MediaWize

After two days of intense competition, five age-division winners and 20 finalists battled to the top at the first stop of the 2020 East Coast Toyota USA Surfing Prime Series on Jan. 26 in Sebastian Inlet in Florida. In her first ever Prime event, Ocean City's Sophia Whelan made the podium in Girls U16.

The Ocean City Regional Chamber of Commerce hosted its annual installation of officers and board of directors event Thursday night in the ballroom at the historic Flanders Hotel. A diverse selection of business owners from realtors, to builders, surf shop owners and restaurateurs all took time away from their businesses to celebrate the newly installed Board of Directors for 2020.

Stockton University senior Julie Coker of Union Beach, Monmouth County, has the best autograph from Justin Bieber – his signature on the bottom of a giant $100,000 check, which he presented to her live on MTV Feb. 7 to honor her work on mental health awareness. Bieber was interested in helping someone involved with mental health. He and his team chose Coker for her work with Active Minds, a nonprofit supporting mental health awareness and education to young adults. Coker is president of the Stockton chapter and also serves on the national Active Minds Student Advisory Committee...

National School Counseling Week, sponsored by the American School Counselor Association (ASCA), was celebrated from Feb. 3-7 to focus public attention on the unique contribution of school counselors within U.S. school systems and how students are different as a result of what school counselors do. In honor of National School Counseling Week, the Ocean City School District recognized two counselors for their achievements, Tobi Oves and Joel Dougan.

Boardwalk and downtown merchants in Ocean City will offer discounts on favorite local merchandise, goods and attractions at a new event planned for Saturday, March 7. “Market Madness” will take place 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Flanders Hotel. The one-day sale will feature select merchandise, goods and offers from 40 Ocean City vendors. Ocean City’s Boardwalk Merchants Association and Downtown Merchants Association are planning the event as an early-season attraction for Ocean City and a chance to preview what will be on the shelves this summer. Details follow for the Market Madness sale and other upcoming special events in Ocean City.

Starting on Wednesday, Bay Avenue will be closed from Eighth Street to Ninth Street as part of the Cape May County Municipal Utilities Authority project to replace the main that carries wastewater to the treatment facility at 46th Street. Please plan to use West Avenue to travel southbound or to access the outbound lanes of Ninth Street. Southbound traffic on Bay Avenue will be detoured at Eighth Street and northbound traffic at Ninth Street.

Come out to support the Ocean City Basketball Booster on Saturday, Feb. 15, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Diorio's Circle Café in Somers Point. The booster scholarship benefit will feature wings, wine and camaraderie.

Cape May County Prosecutor Jeffrey H. Sutherland announced the swearing in of Chief of County Detectives Paul S. Skill as the president of the Cape May County Chiefs of Police Association. Ocean City Police Chief Jay Prettyman was sworn in as treasurer of the chiefs association.

The Ocean City boys basketball team upended the visiting Oakcrest Falcons Monday night, 73-39. The win brings Ocean City’s record to 11-8, while Oakcrest drops to 5-14. Red Raider Gannon Brady led all scorers with 23 points, while teammate Tom Finnegan added 16, including four three-pointers.

The Ocean City High School boys swim team defeated visiting Cherry Hill West, 102-68, in the semifinals of the South Jersey Public B group. The win advances the Red Raiders to the finals, where they will face conference foe Mainland for a neutral site meet at Gloucester County Institute of Technology in Deptford Township on Wednesday afternoon.