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N.J. department’s floral fundraiser causes dust-up

By Maryann Spoto
The Star-Ledger

POINT PLEASANT, N.J. — There is apparently no love lost between the volunteer fire company in Point Pleasant and a local florist.

Kevin McLaughlin, president of the Point Pleasant Fire Company, claims the florist is trying to shut down his Valentine’s Day fundraiser hawking roses to lovers.

During the second day of its three-day sale of bouquets yesterday, the fire company was issued a warning from a borough code enforcement officer, who said a sign advertising the fundraiser violated a local ordinance.

“We’re part of the town. Here we are trying to raise money. It costs $100,000 more than the town gives us to run the department,” McLaughlin said yesterday after receiving the warning. “It’s ludicrous, really.”

But Frank O’Brien, owner of O’Brien’s Florist, contends the fire company has plenty of other ways to try to raise money without undercutting local florists on one of their most lucrative holidays of the year.

He said he mostly objected to the way the fire company bedecked its engine with signs and drove around town advertising the sale.

“They can have clam bakes. They can do anything (else) they want. I can’t understand why they’re doing this,” he said.

So as the volunteer firemen continue, for now, to sell their roses at the firehouse on Beaver Dam Road, O’Brien planned on taking orders, making deliveries and tending to walk-in customers a little more than two blocks away on Bridge Avenue.

Caught in the middle is Council President Roger Pyrtko, a local businessman and a former volunteer Brick Township firefighter.

At Tuesday night’s budget meeting, Pyrtko brought to the council’s attention an anonymous written complaint about a sign advertising the fundraiser placed in the window of a convenience store. The council, in turn, forwarded the matter to code enforcement.

He was the only council member to vote against the fire company’s Valentine’s Day fundraiser a month ago, he said, because the fire company promised last year — when the same complaint arose — to pick a different event. At the same time, he volunteered to help them brainstorm new fundraising ideas.

“There’ll always be a place in my heart for the firefighters,” he said. “As a councilman, I have to be impartial.”

McLaughlin said the fire company has tried several different ways to raise money, but none has been very successful. A super 50/50 raffle last year didn’t sell out, yielding just more than half the $10,000 anticipated. Two previous dances were a bust, and of the 431 businesses directly solicited for monetary contributions last year, there were only 23 responses, he said.