Jacksonville's Mandarin Info Blog » Mandarin Kid Stuff

Save Our Parks

jolenemacinjax — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 17:47:11 +0000

If you haven’t been to a city, state or federal park lately you should put together a little picnic, gather the kids and/or some friends and visit one this weekend. There are a wide variety of parks and recreational areas available to us now but they are on the budgetary chopping block and may not be very soon. Most of the city parks are free or have very low-cost services for the residents of the area. They are being maintained by the government and some volunteers. I cannot tell you how many times I have taken my kids to the various parks around town to spend the morning, afternoon or the whole day just being in a natural setting away from home. We never really have any extra money so these places are where we go to have some fun and spend some time away from the distractions of TV, gaming consoles, etc. Recently, I was looking for a new park here in Mandarin that I could take my granddaughter to while she was on spring break and found one off of San Jose Boulevard called the Chuck Rogers Park. It is near the Southeast Mandarin Library the west side of San Jose Boulevard. It is mainly a soccer park with large field areas, covered picnic tables, a large grill and bathrooms. The children’s play area has two sets of playground equipment one for the smaller ones like 5 and under and a larger one for those 5 and over. There is one swing set that has 2 baby style swings and two kid sized swings. All of this under cover of some pretty huge old oak trees. So there is lots of shade. The park benches need some work though so be careful when sitting on them.

public_schools

The other park that I wanted to remind you about is Burnett Park. This is a pretty great park as well but is usually only known to the immediate residents in the area and those who have kids that play baseball. During spring break I was also looking for something for my youngest child, a teenager, to do this summer. We homeschool her and she needs some physical activities and social time with her peers. Burnett Park was offering a homeschooling time for fitness during the regular school hours but attendance dropped off after Christmas and they no longer have it. I talked to the director and she is willing to bring it back again if we can get some participation going. Burnett Park is the only park in the Mandarin Area that offers structured programs for our kids a little to no cost and the city has put out a Summer 2011 Activities Booklet. Take a look at it and PARTICIPATE with something in there. Call or visit Burnett Park and talk to the director about getting your teenager, homeschooled child or other children involved:

Burnett Center
3740 Burnett Park Road
Jacksonville, Fl 32257
(904) 268-7510

Call, write, email as many city officials as you can think of the tell them we must save our parks. They are practically the only FREE natural resource we have left that we can enjoy with our children and our friends every single day. We need parks and the services that are offered. Don’t let them be taken away from us, our children and our grandchildren!

Whats New at the Library

jolenemacinjax — Sat, 01 May 2010 13:00:14 +0000

One of the best forms of FREE entertainment is at our local branches of the public library. Mandarin is blessed with two branches. The original one off of Kori Road is just called the Mandarin Branch and the other on San Jose Boulevard and Orange Picker Road called South Mandarin. Both libraries have a wealth of knowledge to offer in the form of books, videos, music and other programs for kids and adults alike. Of course, each of the branches offers internet service either through one of the public computers or bring in your own laptop and enjoy FREE wireless internet. You can watch movies for FREE as well as hold a meeting in one of their meeting rooms. They have study rooms as well that can be used for your research team, homework help and tutoring or just by yourself for some added privacy.

For a listing of the services offered and the times that these branches are open you can visit the main libraries web pages for these branches: Mandarin and South Mandarin. You can even sign up for a “feed” service so that you will be sent a message when their calendar of events is updated by going to this address:
http://jpl.coj.net/res/rssfeeds/index.html There FEEDS program uses some of the more popular feeds readers such as Google Reader (Windows), NetNewsWire (Mac) and Bloglines (Web).

Both facilities have nice helpful people at each of the service desks, clean bathrooms, a quiet atmosphere (of course) and will be happy to get any materials you wish to read, view or listen to by sending for it from the Main library if it is not already at their branch. All of this and much more just for signing up for a library card.

MAA Carnival

jolenemacinjax — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 09:44:28 +0000

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

Join Scouting

jolenemacinjax — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 04:39:45 +0000

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)