2026 🎓Scholarships!

At the June OPCL meeting, Betty Dierstein, Chair of the Scholarship Committee, announced the recipients of the 2026 Scholarships that are awarded by the Ocean Park Civic League and thanked the Scholarship Committee for their work in evaluating the applications and selecting the winners. “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.”

LYON FAMILY SCHOLARSHIP

(privately funded by the Lyon Family)

We are pleased to announce the recipient of the Lyon Family Scholarship for the 2026-27 school year is Kira Bonfiglio. Kira is graduating from the Legal Studies Academy at First Colonial High School with a GPA of 4.48 and will be attending the University of Virginia in the fall. The Lyon Family Scholarship has a particular emphasis on volunteering. Kira is a three-sport athlete who volunteered for almost 400 hours at several organizations including the Legal Aid Society where she spent much of her time working with two children experiencing homelessness after being in foster care for over a year. Kira plans to complete a degree in political science and continue to law school to pursue a career in public interest law. Her recommendation letters describe her as highly organized, able to work collaboratively, diligent in her studies, and very caring about those around her.

LOUISE AND GEORGE LYON MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP

(the Ocean Park Civic League legacy scholarship)

We are pleased to announce the recipient of the Louise and George Lyon Memorial Scholarship is Sophia Bolivar. Sophia is graduating from Bayside High School with a 3.8 GPA and will be attending the Virginia Beach Technical and Career Education Center in the fall to complete the nursing assistant program. She will then continue to Tidewater Community College’s LPN program and then to Old Dominion University with the ultimate goal of becoming a Registered Nurse. Her volunteer activities were varied and included work with AVID where she was the main organizer of an AVID Club. AVID: Advancement Via Individual Determination. The AVID program helps students bridge gaps between their aspirations and their readiness for college and careers. One of her recommendation letters highlighted that she is a great student, a valuable contributor to everything she involves herself in, and contributed to the school and community at large in so many ways.

June 7, 2026 0

Thank You Generous Neighbors! We have gift cards for 70 children! CASA sends their thanks!

Jennifer Cass, Director of Mission Advancement for Virginia Beach Court Appointed Special Advocates for children, accepts gift cards from the Ocean Park Civic League

A huge thank you to our generous Ocean Park community! We have 70 gift cards for the children in the CASA program! The increase from 40 to 70 children this year we thought was a reach but our wonderful neighbors came through! We thank CASA and especially the volunteers who complete rigorous training to be able to advocate for these children!

Here is a note from Kate Kosky, Chief Executive Officer for Virginia Beach Court Appointed Special Advocates.

“This is absolutely amazing! Thank you so much for your continued support and your Civic League’s continued support of our CASA kids! This not only means the world to the kids but it means so much to our CASAs (volunteers on the cases) too! Knowing that they are surrounded by a supportive community who knows how important the work they do is, means so much!

Thank you again for this amazing gift to our community’s most vulnerable children!“

Kate Kosky, Chief Executive Officer

Virginia Beach Court Appointed Special Advocates, Inc.

Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court

2425 Nimmo Parkway, Virginia Beach, VA 23456

www.virginiabeachcasa.org

December 30, 2025 0

🎇Fireworks 🎆History Part 2💥!

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.”

June 17, 2025 0

LBR Data for Recent Weekends

This data comes from Michael Parkman, Parks and Rec Supervisor.

Friday, June 13 – 91 total launches, car parking did not fill. The overflow was used for 2 vehicles with trailers.

Saturday, June 14– 135 total launches, car parking was full from 10:45 am until around 5:45pm. The overflow was used for 3 vehicles with trailers.

Sunday, June 15– 75 total launches, car parking was full from 1:30pm-3:00pm. The overflow was used for 3 vehicles with trailers.

At no point during this weekend did we have to close access to the facility.

Review of video data from Friday until Monday morning showed about 10-15 cars in the parking lot closest to the bridge until around 11pm on Friday night. Saturday night was a bit slower overall after hours. Police real time crime took control of cameras around 2-3am Saturday morning. Appeared to be watching a small group of individuals milling around their cars.

Friday, May 30 – 93 total launches, car parking did not fill.

Saturday, May 31 – 189 total launches, car parking was full from 11 am until around 5:45pm. The overflow was used for about 48 vehicles with trailers.

Sunday, June 1– 59 total launches, car parking did not fill.

At no point during this weekend did we have to close access to the facility.

Saturday was a very busy day not only with launches but also lots of beachgoers. Staff did receive a complaint from a couple citizens on the beach about loud “inappropriate” music coming from a specific group on the other side of the bridge from the boat ramp property. Staff investigated but found the group to be very large and did not feel safe approaching them. Staff did advise the citizens that complained to also call police non-emergency if it continued to be an issue.

Review of video data from Friday until Monday morning showed about 20-25 cars in the parking lot closest to the bridge between 9:30pm and 12am Friday and Saturday nights. All these cars were parked legally and there were very few people milling around the lot during this time. My assumption is that people were on the beach.

June 16, 2025 0

Thank You Generous Neighbors!

CASA Outreach Coordinator Lenora Thompson received our gift cards ( so cold outside the court!) : “Please send a HUGE Thank You! to everyone that contributed financially, logistically and administratively. And may you ALL have a safe/healthy and happy holiday season!” She said the volunteer advocates had been asking if there cards being donated and we are so pleased that we were able to contribute for every child! Thank you neighbors!

We have met our goal of providing a gift card for all 40 children in the CASA program! Each child will receive a gift card from Target, Amazon, or Visa AND a small card for a treat from Chick-Fil-A or McDonalds! Huge thank you to all our generous neighbors for providing gift cards and contributions in excess of $1600! We applaud the work of the Court Appointed Special Advocate staff and Volunteers who provide such crucial support to these children! We recognize our neighbors who currently and in the past have worked with the organization Tracie Cohen, Morgan Ayers, Gaynelle Ayers and others! If you would like to still donate, you may donate directly to CASA!

The mission of the Virginia Beach CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) is to support and promote court-appointed volunteer advocacy so that every abused and neglected child can be safe, establish permanence and have the opportunity to thrive. CASA volunteers are appointed by judges to advocate for a child’s best interest. Volunteers undergo extensive training and do important work. Ocean Park has a long connection with CASA with neighbors serving on the CASA board and as hardworking case advocates.

December 16, 2024 0