Well, the sun is out and it’s time to start the Halloween parading and take it outside. It’s never too soon to start the festivities, after all.
Continue reading Retro RFH Halloween Parading
Reprise in honor of the RFH Marching Band’s recent big win in the Tournament of Bands competition …
It’s that time of the year. It’s football season. And that means it’s also time for the RFH Marching Band to play the field, too.
Continue reading Retro RFH Band Marching Times
Sometimes a kid just has to take the plunge and fall for it! Yes, it’s officially fall. But, it’s still locals’ summer for R-FH area folks. So, fear not, we may be falling for the season, but we’re not donning the jackets quite yet. Still, leaving behind the hot weather is something to jump for joy over. Remember those days of literally falling for the season … into a big pile of leaves?
Yes, plunging into a big pile of leaves was always a simple fall pleasure for kids. Untethered to phones and TVs, Fair Haven kids of the 1960s resorted to the great outdoors in a small town. Sometimes they took it to the streets with marathon games of dodgeball, one taking the traffic alert commander position with a “CAR!!” shout now and then and a clear-out of the ball court. Nevermore. There might be a helicopter parent police alert if kids did that nowadays. Ahem.
Continue reading Retro Joyous Fall for the Leaf Pile
A reprise Retro Pic of the Day, originally posted on Sept. 14, 2016 in the spirit of a balmy locals’ summer day, knowing that the summer spirit never truly ends for the Rumson-Fair Haven area young and forever young at heart … And these guys are about to reunite at their 50th RFH reunion …
With locals’ summer and school’s start, students’ thoughts naturally turn to warmth and freedom. They start to daydream before they even hit the classroom. That’s how it goes in the R-FH area when those beaches become barren and more room is made for the locals to get down to the business of soaking up that locals’ summer partying spirit.
Continue reading Retro RFH Dudes of Caribbean Locals’ SummerThe following piece was originally published on Aug. 31, 2015. It is being re-run, with changes only in the amount of years that have passed, in memory of my father, Bill Van Develde, former longtime Fair Haven Fire Company member, president and captain of the Fire Police and chairman of the Stock Room at the fair, on the anniversary of his death on Aug. 30, 1983. RIP, Dad. You are missed. Thank you for all the embarrassing moments that I didn’t appreciate enough. Thank you for making Fair Haven my home. Thank you for being a real dad. See you on the fair grounds …
By Elaine Van Develde
It’s been 42 years, but I can still see his face and that kooky Brylcreemed hairdo. I can still hear his crazy belly laugh and that signature “Take ‘er easy, buddy!” I can still see him slapping kids on the back, forever clutching his trusty clipboard, pencil perched behind his ear, sweat on the brow and finger wagging.
Continue reading Remembering My Fair Daddy
The following piece was originally published on Aug. 27, 2015. It’s fair time again, so it’s time to take a look back at how things were and are done a pivotal place at the fair — the kitchen and dining room.
By Elaine Van Develde
Someone’s in the kitchen at Fair Haven Firemen’s Fair grounds.
And while they may have, at one point another been with someone named Dinah, as the old ditty goes, it’s a definite they’ve been with someone named Mike, Dale, Sue (x2), Raquel, Ethel (x2), Mary, Anne, Amanda, Skippy, Hodgie, Mary Ellen, Joe, Evie, and, oh, yeah, Andy and a few others.
And they certainly haven’t been strummin’ on any ol’ banjo. They’ve been way too busy — cutting, peeling, filling, flouring, husking and just plain cooking.
Except there’s nothing plain about what’s cooking in the fair kitchen, who’s cooking it, when, where, why or how.
It’s all fun and island-hopping games until they have to start a fire.
Yes, there comes a time when summer Rumson island-hopping coolness sets in, parents rang the unheard dinner bell and a bunch of hungry, wayward, marooned kids try to cook that fish they caught and toast their own little buns.
Ahoy! Ship Ahoy, to locals beaching it back in the summer of ’63, that is.
Yes, it’s a locals’ summertime. Always has been. And the locals’ summer spots have always been a place of respite from the out-of-towner beach crowd in the Rumson-Fair Haven area. They call them beach clubs.
Reprise … just because it’s time to sizzle, sparkle and boom in the summertime …
Back in the summer of ’65 … the heat was on in Fair Haven, and some pint-sized bathing beauties were set to walk the walk, if the suit and the bathing cap fit. In the spirit of the season, call them little firecrackers. Celebrity neighborhood sparklers. Whatever the name, they were set for a good, simple backyard game. This one was easy — the suited up line-up. On cue, they struck the pose and gave a big “Cheese!”
You could say this bunch of RFH boys was on track for success … and some fun along the way.
It’s half past field day time in Fair Haven schools! A reprise in honor of a traditional prequel to summertime for Fair Haven kids …
Once upon a time, in those school days right before summer, when Knollwood School kids gathered on Sportsman’s Field for, well, some Field Day fun, let’s just say it was a bit hard to keep them focused.
Call it a ratty reprise ode to summertime …
Summers in the Rumson-Fair Haven area are rife with river-oriented activities that have become tradition.
River Rats’ sailing “camp” is no exception. OK, nobody was camping per se. It was more like a little club. Still is. In fact, it’s that time of the year when kids start signing up for summer River Rats fun. In fact, it’s that time — to sign up for the Rats season.
It’s been a sort of rite of living on the Navesink passage for decades — since 1955. Kids learn how to boat and do a lot of summer fun bonding in the process.
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