RFH Homecoming Carnival's Second Year

Friday night will mark the second year of a new Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School (RFH) homecoming tradition — The R-FH Homecoming Carnival.

Most of the oldest homecoming traditions will remain the same. There will be a homecoming king and queen. There will be a homecoming “court” of runners up. There will be princes and princesses from each class. The ceremony will take place during the football game’s halftime.

For the first time in RFH history, however, there will be no homecoming dance.

Instead, the carnival will cover the homecoming party aspect of it all and will, instead of a "night after" dance, precede the game, from 5 to 8 p.m. on the high school’s upper field. 

Open to not only students, but the general public, the carnival will offer a variety of activities such as an inflatable moon bounce, obstacle course, basketball challenge, wrecking ball, Euro bungee, dunk tank and carnival games.

Also featured as part of the festivities will be glitter and henna tattoo artists, a balloon artist, a stilt-walker, music and more, a release from RFH said.

This year the homecoming football game has RFH facing off with Red Bank At 7 p.m. the same evening.

At that time, the homecoming court, comprised of the five top vote-getters in the senior class, will be introduced and the king and queen announced.

The king and queen will then be driven around the track and circle back to the center of the field where the court and princes and princesses will file in from either side of the field to the center with flowers and pose for photos, Lanzalotto had said.

That ceremony has not changed much in the course of R-FH history, except for the ride and princes and princesses. The date and day of the game and rival teams, however, have.

Dating back roughly 15 years, the homecoming was held on Thanksgiving Day and always played against Red Bank Catholic (RBC) High School, with a dance in what was referred to as the senior building the night before.

“It was too cold, and dealing with the weather was tough,” Lanzalotto explained in a previous interview. “Mostly, though, the RBC rivalry was stopped because we could no longer play on Thanksgiving Day.

"Then, when we stopped having the Saturday games, the dance was held the night after the Friday games and the attendance just got lower and lower. We really wanted everyone to be involved, including the community, so we’re excited about the carnival. It’s going to be a great day and night at R-FH.”

There have been many homecomings over the years at R-FH. Tell us your favorite homecoming story.

For the carnival, there will be separate charges of $5 for rides and food. Those charges are will be waived for R-FH students with SGA cards.

Admission to the football game is free for RFH students with SGA cards, $3.00 for adults, and $2.00 for students, children and senior citizens.