The city is transitioning from the previous website: vbgov.com to the new website virginiabeach.gov. During this time some links are not working. In addition the search function will not be fully operational until the end of the year. So if you are looking for information on the city website, you may need to delve into the menus for now.

Maybe you’ve been thinking about it. Maybe you’ve been meaning to. Maybe you don’t remember if you paid this year? Please support the work and play the civic league brings to the community. (if you are not sure if your dues are current or have any questions about donating or you would like a sticker: communication@opcl.org). THANK YOU to all our wonderful Ocean Park residents who have paid to support the civic league! Let us know where to deliver your sticker!

Thanks to our helpers (esp the little ones!) who came out on Sunday morning to pick up trash left behind after the fireworks! The beach was pretty cleaned up already- thanks to all the fireworks spectators! You really tidied up behind yourselves! We met at Froggies afterwards and enjoyed an icy cold mimosa (juice for the little ones) ! Also thank you Froggies for delivering ice cold water at the beach access for our helpers! It hit the spot! Thanks to all!

The Weldon Cooper Center and its UVA partners briefed City Council on June 20, 2023 in their afternoon informal session on the community engagement efforts regarding the Election District structure for the City of Virginia Beach. A decision must be made prior to the 2024 election cycle about whether to keep the current 10 districts + mayor or go to a 7 district+3 super districts + mayor.  Here is the PowerPoint from the presentation. Also here are links to the Briefing to the City Council that explains the powerpoint slides and also you can read the complete report: Full Report. The briefing describes the methodology for the probability based survey which provided the raw data which was analyzed in the report. They also conveyed the themes that were heard from the non-probability based open source survey. The comments from the public sessions and the online survey that were submitted to Speakup.gov through June 14, 2023 were downloaded and provided directly to City Council members.  The City Council members will address this question in their August retreat and a decision on whether they will also put a referendum on the November ballot will be made. You can contact city council members with your view: citycouncil@vbgov.com

From Mary Faust: Thank you to the lovely folks who came out this morning to help with the cleanup of Pleasure House Point Natural Area! It was certainly a pretty day!! Debbie and Tetsuo were early arriving followed by Michael and Connie Pearman (he was under strict orders to avoid finding huge car parts this time!!) Our OPCL President, Danny Murphy, showed up ready to work as he always does!! Dori and Lindsey with their 4 littles eagerly headed out followed by Chili Cookoff Champ Josh Montgomery with his family Anita and Savannah with their mighty (little dog!!) Cujo!! Reid and Stephanie Baker showed up as did Sandy and Mike Dawe (I have got to find a vegan treat for you guys!), followed by Blair and Jeff Valdivieso and Beth King who spotted monofilament with bird feathers hanging over the pond (of course you did!! Haha!!) Everyone commented on how little trash there was but we ended with 10 bags and approximately 70 pounds of refuse. Many hands make light work!! Thanks to you all!!

From our Fireworks master Jill Doczi comes the second installment of how the Independence Day Fireworks funded by individual contributions came about:

“July 2011: Our first authorized show in 2010, organized by our Ocean Park Civic League president, Rick Mercadante, was a huge hit. In his words, “We started the summer by celebrating our nation’s birth with a fantastic fireworks display that exceeded all expectations. I was proud of the way our neighborhood came together in a grassroots effort to make this happen. What a great country to live in, and even better, what a great neighborhood we live in.

Rick’s accomplishment set the ball in motion for our new, safer tradition, and it did indeed accomplish the goal of curbing the night-long illegal fireworks along our beach. However, at the end of his commitment to our country, he received his final call — to Djibouti. Before he left, Rick asked me to take on his project. If someone didn’t keep it rolling, we wouldn’t have a fireworks celebration of our country’s independence anymore on our beach.

As a child, fireworks seemed magical to me. The anticipation of the explosions followed by the surprise of colorful displays were a once-a-year treat in Roanoke if we were lucky enough to have someone drive us downtown, find parking, squeeze into bleachers with thousands of others and watch our city display over a football field. At the time Rick asked me, I had small children who had only ever known the un-hassled Independence Day tradition of walking down to the beach with family and friends to watch fireworks with reflections on the water and the sound of waves as the backdrop to our “Ooooos” and “Ahhhhhs.” I wanted them to grow up with those memories. I agreed with hesitation. Little did we know, this would be a learning year.”

Donate: www.opcl.org

Walking Club start up! Would you like to join in with your neighbors in a walking club? Gathering info now: when? how often? where? If you are interested contact: Julie Vance or communication.org.

Dear Sponsors of the Ocean Park Civic League’s George Lyon Memorial Scholarship,

I would like to share my deepest gratitude for your scholarship. It will help me greatly in the years to come! Money has been the greatest hurdle for my family to send me to college. I am deeply touched by your generosity to us overcome this obstacle. I am thrilled to start the next chapter of my life studying at my dream university, Virginia Tech, and carry the values of service and community into my studies and future endeavors.
Rest assured that, with your help, I will one day sit in your position and provide my own scholarship to students like myself,

Thanking you again,

Coren Huff