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Community Corner

Earth Day and Bennett Cabin Gave Point Pleasant Borough a Fun, Green Day

Kids enjoyed petting zoo, rides and the Bennett Cabin

Visitors to Earth Day 2011 at Riverfront Park on Sunday munched, toured, ran, bought, relaxed and learned a little about Point Pleasant history.

The event, held from noon to 4 p.m. at Riverfront Park, River Road and Maxson Avenue, and sponsored by the Borough Environmental Commission, was a success, after being postponed for a day, when high winds and rain swept through the area on Saturday.

"Tired, sun-burned and glad we pulled it off as well as we did," organizer Chris Constantino, of the environmental commission, said on his Facebook page late on Sunday.

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The theme for this year's fourth and fifth grade Earth Day T-shirt poster contest was "Single Stream, It's a Recycling Dream," concentrating on single stream recycling.

The contest winners are: First Place: 5th Grade Kylie Ippolito (Ocean Road), teacher Mrs. Fleming, $100 US Savings Bond, whose design was printed on the back of the 2011 Point Pleasant Earth Day T-Shirts; Second Place: 4th Grade Sydney Kern (Nellie Bennett), teacher Mrs. Martin, $75 US Savings Bond;
Third Place: 5th Grade Nicole Dejacimo (Ocean Road), teacher Mrs. Podesta, $50 US Savings Bond; and honorable mention, 5th Grade Alexis Dexter (Ocean Road), teacher Mrs. Cavanaugh.

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The event showcased vendors of green products, environmental organizations, such as Citizens' Rights to Access Beaches (CRAB), and local businesses.

Visitors enjoyed  games, a petting zoo, food, music, and massages -- even for pets.

The day also included tours of the interior of the Bennett Cabin which is nearly 100 years old and one of the former homes of one of the most historically significant, local families.

The cabin had been dismantled at its original location on Dorsett Dock Road because property owners had intended to demolish it to make way for new housing, said Richard Morris, administrator of the Point Pleasant Historical Society.

Morris and a team of volunteers then reconstructed the cabin at the park, with flooring and some other finishing touches still to be done, said Morris.

Visitors saw tools, a workbench and other materials left behind by Herman Bennett, the son of Nellie F. Bennett, the namesake of the local elementary school.

Herman, a carpenter, and his wife, Sarah, had lived in the cabin after it was built sometime in the 1920s, Morris said.

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