Dear Friends,

I want to wish everybody a great, healthy and happy New Year. I hope you all get to celebrate with your family and friends. Let’s also remember all those we lost this year and keep them and their families in our prayers.

First Night will kick off on Tuesday, and if you have not purchased admission buttons for your family, there is still time to do so. Buttons can be purchased online, by phone at 609-399-6111 or in person at city welcome centers. Free shuttles will be on hand to provide safe transportation from venue to venue. Please visit firstnightocnj.com for the latest information on updated schedules, changes, how to purchase buttons, and a complete guide to the event.

I thank all of the volunteers and sponsors who pull together each year to put on this exceptional celebration. I also want to thank the committee members who started the event and the Ocean City Regional Chamber of Commerce for helping to sustain it over the years. It’s the 32^nd anniversary of the event, and it continues to get better every year.

The First Day 5K Run/Walk on the boardwalk is on for Wednesday. The race will start at 1 p.m. and race-day registration will open at 11 a.m. at the Ocean City Music Pier. Registration for the 2 p.m. First Plunge in the Atlantic Ocean also will be at the Music Pier.

Because New Year’s Day falls on Wednesday, the trash and recycling schedule will be pushed back by a day for pickups normally scheduled for Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. More information is available here.

Michele and I would like to extend deepest condolences to families and friends of James Alfred Palermo and Michael Lombardi, two long-time Ocean City residents who each passed away recently at age 97. Fred was born and raised in Ocean City, and after serving in the U.S. Navy, he returned home to run Palermo’s Family Market (a former Thriftway) at Fourth Street and Asbury Avenue. Mike was also born in Ocean City, and after returning from service in World War II, he was known for decades as “Barbershop Mike.” My dad would take my brothers and me to Mike for our haircuts, and his shop was a classic. His son Mike is a football executive and former assistant coach with the New England Patriots. I hope you’ll join me in paying tribute to these outstanding citizens who were an important part of our community for so many years.

We also want to extend condolences to the families and friends of Lewis William “Billy” Haines and Marie Huber. Billy was a classmate at Ocean City High School, and Mrs. Huber was a former employee of the Sentinel-Ledger and a past president of the Ocean City chapter of the American Business Women. Her husband, John, who passed away earlier this year, was a long-time employee of the Ocean City School District.

I want to invite you all to a rededication ceremony at 12:30 p.m. next Friday (Jan. 3, 2025) at the Tony Mazzitelli Natatorium at the Ocean City Aquatic and Fitness Center. The pool there is named in memory of Mazzitelli, who always loved the water and the physical freedom it offered. After he died of muscular dystrophy at age 16, his parents — Frank “Muzzy” Mazzitelli Sr. and Doris Mazzitelli — donated generously toward the construction of the pool at the Ocean City Community Center in 1979.

A portrait and plaque are dedicated to Mazzitelli, and following a major renovation this summer, the scoreboard at the pool now bears his name.

I also want to thank City Council for working with me this year to accomplish so much, and I look forward to another successful year in 2025. I’m grateful that the city team, Council, all of our residents and visitors, and our volunteers have remained committed to keeping Ocean City as “America’s Greatest Family Resort.”

Have a great weekend, and let’s all look forward to a great year ahead.

Warm regards,

Jay A. Gillian

Mayor