Together Again: R-FH's Class of 1962

It had been half a century since Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School’s Class of 1962 graduates had called the area surrounding the high school their stomping grounds.

Never forgetting just about every haunt, nuance, classmate, teacher and moment in that time, they gathered together again for a 50th reunion weekend … and did some stomping and reminiscing.

They came from all over the country, ’62 alumni and still Rumson resident Roberta Van Anda told Patch. In fact, she said, her own R-FH buddy Pat Patterson Vainik drove an RV cross country from San Diego, CA, with her dog Mandy as co-pilot.

And, Van Anda said, the weekend was not only a wonderful trip back in R-FH time, but a perfect extended opportunity to make more memories.

First, on Friday night, the classmates gathered at the R-FH Borden Stadium for the football game. A few made it there and endured the chill in the air for a while before heading over to Molly Maquire’s where the “party was in full swing,” Van Anda said.

There, she said, were not only a lot of classmates, but one renowned R-FH teacher from that time and beyond as well. That teacher, who told Patch not long ago that he always shows up for reunions, weddings and just about any party where there’s dancing, was none other than dancin’ George Giffin.

“People from other classes turned out to see us, too,” Van Anda said. “That was cool.”

After the initial partying at the Friday night cocktail party, there was a video tour of the area at Bingham Hall on Saturday.

Karen Holm Austin “deserves a lot of praise for her efforts” in driving all over the area and compiling the video,” Van Anda said. “She started with sunrise on the beaches and then went all around our two towns — and she also included Sea Bright and Red Bank, because they were definitely on our patch as we grew up here. The video was silent, but she stood and gave a descriptive narration.”

At that showing, two more R-FH teachers showed up — Mr. Carter and Mr. Applegate.

The group then took a tour of the high school, where yearbooks for all classes were available to peruse; and, classmates got the opportunity to see the plaque dedicated to Bill Preston, ’62 graduate, who was inducted into the R-FH Hall of Fame because of his sports career. The tour was special for one '62 alumni, in particular, Lea Adamson, as he had a chance to see the classroom dedicated to the memory of his father.

The Class of ’62 had dinner at the Rumson Country Club Saturday, where 64 classmates were present.

The weekend wrapped up with a breakfast for the 33 remaining alumni at the club on Sunday morning and an R-FH alma mater and “Moments to Remember” and “Graduation Day” sing along.

“It sounds hokey, but it was a really nice ending to a superb event,” Van Anda said on behalf of her classmates.

If you have any photos of the reunion, please email them to elaine.develde@patch.com or upload them directly to this story.

Cheers to those R-FH memories Class of '62!