day Lunching

Happy Retro RFH Halloween!

Halloween is here!

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! 

Retro MIschievous RFH Ghosts

An RFH Halloween ghostly gaggle of the 1970s
Photo/George Day

A reprise from 2017, just because … BOO! 

It’s Mischief Night. 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.

Continue reading Retro MIschievous RFH Ghosts

Retro Benched RFH Halloween Paraders

RFH Halloween of 1977 with a gaggle of girls
Photo/George Day

Well, it’s about that time for Halloween parades. In fact, Fair Haven’s was on Sunday. And, back in the day, RFH had its own high school Halloween parade.

Some bunny — or a few bunnies and other assorted suspicious characters — got dressed for the occasion, paraded themselves around campus and benched themselves for a spell, too.

The Halloween spirit is in the air. And these senior gaggle of girls embodied it. From controversial, yet timely and popular at the time, Playboy bunny costumes, to Raggedy Ann, a ghost, a cat, a gypsy and whatever else, they were parading and pleased with their choices.

Continue reading Retro Benched RFH Halloween Paraders

Reflection: Retro Halloween Parading

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.

Continue reading Reflection: Retro Halloween Parading

Retro RFH Baseball Guys & Ghouls

A Night of the Living something or other on the RFH ballfield in the 1970s Photo/George Day
A Night of the Living something or other on the RFH ballfield in the 1970s
Photo/George Day

Forget “Play ball!” It’s more like “Where’s the ball?
Aaaaand swing! Call it “playing the field incognito” — or something.

Yes, we’ve explored old times, uniforms and players on the RFH baseball field and in the dugout.

Continue reading Retro RFH Baseball Guys & Ghouls

Focus: Halloween Decoration Drive-By

Halloween is in the air — and on lawns — in the Rumson-Fair Haven area.

All you have to do is take a drive to get into the spirit — or crash into a few out of amazement, shock or fright. Do try this at home. Just leave the crashing part out and take in the sights of the creepy, kooky, mysterious, spooky and altogether ooky decorations around the towns, as the Addams Family title song says.

Continue reading Focus: Halloween Decoration Drive-By

Retro Fair Haven Classroom Halloween Classic

Halloween in Fair Haven’s Sickles School in 1985
Photo/Kathy Robbins

It’s cool to be a good ghoul in school, right?

Wait. Is that a lobster raising its claw to answer the teacher? Why, yes, it is. The teacher is unfazed. But the lesson? Well, it seems that this day in a Fair Haven 1980s classroom is all about costumes and little to nothing about reading, writing and ‘rithmetic.

Continue reading Retro Fair Haven Classroom Halloween Classic