Point Beach Denies Elks's Request For Seafood Fest Day Event

Point Pleasant Beach officials have once again denied the Point Pleasant Elks's application to host an event on the same day as the Festival of the Sea – a year after they were denied from having their annal Oktoberfest in Point Beach on Sept. 15.

Mayor Steve Reid offered the same reasons as he did last year for why the Elks Lodge #1698 cannot hold their event during the festival, just as the organization did for two decades until Point Pleasant Beach officials denied the permit in 2018.

Reid said the police department is spread too thin handling two of the biggest events the borough has each year, and on the same day. Reid offered to help the group, but said they should do it on a different day.

Last year, the Elks used the Arnold Avenue Park in Point Pleasant Boro for their September event. "I heard it was a great event last year," Reid said. "I wish them the best ."

Reid has lamented that the event "is being played as a political football" because Councilman PaulKanitra has suggested that the Elks' request should be considered.

Reid faces a challenge from Kanitra in the June 4 Republican primary for mayor.

Kanitra has expressed frustration that the Elks' application hasn't been considered more quickly. He acknowledged to Patch that, when he asked during a recent council meeting why the matter wasn't scheduled for discussion, he was met with silence.

"It’s interesting that the mayor cries 'politics' every time he gets called out for failing Point Pleasant Beach," Kanitra told Patch. "He’s a politician who was elected to represent the will of the people and he’s been failing spectacularly at that at every turn."

Reid has said he has always been supportive of the Elks, saying his handicapped brother benefited from the organization and he once played for the Golden Elks Pop Warner football team.