Tag Archives: RFH

Going Retro with RFH’s ‘Fiddler’

In light of our recent editorial tribute to 26-year Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School (RFH) English teacher and her theatrical family, our Retro Pic of the Day brings us back to 1978 and RFH’s production of Fiddler on the Roof.

Nearly the entire Hughes family had a featured role in the show. Pictured in this shot are Paul and Nan Hughes rehearsing a scene as Hodel and Perchik.

Oddly enough, they played a madly-in-love couple in the show. Hodel defies tradition asking for a blessing rather than permission to marry Perchik, a radical who was sent to a prison in Siberia while working for the revolution in Kiev.

Paul’s children attend RFH and many have seen Matt on the same stage as his father.

We’re thinking Nan won’t be too fond about revisiting that hairdo. Sorry, Nan.

 

Sports Success: RFH Places 2nd in ShopRite Cup

The following is an edited press release from Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School:

Based on an extremely successful fall sports season, Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School (RFH) has achieved a high ranking in the 12th Annual ShopRite Cup 2014-15 Fall Standings.

RFH is ranked second among all Group 2 schools, and stands at fourth place among all public schools in New Jersey.

The top five Group 2 high schools in the ShopRite Cup Fall Standings, in order, are: Haddonfield, 34 points; Rumson-Fair Haven 31 points; Collingswood,16 points; Madison, 16 points; and Kinnelon, 15 points.

The ShopRite Cup is presented jointly by ShopRite stores and the New Jersey Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA). Winning schools earn ShopRite points for top finishes in competition as well as for sportsmanship.

RFH earned points for the Girls Cross Country Sectional Championship, Field Hockey Group Championship, and the Football Sectional Championship.

Looking Back at a Special RFH Teacher, Friend

Mimi Hughes as pictured in the 1978 Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School yearbook.

By Elaine Van Develde

It is with great sadness, yet gratitude for a treasure trove of great memories, that I dedicate our Retro Pic of the Day to the memory of longtime Rumson resident and former RFH English teacher Mimi Hughes, who passed away Saturday morning.

Mrs. Hughes is remembered as an exquisitely gentille, intelligent, strong and compassionate woman. While many knew her from her many years as an RFH teacher, she is also fondly recalled as a singer, actress, friend, wife, mom to RFH grads Mark, Paul, Nan and Patrick and beloved grandmother to her grandchildren.

“She had time to say goodbye to all of us, and she did it with shining grace and composure,” daughter Nan said in a Facebook post. “Her last night was filled with love, Christmas carols and family. Mimi was even singing along with her grandchildren … And as always, she has been a role model, showing us the best way to do this.”

There will be a memorial gathering 10 a.m. on Tuesday, followed by an 11 a.m. Mass at Nativity Church, Fair Haven.

With our Retro Pic of the Day, we ask that you take a moment to remember Mimi Hughes.

Rumson-Fair Haven Retrospect will be publishing an opinion piece on Monday in honor of Mrs. Hughes.

Another Closing of Another RFH Show

Julia Mosby and Ben Ley after “Miracle on 34th Street” performance at RFH. Photo/Barbara Mosby

By all accounts, the Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School (RFH) Tower Players’ Miracle on 34th Street was a smashing success.

The show, which ran Friday and Saturday nights, closed with a Sunday matinee.

Rumson-Fair Haven Retrospect couldn’t make it to this show, but cast member Julia Mosby’s mom Barbara captured a couple of post-show moments and sent them. So, the photos are being featured as our Retro Pic(s) of the Day.

The photos, of course, included Julia and RFH grad and friend Ben Ley, a former RFH Jazz Ensemble drummer, who now attends NYU.

Take a look. If you have any photos you’d like to add, please feel free to send them to us, with proper credit, at [email protected].

 

RFH French Teacher Attains National Recognition

The following is an edited press release from Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School:

Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School (RFH) French teacher Christine Berg is one of only about 4,000 teachers nationwide who has received this year’s national board certification in Early Adolescence through Young Adulthood/World Languages – French.

According to information released by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, National Board Certification is the “gold standard” for accomplished teaching.

To date, more than 110,000 teachers in all 50 states and the District of Columbia have become board-certified teachers, or NBCTs.

Continue reading RFH French Teacher Attains National Recognition

RFH Grads Gather for Beer Tasting

 

Call it an impromptu Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School (RFH) reunion of sorts — a beer tasting peppered with fun and critiques, sort of.

A small group of the RFH grads and friends gathered on Saturday at the Nip N Tuck in Long Branch to taste beer and catch up.

A good time was had by all. The tasting was organized by RFH alum Mike Grady, president of Grady Loss Consulting in Fair Haven.

He has a double IPA creation of his own on the table.

Take a look at our photo gallery for a glimpse into the evening. Recognize anyone?

Hmmmm … See Tom Kelly, Greg Holland, Doug DiStefano, Bill Rannertshauser?

 

A Retro Look at RFH Football

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Back in the day, in the 1970s, Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School’s big football rivalry game, always against Red Bank Catholic, started just about everyone’s Thanksgiving Day.

People went to the traditional game, then home for Thanksgiving dinner. The homecoming dance was the night before, when all the recent graduates would reunite. And the announcement of the new homecoming king and queen came on the football field at the game’s half-time.

Take a look back with us in the Retro Pic of the Day photos above. Do you recognize anyone on the team? Some are still in the area. Who were the football stars of the day?

A Look Back at the Puff in RFH Powder Puff Football

The role reversed cheerleaders of RFH Powder Puff Football 1977. Photo/RFH yearbook screenshot
The role reversed cheerleaders of RFH Powder Puff Football 1977. Photo/RFH yearbook screenshot

It’s that time of the year — the time when all good Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School (RFH) football enthusiasts take to playing the game a different way.

This particular tradition may not die hard, but how it was back in the day decades ago, in 1977, the girls played a junior vs. senior game as they were cheered on by a strange gaggle of senior guys.

The above picture includes four who are still pretty well-known in the area.

Here are your hints: one is now a retired Fair Haven police officer and still a resident, another is a former Fair Havenite and Rumsonite who runs his business out of Fair Haven, another is a Rumson dad with his own brood of RFHers, and yet another is the owner of a popular restaurant in Sea Bright that used to be Ichabod’s, this class’ favorite hang-out, post-graduation, of course.

RFH Athletes Sign Letters of Intent

Eleven student-athletes from Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School (RFH) signed National Letters of Intent on Nov. 12, National Signing Day, to play intercollegiate sports.

Student-athletes and their respective programs …

• Hannah Anderson – Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois – cross country
• Cooper Cuje – University of Maryland/Baltimore County – lacrosse
• Catie Ebner – Villanova University, Villanova, Pennsylvania – field hockey
• Kate Fahey – University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan – tennis
• Anna Finn – Sacred Heart University, Fairfield, Connecticut – lacrosse
• Rachel Lehnert – Monmouth University, West Long Branch, New Jersey – cross country
• Morgan Maguire – Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Virginia —baseball
• Samantha Sabino – University of New Hampshire, Durham, New Hampshire – basketball
• Emily Schissler – Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio – lacrosse
• Grace Stant – Villanova University, Villanova, Pennsylvania – basketball
• Jillian Swikart – Villanova University, Villanova, Pennsylvania – lacrosse

The National Letter of Intent serves as a binding agreement between student-athletes and their intended collegiate sports programs, and marks the final step in the recruitment and commitment process.

Champs: RFH Field Hockey

The following is an edited press release provided by Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School:

Everyone knows by now that they’re the champs.

Here’s how … The Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School (RFH) field hockey team earned the school’s first Shore Conference Title by defeating Shore Regional High School on Nov. 2 at Raritan High School, Hazlet.

The top-seeded Bulldogs bested the second-seeded Blue Devils with a score of 2-0. The RFH girls were the first team of the 2014 season to hold Shore Regional — winner of the past 15 Shore Conference Title bouts — scoreless.

“I could not be prouder of the effort put forth by the girls — they played with heart and supported one another all over the field,” RFH Head Field Hockey Coach Julia Vaccarelli said. “It was a total team effort.

“It was an amazing feat to clinch the program’s first-ever Shore Conference title, and also end a 15-year-long streak by Shore Regional.”

Up next for the girls is the NJSIAA State Tournament run, in which the Bulldogs are the top seed.

“We will look defend our sectional title and hopefully make in to the group championship – another first for the program,” said Vaccarelli.

The RFH field hockey roster includes: seniors Abigael Donohue, Catie Ebner (Captain), Molly Lake, Maggi McCann and Peyton McCauley (Captain); juniors Anna Babiak (Goalie), Kara Dixon, Bridget Fitzgerald, Maggie Jennings, Madison Maguire, Kiera McKay, Gabrielle Ramirez, Masie Sapnar and Kate Sustick; sophomore Ali DeVito; and freshmen Lilly Croddick, Emma D’Amelio, Kaitlyn MacGillis, Megan MacGillis, Makenna Maguire and Molly Nowell.

RFH’s Kate Fahey a Tennis Star

The following is an edited press release from Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School:

What started as a 3-year-old hitting tennis balls in emulation of her parents has led to the first NJSIAA State Singles Championship in the history of Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School (RFH).

RFH senior and tournament top seed Kate Fahey defeated Millburn’s Stephanie Schrage with scores of 6-3, 3-6, and 6-1 on Oct.18 in West Windsor.

And while she stood alone in victory on the tennis court that day, Kate has plenty of praise for all those who have supported her along the way.

“I have my parents to thank for introducing me to the sport and instilling a love for it” said Kate, who noted that they still play competitively.

Kate credits her first private coach, Ray Kuzava of New Shrewsbury Racket Club, for teaching her the fundamentals of the sport beginning at the age of 8 and providing her with a firm foundation. Her current coach, Catarina Ryan, who began working with Fahey when she was 13, is described as “a mentor and friend as well as a coach.”

During her sophomore year at RFH in 2012, Fahey reached the NJSIAA State Singles Championship Final but lost to Lexi Borr of Westfield. She then left RFH and dedicated her junior year to competition in United States Tennis Association tournaments.

After careful consideration, Kate returned for her senior year at RFH. She ended her senior season with a record of 23-0.

“It was just so nice to be back at RFH, and I love all of the girls on the team as well as Coach Manley,” said Kate. “They are just an extremely talented and wonderful group.

“I am definitely happy with my decision to come back!”

Next year Fahey will play for the University of Michigan, to which she made a verbal commitment in January of 2014.

“I made a commitment that was considered early for tennis, but after visiting the campus and meeting the coach and the players I was sure that this was where I wanted to be,” she said. “It is a great fit for me academically and athletically, and it already feels like home.”

If you guessed that Fahey has her eye on a bigger prize, you are correct.

“I plan to work very hard and try to improve at the University of Michigan, so that I will be successful after graduation.” said Kate. “I definitely want to play professionally.”

Kate is the daughter of Elena and Tom Fahey of Fair Haven.

RFH Guidance Head Recognized

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The National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC) has chosen Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School (RFH) Supervisor of Guidance Fran Swift to serve as a member of its Professional Development Committee.

Swift, who has been the RFH supervisor since July of 2008, received official notice of her appointment as one of three New Jersey delegates to the NACAC Board of Directors on Sept. 15 . Her three-year term began in late September, after an annual national search conducted in the spring of 2014, and will continue through September, 2017, according to a release from RFH.

Among Swift’s duties is acting as liaison for the Regional Affiliates with which she is paired. Within that partnership, she will promote/present workshops for the national organization, the release said. The organization’s membership consists of 13,000 professionals from around the world.

“The scope of my work will be to communicate best practices to School Counselors and College Admission Professionals in the regional affiliates, and to report the affiliates’ professional development needs to the national organization,” said Swift. “My goal is to help achieve a shared strategic vision for the college admissions process that takes everyone’s perspectives into account, Swift said in the release.

“I saw this as a great opportunity to serve NACAC, as well as to gain valuable information and networking connections that will benefit the student body at RFH.”

Swift is the only appointee from the state selected to serve on the eight-member NACAC Professional Development Committee.

As a member of that group, Swift represents the New Jersey regional affiliate chapter as well as the Dakota, Great Plains, and Rocky Mountains regional affiliates.

Swift is very active in the New Jersey regional affiliate of NACAC (NJACAC) and is one of six national delegates from her state serving as the voice of NJ School Counselors and College Admission Professionals on key initiatives, the release said. Previously she completed two terms (four years) as one of two New Jersey secondary school representatives.

Swift is also a member of the Professional Development Committee for NJACAC. In this capacity, she coordinates the Naviance Users Group, presenting workshops to help school counselors implement an on-line system designed to improve college and career planning.

A former Kindergarten teacher, Swift has worked in high school guidance for 27 years. She serves on the Monmouth County School Counselors Executive Board, where she served as president for nine years.

Swift recently completed a term on the Advisory Board of Marist College in Poughkeepsie, NY, and recently joined the Fairfield University Advisory Board in Connecticut.

Founded in 1937, the National Association for College Admission Counseling is an organization dedicated to serving students transitioning from secondary to postsecondary education.

Members include professional school counselors, college access counselors, admission and financial aid officers and more.