Photo of The Month – Dec 2003

Red Ryder

Picture contributor: Charles Humphries

If ever there was a Cliffside icon, it is Red Humphries. He was a fixture in town, and would still be one, if there was enough town left to be a fixture in.

In days gone by, he was everywhere: you might catch him swimming at the “ropes” (a place on the river); playing ball whenever he could scare up a team; hitching a ride to wherever the driver might be going; shining the rails and telling tall tales, hiking down to Jim’s Cabin. These days, Red and his beloved Pug divide their time between their home across the river and their coastal getaway at Sunset Beach.

When Red contributed this picture, he had no idea we’d colorize it and make him world famous by placing him in this venerable hall of photographic fame.

We’re told this was taken at the first house on the left going up Cliffside Street—in 1940, when Red was eight years old.