By Dan Scanlan
The historic downtown final resting place for hundreds of Jacksonville dead has become the victim of vandalism. Scattered shattered headstones dating to the mid-1800s were discovered by Joanne Orren as she visited the St. Joseph’s Cemetery between Cemetery and Ionia streets. Some damaged gravestones were evident when…
READ MORE via jacksonville.com.
I just thought I’d share some photographs of this rare old vintage (1953) edition of a hardcover book titled Mandarin On The St. Johns, written by Mary B. Graff, and autographed by her!
Sounds like a good time! I’d love to do something like this.
Their kayaks passed alligators and cows in the 310-mile journey down the St. Johns River.
They camped on shore among clouds of bugs and braved winds and icy dawns as they paddled.
But just after passing Wednesday’s 10:30 a.m. Mayport ferry, Melbourne’s Matt Keene and Jacksonville’s Ryan Cantey finished their three-week trek of the river that runs through Florida to the beach at Huguenot Memorial Park.
READ MORE via Kayaking pair covers entire St. Johns River to raise awareness | jacksonville.com.
Don Bessent was a former Major League Baseball player for the world famous Los Angeles Dodgers, where he was one of the popular “Boys of Summer.” He graduated from Robert E. Lee High School on the westside of town. In his rookie season as a professional, he pitched a no-hitter. He also pitched in the 1955 World Series, and the Dodgers won.
Unfortunately, Don Bessent’s life had a seemingly tragic end. He died here in Jacksonville, and was found deceased in his car at a local fast food restaurant. He is buried at Oaklawn Cemetery on San Jose Blvd in Jacksonville.
http://articles.latimes.com/1990-07-10/sports/sp-415_1_don-bessent
http://www.rickeyhendersoncards.com/blizzog/don-bessent/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Bessent
Children can get a free backpack from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, July 30, as the fourth annual Walmart Back to School Fest comes to The Jacksonville Landing. The free event includes soda sampling stations, fashion shows, face painting, autographs by the Jacksonville Jaguar Roar cheerleaders and free vision screenings for children by Walmart’s optical staff.
And children who bring a receipt from Walmart or Sam’s Club that includes the purchase of a product from PepsiCo, Frito-Lay or Quaker receive a free backpack while supplies last. Receipts must be dated between June 20 and July 30, and may be photocopied.
Dozens of vendors will give away more than 200,000 additional free school supplies, with live entertainment on the riverfront stage throughout the event.
They are pink, and they are purple –
Lavender and white abound;
And the texture of each blossom
Is the finest to be found.
Oh, an orchid’s more expensive –
Look on any florist’s bill –
But for mine — I’ll take Azaleas
On the streets of Jacksonville
A poem written by the late Dr. John H. Hanger, former minister of Riverside Methodist Church.
This poem appeared on the cover of the Spring 1966 issue of JACKSONVILLE magazine along with a photo looking out on the St. John’s River from the Cummer Museum of Art.
1970 ASPECTS OF BLACK EXPERIENCE Duval County Schools
This seems like it might be an interesting item of local history, from 1970 and the Duval County Public School board.
By Jeff Elliott
The long wait is over for Artis Gilmore.
The 7-foot-2 gentle giant who led Jacksonville University’s basketball team to its greatest days including a berth in the 1970 NCAA Championship game and who went on to illustrious career in both the NBA and ABA, was elected to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.
Gilmore will be enshrined with the Hall’s class of 2011. The announcement was made shortly after noon today in Houston, site of tonight’s NCAA Championship game between Butler and Connecticut. The entire class, which has not yet been formally announced, will be inducted into the Hall during the annual enshrinement ceremony on Aug. 11-13 in Springfield, Mass.
READ MORE via Jacksonville’s Artis Gilmore elected to Basketball Hall of Fame | jacksonville.com.
UPS is proud to announce that Emmitt “Gene” McCool has been inducted into its Circle of Honor. UPS’s Circle of Honor is the highest safety honor a UPS driver can achieve; each driver must amass at least 25 years without an avoidable accident to qualify for induction.
UPS has long enjoyed an outstanding reputation for safety in the transportation industry. UPS drivers log over two billion miles a year on U.S. roads and average less than one accident per million miles driven thanks to drivers like Gene, who recognize that safety is a way of life.
Gene is a package car driver out of the Jacksonville facility and provides service on Atlantic Avenue. He and his wife, Donna, live in Jacksonville. They have three children: Patrick, who is 35 years old, Keghan, who is 24, and Lyndsey, who is 20.
via Local UPS Driver Gene McCool Honored for Safety | Business | Arlington News.
Palatka, Fla.– A local woman, sold on the black market, is telling her story of searching for her birth mother.
Lisa Floyd has pictures from when she just days old. But the pictures weren’t taken to put in her mother’s scrap book. Lisa calls them her marketing pictures. ?She was purchased from a home for unwed pregnant girls in Gainesville. It’s a home with a history of selling babies on the black market. Action News uncovered articles dating as far back as the 1950′s. Over and over, the articles show pregnant girls who lived there, lived in fear. But at a time when having a baby out of wedlock was unacceptable, young girls had few options.? “Back then you couldn’t just bring a baby home with you,” said Floyd.
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