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It can be a dizzying range of options for consumers of building materials and services. And once a decision is made, will “your” contractor live up to expectations or even show up? Sometimes, it’s best to rely on experience. In today’s residential and commercial building boom, comfort can be found in experience and the numbers. For example, Ocean City resident Asuncion Avila, owner of Coat the Coast Professional Coating, also of Ocean City, heads a family-owned and operated firm with 15 years in the business, almost 950 satisfied customers, nearly 650 installations and 750 installed decks.

With warmer weather just around the corner, spring cleaning is in full effect at the shore. A spin around the area will reveal dozens of residents and visitors doing the usual: installing windows and screens, checking out air-conditioning systems, painting and more. With that said, cars, trucks and boats also need that preseason tender loving care, and that’s where the experience and know-how of Car Caress comes in.

Just in time for the biggest college basketball event of the year, Ocean City enjoyed its own “Marsh Madness.” The girls’ eighth grade team and boys’ fifth and sixth graders walked away with championship hardware recently in the youth hoops tournament, humorously named for taking place at H. Ashton Marsh School in Absecon – and for drawing a large number of teams from all over South Jersey. The travel teams of girls and boys, representing the Ocean City Department of Recreation, capped their stellar seasons with the titles.

For a dozen years now, Ocean City has been a center of the youth wrestling scene in the northeast U.S. Each year, (save 2021 when COVID-19 forced the cancellation), the Ocean City Jr. Wrestling Last Call tourney has grown, and last Saturday was no exception. “We had 560 kids participating this year, the most ever,” said Greg Young, the “mat master” of the annual event.

Anyone who knows sisters Candice Kolins of Ocean City and Kristen Vogelbacher of Somers Point isn’t surprised by their success. The entrepreneurial tennis stars, who played for Villanova and Princeton universities, respectively, grew their Cruise Control Gear franchise from a fledgling producer of tennis and active wear into a business player on the international stage.

Ocean City and much of South Jersey are mourning the loss of one of their leading lights. Tom Oves – a leader in service to people, education, civic groups, businesses and sports – passed away on Feb. 12, following several years of battling health issues. He was 87. Though an iconic figure to many Ocean City locals and visitors, it was his human touch that always shone through, friends and family members said.

They were strong. They were brave. Today, they are mostly unknown. That last part is about to change, due largely to efforts here in Ocean City. They were “surfmen,” federal employees and servicemen of the U.S. Life-Saving Service, who were forerunners to members of today’s United States Coast Guard. Grave sites of the Ocean City surfmen have been discovered, a key step in plans to recognize their courage and contributions.

Like many attendees at the annual model railroad show Saturday at the Ocean City Music Pier, 12-year-old Stephen Forgus is a big fan of the hobby and of real trains. It started out when he could barely talk, and it only increased over time. “I used to call (real trains) ‘ding dings’ and it went from there,” he said. His mom, Dawn Forgus, is happy to facilitate her son’s interest in a wholesome pastime. Mom and son traveled for 90 minutes from Englishtown, N.J., to make it to the show on time.

It was the 99th renewal of one of South Jersey’s oldest Thanksgiving Day football rivalries. Ocean City’s 34-14 win over Pleasantville reflected the holiday – it capped off a year to be grateful for. The Red Raiders picked up their 12th win of the season, the first time they’ve ever won that many. They also claimed the West Jersey Football League’s Independence Division title, qualified for the NJSIAA South Jersey championship game for the third straight year, and had numerous other individual accomplishments.

Ocean City’s formula for a successful football season, running the ball to set up the pass, worked to perfection Friday night. Unfortunately, it worked for Millville in a 40-3 rout of the Red Raiders in the South Jersey Group 4 championship game. Nevertheless, the Raiders enjoyed a special season, one of the greatest in school history, and there could still be some good history to come on Thanksgiving Day.