Newsworthy: R-FH Topics of the Week

Happy soggy, rainy Monday, Rumson and Fair Haven! Hey, we've had a good share of the sun in the past few days.

There’s a lot going on in these two sleepy suburban towns this week and a little that we caught up with over the bridge in Sea Bright. It was a great weekend for getting out to some area events, and Patch was there. Today is more of an indoor day, so it’s time to catch up on the news in the area.

There’s a new editor in town ...

In case you haven’t noticed a change in that teeny, tiny photo at the top of the Rumson-Fair Haven Patch, well, it’s changed. This week will mark my second as your editor of the site.

In case you don’t already know me, as an R-FH high school alumni, then, well, you’ve probably run into me in the , , , , , , or just about any gathering spot or event in the R-FH area.

I’ve been around these parts a very long time … well, as long as you can be for a, let’s say, 29-year-old. OK, you’ve got me. So, I’m a bit older than 29, but I’m still not telling when I graduated from R-FH.

I will tell you, however, that I not only graduated from , but do go back as far as when kindergarten in Fair Haven was at the Youth Center and a crossing guard toted us kids down the street to the school on a rope. Yes, a rope. There are pictures of it somewhere in a history book. Somehow, I doubt we’ll ever see something like that again.

I also went to when it was called Willow Street and graduated eighth grade from , where I also performed in my very first show, the musical Anything Goes. Since then, after some stints in community theater and singing gigs, I’ve been killing people for years with my performances in interactive murder mysteries, stage theater in various professional venues, such as Atlantic City and the PNC Bank Arts Center and few film and television debuts.

But on a daily basis, I write, now all about the area in which I grew up and am now growing kind of old … er. My parents, Sally and Bill, may be familiar names. They were very active in the community, especially with the Fair Haven Fire Company.  If my mother didn’t take a couple of hours to shop and chat at the Acme every day, something was seriously out of whack in town. Both have passed away.

Very big shoes to fill, I tried to pick up where they left off and continued to raise my own child, now an adult, here as well. It really is the best place to grow up.

Professionally, I have sporadically covered Rumson, Fair Haven and Sea Bright for area newspapers over the years and am now anchored as the Rumson-Fair Haven Patch editor. I know I’ll see you around town; but, in the meantime, if there’s any tidbit you’d like to share with me, please feel free to contact me at elaine.develde@patch.com.

And, hey, if you can guess what year I graduated from R-FH, you’ll get a piece of Patch swag!

Here’s what we’re looking into this week …

• Did you know that Fair Haven Police Detective Jesse Dykstra is being promoted to sergeant? Well, he is, very soon, and I’m going to catch up with him this week for the scoop and profile.

• Rumson Borough Council is meeting on Tuesday night, May 22, at 7:30 p.m. at Borough Hall on River Road. We’ve heard the mayor and council are going to be working toward officially setting up the first Rumson-Fair Haven Municipal Alliance to Prevent Drug and Alcohol Abuse. Fair Haven is the lead governing entity in this venture. We’ll have the particulars in a story this week.

• Again, we say, “Happy Birthday Ken Lockwood!” who turned 90 recently. Ken has lived in Fair Haven since he was 2 years old and, boy, does he have a lot of memories. Some may just astound you. We will feature a story on Ken, with a video to follow.

• We noticed that there’s a new sign in the window where Lil’ Masters Grille was not too long ago. That happened pretty quickly, so we’re checking into it. What’s the story? We’ll let you know.

• We caught up with Mayor John Ekdahl at the Oceanic Bridge opening on Friday and will see him at the meeting on Tuesday. But, we need to catch up with Fair Haven Mayor Ben Lucarelli on a few items, one being the ever-elusive time capsule that, we’ve been told, actually never existed? The mayor will straighten us out on that one. Story to come.

• And, heads up, we may be stopping in to your eatery to see what’s cooking this week. It’s a feature we’ll be doing on a weekly basis. What’s your special food feature this week? We may want to know and show everyone how it’s made.

Well, that’s all for now, friends and fans. See you around town. And, if you think of something else we should know about, send an email.