The RHS Bus Garage!

Every school has something traditional tied to it - whether it be a long history of academics, sports, etc. RHS had many things but an annual ritual in the Fall was the painting of the bus garage (it was located right near the football field). As for myself, luckily I was there the night our senior class painted the garge.

In fact that friday night we were supposed to have a "rumble" with Paramus High School (a fight) - we didn't like Paramus much even though I dated a Paramus girl. They were clearly our new rival. They were known as the Spartans - who painted out part of the letter "P" so that it said "Fartans" in the center of their field - not Ridgewood!

Well they were supposed to come to our turf that Friday night and mix it up before the big game the next day. Yes - we beat them that year - in fact most of the football players in my senior class couldn't wait to go to The Fireplace after the game to strut a little! The Fireplace is a great hamburger place in Paramus - just over the border - and it's still there!

Well - while the rivalry was real, Paramus never showed up that night. Despite this, the guys painted away on the roof (McKee, Rodman) - while the rest of us waited on the ground for Paramus to show up.

While we waited and tried to direct things - Ridgewood police cars showed up from seemingly every direction - 3 or 4 cars - and spoiled our party. However one guy wasn't aware of what was going on below - Andy Rodman. Andy continued painting away until we finally got his attention - the police waiting for those on the roof to make their way down.

Above photo, on Paramus game day - the day after painting the gararge and waiting for Paramus to show up at our field! The night before the game, a ton of us met at the bus garage to paint it with the Class of 1973 colors - Willy McKee stands out at the top left corner of the roof!! Photo courtesy of Dave Burdick - taken by Charles Burdick.

Well Andy came down alright - he tried to come down with his paint can but succeeded only to drop his can of bright white paint right in front of a police officer - it splattered all over the guys uniform and shoes - you would have thought that Andy was a dead man but the cop calmly wrote Andy a summons and bill for a new uniform and shoes! It was pretty funny actually.

Sadly we came to find out that the garage burned down a number of years later - the fire abruptly ending a longtime RHS tradition.

Another staple at Saturday football games were the little wooden concession stands - well they didn't burn down - they simply got washed away in the brook behind the stands - the result of a heavy rain storm!

Above photo, 2 of our concession stands at RHS - these would eventually get knocked into the brook, washed away after a record rain. More landmarks gone forever. Watching the game somewhere on the Ridgewood side is me and Robin Sleeman - Class of 1974. Photo courtesy of Dave Burdick - taken by Charles Burdick.

In the summer of 2010, the grass football field became an artificial turf field - wow.