FRANKLIN -- A woman who had the police called on her while breastfeeding her 2-year-old on the beach at Franklin Pond has planned a "nurse-in" demonstration Saturday after receiving an outpouring of support online.

FRANKLIN -- A woman who had the police called on her while breastfeeding her 2-year-old on the beach at Franklin Pond has planned a "nurse-in" demonstration Saturday after receiving an outpouring of support online.

Michelle Ayala, 36, a resident of Franklin, was nursing her child, Daisy, on the beach Tuesday when she was approached by Recreation Committee Secretary Donna Vreeland to "do it somewhere else" and told by Borough Administrator Alison McHose to "cover up" or she could be removed.

The police investigation at the request of Vreeland concluded no laws or local ordinances were broken, but now, days after processing the incident, Ayala is determined to spread awareness and educate others on the right to breastfeed in public.

On Saturday, Ayala will host a "nurse-in" demonstration dubbed "Flap in Franklin" at the Franklin Pond, where she has invited mothers, dads, husbands -- anyone -- to come out and support that nursing is natural and legal and can be done anywhere and anytime.

"(After this incident), I knew I had to do something. I had to support young moms who are first-time nursers who will be affected by people who aren't educated or aware of the laws," Ayala said.

Ayala, who had just purchased a season pass to the beach two weeks prior, said she has breastfed at the beach multiple times, and anywhere and everywhere else outside of the beach if her child is fussy or hungry, and has never once been approached.

On Tuesday, she said, it felt like she was being harassed.

"I said I had the right to nurse here. I wasn't even being inappropriate, and while I know I don't have to cover up, I have a tendency to eyeball around me and see if I'm really close to other people," Ayala said. "My daughter is 2. She covers 90 percent of my boob. You would have to be staring directly at me to even see that I was nursing."

Since 1997, New Jersey law allows mothers to breastfeed their babies "in any location of a place of public accommodation, resort or amusement wherein the mother is otherwise permitted."

Ayala said Vreeland yelled at her when she refused to abide, stating that her nursing was "offensive to the children and other adults" at the pond and that she was going to call the cops.

"I'm a very chill and calm person, so I kept my cool and knew I wasn't doing anything wrong, but I have never been spoken to like that," Ayala said.

While it is unclear who, if anyone, complained to Vreeland, who often works the concession stand at the pond, Ayala said Vreeland's nieces and Borough Administrator Alison McHose's daughter were the only ones swimming, but they all had left minutes before Vreeland approached her.

After Franklin Police Officer Nick Della Fera investigated and left, Vreeland approached Ayala again, this time with McHose on her cell phone asking to speak to Ayala.

Ayala said that after McHose told her she was an advocate for breastfeeding, she asked her to cover up while on the beach.

"I told her, ‘Alison, my daughter is 2. I will not cover up,'" Ayala said, noting the toddler would just push off any cover.

After Ayala swam for a few minutes with her children, they were thrilled when Della Fera returned with the police car and showed the kids the car and its lights.

It wasn't long after that McHose arrived in person -- Ayala believes McHose got a "tip" that the police had come back -- and reiterated to Ayala to "cover up," remarking that the beach was "private" and that she could be removed.

"I thought to myself, ‘This is really happening?'" Ayala recalled. "She told me they had to instill rules and I had signed this paper indicating I wouldn't break them."

While the recreational area surrounding the Franklin Pond has free access, the beach area is only accessible to paid badge holders. The pond and recreational area are owned by the municipality and are not privately run.

On Wednesday morning, Ayala said she took her child to the Recreation Committee's arts and crafts class and ran into McHose.

"She came up to me and told me, ‘You know, I wasn't harassing you,' and I didn't say much but told her I felt like she actually was," Ayala said. "She told me she was actually supporting me and wanted to make sure I was OK."

McHose and Vreeland did not return multiple calls for comment, but Franklin Borough Attorney John Ursin responded on their behalf.

Ursin said the situation posed a "new issue" for both Vreeland and McHose, who were involved in a scenario that they had never been in, since the pond had just recently re-opened.

"With Franklin beach being a public spot with memberships and families there, it's a new operation, and an issue like breastfeeding kind of would be unlikely to come up in the borough," Ursin said. "When it did come up (Tuesday), I don't think everyone is aware of what is legal and what isn't."

Ursin said he tells any borough employees that if they are ever in a situation where they don't feel they are capable of fully analyzing it or understanding it, they are "encouraged to have the police contacted."

"The police are trained in a wide variety of situations, and while I'm not sure it was necessary for the police to be called in this situation, it was good because he came and realized there was nothing out of the ordinary going on and nothing for him to do," Ursin said.

Of concern, Ursin said, was the differentiation between what is breastfeeding and what falls under "public nudity" laws.

"I don't know if the administrator understands how they interrelate," Ursin said.

Ursin said the young officer "deserves a lot of credit" for how he handled the situation.

While borough employees often have trainings on various topics, such as sexual harassment and customer service, Ursin said another training is coming up very soon, offering a "great opportunity to remind (the employees) what the (breastfeeding) law is."

For Ayala, the incident isn't hindering her from going back to the Franklin Pond, but she is still "disappointed" in what went down on Tuesday.

"I love the pond. I was so excited when it reopened. I support the (recreation) center, the beach. My children take swim lessons here, but just the way (Vreeland and McHose) reacted, the way they behaved was just so inappropriate."

And while Ayala said "99 percent" of people have been supportive, there are a few who haven't been.

Ayala laughed when she said that one of the rumors was that she was "running around the beach topless," which she said wasn't true.

"Are you kidding me? I don't run," she said, adding that at no time did she stand up and expose her breast.

The incident coincidentally occurred during World Breastfeeding Week and National Women, Infants and Children Breastfeeding week, which began Wednesday and runs through Aug. 7.

"I actually didn't even know about it until after, and no, it wasn't staged. I was not advocating, I was doing what I do every single day. I was thinking about my child and about how my child wanted to sleep and how nursing helps put her to sleep," Ayala said.

The "Flap in Franklin" nurse-in will be held Saturday, Aug. 4, at the Franklin Pond, located at 6 Cork Hill Road. Attendees are asked to arrive at 1 p.m. for a 1:30 p.m. demonstration. The rain date is Sunday, Aug. 5, at noon.

For more information, visit www.Facebook.com/events/292301728211321.

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Lori Comstock can also be reached on Twitter: @LoriComstockNJH, on Facebook: www.Facebook.com/LoriComstockNJH or by phone: 973-383-1194.