In the Garden: Crape Myrtles — love them, or not?
By Victoria Register Freeman I have a friend who refers to the twin trees on each side of her Historic District driveway as Crap Myrtles. Her mispronunciation is intended to convey her distain for the multi-trunked trees even though their white blossoms present her with a riotous visual bouquet throughout the summer. I confess, […]
Go Giver: Sander Moody
By Julie Kerns Garmendia Sander Moody is a devoted father, husband, attorney and volunteer who relocated to Jacksonville from a successful law practice in New York City in 1998 when he and his physician wife, Laura, were ready to start their family. The couple chose an Avondale Tudor style home that had been remodeled […]
Go Giver: George Foote
By Julie Kerns Garmendia George Foote is the kind of dad and volunteer who can motivate an extremely busy middle school principal to alert the community newspaper that he should be recognized for exceptional contributions to Julia Landon College Preparatory and Leadership Development School in San Marco. Foote and his wife Michele, a senior […]
The Way We Were: Eleanor Ashby
By Victoria Register-Freeman The seed that blossomed into Eleanor Johnson Ashby’s love for history just might have been planted one day at the Jacksonville Terminal, a site know today as the Prime Osborne Convention Center. Wearing a yellow handkerchief linen dress sewn by her mother Imogene, a six year old Eleanor handed a bouquet […]
The Way We Were: Betty Sterling
By Laura Jane Pittman When Betty Sterling and her husband Stu were looking to move from Memphis, TN in 1972 after Stu retired from being a Captain in the Navy, they had a wealth of familiar choices. The couple had lived in several U.S. mainland states, as well as more exotic locales such […]
Q&A with District 14 City Councilman Jim Love: Riverside/Avondale development moratorium
Last month, District 14 City Councilman Jim Love sent a letter to the city planning and development director, Calvin Burney, requesting a moratorium on any new commercial development requiring PUD, deviations or variance exceptions in several key Riverside/Avondale retail districts. Those areas include St. Johns Avenue between Talbot and Van Wert avenues and on King […]
Stakeholders seek longterm solutions for Riverside-Avondale parking woes
By Steve DiMattia There is no shortage of vision for Riverside/Avondale’s parking solutions. But making that vision a reality is the challenge. “There are a lot of short term options being discussed to address parking issues, but we are trying to develop more permanent solutions for the entire historic district,” said Jim Love, Riverside/Avondale District […]
Hendricks principal retiring: B.R. Rhoads steps down after 35 years in education
By Susanna P. Barton Hendricks Avenue Elementary School Principal Robert E. “BR” Rhoads calls his upcoming retirement a “transition to another adventure.” Neighborhood students and parents say he will be missed. Rhoads, who has been an educator for 35 years, joined Hendricks as a principal in 2010, said his time with the school has been “a […]
