The 10th Annual Rumson PBA Crab Tournament is Saturday.
So, in honor of a full decade of getting crabby with the PBA, the Retro Pic of the Day offers a glimpse back to last year’s tournament.
The fun was, yes, catching, with these guys who were trying their luck right across from the boat launch.
Recognize them?
— Elaine Van Develde
Yes, Fair Haven-raised Connor Jaeger did it! In his second quest for an Olympic medal, he came in second in the 1,500-meter freestyle swim in Rio de Janeiro on Saturday, making history as the fastest Team U.S.A. swimmer in the event.
It was only four years ago when Jaeger swam in London and placed sixth in the same event. When he came home to Fair Haven, there was a parade and he signed autographs for some very excited young fans.
There are no plans as of yet for a re-do of that in the borough. It depends on his wishes, officials have said.
So, the Retro Pic of the Day offers a glimpse back four years when Jaeger came home from London to a thrilled community. His family was there. Even his family dog was there.
Who knows the name of the Jaeger family dog?
— Elaine Van Develde
The time has come for all Rumson Barn Theatre buddies to gather once again.
Once upon a time, there was a crew of theater folk in their teens and early twenties who gathered regularly at The Barn in Rumson. They did shows, tech and bonded very quickly as the best of lifetime friends.
The proof is in the contact and gratitude for one another’s show folk mentality to this day.
One crew is reuniting on Saturday.
So, the Retro Pic of the Day honors that gaggle of Barn Theatre kids.
There are a couple of old (and I mean that in the kindest way) Rumsonites in this classic shot taken by fellow theater gal, Ann Toronto McNamara circa the early 1980s.
Recognize anyone? Here’s to old theater friends and bonds and, well, the notion that, according to a David Bowie song used in one of the shows, “We can be heroes, just for one day
We can be us, just for one day!”
Here’s to our theater heroes! Stay tuned for the reunion photos!
— Elaine Van Develde
Coincidence? Sort of. It just so happens that it is summer. It is just so happens that Bye Bye Birdie has been running on the Decades channel on TV. And it just so happens that it’s now been 39 years (WHAT??) since summer theater at The Barn Theatre in Rumson was in full swing and in rehearsals for Bye Bye Birdie.
Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School (RFH) graduates going back several decades are honoring the memory of former RFH math teacher and basketball and baseball coach, Thomas Botti.
Botti passed away in July 6 at what had become his Royal Palm Beach, Florida home in 1999 after retirement, according to his obituary on legacy.com. He was 87 and was laid to rest today at South Florida National Cemetery in Lake Worth, FL.
Botti taught math for more than four decades and was chairman of the Math Department at RFH until the end of his tenure there in addition to coaching freshman baseball and varsity basketball.
“RIP Coach,” said RFH grad Troy Brandon on the Fair Haven Facebook page.
“He was a super teacher and class advisor to the graduationing class of 1963,” said Jacqui Foster Reynoso on the Facebook page.
“I had Mr. Botti for Algebra I in freshman year,” RFH grad Susan Mapes Zimmermann said. “My only A in mathematics, and I never did much good after that. I liked him very much.”
So, the Retro Pic(s) of the day honor the math teacher and coach with the above shots of Mr. Botti in action coaching and being a department head in the RFH yearbooks of the mid-1970s. Anyone remember who that is in the featured photo with the coach?
RIP, Mr. Botti. Coach. You are remembered.
Some things you may or may not know about Mr. Botti from his obituary …
Botti had a master’s degree in Education from New York University. He also served in the United States Marine Corps for a year, from 1950 to 1951.
He worked summers at Monmouth Park in Oceanport while teaching and became a mutual clerk after retirement. He enjoyed golf and ceramic painting.
Mr. Botti is survived by: his wife, Vivian; daughter, Liz Newsome and son-in-law John Newsome, of Wellington, Fl.; and daughter Cindy Morgan, of Hackensack; grandson, Spencer Morgan, of Montclair; and granddaughters Emily and Katherine Newsome, of Wellington, FL.
There’s nothing quite like going fishing on the Navesink on those summer days.
So, today’s Retro Pic of the Day honors the tradition with a look back at a very popular native Fair Havenite doing a little solo fishing — Chum Chandler.
Chum passed away in March of 2015. He lived his life in Fair Haven, knew everyone and every simple pleasure about local life. Know when and where this pic was taken?
So, here’s to a happy, healthy summer from a real local perspective!
RIP, Chum Chandler. Gone fishin’!
Photo/courtesy of the Chandler family
You could say that former Fair Havenite Connor Jaeger is swimming in Olympic success.
Continue reading Olympian Connor Jaeger: Present Day & Retro
Yes, friends and fans, it’s been exactly two years since Rumson-Fair Haven Retrospect (or R-FH Retro, for short) registered its domain name and got started.
It’s been a great two years, sharing news, features and photos from the past and present with all of you!
So, to honor the first days of the website, we are posting the first photos posted on www.rfhretro.com. The very first, and featured photo, was a look from the dock of Eventide in Sea Bright looking onto the shores of Rumson. The other (below) is a photo of the Navesink River and Oceanic Bridge from the shores of Victory Park in Rumson.
Thank you all for your support and patronage of R-FH Retro. We look forward to bringing you more news and looks back than ever in the coming year.
Reach out to us at [email protected] and find out how you can advertise on the site for a nominal fee and support the continued flow of news, features and photos at no cost to readers.
Thank you and enjoy! Here’s to the view from this beautiful peninsula we all call home!
With all thoughts good and hyperlocal,
Elaine Van Develde
publisher/founding editor
That first year of school has always been a major milestone.
In Fair Haven, kids in the 1960s walked on a rope to kindergarten at what was called the Youth Center, now the Fair Haven Police Station.
The rope was traumatic for those of us who weren’t allowed to walk beside our best friends. And the official lady toting the rope-load of us, Mrs. McDaniel, was kinda scary to us little cretins.
With all the ceremonies of Rumson and Fair Haven students’ transition from third to fourth grade and impending RFH graduation, thoughts reverted to a time when there was no such thing — not that there’s anything wrong with it, though. It’s pretty adorable, really.
No, there really wasn’t a transitional ride or walk from one school in Fair Haven or Rumson to the next. And, in Fair Haven at least, back in the late 1960s and early 70s, students simply went to the school to which they lived closest — until that big ol’ jump to middle school, when everyone in the borough went to Knollwood for seventh and eighth grade. And no one got driven to school. They all walked or rode bikes together.
Oh, and what is now the Viola L. Sickles School was Willow Street School.
So, the Retro Pic of the Day offers a glimpse back to those days when fifth grade was at Sickles (well, Willow Street) and one of the most popular teachers of the era taught there — Mr. DeMarco.
I’m pretty sure that he won several awards in various capacities, not the least of which was some sort of teacher of the year for the state, I believe.
Speaking from experience, he really was a memorable teacher. Very patient. Very kind. Very intelligent. His lessons sunk into our little brains. Thanks, Mr. DeMarco.
Pictured is a class from the early 1970s. Many of these little faces are grown-ups in the area with their own kids. Recognize anyone?
Congrats to all the transitioning students!
— Elaine Van Develde
Fair Haven Day is Saturday. It was a few years ago that the first Fair Haven Day took place on the borough’s centennial celebration.
Since then, the borough has lost some of its longtime residents who everyone knew in one capacity or another. They were some of the faces of Fair Haven.
So, the Retro Pic(s) of the Day honors two of those people who were there on the first Fair Haven Day, proud longtime Fair Havenites and icons: Life member of the Fair Haven Fire Department’s Ladies Auxiliary, Pat Topfer; and ever-popular RFH science and dance teacher extraordinaire, George Giffin.
The featured photo on the Fair Haven Day event announcement today included a popular longtime resident and friend to the borough, Ben Hamilton.
RIP, Ben, Pat and Gif. You are remembered.
There’s nothing quite like taking a ride with your buddies when you’re a little kid, especially if your bike is a tractor, too.
What kid rides a tractor in the Rumson-Fair Haven area? Well, back in the 1960s, Fair Havenite Peter Mauger did. He, the pint-sized driver carted Nancy Wilson down Lake Avenue in what was a combo tractor-bike with a cool little trailer to lug stuff or a pal in — a “dump trac,” to be exact. Susan Wilson, old and cool enough to ride a two-wheeler with a bell, rode along.
No power wheels in the form of high end, luxury cars. No helmets. No special permission needed to drive a dump trac, because, you know, they’re rural kinds of vehicles.
And the streets were barren enough in those days to ride up and down and even around the block on a seemingly endless loop. Hey, neighborhood kids used to also play dodge ball and hopscotch in the street. But, that’s a retro pic for another day.
Today, the Retro Pic of the Day, courtesy of Peter Mauger, honors a kids’ bike ride of a simpler time — not that there’s anything wrong with helmets and designer power wheels.
What kind of bike did you have? Your dream bike or foot-pedaled car? Remember those?
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