---

The end-of-summer party at the Allenhurst Beach Club is one of the longest-running soirées in the area — but it may be a no-go this year unless police and organizers can come to an agreement on security.

Police Chief Robert Richter must approve a social affairs permit for the gathering before the party, set for Sept. 1, can go on.

“It’s a great party, everybody likes it … But we just have to work on refining it,” said Mayor David McLaughlin at the July 24 commissioners meeting, which was held at the beach club.

The board of commissioners at the meeting discussed concerns and logistics with party founder Frank Fischer, who runs the event with the help of the Allenhurst Fire Department.

The commissioners later approved the social affairs permit for the party — but Richter must also sign off on it before the party can come to fruition.

As of today, Richter still has not signed the permit. Allenhurst Police Captain Michael Schneider has said the chief is hesitant to do so until security issues are resolved.

“Last year was the first year where there were significant issues that erupted,” Deputy Mayor Chris McLoughlin said at the meeting. “We’re trying to figure out the best way to contain it or keep it from escalating.”

There were “repeated” complaints about underage drinking last year, as well as an altercation between a borough resident and a beach club non-member who didn’t live in town, Mayor David McLaughlin said.

The altercation led to an arrest for assault and harassment, Schneider said in a later interview. The man was intoxicated and allegedly shouted an anti-Semitic epithet at a resident after he left the party on his bicycle, Schneider said.

At the Tuesday night meeting, Fischer agreed he would talk to the chief to resolve those concerns.

Mayor McLaughlin suggested that beach club members sign party guests in and take responsibility for their guests’ behavior; that off-duty police officers be hired to patrol the party; and that no one under the age of 21 be allowed in unless accompanied by their family.

But Fischer was skeptical as to whether signing guests in would be effective. The entrance at the gate is often congested during the party, and having guests sign in would be “logistically, almost impossible,” he said.

“I don’t know half the people on the beach who show up,” said Deputy Mayor McLoughlin, who has been attending the party for the past 20 years. “I don’t know where they’re coming from. And it’s not just social drinking, it’s power drinking.”

He also expressed concern about people entering through the beach, rather than the main entrance.

The Sept. 1 event has a rain date of Sept. 2.

Fischer started the party in the 1970s, and held it for years at his private home in Allenhurst. The former longtime borough resident and area attorney moved the party to the Allenhurst Beach Club several years ago.

Since the party’s move to the beach club, alcohol sales and other concessions are now handled by the Allenhurst Fire Department, borough clerk-administrator Lori Osborn said, with proceeds from the event benefiting the fire department.

Fischer still remains involved in helping to plan and organize the event, Osborn said. Fischer pays for security, ticketing and other costs, she said, adding, “The borough doesn’t pay for anything.”

Before the event can take place, the fire department must obtain the social affairs permit because of the alcohol and other concessions they oversee, Osborn said.

———-

[Asbury Park Sun correspondent Hannah Walker contributed reporting to this story.]

 

 

---