Clay Electric warns customers of phone scam
KEYSTONE HEIGHTS – Officials at Clay Electric Cooperative are warning customers to be on the lookout for a phone scam that involves a misleading offer from the power company.
Several Clay Electric members in Clay County have reported receiving a flyer in the mail that offers rebates for free attic insulation. The mailer states that a free inspection is required and comes with a business reply envelope. This offer is not from Clay Electric.
Clay Electric also reminds its residential and commercial members that it does not make phone calls to collect on past due bills or offer unsolicited services.
A member in Keystone Heights received a phone call that identified itself on the screen as originating from Clay Electric, but was not a number belonging to the co-op.
Clay Electric encourages its members to be suspicious of anyone who contacts them and claims he or she represents the co-op and wants to offer a service or be paid for an overdue bill. The cooperative does not offer services or collect past due amounts over the phone. Clay Electric informs its members of services in official publications and sends a reminder letter for past due bills. If you are at all suspicious of someone claiming they’re with the power company, hang up and call Clay Electric at 800-224-4917.
“We especially urge our members to ignore suspicious requests for personal information such as bank account numbers, credit card numbers, user names and passwords, or Social Security numbers,” said Derick Thomas, director of the co-op’s Member & Public Relations Department. “Members should not share confidential personal information over the phone.”
The accompanying photo is a recent example of an offer that was mailed to co-op members claiming to be from Clay Electric, but is actually part of a scam.

Clay student gets shot at National Spelling Bee
OAKLEAF – An eighth-grade student at Oakleaf Junior High who won third place in the Clay County Spelling Bee has been invited to take part in the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Oxon Hill, Maryland.
Now, student Alexis Grimm needs some help from the community. As a participant in this new facet of the Scripps National Spelling Bee, Grimm must fund her and her family’s trip to take part in the competition. It’s part of a new program called RSVBee, which will augment the opportunity for children to participate by creating a parallel path for entry into the National Finals.
Grimm is hoping to raise $3,000 – part of which includes a $750 participation fee. Paying the participation fee allows Grimm to take part in Rounds One and Two of the preliminaries of the National Finals and Round Three if she is not eliminated in Round Two and if she accumulates one of the highest point totals in the preliminaries.
More than 500 students will compete in the preliminaries, but only 50 will qualify for the Finals.
Grimm must collect donations by May 15. For more information or to make a donation, contact Grimm’s mother, Rebecca-Jane Grimm at (904) 406-4976 or rjgschool@hotmail.com.

Medical facility wins quality award
ALPHARETTA, Ga. – A Fleming Island medical facility is among only 108 healthcare facilities nationwide to be named a 2016-17 National APEX Quality Award Winner.
Fleming Island Surgery Center received the award based on patient satisfaction and overall quality of care.
“The award represents superiority in the services you provide, quality in the care you deliver, and distinction in the satisfaction of your patients,” states the ward letter from SPH Analytics, which is based in Alpharetta, Georgia.
The center, which is in its 10th year of operation on Fleming Island, was notified on April 9 that it had won the award.

Student wins corporate-sponsored Merit Scholarship
EVANSTON, ILLINOIS – A Fleming Island High students is among 1,000 high school seniors named winners of corporate-sponsored National Merit Scholarships, which are financed by about 200 corporations, company foundations and other business organizations.
FIHS Senior Corrina R. Laird won the National Merit CSX Scholarship, which is sponsored by Jacksonville-based CSX Corp., a transportation company that connects customers to ports, distribution centers and markets across the eastern United States via rail and vehicle.
Laird selected bioengineering as her probable career field.
The National Merit Scholarship Corp. selected these students from among those who advanced to the Finalist level in the National Merit Scholarship competition and met criteria of their scholarship sponsors. Corporate sponsors provide National Merit Scholarships for Finalists who are children of their employees, who are residents of communities the company serves, or who plan to pursue college majors or careers the sponsor wishes to encourage.
Most of these awards are renewable for up to four years of undergraduate college study and provide annual stipends that range from $500 to $10,000 per year. Some provide a single payment between $2,500 and $5,000. Recipients can use their awards at any regionally accredited U.S. college or university of their choice.
By the conclusion of the 2018 competition, The National Merit Scholarship Corp. will have selected about 7,500 Finalists who will receive National Merit Scholarships totaling over $31 million.

Pow-Wow coming to Clay
GREEN COVE SPRINGS – The Military Museum of North Florida will host the inaugural Spring Pow Wow on April 26-29 at the museum along State Road 16.
The Pow Wow is a music festival featuring award-winning Native American drum performers, storytellers, museum relics, children’s activities, demonstrations and more. The event will also feature arts, crafts, supplies and other items.
“The primary goal of this event is to share an appreciation Native American music and culture in honoring the contributions of military service to this country,” states a press release for the event.
The event is free to the public, but the museum has been working to get sponsors to help defray costs. They are expecting anywhere from 3,000-to-5,000 visitors at the 4-day festival.
For more information, contact William Moonwolf Meeks at (904) 531-6544 or Museum Director Chris Mayer at 9904) 616-7218.

Church offering ‘A Birdhouse Challenge’
GREEN COVE SPRINGS – First Presbyterian Church in Green Cove Springs is hosting “Home Tweet Home,” A Birdhouse Challenge on Saturday, May 12.
Bird lovers of all ages are invited to take part in the competition, which will have three divisions – children ages 10 and under, children ages 11-16, and adults 17 and older.
Children’s entries will be judged on creativity of design, uniqueness of materials used, and overall look while adult entries will be judged on creativity of design, quality of construction, and uniqueness of the materials used.
This is a great opportunity for children and their parents or grandparents to work together on a project and an opportunity for everyone to see how creative they can be. Competition entrants will make their birdhouse at home and bring them to the church no later than noon on May 12 where they will be displayed and judged at 5 p.m. that day.
The deadline to submit a contest entry form is May 4. Call the church office for information at (904) 284-9261.
Prizes will be awarded in each category. A silent auction of the birdhouses will be held, and a Fish Fry Dinner will follow. Cost for the dinner is $10 for adults and $5 for children under 12. All proceeds from the auction and dinner will go to support programs for the homeless in Clay County and other Men’s Ministry missions.

Soul Food Festival to host Masquerade Ball
GREEN COVE SPRINGS – The Green Cove Springs Soul Food Festival Committee will be hosting a Masquerade Ball to fund the musical headliner for the festival scheduled for the fall. The ball will be held on Sept. 15 at the Ramada Inn and Conference Center Hotel in Jacksonviile from 6-10 p.m. The cost is $35 per person, $60 per couple and VIP pricing is also available. Guests are asked to wear Red to honor those suffering with heart disease.
This year's ball was designed to raise proceeds that will fund the booking of the Soul Food Festival's headline act for 2018. The committee hopes to book an R&B artist for the anticipated 4,000-6,000 guests expected for the 2018.
“With a limited budget and volunteers often coming out of pocket, we hope to raise enough money to book a well-known artist or group. Last year’s fundraiser helped but still fell a little short of what our intended goal was. We are hoping to have a bigger and better turnout this year,” said Felecia Hampshire, Festival coordinator and former mayor of the city.
Last year, national recording artist Tony Grant was the headliner and festival organizers are hoping to possibly have more than one national recording artist if the fundraiser goes as expected. Tony Grant will once again come and serenade the crowd at the fundraiser this year, along with comedian, Benny Hookfinn, aka “Catfish” along with talented Christian Pop Artist Jody Finch aka Jody.
Hampshire said the festival, which will celebrate its 17th year in 2018, is also looking for sponsors to help make the festival larger than ever.
The Soul Food Festival is a well-respected, family, fun-filled event in Green Cove Springs that serves to broaden cultural awareness and welcomes and respects all races and religions. Events include a parade, where we invite every high school band in Clay County and surrounding counties to participate. We also have an annual softball tournament, sweet potato pie contest, barbecue rib contest, live entertainment, dance contests, motorcycle show and much more, Hampshire said.
For more information, contact Felecia Hampshire, event coordinator at (904) 622-7903, or email her at carimenia@gmail.com, David Coffey, entertainment director at (904) 525-6386, or Kimberly Thomas, parade and vendor applications, (904) 297-7500, extension 3320.