Downtown Association Featured At City Hall’s Open House

OCEAN CITY – The 18th Annual Mayor’s Open House will feature the history of the Downtown Association and its ongoing efforts to bring life to the downtown area throughout the year.
Ocean City’s Mayor and City Council’s 18th Annual Open House will be held 1-3 p.m. on New Year’s Day at City Hall, located at 3rd St. and Baltimore Ave.
The Mayor and City Council’s Open House has been a community tradition since 1997 offering a different theme each year. This year’s theme focuses on the “Come Walk All Over Us: The Ocean City Downtown Association.”
“The Open House offers the perfect opportunity for our citizens to visit City Hall and meet with the elected officials that have served over the years,” Mayor Rick Meehan said.  “It is also a great opportunity for us to highlight an organization in our community that has had a tremendous effect on the downtown community. This year, who better to feature than the Downtown Association, who advocates and promotes programs that enhance and improve the quality of life in Ocean City for both residents and vacationers?”
The Downtown Association is a community-based organization created to serve the businesses, residents, and visitors to the downtown area of Ocean City. The Association advocates and promotes programs that enhance and improve the quality of life for both citizens and vacationers.
“The Downtown Association has a strong history, with some of Ocean City’s most influential citizens were founders of the Downtown Association,” the mayor said. “They have had a significant impact on the community, drawing tourists and residents to the revitalized downtown area.”
According to the association, it was first called the Downtown Improvement Association when it was formed 35 years ago by Al Berger and fellow Downtown business owners who were concerned about a variety of issues that included but were not limited to parking, street lighting, and landscaping- issues that remain important today.
The first meeting was at the Dorchester Street firehouse. Some of those initial members and “founders” were people like Granville Trimper, Kate Bunting, Lee Graham and Bob Givarz. The name was eventually changed to the Downtown Association of Ocean City.
In cooperation with the Town of Ocean City and the Ocean City Development Corporation (OCDC), the association brings a variety of events to the city, which draws tourists and residents alike to the revitalized downtown area.
“We are here to help out the businesses, residents and visitors in the downtown area,” Downtown Association Administrator Mary Ann Manganello said. “Especially in the offseason there is not much going on downtown, and we are trying to bring a little bit of life back into that area.”
In November, the Downtown Association held the Wicomico Street Winter Festival when the street was closed to be filled with vendors and games for families to participate in to raise money for Light Up Downtown.
In December 2012, along with OCDC and the Town of Ocean City, the Downtown Association launched a campaign, Light Up Downtown, with a series of programs in Sunset Park featuring a tree lighting, local performers, horse and carriage rides, baked goods and hot chocolate.
Manganello explained Light Up Downtown is a program to bring Christmas lights back to downtown Ocean City. At one time light displays were set up in the Inlet, and brought visitors to the downtown area during the holidays but now the light displays are set up at Winterfest of Lights at Northside Park in north Ocean City.
Another annual event is the Crab Soup Cookoff, which is in its 10th year and is held in May every year at Somerset Plaza with music and exhibits.
Among other events held throughout the year the Association operates the Boardwalk Information Cottage during the summer.
“The Boardwalk Information Cottage is where we hand out information on all businesses, not just on the boardwalk, but all over Ocean City,” Manganello said. “So, we have thousands of tourists every week that come through there to pick up information.”
At the open house, outside the festively decorated City Hall, the Ocean City Volunteer Fire Department will have equipment on display and also back by popular community demand will be the mounted police and canine units of the Ocean City Police Department.
The Open House also offers storytelling sessions and this year will feature many of the Downtown Association past presidents and members, including Lauren Taylor, Nancy Howard and Tom Allen. A complete schedule of storytellers will be available the day of the event.  Entertainment by Bryan Russo and light refreshments will also be provided for visitors.
“It is a big honor,” Manganello said of being chosen to be featured at the Mayor and City Council’s Open House. “We have been in existence since 1974, and this is the first time we have done this. It is a great opportunity to showcase what we do for the City. We are very happy the mayor chose us.”