Life Sketch of FH Characters

If you knew old time Fair Havenites Frank Leslie and Tim McMahon, you knew, at the very least, that they were characters.

Both are long gone, but not easily forgotten, as two typified the cloth of the town fabric that has made people love it so.

Leslie was an electrician. He also owned the Whistle Stop, the famed antiques store/penny candy and frozen pizza joint to which many kids flocked in the 1970s. He knew all the kids' names and habits, as if each were his own. And he was a fixer. If he couldn't jerry-rig a fix for anything from a broken roller skate to an entire electrical system, no one in town could.

Leslie had a hearty laugh and a penchant for the simple things in life. So did Tim McMahon. Though McMahon had a bit more of a pensive, daydreamer persona.

Anyone who knew McMahon, or was even acquainted with him, knew that he was a walking historical encyclopedia — and the pleasure was all his and yours.

All you had to do was ask Tim a question and he'd start rattling off a diatribe about any given subject of historic significance, bibliography included.

He loved to chat — with anyone and anywhere. It could have been on line at the Acme buying milk and eggs or in his yard while he tended to his bee hives.

Red Bank artist Evelyn Leavens caught the two deep in conversation years ago. She did a sketch of them, and it embodies their unique personalities. Frank Leslie Jr. shared it with Patch, noting that his dad would have been 84 earlier in the month, on Feb. 9.

Both are gone, but hardly forgotten. There are others who had the same effect on people, coining Fair Haven as a unique, charming place to live, not to mention that the town was an actors' colony dating back to its birth.

There are so many Fair Haven characters who have lived in and wandered through town (click here for our previous story on characters). Who is your favorite? Bella comes to mind.

Who remembers Bella? Tell us about the special characters of Fair Haven you remember in the comments section below.