Earth Day Postponed Until Sunday in Point Pleasant Borough

Citing forecasts of strong wind and rain, Earth Day organizers postponed the event until Sunday.

Earth Day will be held from noon to 4 p.m. at Riverfront Park, River Road and Maxson Avenue.

The location is a change from the past seven years when the event was held at Community Park on Bridge Avenue.

The event showcases vendors of green products, environmental organizations, such as Citizens' Rights to Access Beaches (CRAB), and local businesses. There will also be inflatable rides, games, a petting zoo, food and music.

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

The day will also include 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 will see 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.

"But I don't think Nellie Bennett ever lived there," Morris said. "I believe she lived in a farmhouse on the same property."

The cabin has heat and air conditioning, but no bathroom, Morris said. One Boy Scout den has already started using the cabin for meetings, and Girl Scouts, art students and community groups may not be far behind, Morris said.

The Commission is still accepting exhibitors and is always looking for sponsors and donations. Exhibitor and sponsor applications are located at http://www.env.ptboro.com/ed/.

All proceeds fund the annual $1,000 scholarship awarded to a local senior, the savings bonds and prizes for the winners of the poster contest, and the operations and incidentals of the event itself.

For more information, contact Chris Constantino at pointboroec@gmail.com or Sheryl Burke at 732-899-7240. Updates are also located at https://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=69039089749 and http://www.env.ptboro.com/ed/