Dune Grass and Sand Fences in Place! Stay off the Dunes!

Coastal Transplants is putting up sand fences and planting American Beach Grass on the dunes. There will be a truck or two on the beach as work goes on. They will return in mid-April to plant Sea Oats when the Sea Oat sprigs will be ready for harvesting and planting.

STAY OFF THE DUNES!! The beach grass and sea oats are fragile! It will take 2 years for them to fill in. Give them a chance to get established and grow!!

March 26, 2023 0

Call for Applications The Louise and George Lyon Memorial OPCL Scholarships: new Scholarship!

The Louise and George Lyon Memorial Scholarship for high school seniors in Virginia Beach is open for applications until March 31! While special consideration is given to Ocean Park residents, the scholarship is open to any qualified resident of Virginia Beach. The scholarship award is $1000 @year and can be awarded for up to four years to students who remain eligible. The deadline for submission is March 31, 2024. Applications should be mailed to OPCL Scholarship/ PO Box 55385/ Virginia Beach, VA 23471. Here is the link to the application: OPCL.org/scholarships/

March 26, 2023 0

Can You Help Out?

The Ocean Park Civic League is humming along with new ideas and fun projects! Would you like to join in and help? Go to opcl.org/aboutopcl for more information or contact president@opcl.org or communication@opcl.org. Here are the committee descriptions as laid out in our bylaws:

Finance: “Shall monitor and manage the resources in the League’s accounts. The Committee Chair shall work with the Treasurer to ensure that the accounts are accurately reported on as part of the regular Treasurer’s Report.” Contact Danny Murphy: president@opcl.org.
Scholarship: “Shall provide oversight of the award and distribution of annual scholarship funds. This includes following the guidelines established by the scholarship application. The Chair shall assemble and meet with a minimum of two additional committee members annually to review the applications and make the award determination.” Contact: Betty Dierstein bdierstein1@gmail.com. Deadline for 2023 is March 31.
Government Affairs: “Shall be responsible for monitoring and reporting on the activities of Local, State, and Federal government entities that have jurisdiction over and relevance to Ocean Park.”
Membership: “Shall be responsible for keeping the membership roll; collecting dues by cash, check, credit card or online transaction such as PayPal; and promoting new membership.” Help check folks in at our events- great way to meet your neighbors! Contact: Andrea Lindemann awrl95@icloud.com
Social: “Shall be responsible for planning and coordinating social activities such as, meet and greet events before General Membership meetings, raffles, larger membership gatherings such as Block Parties, Spring Flings, Bake sales, Chili-Cookoffs, etc., for the benefit of Ocean Park residents. Collaborate with the Membership committee, to use these social activities as a new membership drive. Promote these activities through (but not limited to) web and social media outlets.” We’re on a roll! Meetings are the last Monday of the month at 6:00 pm at Taste unless otherwise planned. Contact: communication@opcl.org.
Fireworks: We especially need help distributing the April newsletter about the fireworks and the donation envelopes in June. Contact: jilldoczi@gmail.com and communication@opcl.org.
Board Positions: OPCL.org/aboutopcl and more details here By-laws-adopted February-2021 . Contact: President Danny Murphy at president@opcl.org.

March 11, 2023 0

Answers at OPCL Meeting: March 9: Dan Adams, Election Choices

At the March 9th Ocean Park Civic League Meeting at the Brock Center in the Pleasure House Point Nature Center. We got new information about several topics! Officer Schonbach updated us on the new technology being implemented and latest statistics in our neighborhood.

Dan Adams, Coastal Program Administrator for the Virginia Beach Dept. of Public Works, provided updates:
Ocean Park dune grass planting and sand fence installation. We are finalizing the purchase order to do the planting and fence installation with the company Coastal Transplants. We are near the end of planting season, but the work should begin within the next three weeks and should take about a week. It takes about 2 years for the grass to grow in but it will look great!
Upcoming beach nourishments at Cape Henry, Chesapeake Beach and Ocean Park: The current schedule is for work to start by the end of March and will take about 90 days. The work times are Monday-Friday 7:30-4:30 but since we are getting a late start, we may seek to extend those hours. Regarding dredging of Lynnhaven Inlet, the USACE is currently in the process of developing contract bid documents (i.e., plans and specifications) to conduct a full dredge of the Lynnhaven Inlet. The current schedule is to go out to bid for this project in the late summer/early fall 2023. Dredging work is currently scheduled to begin in winter 2024. Sand dredge from Lynnhaven Inlet will be placed on Cape Henry Beach.

District 9 Councilman Joash Schulman joined us and explained the background of the need for City Council action before January 2024 on the election system in Virginia Beach. He also talked about the school budget and the new property assessments. He encourages residents to contact him with questions and concerns: jschulman@vbgov.com.

The Virginia Beach City Council will have to formally adopt a new system for elections in Virginia Beach prior to the 2024 election. The changes that were made for the 2022 election have not been formally written into the city’s charter. The City Council wants to look at various options for structuring the election system in Virginia Beach. In order to educate the public and get feedback about the options, the city is organizing mail surveys, television and newspaper advertisements, a website and 12 town halls, including one in each district and two at centrally located sites with virtual attendance opportunities.

President Danny Murphy gave updates on several recent informative meetings: Town Hall with Chris Taylor, City Manager’s Listening Meeting and the Bayfront Advisory Commission. Also noted were upcoming Social Events: Spring Fling on April 22 at Taste, May Piling Event and a planned Beach Cleanup with details to follow!

For full details: see the March General Meeting Minutes which will be posted shortly. You can access the recording of the meeting also: Zoom.us/OPCL March 9 General Membership Meeting.rec/play. Passcode: 7U?MJ!We

March 11, 2023 0

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. This year Piling Day is May 4th! Sun will set at 7:56 pm! Come see!

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

March 11, 2023 0

2024 Fireworks on Saturday, 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. The cost of the show this year is up 20% and your donations are the key so let’s make this happen!!! Go to opcl.org/aboutopcl/fireworks.

March 10, 2023 0

Have you changed your email? Or your internet provider?

We have noticed some email addresses on our contact list are no longer valid. If you have stopped using the email you signed up with, you won’t get the Tuesday updates. Sign up here with your new address!

March 8, 2023 0

What Will you Find at the OPCL Meeting? Great Information! And Ocean Park Hoodies/ T-shirts plus 2023 Membership Stickers!

You can pay your 2023 OPCL Membership Dues and pick up your 2023 sticker! Pay your dues with PayPal or with a credit card in CheddarUp!

We have new sky blue hoodies in sizes L, XL and 2XL! They are $40. Also new are long sleeve t-shirts in sky blue and light gray ($25) in sizes Med.- 2XL. Contact communication@opcl.org. Free delivery! You can pay for your shirts/hoodies by credit card here: my.cheddarup.com/c/ocean-park-t-shirts-sweatshirts cart. We have limited availability of short sleeve shirts-contact communication@opcl.org.