Arlington Volunteers are Needed
Jacksonville Florida Arlington Area has lots of opportunities for those who would like to volunteer to help for a variety of different things. Volunteers can be for reading a book to a child, help in a community garden, teach a child a new skill, encouraging girls to be all that they can be, or just sorting books for the local library book sale. Every organization uses volunteers in a variety of different capacities. The trick is to find a cause that you are passionate about and would be willing to spend your time doing. Most volunteer positions do not require anything more than a friendly attitude and a little sweat equity. You can start your search using on online tool called HandsOn Jacksonville. This website is a volunteer matching tool that lists a variety of organizations across the Northeast Florida area, what they need in a volunteer and a time-frame of when needed. All you have to do is put in your zip code and a few key words and you will get a listing of opportunities for you to read more about. The listing seems to be updated regularly.
Check it out: http://www.handsonjacksonville.org/HOC__Volunteer_Opportunity_Search_Page?p=vct
Here are some organizations located in the Jacksonville Arlington Area:
Girls Incorporated of Jacksonville
1627 Rogero Road
Jacksonville, FL 32211
Bus: (904) 731-9933
Fax: (904) 731-9934
President/CEO: Beth Hughes Clark, LCSW
http://www.girlsincjax.org/
Boys Home Association
2354 University Blvd., N.
Jacksonville, FL 32211
Telephone (904) 743-3611
Fax (904) 744-8131
www.jaxboyshome.org
Jacksonville Arboretum
1445 Millcoe Road
Jacksonville, Florida 32225
http://www.jacksonvillearboretum.org/
The Arlington Community Garden Project
Arlington Com Garden@Tree Hill
7152 Lone Star Rd
Jacksonville, FL 32211
http://www.arlingtoncommunitygarden.org/index.html
Happy New Year
Hey, everybody! We hope your holidays were a safe and happy one. With the cold weather I was reviewing some of the videos and pictures throughout last year and remembered a video by a local artist that I wanted to recommend to all of our subscribers. His name is Michael Walter and he produces, films, directs and edits videos for local people here in Jacksonville, Florida. One of his films is especially related to our Arlington residents. He created a short film of the Butterfly Festival that is held every year at Tree Hill Nature Center. It is a great little film that really puts you into the scene, the warmth of the day, the kids playing and learning about butterflies, and all of the artists. It makes you feel warm and toasty just looking at it. Michael did an excellent job on this and he is available for other projects. He and his group has won several film festival awards. If you would like to have a professionally made video done of your event, festival or other projects then contact Michael directly: michael.c.walter@gmail.com
Butterfly Festival from Michael Walter on Vimeo.
Another local small business is sponsoring a contest that is open to all U.S. residence over 18 years of age for creating new Contemporary Limericks. Jolene’s Books and More is a small online business that sells electronic books and handcrafted goods right here in Jacksonville, Florida. They have created a blog for the contest: http://all-about-limericks.jolenesbooksandmore.com They are giving out a monthly prize of $50 each month beginning in March 2012 to the best and funniest contemporary limerick. It can be about your friend, your neighborhood, your favorite author, your favorite character, your family member, or even your city. They are charging a $5 fee for each person and you can submit from 1 to 5 limericks for consideration per month. For a complete list of rules and the online application go to the website!
Reddie Point Preserve
Arlington Reddie Point Preserve Park is extremely peaceful and new park opened in the Arlington area. The park did not have bathroom facilities when we visited and may have changed since we last visited. There is a long pier that you can walk out into the middle of the river and view up and down the St. John’s River. The park is located at the end of University Boulevard and worth the ride. The park is a haven for fisherman who like to fish from the dock in the St. John’s River. It is not that well known yet so take advantage now before more people find it.
You can access the Jacksonville’s Park Page for this preserve: http://apps2.coj.net/parksinternet/parkdetails.asp?parkid=344
While we were there we took some pictures:
Lions Club Park
Arlington Lions Club Park is a very peaceful place to go and relax especially during the weekdays. The park is open to the public, has a boat ramp, fishing dock, picnic tables, nature trail and a small children’s playground. The park could use some sprucing up but it was a nice and peaceful area to visit.
You can view the City of Jacksonville’s website Parks Page for this park: Arlington Lions Club Park The web page has information on what is available at this park, hours, and even has a MAPIT function that is very helpful.
We took some pictures of the park while we were there hope you enjoy them.
Tree Hill Nature Center
Here is a place for the whole family. It is a place that all school children will go to on a field trip. They have a great website at: http://www.treehill.org/.
Sadly, you have missed out on the Butterfly Festival which was held last weekend. The price is pretty reasonable and even better for you and the family if you attend together on Saturday.
Tree Hill is not only an nature preserve but also supports local artists including photographers, painters, musicians and much more. The Park is open to the public and worth a look see.
Here is a listing of the current prices!
$4 Adults
$3 Seniors/Students/Military
$2 Children
Family Saturdays – $5 per family
Members FREE
(904) 724-4646
7152 Lone Star Rd.Jacksonville, Florida, 32211
Monday-Saturday – 8 am to 4:30 pm. Closed on Sunday and Holidays.
Castaway Island Preserve
In between the boundaries for the Southside and Arlington areas just off of San Pablo Road between Atlantic and Beach Boulevards is a somewhat new park or preserve called Castaway Island. My mom says the entrance of the park used to be an old trailer park. Now you can go and walk the nature trails, picnic and Bar B Q, put your canoe or kayak in the Intercoastal Waterway or attend one of the nature seminars at the Information Center. Like all parks in Jacksonville it is opened from Sunrise to Sunset all year long. It is a FREE park and lovely to spend a few hours or all day. Being so close to the ocean there is almost always a nice little breeze. On the nature trails there are, of course, informational signs about the wildlife in the area.
All the Jacksonville Area Preserves are nice to visit and offer some great educational opportunities for you and your children and/or grandchildren. This one is very new, very clean with sidewalks for trails as well as wooden walkways into the bush leading out to the water areas. The floating dock is well maintained and adjusts to the incoming and outgoing tides. When we went it was low tide and you can see where the water rises up. There are lots of birds and small animals in the park. Of course, you shouldn’t feed any of the animals you might see and always keep your children close to you while visiting any of the parks or preserves.
Arlington YMCA
Each New Years we think about a resolution to get fit, lose a little weight or just get out and have some fun. Once place that is good for all of these things is your local YMCA. They offer lots of programs for exercise, fitness and fun for the whole family. They have a branch in the Jacksonville Arlington Area and is open to all of those who wish to join. They have child care, sports programs, camps and much more. They are open to the whole family. You should check out their website or even go to their center and take a tour of their facilities. According to their website they will work with families on the monthly fee. Give them a try.
“As a non-profit, mission-driven organization, we are committed to being accessible to all. To facilitate that effort, we are pleased to provide our memberships at income-based rates. Building YOUR (Your Own Unique Rate) plan is simple. To get started, stop by, or use our online calculator to determine your own unique rate.
Financial assistance is available for qualified members through the Strong Kids Campaign. At the YMCA, no one will ever be turned away for an inability to pay.”
Arlington Family YMCA
Family Program Center
8301 Ft. Caroline Rd.
Jacksonville, FL 32277
Wellness Center
9119 Merrill Road
Jacksonville, FL 32225
904-744-2233
Branch Info
Branch Email
Be Prepared
The city of Jacksonville has some great information available for FREE for it’s current and future residents. You start at their website and they have links to the other sites as well. You just need to bookmark or add to your favorites list the ones that you want or all of them. Read through their materials, download their brochures and booklets but most importantly you should sign up for the Community Notification website. They are sponsored by the City of Jacksonville under their program called CODE RED. This service will phone you when an imminent threat is made known about your neighborhood. You just fill out the online form with your address and phone number and the computer will call you when an alert has been issued. Some of the issues include bad weather, bioterriosts threats, blackouts and much more. Check it out
Nursing Homes in Arlington
We have finally updated the listing of the Nursing Homes located in the Arlington Area. You can find the list on the Nursing Home Listing at: http://jacksonvillesarlington.info/wordpress/arlington-services/arlington-area-nursing-homes/. This listing was compiled from the website sponsored by the State of Florida and the Agency for Healthcare Administration. They inspect and report on Nursing homes throughout Florida and those reports are available to anyone who visits their website at: http://ahcaxnet.fdhc.state.fl.us/nhcguide/ViewFacilityData.aspx?Region=04
You can also download a acrobat reader file of all the nursing homes in the Jacksonville, Florida area here at: Jacksonville Listing of Nursing Homes
REMEMBER when you are considering placing a loved-one in a nursing home you must be sure to go to the facility, look up their inspection reports and ask lots of questions.
Here’s hoping that you and your family enjoy the holidays and the NEW YEAR!
December in Arlington
First of all, Welcome to all the new members of the Jacksonville’s Arlington Arlington Area Info Blog. We encourage all of our members to participate in any of the discussions or make suggestions on how to improve our blog. You can email me directly at: jolene.macfadden@jacksonvillesarlington.info with your subscriber ID if you want to become a “Guest Poster”. Guest posters can add new blog posts on any subject related to Jacksonville Florida’s Arlington Area. That can include information on upcoming events at your church or a group you participate with, reviews of local restaurants, parks, amusement areas, colleges, and neighborhoods or apartment complexes you live in. The point is to make this an information center for the Jacksonville Arlington Area. From our first post that will include everyone living in zip codes 32211, 32277 and 32225. I realize that covers quite a bit of area but Jacksonville is a big place and us natives still considered these zip codes part of the Arlington Area.
Forgive me if this dates me but I remember when most of the 32225 area was still woods with only a few people scattered around here and there. So, for all the newbies here in the last 10 to 15 years we encourage you to participate and tell us about your neighborhood, your schools and restaurants, etc. We would like to hear from you who still go to the Regency Square Mall. The last couple of times that we went to that mall we noticed a steady decline. If you can tell us more about that we would like to hear it.
And how about those of you who attend college at Jones College or Jacksonville University? What’s happening at your campuses? What is it like to go to college there? Are the teacher’s nice, knowledgeable? This is your chance to give us the real scoop from an everyday person’s perspective!
We look forward to hearing from you and pass this post on to your fellow Arlington area residents. Happy Holidays and BE SAFE!
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