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.
Free Stuff in Arlington
Hey Gang! I was just reading about something you and the family can do for free right here in Jacksonville, Florida’s Arlington Area. You can go to the Ft Caroline National Monument Park for FREE. That’s right on September 26th you and your whole family can go to any of the National Parks for FREE.
Here is an excerpt from the parks webpage:
Saturday September 26, 2009 from 8:00am – 4:30pm
Fort Caroline National Memorial
12713 Fort Caroline Rd
Jacksonville, Florida 32225
FEE FREE SATURDAY
You can visit the website for the park here at: http://www.nps.gov/TIMU/index.htm
You can also sign your kids up for a free program offered by the Timucuan Preserve:
“Junior Ranger Program: The Timucuan Preserve announces a new Junior Ranger program for the national parks of Florida’s First Coast and Georgia’s Golden Isles. The Cultures of the Coast Junior Ranger Program is offered free at Jacksonville’s National Park, the Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve. Children who complete the activities are awarded a Cultures of the Coast Junior Ranger badge.
The Cultures of the Coast parks also include Fort Matanzas National Monument and the Castillo de San Marcos in St. Augustine, Florida; the Timucuan Preserve (Kingsley Plantation) and Fort Caroline National Memorial in Jacksonville, Florida; Cumberland Island National Seashore in St. Marys, Georgia; and Fort Frederica National Monument, located near Brunswick, Georgia on St. Simons Island. The Cultures of the Coast Junior Ranger Program is available at each of these sites.
A new component of the junior ranger program is a digital storytelling activity, where families explore the park and then design and record their favorite park story.”
For more information visit the website: http://www.nps.gov/timu/forkids/index.htm
Have fun!
Updates to Website
Good day to everyone. This month we have updated the website to include an acrobat reader file of public parks, public schools and day cares in the zip code areas of 32211, 32225 and 32277. The files are free to our subscribers and can be downloaded to your computer, printed or just viewed when needed. We are still gathering pictures of the area and we will be including them in slide shows on the pages they pertain to. We are always looking for volunteers to post reviews, informational tips on where to go to get the best deals on food, entertainment, festivals and more. The reviews or information must be about Jacksonville Florida’s Arlington area and must be rated ‘G’. I have opened up the photo galleries for our SUBSCRIBERS to be able to add pictures to posts and slide shows.
For those who want to become authors or contributors to the blog just sign on as a subscriber and then email us at: become_an_author@jacksonvillesarlington.info along with your subscriber ID and we will upgrade you to a contributor or author status. I’m not sure what the difference is with WORDPRESS but we will find out when we get some volunteers!
So keep checking back or just add our blog to your favorites or bookmarks. As always if you have any comments or suggestions on how we can improve our blog then please send us a comment. REMEMBER the comment area is for subscribers only however the GUESTBOOK is open to all who wish to post to it.
Click HERE to Go To The Pages That Have Been Updated:
Jacksonville Arlington Area Day Care Centers
Jacksonville Arlington Area Parks
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