2025 Fireworks on Sunday, July 6th at 9:15!

If you are new to Ocean Park, you are in for a treat! It’s a spectacular show right here on our beach! This event is funded solely through contributions. The civic league undertakes the work of making it happen (thank you Jill Doczi! And other volunteers) but the civic leagues (Ocean Park and Baylake Pines) can’t fund it with their small budgets. It is funded by those of us who love and enjoy it. No monies collected for fireworks go to the civic leagues- All money collected in the Fireworks Fund is spent on the fireworks shows only. The residents and visitors make this neighborhood event happen for our community as a neighborhood (not city wide) event. Your donations are the key so let’s make this happen!!! Go to opcl.org/aboutopcl/fireworks for more information!

Donate today!!

2025 Scholarship Winners Announced!

Scholarship Chair, Betty Dierstein announced the winners!

LYON FAMILY SCHOLARSHIP (privately funded by the Lyon Family)

We are pleased to announce the recipient of the Lyon Family Scholarship for the 2025-26 school year is Maggie Tu.  Maggie is graduating from the International Baccalaureate Academy at Princess Anne High School with a GPA of 4.63 and will be attending Brown University in the fall.  The Lyon Family Scholarship has a particular emphasis on volunteering. Maggie volunteered for over 700 hours at various organizations including Eastern Virginia Medical School, Virginia Department of Health Youth Advisory Council, Our Lady of Perpetual Help Nursing Home, Tidewater Chines School, and as a private tutor in advanced math subjects.  Maggi aspires to be a doctor and has shadowed a nurse practitioner, a physician’s assistant and a cancer researcher at EVMS.

LOUISE AND GEORGE LYON MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP (Ocean Park Civic League legacy scholarship)

We are pleased to announce the recipient of the Louise and George Lyon Memorial Scholarship is Betty Anne (Annie) Stephenson.  Annie is graduating from Cox High School with a 4.09 GPA and will be attending James Madison University in the fall.   She is currently in her second year of the dental assisting program at the Virginia Beach Technical and Career Education Center. She has also been working at a dental office for over a year and assists chair side. Annie plans to attend dental school after completing her B.S. in Biology at JMU. Her volunteer activities were varied and included work with Operation Smile and with Beach Buddies, where students are paired with a special needs student to spend time with and assist with their activities.

A big thank you to Blair Valdivieso and Natalie McIntyre for their time and insights in making these selections.  Applications average 8-10 pages in length and include any number of deserving students.  I appreciate the time spent reading, evaluating, and discussing each applicant’s application.”

Also a huge thank you to chair Betty Dierstein for her work coordinating the scholarship information decimation with the COVB Public Schools and committee work!

Updates from May OPCL Meeting

At the May 8th meeting, we had updates from the City of Virginia Beach about the Phase III Shore Drive Project which is beginning now. This project covers the area on the east side of the Lesner Bridge to First Landing. ( The Ocean Park west side of the bridge is Phase IV of the Shore Dr. project).

In addition our guests William Purcell, P.E., Project Manager and Jason Wilson, P.E., Project Manager Supervisor, Transportation presented detailed information on the upcoming sidewalk project for Ocean Park .

President Danny Murphy clarified some ongoing and future projects being undertaken by the McLeskey company and other updates. The winners of the 2025 Scholarships were announced by Better Dierstein, Scholarship Committee Chair.

What is Piling Day in Ocean Park?

Piling Day might be called the unofficial start of summer in Ocean Park usually in the beginning of May when the sun first sets over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge pilings and the season of beautiful sunsets over the bay waters begins. Folks gather in the evenings to see the beauty unfold.

These stunning photographs are contributed by Chris Giersch. Thank you Chris for sharing them!

What’s the Story with Golf Carts in Ocean Park?

Some reminders about “golf carts” in our community. Although some communities in the area are designated golf cart communities, Ocean Park is not a designated or approved golf cart community. Because of this, to drive lawfully on the streets of Ocean Park vehicles must be street-legal electric vehicles as defined by state and city law. This means they must have all the vehicular requirements, be titled, registered with low-speed license plates from DMV and covered by minimum insurance requirements. They may only be operated by drivers with a valid license or learner’s permit and the driver must follow all the same rules of the road as a normal vehicle. (Virginia Beach Codes of Ordinance: Sec. 7: 65-68 ).

No motorized vehicles are allowed to drive on the beach except by specific written permission of the City Manager. A handicap placard from a car is NOT transferrable to allow driving on the beach. Virginia Beach Codes of Ordinance: Sec. 6-12.

A Rainbow shines on Spring Fling Fun!

The weather cooperated! Thank you to our wonderful volunteers who made the event a success and neighbors for joining in! Thank you to Taste for great food! Thank you to Johnny Smallwood for great music!

Trees Down at the Lynnhaven Boat Ramp

Recently some trees by the Lynnhaven Boat Ramp were cut down. OPCL President Danny Murphy asked the city for details.

Mike Parkman, Parks and Rec Supervisor for Park Events Programs and Special Use replied: “Those trees were initially damaged by vandalism. Someone cut into each of the two trees about 80% of the diameter. One of the two trees was purchased several years ago through our tree buddy program in memorial of a WWII veteran. Our Parks and Recreation tree crew came in and took them down afterward because they were now a safety issue. They are scheduled to be replaced soon, but I do not have a schedule for that.” 


A Hoppin Great Time!

The 3rd Annual OPCL Easter Egg Hunt on Saturday was a great success! Thank you to the Easter Bunny for stopping by! Huge thank you to the volunteers who helped organize and make it work! Thank you to all our wonderful neighbors for coming out on a beautiful morning!

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