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Retro Rally for the Naked Sandy Hook Truth

Summertime … and the swimming is easy … and breezy without a suit. So goes the tale of the start of nude sunbathing and swimming at Sandy Hook. It’s been that way for some time now; but, there was a time when the nude beach debate was on like the heat these days and taken to the bridge, of course.

Years ago, in fact, there were some RFH teens rallying via that classic Rumson “bridge” mode of advertising to get a nude beach going on Sandy Hook. Everyone knows how that went.

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Retro Fair Haven Bathing Beauty Firecrackers

Bathing beauties of a Fair Haven neighborhood in 1965
Photo/Sally Van Develde

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!”

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Retro Old Timers’ Day Tripping

A reprise Retro Pic of the Day in honor of Fair Haven Fire Department’s Old Timers’ Day. The tradition continued this past Sunday; and, the Old Timers won under the leadership of RFH Class of ’78 grad and longtime Fire Department member Bill Heath. Now, back to the 1960s with the annual FHFD tradition, now that the new of back then has turned into old. Bill Heath was far from old enough to even join …

Nothing says community spirit like a face full of dirt and smashed eggs on your Sunday casual best. Well, nothing like Fair Haven Fire Department’s (FHFD) Old Timers’ Day, anyway. Add to that the fact that the young ones from back in the day are now the old timers and the losers … of the traditional baseball game that is the day’s focal point.

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Retro Rumson Barn Summer Showtime

Reprise from 2016, just because we think more people need to remember summer theater fun at the old classic — The Barn Theatre …

Summer is in full swing. School’s out and kids are embarking on summer activities. The weekend is here. So is summer theater.

In fact, The Premier Theater Company is opening its production of The Prom tonight. And back in the 1970s, some RFH teens were acting out … in summer theater at The Barn Theatre in Rumson.

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Retro RFH Girls’ Summer Ride

RFH girls' ride into the summer of '78 ... Stephanie DeSesa, Elaine Van Develde, Debbie Humbert and Daryl Cooper Ley Photo/Elaine Van Develde
RFH girls’ ride into the summer of ’78 … Stephanie DeSesa, Elaine Van Develde, Debbie Humbert and Daryl Cooper Ley
Photo/Suzan Cooper

Sun up! When you’re scorched from a heatwave like this week’s, it’s time to let the sun bring on warm memories instead. There’s nothing quite like a summer drive in a classic car with the top down, especially when it’s the summer of senior year. So, we’re re-running this piece just because the sun needs to shine on friendships and good times like these. There’s nothing quite as warm. Put the top down and take a drive back with us again … 

The drive is all the better if it’s made with best friends. So, as a continuing ode to summer fun of the past at the hands of RFH teens, the Retro Pic of the Day encapsulates the whole idea — best friends, a cool ride and warm memories.

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Retro River Rats’ Smooth Summer Sail

River Rats of the 1970s Photo/Marc Edelman
River Rats of 1975
Photo/Marc Edelman

A River Rats reprise to mark the official start of summer …

It’s smooth sailing into summer — maybe a bit too smooth … right into that heat. But back in 1975, the river road could be a bit rocky. At least one little river rat had to patch up a Blue Jay with bubble gum. Rats! That would be little Claire Hurd. Sailing rats all learned how to improvise, for sure. They also learned how to tie a square not like a real sailor.

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Retro RFH Graduation: The Daisy Chain Girl

RFH 1978 graduation in front of the high school, replete with daisy chain
Photo/Daryl Cooper Ley

The following was originally posted in May of 2017. It is being re-run in honor of graduation, time honored traditions of the past, and this RFH Daisy Chain girl of ’78, who passed away in February of 2018 — Daryl Cooper Ley.

In high school social circles, it was considered a popularity status symbol to be chosen for the chain. Daryl wasn’t all too thrilled about it at the time. It had confirmed what only her closest friends knew — that she was cool. It was often repeated to her. “I didn’t think so,” was always her answer. Sorry, Dar. We win. Got the last word. You were. RIP, Dar. You are remembered … in our hearts, souls and print, like it or not! Love you forever more. Oh, she would kill me

It was considered a privilege and honor. They were chosen from the junior class at RFH to serve as the debutante-like ushers for the graduating class. All dressed in white and supposedly gracefully toting a chain of daisies, the Daisy Chain girls were a fixture of high school finery at graduations in the 1970s.

The origins of the somewhat upper-crust tradition date back to the 1900s, but this Retro Pic of the Day was snapped in 1978.

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Retro RFH Graduation Traditions

Our annual RFH graduation reprise in honor of the RFH Class of 2025 … Congrats!

RFH graduation ’79 Photo/George Day

RFHers did the graduation walk on Wednesday. And it’s a walk that has veered off onto different paths over the years — but always to Pomp & Circumstance.

Wow. So much has changed, yet stayed the same. The venue has gone from the RFH Borden Stadium to the front lawn to the Borden Stadium (when the stadium was being renovated) and the football field again to the RFH auditorium and mixed up and around over the years. Now it’s at the Monmouth University. And in pandemic times, the venue was outside, masked and virtual. And, again, back to Monmouth. 

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Retro RFH ’60s Daisy Chain Gang

RFH Class of 1965 graduation Daisy Chain
Photo/courtesy of Kim Christman

In honor of RFH graduation … Reprise of a classic originally posted in June of 2022 …

That’s the sight of the girls working on the Daisy Chain gang! When it comes to RFH graduation traditions gone, the Daisy Chain is a classic, well-remembered one. So are the links in the chain — the girls, not so much the flowers.

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Retro Stylin’ 2002 Knollwood Grads

Knollwood School Class of 2002 Photo/Elaine Van Develde
Knollwood School Class of 2002
Photo/Elaine Van Develde

A reprise in honor of that eighth grade Knollwood graduation on Wednesday … Congrats in advance, grads!

The Fair Haven Knollwood School grads are styling every year. And, the truth is that the eighth grade graduation attire has improved to the point of even parents turning wannabes of that mini-fashion world.

You’d have to admit, though, that fad dress-up attire has been kinder to the male gender over the years — except for the leisure suit. That was an unforgiving polyester fashion fail.

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