A Year in Review: What happened in Ormond Beach in 2021?

2022 is almost upon us, but before we embark on a new year, let's take a look back at some of the pivotal local moments of 2021.

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January

  • Jan. 7: New Volusia County Council Chair Jeff Brower is sworn into office. Council members Danny Robins, Heather Post and Billie Wheeler were also sworn in. 
  • Jan. 12: The Volusia County School Board approves a base teacher salary increase to $44,335. 
  • Jan. 19: Volusia County is slated to receive $16.7 million in federal aid to help residents struggling with rent payments due to the pandemic. 
  • Jan. 22: The Ormond Memorial Art Museum breaks ground for its $3.5 million renovation and expansion.
  • Jan. 26: The city of Ormond Beach pleads with the School Board to keep Osceola Elementary open instead of merging it with Ortona Elementary, and relocating students to a new school at that site.

February

  • Feb. 1: Volusia County Schools Superintendent Scott Fritz returns to work after a seven-month medical leave.
  • Feb. 9: Though the city of Ormond Beach vowed to commit up to $1.8 million to save Osceola Elementary from closing, the School Board holds fast to its decision to build a new merged school at the Ortona Elementary site.
  • Feb. 15: Petition to keep the River Bend Golf Club property open, after its operator filed for bankruptcy, floats around the community.
  • Feb. 16: Short-term rental owners plead with the county for a change in its vacation rental ordinance.
  • Feb. 22: Grassroots movement to preserve the Ormond Scenic Loop and Trail and support the county's purchase of a 36-acre parcel within Plantation Oaks raises over $5,000. 

March

  • March 3: The Volusia County Council decides to wait and see what happens at the legislative level before considering revising its existing vacation rental ordinance.
  • March 10: Dangerous by Design report released by Smart Growth America and the National Complete Streets Coalition finds the Deltona-Daytona-Ormond Beach metro area as the fifth most dangerous in the U.S. 
  • March 16: Though the City Commission expressed support for the county purchasing a 36-acre lot within Plantation Oak for conservation, the commissioners were not in favor of putting forth a city match for funds. 
  • March 18: Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood is injured while riding his bicycle after he was struck by a car, whose driver fled the scene.
  • March 22: The Fighting Against Injustice Toward Harmony nonprofit coalition of religious congregations holds annual action assembly, where members push for civil citation data transparency for juveniles in Volusia County. Elected officials also swear to advocate and create a $7 million housing trust fund for affordable housing before the end of the year. 

April

  • April 2: The Jewish Federation of Flagler and Volusia Counties' Jerry Doliner Food Bank hosts first Easter food giveaway.
  • April 13: Volusia County Schools begins considering making masks optional for the upcoming school year.
  • April 20: Ormond Beach MainStreet asks city to pause all demolition plans for the former Ormond Beach Union Church building for six months to allow the organization to find a way to preserve the building. Also, the Volusia County Council votes to purchase a 36-acre parcel of land in Plantation Oaks for conservation.
  • April 23: Developers close on the purchase of the Tomoka Oaks Golf Course for $2.6 million.
  • April 27: Volusia County Council Chair Jeff Brower highlights need to work together to improve the county at his first state of the county address. 

May

  • May 4: The Ormond Beach City Commission doubles down on its decision by way of a 3-2 vote to demolish the former Ormond Beach Union Church structure at 56 N. Beach St. and construct a temporary shell parking lot in its place for $125,579.
  • May 8: First African American Community Celebration is held at the South Ormond Neighborhood Center.
  • May 15: Halifax River Yacht Club celebrates its 125th anniversary.
  • May 18: The Volusia County Council votes 5-2 against amending its short-term rental ordinance. The county continues to require a minimum of 30-day stays for single-family homes and condos in county residential zones. 
  • May 20: First community meeting to discuss the development of the Tomoka Oaks Golf Course held at the Ormond Beach Performing Arts Center.

June

  • June 1: Though residents begin to voice opposition for extending the airport's runway by 400 feet to the west, the Ormond Beach City Commission unanimously approves a new $45,000 environmental assessment to move the project forward.
  • June 3: Ortona Elementary's time capsule unearthed ahead of its merger with Osceola Elementary. 
  • June 15: Citizen email campaign attempts to delay the demolition of the former Ormond Beach Union Church building. 
  • June 22: The Volusia County Council votes to keep existing ban of dogs on the beach. Dogs are only allowed at Smyrna Dunes Park and Lighthouse Point Park.
  • June 26: Othal Wallace, the 29-year-old suspect who shot Daytona Beach Police Officer Jason Raynor on June 23, is arrested in Georgia. Raynor died at Halifax Health on Aug. 17, two months after he was injured. 

July

  • July 13: A special City Commission meeting is held to discuss the fate of the former Ormond Beach Union Church building. After 100 emails, 25 speakers from the public and pleas from two commissioners, the commission voted 3-2 to hold fast on its decision to raze the building and build a temporary parking lot.
  • July 15: Second community meeting discuss the development of the Tomoka Oaks Golf Course reveals developer plans to build about 300 homes.
  • July 25: The Museum of Arts and Sciences celebrates its 50th anniversary with a 1970s-themed bash. 
  • July 26: Adventhealth's COVID-19 hospitalizations surpass 800 across Central Florida in new surge.
  • July 27: Demolition of the former Ormond Beach Union Church begins. 

August

  • Aug. 2: Groundbreaking ceremony held for the new Beachside Elementary School, which will house the combined student and staff populations of Osceola and Ortona Elementary.
  • Aug. 10: With the first day of school less than a week away, Volusia County Schools deals with a shortage of 82 teachers.
  • Aug. 19: Gov. Ron DeSantis visits Ormond Beach to announce the opening of a monoclonal antibody therapy treatment site for COVID-19 at the Ormond Beach Senior Center.
  • Aug. 28: Longtime local radio host Marc Bernier dies from COVID-19 after a three-week battle with the virus. He was 65.
  • Aug. 31: The Volusia County School Board votes 3-2 to implement a mask mandate in light of the climbing COVID-19 cases in schools. As the board members reached their decision, the protest and anti-mask chants could be heard inside the chamber. 

September

  • Sept. 8: The Ormond Beach City Commission approves a 4.7% property tax rate hike. 
  • Sept. 10: Gloria Max, the executive director of the Jewish Federation of Flagler and Volusia Counties, dies after a six-year battle with a cancer, leaving behind a selfless legacy of generosity. She was days away from her 81st birthday.
  • Sept. 14: The Volusia County School Board backtracks on mask mandate for students and adds an opt-out option. 
  • Sept. 21: After two hours of the public pleading with the Volusia County Council to go to rollback, the council votes 3-2 to pass a 3.4% property tax rate increase. 
  • Sept. 28: Classroom vacancies continue to plague Volusia County Schools as principals pivot non-classroom instructional employees back into the classroom and the district works to retain employees in a year where resignations and leaves of absences are up by 35% as compared to 2020.

October

  • Oct. 2: About 200 people march on the Granada Bridge in Ormond Beach to rally for the right to abortions ahead of the reconvening of the U.S. Supreme Court.
  • Oct. 11: The Mary McLeod Bethune marble statue is unveiled during a ceremony at the News-Journal Center. The statue will replace a 1922 bronze statue of Confederate Army General Edmund Kirby Smith in the U.S. Capitol.
  • Oct. 12: Ormond Beach Mayor Bill Partington delivers the 2021 State of the City address, saying that Ormond Beach is "thriving."
  • Oct. 26: The Volusia County School Board votes 4-1 to approve raising the hourly wage of its substitutes to $13.50 amidst a teacher shortage. 
  • Oct. 28: The Volusia County School Board and the Volusia County Council decide to adopt different redistricting maps.

November

  • Nov. 4: The Ormond Beach Historical Society holds an opening reception for its Ormond Beach Union Church exhibition, where the contents of the two time capsules retrieved from the church building were unveiled
  • Nov. 11: The Ormond Beach Observer transitions from tabloid to broadsheet format, and the bigger pages mean more room for local content in our weekly publication.
  • Nov. 16: The Ormond Beach City Commission approves a new public art program for murals in the downtown overlay district with a 4-1 vote. 
  • Nov. 23: The Jewish Federation of Flagler and Volusia County distribute 260 turkeys to local families in need before Thanksgiving, fulfilling their vow to the late Gloria Max to keep her mission going.
  • Nov. 26: The 63rd-annual Gaslight Parade rolls into Ormond Beach, returning after it was canceled last year due to COVID-19.

December

  • Dec. 4: The Ormond Beach Police Department holds its 5th-annual Shop with a Cop event.
  • Dec. 7: The Ormond Beach City Commission holds workshop to discuss new zone boundaries for redistricting process.
  • Dec. 9: The Museum of Arts and Sciences celebrates the dedication of its planetarium, now named the Lowell and Nancy Lohman Planetarium.
  • Dec. 10: Twelve artists face off at the first Art Battle live tournament at Frame of Mind. 
  • Dec. 18: Wreaths Across America events pay tribute to fallen heroes in ceremonies in various cemeteries around town.

 

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