Mayor’s Update- August 21
Dear Friends,
With our local Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 6650 closed due to COVID-19 and with all fundraising activities currently suspended, the post members need some help. Their home at 1501 Bay Avenue is in disrepair and needs a new roof immediately.
Under the leadership of Mike Morrissey, the VFW has always been there for Ocean City. With so many people out of work and sheltering in place this spring, VFW members donated more than 2,000 meals to Ocean City residents in need and provided hundreds of meals for first responders and frontline medical personnel. In addition to running a variety of events and programs for veterans throughout the year, the post sponsors and supports the Boy Scouts, Ocean City Little League, the Sunshine Foundation, Ocean City Historical Society, Ocean City Theatre Company, local scholarships and more.
I’m asking you to return the favors and to support our veterans by making a donation in any amount. Please visit this GoFundMe page to learn more.
Our beach replenishment project is making good progress. The new beaches are wide and clean, and they will offer vital protection against coming storms. Work is approaching the Flanders Hotel at 11th Street and should reach the southern end of the project area at 13th Street over the next few days. The pipeline will then be removed and work will flip to the northernmost beaches in Ocean City with a projected completion date of Sept. 4.
I’m sad to report on the passing of two historians who loved Ocean City, Dan Murray and Doug Longenecker. Both were past members of our Ocean City Historical Museum Board of Trustees.
Dan was a lifelong Ocean City resident who was closely involved in the creation of the Ocean City Community Center and the restoration of the Tabernacle Baptist Church, in addition to being a past president of the Ocean City Board of Realtors. Doug was another long-time Ocean City resident with wealth of knowledge not only of Ocean City history but of all of the South Jersey’s past.
I hope you all will join Michele and me in extending deepest condolences to the families and many friends of Dan and Doug. I also want to extend condolences to former Police Chief Chad Callahan, who lost his father, Joseph Callahan, this week. Joseph was a veteran and, like his son, had a career in law enforcement.
Warm regards,
Jay A. Gillian
Mayor