Jacksonville's Mandarin Info Blog

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I don’t if you noticed or not but it is really cold out there. At least it’s cold for Jacksonville, Florida. But I think we are lucky to live in the Mandarin area as we seem to be isolated from the more harsh weather. Our little neighborhood off St. Augustine Road between I-295 and I-95 is probably one of the best spots to live in. Most of our area is in the Category 5 hurricane ratings area and we are sheltered from some of the worse that most storm fronts have to offer. You can check your hurricane ratings for your address with the Duval County Property Appraiser’s Website at: http://apps.coj.net/pao_propertySearch/Basic/Search.aspx
If you own your home or are paying for it from the bank (like most people) you just put your name in the search box. If you are renting a home or apartment just put in the address and hit search. The website gives you the basic information listed about the property including what you want to click on is the JaxGIS map icon to look at the property and it will give you the option of checking if you address is in a “FLOOD ZONE” you can click on those words and it will give you a definition of your particular area. Fascinating information and good to know as well. The City of Jacksonville through the Fire and Rescue Department also has an evacuation map that you can copy and print out. This is very helpful if you plan on moving to Jacksonville or to a different area: http://www.coj.net/Departments/Fire+and+Rescue/Emergency+Preparedness/Preparedness/Evacuation+Zones+Map.htm

Now is the time to start thinking about the upcoming Hurricane season and of course the rainy season of late February and March. Don’t get me wrong we always need the rain but if we are getting too much then we really need to get prepared or just stay prepared for bad weather. Know your neighborhood and the various ways of getting into and out of the neighborhood quickly. You cannot always depend on the major highways. When you get a chance drive through different parts of you neighborhood every couple of weeks. As much as Duval County is adding, changing, repairing roads these days it pays to be informed!

If you haven’t had a chance to read the Mandarin newspaper you should give it a chance. The are online as well at: www.mandarinnewsline.com The newspaper is free and is delivered to addresses in 32223 and 32258. They now have a digital edition of the newspaper online that is a great idea. it is an exact duplicate of newspaper. Going green is a great idea and if you don’t live within these two zip codes you can still read about what is happening in the Mandarin Area. The newspaper has quite a few advertisements within the pages but the stories are quite interesting and they do keep you appraised on whats going on. This month’s issue features a write up of the new Principal at Mandarin High School, Loretto Elementary’s Student Council and Mandarin Community Club meetings coming up next month.

For me the most interesting article is “The Sheriff Reports” about an online service being offered by the Jacksonville Sheriff’s office. The article is on page 6 of the newspaper. Check out their website at: www.jaxsheriff.org You can report crimes, view crime news, and much more. The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office is meeting a need for all citizens in the Jacksonville Area to have online access to the police and their services.

We have also updated the Retirement Communities page with information about the Jacksonville Mandarin Area Nursing Homes. Go to that page for a Nursing Homes listing and where to get more information about their reports by the State of Florida and the Agency for Healthcare Administration.

Here is a fun and fairly inexpensive event you might want to check out sponsored by the Mandarin Community Club:

3rd Annual Holiday Trolley Tour of Lights

Hosted and sponsored by the Mandarin Community Club. Trolleys depart from Mandarin Presbyterian Church @ corner of Mandarin Road & Loretto Road.

Sunday, December 13 – 6 til 9 pm
Last trolley departs 8:30 p.m. from church parking lot.

Tour the holiday lights & decorations of Mandarin neighborhoods on a JTA trolley & enjoy holiday caroling (booklets provided).

Visit with Santa (photo charges apply)
Live Nativity on Church grounds (12001 Mandarin Road)
Bake Sale *
Refreshments
Holiday Music

Visit with Santa, buy your goodies at the Bake Sale, then climb aboard the trolley to enjoy a tour of the holiday lights along sections of Mandarin Road, Loretto Road, Brady Road and several neighborhoods along the route. Cast your vote for the best decorated and the winner receives $100 cash prize!

And the Club will be collecting critically needed non perishable donations for the Mandarin Food Bank. Please help those in need this holiday season.

Neighbors, brighten the night in Mandarin with your luminaries!

Contact the Mandarin Community Club reservation line at 268-1622 to leave your name, phone # and number of guests in your party. Reservations are required and limited to first come, first served basis.*
Trolley ride is $2 per adult, $1 ages 5 to 12 years, under 5 free.

*MCC Club members have reservation priority.
* Please help support the Mandarin Community Club in our fundraising efforts by donating your favorite holiday cookies, cakes, or candies for the Bake Sale to be held during the Holiday Tour of Lights event. We ask that you wrap and label all items (non- refrigerated, please) for safety. Call 268-1622 for details on dropping off your donated goodies!

Hey fellow Mandarinites. I just got an email about a carnival at Greenland Park tomorrow. Here is the information from the email:

Homecoming Carnival
Mandarin Athletic Association
DATE: Friday, October 2nd
TIME: 6:00 pm to 10:00 pm
LOCATION: Greenland Park
ADMISSION: $5 (ages 3 and over)
PRESALE TICKETS: $4 from Team Moms

Games & Activities
Gladiator Arena (Jousting or Boxing) * Bobbing for Apples
Guitar Hero * Obstacle Course with Rock Wall
Dunking Booth * Pie Throwing Contest
Football Toss * Supre Slide
Bounce House * Photo Booth
Gumball Guess * Basketball
Dancing (DJ Chad) * Cash Raffle * Tattoos
Game Day Flirties * Smecils * Punch Balloons

Weekend Getaway Raffle and More
Food and Goodies
Ribs * Pizza * Pork Sandwiches * Shrimp Boil
Sausage Dogs * Sno-cones * Spring Rolls
Baked Goods * Frozen Drinks * Ice Cream
Pretzel Bites * Popcorn * Cotton Candy * Hot dogs

Flu Shots will be sold at the carnival
TIME: 6:30 to 8:30
$25 for Flu Shot (6 months to adults)
$40 for Pneumonia Shot (vaccine good for 5 years)
CASH or CREDIT CARD ONLY
$2 for each shot will go back to MAA

October is a great month to get out and about with the family and enjoy carnivals, the weather and of course kids sporting events. Support your youngsters in sports!

Cheers
jolenemacinjax

For those who have children or would like to volunteer to help children you should look into the Boy and Girl Scouts of America organization. This is a great way for your children to learn about our environment, volunteerism and to have fun while doing. The Boys and Girls Councils of North Florida have lots of information on how to join and look forward to having your child become a boy or girl scout. The adults can also volunteer to help teach their children new skills that will serve them well as adults. For those who don’t have children or their children are grown it is a great opportunity to share you life learning skills with those who need it the most. Each fall the Boys and Girls Scouts starts their drive for new recruits. It is not too late just call your local council and they will be happy to help. There is a small yearly fee for each child and there will be uniform costs but each troop has various rules and some can help with some of the costs. So CALL TODAY!

FOR those who are already in a local troop and want to send me your link I will be happy to post it here. Just send me a message at: jolene.macfadden@jacksonvillesmandarin.info or become a subscriber and post a comment to this blog.

Here is some general information about each group and their contact information:

National Website:

http://www.girlscouts.org/program/gs_central/ For Girl Scouts

http://scouting.org/for Boy Scouts

LOCAL INFORMATION:

Boy Scouts of America
North Florida Council
521 Edgewood Ave S
Jacksonville, FL 32205
904.388.0591
800.232.0845 Toll Free
904.387.4148 Fax
jana.metzger@scouting.org
http://www.nfcscouting.org

Girl Scouts of Gateway Council, Inc.
Jacksonville Service Center
1000 Shearer Street
Jacksonville, FL 32205-6055
(904) 388-4653
(800) 347-2688 – Local Toll Free Phone
Fax: (904) 384-1542
Email: info@girlscouts-gateway.org
Web Site: http://www.girlscouts-gateway.org
http://www.facebook.com/gsgcfl ON FACEBOOK

Youth Programs

BOYS
Tiger Cubs is a year-round family- and home-centered program that encourages the ethical decision-making skills for first-grade (or 7-year-old) boys. These boys participate in the program with their adult partners. The program emphasizes shared leadership, learning about the community, and family understanding.

Cub Scouts is a year-round family- and home-centered program that develops ethical decision-making skills for boys in the second through fifth grade (or who are 8, 9, and 10 years old). Activities emphasize character development, citizenship training, and personal fitness.

Boy Scouts is a year-round program that develops ethical decision-making skills for young men ages 11 to 18. Activities emphasize responsible citizenship, character development, and self-reliance through participation in a wide range of outdoor activities.

GIRLS
* Girl Scout Daisy, grades K-1
Girl Scout Daisies meet in groups of five to 10 with two or more adult leaders in a nurturing, inclusive environment. They go on trips, learn about nature and science, and explore the arts and their communities. Girl Scout Daisies can also earn Learning Petals and receive participation patches.

* Girl Scout Brownie, grades 2-3
Girl Scouts Brownies work together in groups, earn Girl Scout Brownie Try-Its, and explore their community. Friendship, fun, and age-appropriate activities begin at the Girl Scout Brownie meeting and move out to the community and wider world.

* Girl Scout Junior, grades 4-5
Girl Scout Juniors earn badges and discover what girl power is all about through new activities and by learning to take charge of their own plans. They gain self-confidence as they explore the world in partnership with their troop/group leaders.

* Girl Scout Cadette, grades 6-8; * Girl Scout Senior, grades 9-10; * Girl Scout Ambassador, grades 11-12

Girl Scout Cadettes, Seniors and Ambassadors participate in Girl Scouting in many ways. Under the guidance of a trained adult advisor, girls mix and match activities and resources to suit their needs while giving back to their communities. They connect with each other and build self-esteem and confidence in their skills as they work on a range of projects and gain life experiences.

FOR YOUNG ADULTS

Venturing is a year round program for young adults, men and women, between the ages of 14 (having completed the eighth grade) and 20. Its purpose is to provide positive experiences to help youth mature and to prepare them to become responsible adults.

Learning For Life Consists of Three Different Programs. For more information on any of the Learning For Life Programs, contact Ben Butler at 904.388.0591, or benjamin.butler@scouting.org.

Exploring is a worksite-based program for young men and women who are 14 through 20 years old. Exploring units have a focus on a career field, such as law enforcement, fire/rescue, health, law, aviation, engineering, or the like, and are sponsored by a government or business entity.

Character Education is a series of school-based programs designed to support schools and educational organizations in helping youth with character education, life skills, building self-esteem, and developing ethical decision-making skills.

Classroom Scouting is a school based program conducted in partnership with the Girl Scouts. The program is for children with physical, emotional and mental exceptionalities.

JOIN TODAY!
admin (THANKS TO MANDARIN TROOP 50 FOR MAKING THIS SUGGESTION)

See What’s Happening Mandarin:

If you are looking for some fresh fruits and vegetables try the Mandarin Farmers Market Every Sunday:
Mandarin Local Farmers Market at Whole Foods Market
San Jose Boulevard next to I-295
2:00pm to 6:00pm
http://www.mandarinfarmersmarket.com/Welcome.html

You might also want to check out our local library. They host events every month at both the Mandarin Branch on Kori road and the South Mandarin Branch on San Jose Boulevard at Orange Picker Road. They show movies, children story reading, toddler programs and much more. Each of the libraries are a great resource of free books, ebooks, movies, music and events for the whole family all for just signing up for a library card.

South Mandarin Regional
(904) 288-6385
12125 San Jose Blvd 32223
Hours:
• Mon – Thu: 10 a.m. – 9 p.m.
• Fri & Sat: 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.
• Sun: 1 p.m. – 6 p.m.

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Mandarin Regional
(904) 262-5201
3330 Kori Rd 32257
Hours:
• Mon – Thu: 10 a.m. – 9 p.m.
• Fri & Sat: 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.
• Sun: CLOSED

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Bartram Trail Branch: Northwest St. Johns County
60 Davis Pond Blvd.
Fruit Cove, Florida 32259
Telephone: (904) 827-6960
Fax: (904) 827-6965
Email: libbt@sjcfl.us
Hours
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday 10 am – 8 pm
Wednesday, Friday 10 am – 6 pm
Saturday 10 am – 5 pm
Sunday : Closed Contact
http://www.sjcpls.org/content/bartram-trail-branch

Bartram Trail Library

We have updated a couple of pages this week including the Government Services Page and the Utilities page. The Government page has been updated with a listing of the Mandarin Area Post offices, Fire Stations and the Police Substation. The Utilities page has been updated with a listing of the local TV and Radio Stations. We will continue to update the pages with more information as we can gather it. You can access these pages either through the tabs at the top on the page listing on the sidebar.

We have also created an acrobat reader file of the Fire Stations that includes pictures for you to download: Mandarin Area Fire Stations

For those who would like to print the TV and/or Radio Stations Listing we have uploaded that as well but they are in a picture format:

Jacksonville Area TV Stations

Jacksonville AREA Radio Stations

Good day to ya! We have added some files for our subscribers to use as well as adding more pictures to the slideshows on the pages. Our main focus this month has been the day care facilities, public parks and public schools in the Mandarin and Fruit Cove Areas (AKA St. Johns, Florida). These zip codes are for 32217, 32223, 32257, 32258 and 32259. The listings are in acrobat reader format, separated by zip codes and then alphabetized. The parks listing for 32259 is not complete yet and we are working on it. Hopefully, it will be done in a few days. The schools and day care center listings are complete however.

You can access these pages through either the page listing on the sidebar, the tabs in the middle top part of each page or just click on the links to the pages below:

Day Care Center Page

Public Parks Page

Public School Page

We hope you find the listings useful and comment if you are a subscriber or just sign out guestbook!

Cheers!

Here is your Author

We have lived in the Mandarin area for a very long time.  I have 4 children and now a grandchild so I have used almost all of the parks in this area included in the zip codes 32217, 32223, 32257, 32258 and 32259.  We are revisiting all of them for this blog to take pictures and to give reviews.  The most recent one that we have used is:

Burnett Park Community Center
3740 Burnett Park Rd
Jacksonville, FL 32257
(904) 268-7510

Last year my youngest daughter wanted to learn to play baseball so we signed up with the Mandarin Athletic Association and she was placed on team.  The fees were reasonable and the season was short as it was Fall.  We liked the coaches and they were patient with the newcomers.  She was the one of the only 2 or 3 girls that tried out that season.  But the coaches were great and the other members of the team pretty much took her in stride.  All of the practices and games were played at Burnett Park which has 6 baseball fields, 4 tennis courts, 2 basketball courts and a children’s jungle gym for the younger kids to play on.  They also have a snack bar opened during the games with the usual hotdogs, hamburgers, chips, drinks and ice cream.  The bleachers are all metal and pretty cold during the late fall and early winter when she played.  The public bathrooms need some repair especially those near the tennis courts.  Every time we went was not on a trash day or it was late in the afternoon after quite a few teams had practiced.  I had hoped to get a collection of volunteers together to keep it clean but that was a wash.  The fields are kept nice though and the children’s equipment seem to be in good repair.

We had a good time after my daughter got more comfortable with her teammates and with the rules of the game.  She even managed to hit a few during the later games with a little help from Mandarin Mill where they have a batting cage and practices.  Sadly, my daughter did not want to play baseball anymore because she had some kind of falling out with one of the players during the tryouts in the spring.  But maybe next year she will want to play softball with the girls!

Mandarin Mill Family Golf
10910 San Jose Blvd
Jacksonville, FL 32223
(904) 262-7888

The park is opened all year round.  And you can play or practice on the fields at anytime unless there are team practices.  The park has some old oak trees for shade and pine trees to screen the traffic noise coming off of I-295.  There is a community hall on the premises but we have never used that.  The park in located in the middle of an established community and not very close to any major arteries so if you are not familiar with the Mandarin Area you are going to want to “GOOGLE MAP IT” on your first try.  There is a care-taker onsite for any problems.  Of course, there is no admission charge for any of the city parks.  There is ample parking unless of course it’s baseball season.

Something you may not know about Burnett Park is that the area to the west side of the park use to be a Horse Training and Show Area.  When we first moved to the area the park had two sides separated by a screen of pine trees.  The pine trees are still there but the horse track, tower and bleachers are gone and have been replaced by two more baseball diamonds with dug-outs and practice boxes.

Let me tell you upfront I have never been impressed by the Duval County School System.  I was born and raised here and went to schools here as have my mom, dad, half of my grandparents and all of my children.   As with almost all school systems throughout our country there are problems with over-crowding, under-budgeting, cutting of extra-curricular activities and shortages of qualified teachers.  Granted there are limited resources to go around but my goodness can’t we figure out how to get our children educated in more that taking the FCATs.  That is all that the schools have been concentrating on for the last 7 or 8 years.  They have cut off funding and canceled extra courses that round out our children’s education.  It really doesn’t matter which middle school or high school you put your child in or what Magnet Program they join.  Most of our children are way behind any other country in the World.  I don’t know what the solution to the problems is but we need to do something to help our children and our grandchildren before it is too late.

In the Mandarin area (that is zip codes 32217, 32223, 32257, 32258 and 32259) there are numerous elementary schools, a couple of middle schools and probably only 2 high schools.  I don’t know the exact number of private schools but I have only seen maybe 3 or 4 of those in this area.  Mandarin High School is a zoo of over 3000 students all crammed together trying to get through.  My two oldest kids didn’t make it through and finally just gave up and took the GED.  My younger son is going through that now.  I have taken my last child out of the public school system and am trying to homeschool her.  We are using a free resource call the Florida Virtual School that has the curriculum for 6th through 12th graders online with teachers from all over the state teaching the classes.  From the enrollment logs on my daughters listing the class size is a little smaller and she can go at her own pace.  All the information and tests are online.  The teachers require that the parent and student call them about once a month and a progress report is posted every couple of weeks.  As a parent or guardian you can check their gradebook every day at almost anytime of the day or night.  The only problem we have so far is keeping her on track and turning work in every week.  She gets ahead in the posted pace chart and figures she can take the rest of the week off.  But the teachers require that the students turn work in every week even though they are ahead.

We hope that this will give her an opportunity to progress and actually learn something.  She still has to take the FCAT every year and keep a copy of her work for inspection by the Home School People at the Duval County School Board.  She will not get a Duval County Diploma but we will worry about that in the future.  By the time she actually gets into 12th grade they may recognize the Florida Virtual School as a viable entity and grant their students a Florida High School Diploma.  They do have graduation ceremonies but I think they are in Orlando.

I cannot advise on where to place your child or even really advocate homeschooling I only know that something needs to change and we need to change it very soon!

Click here to go to a Mandarin Schools Page.