Volunteers tackle post-Matthew debris on Northbank
Rising Tides, the St. Johns Riverkeeper young professionals group, took a break from its typical monthly McCoys Creek cleanups in October to spend two weekends removing debris that washed ashore along the Northbank Riverwalk during Hurricane Matthew. Typically, McCoys Creek cleanups result in a stack of old tires and dozens of garbage bags full of […]
Find your perfect pumpkin
For more than 20 years, youth at Ortega United Methodist Church have hosted a pumpkin patch, providing area residents with fall décor and photo opportunities. This year they hope to break a record in sales, bringing in two full truckloads of pumpkins in all sizes. The first load, weighing 43,000 lbs., was delivered Sept. 24. […]
Crated ducks, geese find new home in Duck Pond
A new flock of waterfowl inhabit the Colonial Manor’s Duck Pond, thanks to the benevolence of Robin Ashourian of Waterman Road and her son, Justin. While shopping at the Beaver Street Farmer’s Market, the Ashourians, both avowed animal lovers, spotted six white ducks and two geese crammed into tiny crates baking in the hot sun. […]
Pokémon GO takes historic neighborhoods by storm
They can be seen in Riverside Park, Whatley Park in San Marco or wandering the streets of St. Nicholas or Murray Hill. Teens, undeterred by summer heat, trek along the sidewalks in 5 Points or San Marco Square or along St. Johns bulkhead in Riverfront Park, heads down, smartphones in hand, as they search for […]
Riverside institution closes its doors
The breakfast bunch. The round table. The tuna girls. Lawyers, doctors, politicians, retired folks, Riverside Presbyterian Day School parents and faculty, YMCA regulars, relatives, police officers. All who frequented Richard’s Sandwich Shoppe in 5 Points celebrated owner Richard Abboud’s retirement while lamenting the passing of an institution customers likened to “Cheers” – a place where […]
Abandoned bicycles serve good purpose for new lives
Officers in the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office’s Zone 4 Walking Beat know firsthand crime often occurs when someone lacks gainful employment. They also know getting and keeping a job depends on having reliable transportation to a bus stop or to the workplace. If you don’t have a car, a bicycle can be the next best thing. […]
‘Dirt’ fisherman searches for treasure among trash
It took 50 years, but Chip Kirkpatrick, a former Boy Scout at Lakeshore Methodist Church, finally found his uniform kerchief slide. Kirkpatrick had lost it at his very first Scout meeting in 1964. He found it five decades later buried in four inches of mud on the church grounds. He also found a toy gun […]
Homeless feeding ministry in need of saving
Lead volunteers retiring after 16 years On April 30, when Murray Hill United Methodist Church members Larry and Jane Dixon retire from the Kester Kitchen Feeding Ministry, hundreds of homeless in the Murray Hill community may find it hard to locate their next free meal. After 16 years, the couple is retiring from their work […]
