Dear Friends,
I want to thank Jason Mraz for putting on a great performance at the Ocean City Music Pier last night. I had the pleasure of meeting Mraz before the show and presenting a gift basket of local favorites and some baked goods for his birthday. Mraz had spent part of the afternoon playing skee ball and exploring the boardwalk, and I’m told some of his Ocean City exploits made it into impromptu lyrics at the sold-out concert.
Exceptional entertainment is part of what makes summers so memorable in Ocean City. I want to make sure all of the artists who perform here have a great experience. I’d like to be the first to invite Mraz back to perform here any time. He’s a true class act. And he’s just one of many scheduled for the summer — between the Monday night rock series, the Ocean City Pops and the Ocean City Theatre Company.
Mraz discovered here what so many already know: Ocean City is a truly special place. We learned on Wednesday that Ocean City was named “Best Beach” in the 2016 Philly.com Readers’ Choice Awards . Last week, Ocean City won New Jersey Monthly’s “Shore Town Showdown.” The New Jersey Sea Grant Consortium will be on the Music Pier on June 30 to announce the “Top Beach” in New Jersey. And, of course, more than 100,000 voters nationwide chose Ocean City as the “Best Beach in America” in an online contest this spring.
In countless other contests, Ocean City has been recognized for its boardwalk, downtown, ecotourism, family destinations, women-owned businesses and more. Because they’re primarily decided by popular votes, these many contests are a testament to the work of the city team, City Council, the Ocean City Regional Chamber of Commerce, the Tourism Development Commission, the Boardwalk and Downtown Merchants associations, local businesses, all volunteer groups and the entire community in making Ocean City a superior place to live, work and play. With newspapers, websites, magazines, radio and television stations from Washington, D.C. to New York all spreading the news to millions of potential visitors, the contests provide marketing and publicity that money can’t buy. Congratulations to everybody in Ocean City for achieving these honors.
Lastly, I’d like to thank Pete Guinosso for his service on City Council. There were a lot of great tributes to him at his final council meeting last night, and they were all well-deserved. I wish Pete and his entire family all the best in his retirement, and I look forward to working with his successor in the Fourth Ward, Bob Barr. I want to remind everybody that council’s inauguration ceremony and reorganization meeting is scheduled for noon on Friday, July 1, on the Ocean City Music Pier.
Warm regards,
Jay A. Gillian
Mayor
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