Rumson-Fair Haven Retrospect (R-FH Retro) is a hyperlocal news website dedicated to the Rumson-Fair Haven area, its people and history with a unique twist — the perspective of a 56-year resident with an award-winning journalistic background. 

Daily, news, features, photo galleries, event coverage and retrospective opinion pieces, dubbed Retro Pics of the Day, are offered daily to the site's readership for free. 

A coffee table book featuring iconic spots, people and photos of this peninsula utopia I called home for more than half a century is also in the works. It will also offer a unique reading twist. 

R-FH Retro was created out of pure love of home and is dedicated to the memory of my parents, Sally and Bill Van Develde. They brought their family to Fair Haven decades ago and harbored a deep love of the community until their deaths. 

It is my wish, as it would be that of my parents, to continue to bring free daily news, features, photo galleries, memorial tributes and unique pieces to readers. Help is needed to make that happen.

Equipment needs continuous updating. The site needs to be maintained. Daily expenses to keep the site running 24/7 must be paid. This staff of ONE needs a little community help to get by and continue bringing R-FH Retro to you every single day. The site, in its 12-year existence, has never made anywhere near a profit. And the deficit is growing as the site gets more popular by the day. It’s a free-to-the public website that holds many memories of growing up in the area and some current news as a courtesy.

Now, more than ever, hyperlocal news at the hands of true professional journalists is disappearing. Two hyperlocal sites have closed in the past few years. Though, neither was dedicated to the Rumson-Fair Haven area. Another has cut off coverage of the Rumson-Fair Haven area.

Print monthly and weekly newspapers and magazines do NOT concentrate on this area exclusively, nor do they have the background to cover the area with first-hand knowledge — 56 years as a resident with decades' worth of journalism experience. That's a long time — more than half a century.

There are copycats, trying to mimic some of R-FH Retro's unique features, yet the writers' and publishers' background just doesn't cut it.

The savings used to create and maintain R-FH Retro dried up in the first year. This Fair Haven girl wants to keep this truly hyperlocal, unique news and feature website going strong, but funding is necessary for this labor of love, not business.

So, in the interest of striking a balance between modesty and "a publisher's got to live on more than love alone," I have decided that leaving the "help" up to those who can and want to by asking to "buy me a cup of coffee" is a nice solution to keep the site going. It's also an ode to my mom, who always had the coffee on for neighbors and friends at her Fair Haven home.

Help R-FH Retro help you. Keep it casual and local with love and a past. I was there. Buy me some coffee. Tell me your story. 

With love of home and words, 

Elaine Van Develde

R-FH Retro publisher/founding editor