School’s Out!
Those two words, more than any others, signal the start of the real summer season in Ocean City. And nobody knew it better than 17-year-old John Oves.
He graduated Wednesday night from Ocean City High School and was working as a cook at his family’s boardwalk restaurant and grill, which was bustling with customers on Friday.
“It means I can be more independent,” Oves said. “For 13 years my schedule has been set for me and I had to follow public school rules. I still have rules, but I have a lot more ability to set my own schedule.”
Every person’s situation is unique, but the end of the school year is universally hailed in America’s Greatest Family resort.
“This means it is full steam ahead,” said Michele Gillian, Executive Director of the Ocean City Chamber of Commerce. “This is it. The businesses are fully stocked, fully employed and hitting the ground running. People are renting and people are visiting.”
Gillian said the summer has several “markers” defining the season, starting with Easter and Palm Sunday, the traditional startup for the downtown merchants; Memorial Day weekend, the unofficial summer opening and the end of the school year, when everything hits full swing.
With a weather forecast calling for sun and warm temperatures for the Father’s Day weekend, visitors were streaming into town from the Philadelphia area and western part of South Jersey. As early as 1:30 p.m. on Friday, Exit 7-S of the Atlantic City Expressway was backed up all the way to Exit 9.
Leslie Hammer, a music teacher in the Vineland school system was an early arrival on the boardwalk Friday afternoon and was riding herd over a group of kids “first names only, please,” including Nick, J.P., Kaylen, Sarah, Julia, Jac, another Sarah and Maddie.
“I plan on keeping them all active to make sure they all sleep well,” she said with a laugh.
Gillian said most area schools let out a bit early this year because of the relatively mild winter and lack of snow days.
“That means a lot for Ocean City because we have so many small businesses, it provides a few extra days for them to make money.”
Sarah Welsh and Ryan Logan are recent graduates from Archbishop Wood in Bucks County, PA and wrapping up Senior Week in Ocean City.
Sarah, who is headed to Penn State in the fall, said Ocean City was the perfect place to unwind and get her summer off to a great start. “Every day it’s been the same thing: go to the beach, take naps and hit the boardwalk at night. We are living the dream.”
It is a short-lived dream for Logan who is reporting the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point, NY in 10 days. “It is a short summer for me, more like a second Christmas vacation, but I plan on making the most of it,” he said.
Back at Oves’, John said he was spending his last night working at the iconic family business. “I just made the Beach Patrol and start my rookie training tomorrow,” he said.
John’s brother Dustin also made the squad, he said, and the brothers represent the fourth generation of keeping Ocean City’s beaches safe. “My great grandfather Reuben, Grandfather Thomas, and my Uncle Chris were all on the Beach Patrol,” he said. “It’s always been something I wanted to do.”
“The opening of the beaches is another sign that the season is fully underway,” Michelle Gillian said.
“Now if this weather can just continue for 90 more days,” she added with a laugh.
