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Community briefs 5/19/16

Clay Today
Posted 5/18/16

Penney Memorial Church hosts organ concert PENNEY FARMS – The 90th Anniversary Committee and the Music Ministry of Penney Memorial Church will co-sponsor an organ recital on May 22 at 7 p.m. at …

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Community briefs 5/19/16


Posted

Penney Memorial Church hosts organ concert

PENNEY FARMS – The 90th Anniversary Committee and the Music Ministry of Penney Memorial Church will co-sponsor an organ recital on May 22 at 7 p.m. at the church.

The guest organist will be Mark Coffee who serves as director of music and organist at First Presbyterian Church in Gainesville, Fla.

There, he oversees an extensive music program and fine arts ministry. Coffee has a bachelor’s degree in music education from Towson State University in Towson, Md. and a master of music and doctor of musical arts in organ performance and literature from the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, N.Y.

In the early 1990s, Mark served as a consultant to the Penney Memorial Church music committee where he helped select the Holtkamp Organ Company to build and install the new organ in the church. He gave his first organ recital on that organ in 1994 and has returned a number of times for commemorative concerts.

Penney Memorial Church is located at 4465 Poling Blvd. in Penney Farms. The concert and parking are free.

Yoho scheduled for Armed Services Day

GREEN COVE SPRINGS – U.S. Rep. Ted Yoho(R-3) is scheduled to speak at the Armed Forces Day celebration on May 21 at the Military Museum of North Florida.

The events run from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sat. and Sunday. Exhibits will include a classic car show, a classic military vehicle show, parachutists, war re-enactors to include Civil War and WWII battles and live Civil War cannon firings.

Displays include the replica of the Confederate Navy Submarine Hunley, an A4 Jet simulator and an A64 Apache cockpit simulator. There will be combat vehicle tours for the kids and a uniform try on station.

The celebration kicks off at 9 a.m. with a formal presentation at the main flagpole of Reynolds Industrial Park to commemorate WWII’s Navy Auxiliary Air Station Green Cove Springs and will feature the F6F Hellcat fighter. The Military Museum of North Florida and Reynolds Industrial Park will replace the Plaque at the flagpole for Ensign Benjamin Lee for whom the airfield was named. At the conclusion of the ceremony there will be a vintage aircraft fly by.

Numerous vendors will be on hand and the museum and the festivities will be open to the public free of charge.

The address is 1 Bunker Ave, Hwy 16 Green Cove Springs across from the Clay County Port.

For more information, Chris Rodatz at crodatz@bellsouth.net or call (904) 655-6511.

Diversity leadership program accepting applications

JACKSONVILLE – The OneJax Institute at the University of North Florida is now accepting applications from teens entering grades 10 through 12 to participate in its Metrotown Institute, a four-day program that promotes respect and understanding across the differences of race, religion, sexual orientation, gender, ethnicity, socio-economic status and ability.The Institute will take place 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. June 20-June 22 and 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. June 23 at Riverside Presbyterian Church at 849 Park St. in Jacksonville.

“Metrotown is truly a transformative experience for students who complete the program – it opens their eyes and changes the way they see the world,” said Nancy Broner, OneJax executive director. “The teens deal directly with prejudice and discrimination and while they’re learning about people who are different, they’re learning a lot about themselves.”

The Metrotown Institute brings together high school students to explore living successfully in an increasingly diverse and interdependent world. Participants will share ideas and feelings, discover their own unique talents and experience a variety of perspectives on diversity issues, multicultural communications, religious traditions, gender roles and self-esteem, while earning 35 community service hours for their involvement. There will be small group discussions and workshops, creative and artistic activities, outdoor experiences and personal reflection.

Students must be referred to the program or endorsed by a sponsor such as a parent, teacher, counselor, clergy or community leader. Anyone interested in referring a student should contact OneJax at (904) 620-1529. Students will be required to complete an application to be considered. Applications and additional information can be obtained at www.OneJax.org.

The program is designed for 50 students, who will be considered on a first-come, first-served basis. The registration fee is $150, which includes daily lunch and snacks as well as dinner on the final night. Sponsors are encouraged to help students raise money to cover the registration fee, although no one will be prevented from participating due to an inability to pay.

Metrotown is supported by the United Way of Northeast Florida and UNF. As an interfaith organization, the OneJax Institute at UNF educates, advocates and builds community to promote respect and understanding that will overcome bias, bigotry and oppression.

School District candidate forum slated

FLEMING ISLAND – The Clay County Republican Party will be hosting a candidate forum on June 2 at Sacred Heart Catholic Church’s Sullivan Hall.

Republican candidates for Clay County School Superintendent will field questions from moderator Kent Justice from WJXT Channel 4 for approximately 30 minutes, while candidates for the District 2 and District 4 races will field questions after the superintendent candidates for another 30 minute period.

Doors open at 6 p.m. with the forum beginning at 6:30 p.m. Orange Park Toastmasters will conduct timing for the forum. Each candidate will email 10 questions to the Clay County Republican Party chairman for the forum. Questions are due by May 26.

Health screenings coming for kids

GREEN COVE SPRINGS – The Florida Department of Health in Clay County in partnership with Clay County District Schools, St. Vincent’s Mobile Health Outreach Ministry and The Way Clinic will be providing shots, school physicals, and sports physicals at the following dates and locations.

•July 13 and 20, the back to school event will be held at the Clay Adult Education Center at Orange Park High School, 2306 Kingsley Ave., Orange Park, from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. School and sports physicals, immunizations and certified Florida Shot immunization forms will be provided.

•July 27 the back to school event will be held at The Way Clinic, 479 Houston St., Green Cove Springs, from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. School physicals, immunizations and certified Florida Shot immunization forms will be provided.

These events will be offered on a first come, first serve basis. Parents or guardians must accompany the child. Remember to bring your child’s most current shot record, as immunizations cannot be given without a shot record. Not all health services will be provided at every location.

Diabetes programs for Seniors offered

JACKSONVILLE – Clay County seniors living with diabetes have an opportunity coming up later this month.

Northeast Florida Area Health Education Centers is looking for volunteers to facilitate a new evidence-based self-management program on diabetes. The classes will be held in Duval, Baker, Nassau and Clay counties. Teachers must either have diabetes or be living with someone who does, such as a spouse or child.

It is a six-week program that meets once a week for 2.5 hours and was written by Stanford School of Medicine. It is free for qualifying seniors age 65 and older.

AHEC will hold a Leader Training at its office in the Riverside area of Jacksonville at 2223 Oak St. The 4-day training is free and will go from May 31-June 3. At the end of the training, participants will then be official Lay Leaders for the Stanford School of Medicine Diabetes Self-Management Program. Then these leaders will be eligible to facilitate the classes out in the community where they will be paid a stipend of $600 for each six-week class they lead.

For more information, contact Julie D. Seals at (904) 482-0189.

Amateur radio “Field Day” coming in June

ORANGE PARK – Members of the Clay County Amateur Radio Emergency Service and Orange Park Amateur Radio Club will take part in a national Amateur Radio Field Day exercise June 25-26 at Orange Park High School from 1 p.m. June 25 until 12 p.m. June 26.

Since 1933, ham radio operators across North America have established temporary ham radio stations in public locations during Field Day to showcase the science and skill of Amateur Radio. This event is open to the public and all are encouraged to attend.

For more than 100 years, amateur radio — sometimes called ham radio — has allowed people from all walks of life to experiment with electronics and communications techniques, as well as provide a free public service to their communities during a disaster, all without needing a cellphone or the Internet. Field Day demonstrates ham radio’s ability to work reliably under any conditions from almost any location and create an independent communications network. Over 35,000 people from thousands of locations participated in Field Day in 2015.

“It’s easy for anyone to pick up a computer or smartphone, connect to the Internet and communicate, with no knowledge of how the devices function or connect to each other,” said Sean Kutzko of the American Radio Relay League, the national association for Amateur Radio. “But if there’s an interruption of service or you’re out of range of a cell tower, you have no way to communicate. Ham radio functions completely independent of the Internet or cellphone infrastructure, can interface with tablets or smartphones, and can be set up almost anywhere in minutes. That’s the beauty of Amateur Radio during a communications outage.”

Anyone may become a licensed Amateur Radio operator. There are over 725,000 licensed hams in the United States, as young as 5 and as old as 100. And with clubs such as Clay County Amateur Radio Emergency Service and Orange Park Amateur Radio Club, it’s easy for anybody to get involved right here in Clay County.

For more information about Field Day, contact Scott Roberts (904) 759-7812 or visit www.arrl.org/what-is-ham-radio.

Blessings in a Backpack receives donation

GREEN COVE SPRINGS – Volunteers with Blessings in a Backpack will pack their last meals for students this school year on May 27, its fourth year serving in Clay County. Earlier in May, the students received 150 bags full of food donated by Comcast and packed by Comcast employees from Orange Park.

The company’s “Comcast Cares Day” brings together their employees, their families, friends and their community partners around the world to volunteer and make change happen in local communities. Thank you to Brandon Heath, who organized the project in Orange Park and the employees who packed the bags. The Backpack food included nutritious, easy-to-prepare, ready-to-eat foods, like granola bars, juice boxes, mac and cheese and oatmeal.

“Comcast has been a partner every year since we started this very worthy project and we can’t thank them enough for their generous support. Special thanks go to Bill Ferry, Senior Director, Government and Regulatory Affairs at Comcast in North Florida for caring enough to remember the children,” said Eloise Burman, president of Magnolia Point Women’s Club.

Sponsored by the Magnolia Point Women’s Club, Blessings in a Backpack provides weekend meals for students at Charles E. Bennett Elementary and Green Cove Springs Junior High.

Magnolia Point Women’s Club has given nearly $316,000 to those in need, primarily in Green Cove Springs and Clay County. Their initiatives include assistance to children whose family income is below the poverty level at Charles E. Bennett Elementary School – 90 percent of the students – and awarding scholarships to female students at Clay High. The club has raised $58,000 in pledges from members along with corporate sponsors, Winn Dixie Foundation, Encore, Comcast, Elks Lodge BPOE No. 1892 and Communities In Schools. Waste Not Want Not, KeyImpact Sales and Systems and Walmart also contributed food for the program.