- February 23, 2025
Mayor Ed Kelley delivered the State of the City address Oct. 13, highlighting all the major projects the city completed this year.
The conference hall at the Oceanside Country Club Tuesday afternoon was full of Ormond Beach residents chit-chatting about local issues and praising the amount of chocolate in the cake they were currently eating. Soon after they finished their $40 plates, their Mayor, Ed Kelley, delivered an additional treat: a video highlighting not only the city’s known historical facts, but the monumental events that took place just this year.
The start of the Environmental Discovery Center, the opening of the Community Garden, the completion of the landscaping project on West Granada, and finally granting reused water to the South Peninsula are just a few of the many undertakings the City has worked on in 2015. While continuing to reference Nike’s “Just Do It” slogan, Mayor Kelley credited the completion and existence of these projects to the community members with the “just do it” kinds of attitudes — something he said is extremely common in our community.
Three of those members were honored at the luncheon with an Award of Civic Engagement, given to those residents who have made notable contributions throughout the year.
“How often do hear people who are running for office say ‘I wanna give back and make a difference?’” Mayor Kelley said. “Well what about those people in our community that just do it? The Nike way. They don’t get on a platform and say it. They just do it. Doug Thomas does that. All he has done for the past 42 years is give back to this community.”
Thomas was integral in creating the Ormond Beach Sports Complex, and has since given back to the community through the Ormond Beach Police Athletic League, chairing the City’s planning board and serving on the leisure services advisory board. But Mayor Kelley said that isn’t the even close to the extent of what he’s done.
“We have a time limit, so I can’t read you everything that Doug has done for Ormond Beach,” he said while holding up a very long list of community service acts. “He has been very involved.”
The second ACE award went to Lowell and Nancy Lohman, who were both credited for improving the city of Ormond Beach, a place they both agree they love.
“I just want to share with you,” Nancy Lohman said after being presented with the award, “We just love our little sparkling city on the sea. We always have. We always will.”
