President Danny Murphy has called a special Zoom Meeting for the Ocean Park Civic League on Thursday, June 30th at 7 pm to allow for important updates on the July 2nd Fireworks, the Beach Project timeline and planning for a smooth holiday weekend. Danny will have the most up to date information on the beach nourishment progress and how it may affect the fireworks display and the holiday weekend for beach visitors. John Moss, City Councilman for District 9, and Captain Wilkerson, Commanding Officer of the 3rd Precinct, will be on hand to give information about planning to ensure an orderly holiday. We have also invited Jim White and Dan Adams from the Coastal Section, Public Works COVB to update us on what to expect from the beach project. This pre-Independence Day meeting will be in lieu of the normal meeting on July 7. Follow this link to register for the Thursday meeting: zoom.us/Thursday, June 30 meeting/register. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

Due to the issues this year: securing a barge and the resulting late confirmation of the contract fireworks fundraising is way behind! Also the costs will be much higher this year due to fuel prices and scarcity driving up prices! Please donate today and donate generously if you can !!!

You will find a donation envelope with information on how to donate (online: PayPal, CheddarUp) in your mailbox flag soon. You can also use the envelope to send in your donation to our post office box. Our beloved fireworks almost didn’t happen this year and we have to give huge thanks to our neighbor Jill Doczi for staying the course and bringing it home!! Thank you Jill for your perseverance! We are so lucky to have such a seasoned and knowledgeable person in our corner!! The fireworks will be on Saturday, July 2nd at around 9:15. Usually the Ocean Park fireworks are on July 3rd so this is a change from that. The change to July 2nd is the only option available if we want to have fireworks this year. We would like to extend thanks to the City of Virginia Beach Special Events Department for their assistance!

• If we don’t raise the money, we don’t have a show.
• No money comes from general civic league funds.
• No money comes from City of Virginia Beach.
• Average amount: $20-$100 per household.
• No amount too small!

1. You can make a donation with a credit card at Cheddar Up: OPCLFireworks.cheddarup.com
2. You can donate using PayPal: Donate to OPCL Fireworks on PayPal
3. If you prefer to mail a check, make it out to “OPCL FIREWORKS”
   • OPCL, Fireworks
   • PO Box 55385
   • Virginia Beach, VA 23471

Our shows are spectacular!

We need folks to become members of OPCL if we are to be able to continue to offer our social events and continue the work of the civic league. Join OPCL today-only $20 per household! Inflation is affecting our budget too and we rely on our residents to support the civic league by being members. Social events are much more expensive and we want to continue to offer these fun occasions to the community and continue the work to protect and take care of our neighborhood. If you are new to the Ocean Park neighborhood- welcome! We look forward to getting to know you! Please consider joining OPCL- just $20 for an annual membership! If you have been a member in the past- please renew your membership! A look at recent events shows how important the civic league is for preserving what we love about our community: a-year-in-ocean-park

In response to concerns expressed to the city about the July 4th weekend and possible Floatopia gathering, we have received this response with details of what they have planned:

News from OPVRS: “The rescue squad will be hosting a cookout for members and the neighborhood on the 2nd of July before the fireworks. It will be a free event, we will be providing hot dogs and hamburgers but do ask for attendees to bring side dishes.”

“We have created a registration so we can get a head count to figure out the amount of food to purchase. OPVRS Eventbight.fireworks-cookout-tickets-

Where: 3769 East Stratford Road, Virginia Beach, VA 23455

When: Saturday, Jul 2, 2022 at 5:00 PM

President Danny Murphy talks about the Beach Replenishment project! https://www.13newsnow.com sand-replenishment-project-underway-ocean-park-virginia-beach

This is the latest update from Jim White, Coastal Section Sr. Project Manager for the City of Virginia Beach: “GLDD is continuing to progress towards the east. Both the Padre Island and the Dodge Island hopper dredge plants are on-site. Using the two dredges allows for a beach building production of approximately 500ft. per day. This is more than double when using only one hopper dredge. GLDD currently intends to be completed by June 30th, 2022 (weather, equipment, other unforeseen conditions dependent).”

Betty Dierstein, OPCL Scholarship Committee Chair, presented Carly Lundgren with the 2022 Louise and George Lyon Memorial Scholarship at the First Colonial High School Awards Ceremony in early June. Carly will be attending Roanoke College in the fall pursuing a degree in Environmental Science. She is graduating with a 4.0 grade point average and was captain of the First Colonial Girls’ Volleyball Team. She will also be playing volleyball for Roanoke College.

One of Carly’s varied volunteer experiences was serving an internship with Lynnhaven River Now last summer. She assisted in developing a curriculum for young campers to help them see the important of caring for the environment.

Carly expressed her sincere appreciation to OPCL for this assistance with her college expenses.

Past Winners of the scholarship include:

• 2021 Taylor McOrmond attending James Madison University
• 2020 Hanna Swickard attending Old Dominion University
• 2019 Amberly Butler attending Virginia Tech

This scholarship provides a yearly grant of $1000 for up to four years to the selected student who must be graduating from a Virginia Beach high school and who will attend a college, nursing program or accredited post secondary career/vocational school in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The scholarship is awarded based on need for financial assisstance, overall qualifications and a record of community service by the applicant. Additional consideration is given to residents of Ocean Park.

The Lyons were lifelong members of the Ocean Park Civic League and dedicated countless hours to serving the community in which they lived. They were especially committed to supporting the Ocean Park Volunteer Rescue Squad, which was the first all volunteer rescue squad established in Virginia Beach and is still in operation today on Shore Drive. The scholarship seeks to recognize and support the importance of making a positive contribution to one’s community through volunteerism.

ocean-park-beach-nourishment-jpa-permit-drawings.pdf

Another path to information about the beach project? Read our story: Follow us on Instagram! https://www.facebook.com/stories