Tag Archives: RFH

RFH Students Serve Up Some Food for the Soul

Members of the Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School (RFH) Cooking Club volunteered at the Jon Bon Jovi Soul Foundation’s Soul Kitchen Community Restaurant in Red Bank recently.

Working with Soul Kitchen’s Front-of-House Manager Dolly Bonilla, the RFH students on April 16 cleaned off and set tables as well as organized menus for that evening’s crowd.

They were also given a tour of the facility’s garden, which provides fresh organic ingredients for meals, by gardener Robin Grossman. The students learned more about what the Soul Kitchen means to the local community.

“Hope is Delicious” is the motto of the Soul Kitchen, which provides healthy, organic, and locally grown food in a restaurant setting. For paying customers, there are no prices on the menu. Instead, they are invited to “pay it forward.”

A donation of $10 covers the cost of one meal, and anything extra helps defray the cost of someone else’s meal. Nonpaying patrons of the Soul Kitchen can perform volunteer work in exchange for family meals. Those who volunteer in exchange for meals are guided through their tasks by Soul Kitchen staff members, giving them a step up in qualifying for jobs in the restaurant industry.

The Soul Kitchen treats all customers with dignity and respect, while uniting communities and forming healthy and lasting relationships through food.

Volunteerism is very important to the success of Soul Kitchen, and there are opportunities available for those who would like to help out by busing tables, cleaning, stocking items, or serving. More information can be found at jbjsoulkitchen.org.

RFH students who volunteered their time were: Tori Hyduke, Christy Jadevaia, Katie Kane, Michaela Lake, Julia Marascio, Jenna Sandoli, and Becky Unsinn. They were accompanied by RFH Library media specialist Linda Wien Murray and English teachers Cassie Fallon and Lauren Grumbach, who are the club’s co-advisors.

— Edited press release from Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School (RFH)

Chef Rossi: A Full Circle RFH Homecoming

By Elaine Van Develde

“I want you to know that I am so sorry I didn’t make the effort to get to know you in high school,” a Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School (RFH) graduate said to classmate Chef Rossi last Thursday after the reading and signing of her book, The Raging Skillet: The True Life Story of Chef Rossi … at River Road Books in Fair Haven. “I’m ashamed to say that I was one of those girls. And, yes, I was afraid of your Sex Pistols t-shirt.”

That was Lisa Malle Pritchard fessing up — owning who she didn’t even realize she was or if she even was. But who it was didn’t really matter to Rossi. It was what she said and when she said it that mattered.

The comment came in a very modest tone from that one blushing RFH prepster sandwiched in one corner of the room that was filled with RFH grads, the defunct but ever-enduring Barn Theater’s tribe, and a few nouveau admirers from afar and now close up.

In a real turnabout in perspective and persona from RFH 1970s, when she was the one who dropped many a jaw, the comment was met by touched, gape-mouthed Rossi and a demure “Oh, my God. Wow. Thank you so much for that. Moments like this make it all worthwhile. Can I give you a hug?”

And she did.

It was one of those awww/aha moments. For Rossi, the anti-chef, anti-preppy who was and is immersed in both worlds by default and devastating talent, things had come full circle with her homecoming. She was home again and everyone was feeling at home with her.

The moral of the Rossi story, which is one she promises there will be yet another book to explain and cook to, is that, yes, you can come home.

And not only can you come home, but you should, as she sees it.

“The real truth is that I wasn’t all those things that you were so afraid of back then,” the raging anti-chef said, pointing out that there was plenty of “Oreo crack” left to munch on. “I was just a little Jewish girl who liked Barbara Streisand.

” … Luckily, I was blessed with an enormous amount of chutzpah and a filthy mouth.”

Yes, you can come home, according to Rossi, especially this home. The theory is a Wizard of Oz sort of combo. It has something to do with always having had the power and not having to look any farther than your own back yard for what was in your heart all along — or something like that.

As Rossi put it, aside from her life highlight moment of Susan Sarandon eating her sun dried cranberry on the money spot (go ahead, figure that one out) …

“I’ve been going around the country on this book tour, but this is the stop that really pulled at my heartstrings. I graduated from RFH. I’ve got a lot of my buddies here today. So, even though I ran away from (this) home, got sent to live with the Chassids and other stories along the way, you know, every time I come back here I do feel like I’m coming back home. You’ve made that all possible.”

And so Rossi’s story goes, because, as someone in the audience piped up, “We love you,” followed by a usual cast (of characters) party at Barnacle Bill’s.

Home. Sweet … Oreo Crack and sea salt brownies.

Check out the slideshow above for a glimpse into the evening with Chef Rossi.

For more information, see her website by clicking here

You can also buy her book at River Road Books in Fair Haven.

 

Filling Empty Food Bowls at RFH

The community came out in force recently for the annual Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School (RFH)-sponsored Empty Bowls fundraiser, getting roughly 8,700 meals to those in need.

The event , held in the RFH cafeteria on March 3, raised $2,900 for the Food Bank of Monmouth and Ocean Counties which amounts to the roughly 8,700 meals.

Empty Bowls is named for the situation faced by local families struggling to put food on the table. Each year the event is open to the public and features beautiful original artwork in the form of bowls crafted by RFH ceramics students. For $10, people purchase one of the ceramic bowls as well as soup, bread and dessert.

Cups and Cakes Bakery in Rumson and Crazees Ice Cream and Frozen Yogurt in Rumson served as community sponsors of the event.

A variety of soups was provided by members of the RFH school community, including staff members. Breads and desserts were provided by the RFH Cooking Club as well as RFH staff, students, and community volunteers.

RFH ceramics students as well as members of the RFH Character Education Club and RFH Cooking Club provided a helping hand. Sophomores Brian Incremona and Leo Maita provided music to dine by.

This year’s fundraiser featured a lucky chance drawing for ceramic pieces donated by local artists Lauren Bellero, Denise Ciolino, Steve Jaskowak, Greg LaPlaca, Judi Tavill, and Zack Wilson.

Event coordinators were: RFH Art Teacher Zack Wilson, library media specialist Linda Wien Murray, and guidance counselor Jason Lippart. RFH parent volunteers were Marianne Velcamp, Jen Shaw and Annie McGinty.

The Empty Bowls Project, now in its 25th year, is an international grassroots effort to raise both money and awareness in the fight to end hunger. More information can be found at www.emptybowls.net.

The Food Bank of Monmouth and Ocean Counties alleviates hunger though child nutrition programs, a mobile pantry, a senior food program, and nutrition education.

For more information on how you can help as a volunteer or by donating, visit www.foodbankmoc.org.

— Edited press release from Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School

Chef Rossi: Retro Portrait of an RFH Punk Rocker

Yes, Rossi, as we all know her, is coming home to RFH land tonight!

The RFH grad and premier “anti-chef” of the hipster Brooklyn scene has written a memoir about her not so Orthodox Orthodox Jewish upbringing in a preppy Rumson comprised of short stories accompanied by relevant recipes.

Rossi was a kinky-haired, butt-smoking punk rocker with a raucous mouth in a Lilly Pulitzer RFH world in the 1970s and early 80s. Her look wasn’t one that people in these parts were exposed to very often. Neither was her “I am who I am” attitude. She’s still rocking it — in a more staid way, but definitely rocking.

So, it’s only right that the Retro Pic(s) of the Day pay homage to the RFH friend, star caterer, author and master of many other things — like, from day one, being her authentic self and being damn good at it.

Check her out in these priceless pics from her ol’ RFH days. Kids! The middle shot is of her and her infamous not-so-Rumsonite parents, Marty and Harriet. Oh, and by the way, the double shot is her RFH yearbook pic. Yes, we know, most RFH yearbook pics are taken in a natural setting and I can’t recall any, except this one, in which the grad sporting wearing pink feather earrings. It was usually Monet or pearl studs. And, where’s the Fair Isle sweater and turtle neck??

Rossi rocked the anti-prep look!

— Elaine Van Develde

Preview: RFH’s Bullying Message

In just over a month, Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School (RFH) drama students will be setting the stage at New York University’s (NYU) Forum on Educational Theater (FOET) to bring awareness to teen harassment and bullying in an production dubbed The Bystander: A portrait of Apathy.

Bystander was written by RFH English teacher Suzanne Sweeney, who is also the high school’s drama director.

With the performance slated for April 24, the students are not only the performers, but the producers of the narrative short drama with a message.

The above YouTube video gives a glimpse into what’s coming at NYU.

The RFH students performing in The Bystander are: Gianna Casale, Vaughn Coleman, Emily Cooner, William Dey, Matthew Hughes, Jeremy Nives, Jane Pavluk, Eli Rallo, Paige Russo, Lisa Sandoli, Ben Segall, Kelli Tuttle, and Alissa Zack.

The student directors are Gianna Casale, Eli Rallo, and Alissa Zack.

RFH Drama Students Set to Perform at NYU Forum on Educational Theater

The Bystander: A Portrait of Apathy, a proposal submitted by Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School (RFH) English teacher Suzanne Sweeney, has been accepted by the New York University Forum on Educational Theatre (FOET).

Continue reading RFH Drama Students Set to Perform at NYU Forum on Educational Theater

Retro RFH Family Showfolk Affair

By Elaine Van Develde

When it comes to show biz, sometimes in the RFH area, sometimes it’s a family affair. Sometimes it just is.

Sometimes people just catch the bug at an early age. Sometimes it happens in high school or even a little later. Then it spreads rampantly — through the family.

Continue reading Retro RFH Family Showfolk Affair

Focus: RFH Grads Shoot Hoops & Raise Funds for a Good Cause

Some Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School (RFH) grads took to the basketball courts at Knollwood and Sickles schools in Fair Haven recently to shoot hoops for a good cause.

The cause: Covenant House, a non- profit organization which provides much needed services for at-risk and homeless youth in America and abroad. The organization helps roughly 50,000 young people a year.

The fundraiser, which brought in $4,000 for the cause, was dubbed The 1st Annual Fair Haven Covenant House 3v3 Basketball Tournament and it took place at Knollwood and Sickles schools on Feb. 22.

There were a total of 24 teams and 95 players, many of whom were RFH grads. RFH classes 2003-12 were represented and players ranged in age from 22 to 60.

The tournament was run by Fair Haven natives D.J. Breckenridge, Jim Laufer, Ben Miller, Dan Miller,Will Miller, and Dan Ryan, who will all be participating in The Covenant House Young Professionals Sleep Out coming up on March 18.

At this coming event, more than 300 young professionals will sleep out on the streets of NYC in an effort to raise funds and awareness of youth homelessness. The Sleep Out is expected to raise more than $300,000.

Locally, there are Covenant House branches in Asbury Park, Atlantic City, Newark, Philadelphia and NYC. Covenant House President Kevin Ryan, also a Fair Haven resident, made a surprise appearance at the Feb. 22 fundraiser.

Take a look at the above slideshow for a glimpse into the event. 

For more information on Covenant House, click here.

— Photos and information, courtesy of D.J. Breckenridge

Bonnie and Clyde Come to RFH

The Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School (RFH) Tower Players are setting the stage for a production of the Tony-nominated musical Bonnie and Clyde.

The show will start with opening night on Friday, March 18 with a 7:30 p.m. curtain and a show on Saturday at the same time and close with a 1 p.m. Sunday matinee on March 20.

Bonnie and Clyde, musical by Frank Wildhorn, of Jekyll and Hyde, Civil War and Dracula fame, is based on the real-life adventures of starry-eyed Bonnie Elizabeth Parker and the outlaw Clyde Chestnut Barrow, who embarked on a crime spree across the United States at the height of the Great Depression.

Bonnie wants to escape from her west-Texas town and become a movie star. Clyde has just broken out of prison with his brother Buck. When they meet, their mutual cravings for excitement and fame set them on a mission to chase their dreams.

Teaming up with Buck and his wife Blanche, they commit a string of robberies and become American folk heroes as well as law enforcement’s worst nightmare. Forced to remain on the run, the lovers resort to increasingly brutal crimes. But as their fame grows and the body count rises, the end draws near for the ill-fated duo.

Bonnie and Clyde features a non-traditional score combining blues, gospel, and rockabilly music. The RFH production will showcase a cast of 45.

The RFH production stars Eli Rallo as Bonnie Parker, Matt Hughes as Clyde Barrow, Kate Sustick as Blanche Barrow, and Liam Hughes as Buck Barrow.

Suzanne Sweeney is director, with Kasi Ann Sweeney as assistant director. RFH Dance Team Coach Jen Costa is choreographer. Amy Fredericks, musical director for the Count Basie Awards, will be conducting the pit orchestra and overseeing vocal performances as the production’s musical director.

Costumes and props are under the direction of Carole Malick, and Matthew Leddin is overseeing the tech crew of 50 students providing set construction, sounds, and lighting.

Refreshments and a Texas-style feast, including chili and cornbread, will be available for purchase at the café in the RFH gymnasium before each performance and during intermissions.

Ticket prices are: $10 for general admission and $6 for students and seniors. RFH students with SGA cards will be admitted free.

To purchase tickets online, visit the RFH web site (rumsonfairhaven.org) and click on “Bonnie and Clyde.”

For more information including group discounts, contact Play Production Coordinator Stefania Flecca, [email protected].

The Box Office will be open for ticket purchases an hour before each performance.

Over the years the Tower Players have received numerous awards for acting, directing, choreography, costumes, set design and lighting, and overall outstanding production.