Take note of our meeting places for 2026: we will meet at the Chesapeake Bay Foundation Brock Center for the summer meetings: June July August and September and at the Ocean Park Volunteer Rescue Squad for all other meetings. We thank both for the generous contribution of their facilities!

Did you miss your chance to purchase some great Ocean Park merchandise at Chili Cook Off? Beach Built is a great little store next to Froggies and is there for us! Thank you Peyton, the owner of Beach Built, for giving our Ocean Park civic league merchandise a home! All proceeds go to the civic league. Beach Built has lots of fun shore items so take a look!

We also want to thank our wonderful neighbors Kelly and Rebecca, owners of the artist shop 2Beaches for supporting OPCL with gift baskets for our Chili Cook Off silent auction and for Fall Fest Raffles! Visit their shop on Shore Drive for beautiful unique things!

Civic league dues are for the calendar year so we are in 2026 now so time to RENEW or JOIN! Whenever you paid in 2025, your 2026 dues are due now. Memberships start at the start of the calendar year, not at the time you paid last year. Pay with PayPal or Cheddar Up online. If you have questions email Treasurer: Shane Abell .

Support the great work that the civic league does! Only $25 annually for a household! We are trying to keep costs low but they have increased for the civic league too! If you can give more than the minimum $25, it would be greatly appreciated!!

What does your membership pay for? The civic league budget pays for the costs of getting information out – website costs, email blast Mailchimp services, snail mail post office box, IT services. We make contributions to the Ocean Park Volunteer Rescue Squad, Lynnhaven River Now, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, the Friends of Live Oaks and we give a four year $1500 college scholarship every year. The civic league puts on many great neighborhood social events with food, music and fun for the kids: Chili Cook Off, Easter Egg Hunt, Fourth of July Parade, Holiday Light Parade. Spring Fling and Fall Fest are open only to members. Please help support your neighborhood civic league!!

Join/Renew OPCL Membership for 2026! $25 per household. Pay online- easy!

A fun night at the Ocean Park Volunteer Rescue Squad for the Ocean Park Civic League’s Annual Chili Cookoff! So many people to thank who make it happen! Thank you to our wonderful volunteers who plan, organize, set up and clean up! They work behind the scenes soliciting silent auction items, ordering merchandise and donating time and so much talent!!

Thank you to all our chefs for the great food and congratulations to the winners! Best Traditional Chili: Troy Sutorka! Best Non-Traditional Chili: Julie Brooks! Best Vegan/Vegetarian Chili: Caitlin Riley! Best Cornbread: Julie Brooks! Best Dessert: Amy Meverden! Thank you to Betty Dierstein: apron designer and craftsman!

Thank you to the Tidewater Bluegrass Society for amazing music!

Thank you to the Ocean Park Volunteer Rescue Squad for being the heart of our community!

Even if you don’t bring an entry, come enjoy the great food, live music and meet up with your neighbors (we’ve all been inside too long! We start at 6:00 pm! The event is free to all. (donations are very welcome!)

We have items that can be bid on to raise funds for the civic league. We have art work, egret sculpture, rare Bourbon and gift baskets and more! ! Come put in a bid! We thank our local businesses for donating!

Ocean Park merchandise for sale at Chili Night! Sunset T-shirts ($25 adult, $20 Children), Long sleeve t-shirts ($25) and two new items: bags $30 (great as reusable shopping bags and for the beach) and warm beanie hats! ($30)! Cash is appreciated for purchases. Credit card purchases also possible.

Due to significant constraints on vendor equipment and staff availability, we have two options for this year’s fireworks display date. The graphic shows the two options and compares them to 2025. For more information about the fireworks go to FIREWORKS on the OPCL website.

The Options:

1. July 6 (Lower Cost): We share the barge, equipment and crew used for the July 4 oceanfront show.

2. July 2 (Higher Cost): Requires finding and renting a separate barge, equipment and crew, which are currently scarce due to HRBT/CBBT construction and the increase in number of celebrations of the 250th anniversary.

Key Reminders:

*Donations are critical: Fundraising was down last year, and 2026 prices are at a premium. We need your support to pull this off!

Safety first: Beach launches are strictly prohibited and illegal. The city will heavily enforce fireworks laws this year.

Keep it local: This is a permitted “private” community event. Promoting it to the general public would trigger requirements for extra security, parking and facilities that we cannot afford.