The Public Lands Management Act Signed by President Obama

Some great news, courtesy of the National Trust's Preservation Nation blog:

Last Wednesday, a piece of legislation - which President Obama will sign into law at 6 pm today - was enacted called the Public Lands Management Act.

Why should you care? Clocking in at 1,300 pages and over 160 provisions, this is the largest conservation measure passed in over a decade, and it will protect innumerable areas that are rich in cultural and historic resources. Among those provisions is the National Landscape Conservation System Act. Introduced two and a half years ago, this bill congressionally establishes the Bureau of Land Management’s conservation system, which is comprised of 26 million acres of land in 14 states. It’s at these special places where one can truly experience the wild beauty of the American West.

In general, a lands bill of this size and scope takes about six years to pass through the ever-complicated process known as the United States Congress. To say we were ecstatic to get this one done in two and a half is the understatement of the century.

The District is Looking Good for Buyers AND Sellers

The local paper had a story last week about the strength of the real estate market for Riverside, Avondale and Ortega. Much of the interest is coming from first time home buyers eager to take advantage of teh $8000 tax incentive, out-of-town buyers moving to Jacksonville and beach residents looking to get closer to the city. Another good statistic is that people looking to move into the district are looking for their own personal homes instead of those looking to make a quick buck flipping.

“Most of the phone calls we receive are for the historic areas,” said Nabel Nunez, broker with Exit Southern Heritage Realty in Riverside. “The area has good appreciation, and a lot of people moving to Jacksonville from out of town are looking for a community like this.” We know the value of our historic properties, but it is nice to hear it from others from time to time.

Crime Preventiion Tip

Put your car keys on your nightstand next to your bed at night. If you hear or see someone trying to get into your home during the night, push the panic button on the key chain and your car alarm will sound, sending the would be intruder running the other way.

Be sure to call 9-1-1 immediately. Give a detailed description of the suspect, suspect vehicle and last known direction of travel.

Also, remember to carry your car keys in your hand while walking to your car in a parking lot. The same principle applies, push the panic button to set off your car alarm, people around you will notice and the suspect will be the center of attention.

Blessing of the Fleet

The City of Jacksonville Office of Special Events and Captains' Club presents the annual Blessing of the Fleet.

Sunday, April 5, 2pm
Northbank Riverfront Park.

Bring the whole family to the downtown riverfront to witness many of the First Coast's finest vessels as they participate in the visually-stunning blessing ceremony. Typically, more than 150 vessels participate in the Blessing, ranging from ships to kayaks

For more information or to register your boat, click here or call (904) 630-3690.

Boone Park Tennis Complex

Boone Park has the city's largest tennis complex, with 14 clay courts, two hard courts, two beat walls, and lights for night play. Anyone who's ever played there knows it's a terrific neighborhood resource, and also incredibly cheap, with court rentals available for just a few dollars an hour, and an annual family membership of $175. It's utilized by some 3,000 players of all ages each month.

With the city facing a tough budget year, however, the Mayor is floating a plan to privatize the facility, as well as the San Marco Tennis Complex; he's looking for a public-private partnership to stretch city dollars for better services. Opponents of the plan worry that a private entity will do little more than jack up fees, without addressing necessary improvements. The City is hosting a meeting to discuss its proposal with interested parties; the date is April 6th at 6 pm in the Lynwood Roberts Room at City Hall.

Image courtesy of Waymarking.

CHAOS in Riverside this Saturday

Would you believe that the opening of RAM is almost here? This Saturday, March 28, RAM will be putting all those inugural artistans and vendors through a trial run at setting up and it will be CHAOS! CHAOS actually stands for Come Help Attempt Our Set Up. It is very important that all our vendors attend because it will get you acclimated to the process of unloading your vehicles, set up of your booths, and break down your booths. Visit the RAM website for all the details.

For those of you who still need to reserve a booth, please do so as soon as possible as space is limited. Please send your reservations to RAM 2623 Hershel Street Jacksonville, Fl 32204 or online to info[at]riversideartsmarket.com by next Wednesday, April 1st.

And a hearty welcome to Mary Kerwick, the new Assistant Director of RAM. She'll be assiting Tony Alligretti with CONTROL.

Town Hall Meeting on Growth in 7 NE Florida Counties

Reality Check First Coast is a long-term planning project effort for the seven-county region surrounding Jacksonville. Tonight, the seven Northeast Florida regional counties will participate in simultaneous town hall meetings to discuss what our vision is for the future. Reality Check First Coast is designed to raise awareness of projected regional growth and develop a concrete list of steps to meet future job, housing, transportation, infrastructure and recreation needs, according to a news release from Brian Teeple, chief executive of the council.

Prior to the meeting Reality Check First Coast needs your input. Click here to participate in a quick survey.

In Duval County, the meeting will be held at the WJCT studio located at 100 Festival Park Avenue, Jacksonville, FL 32202. The meeting starts at 6:30 and will run for in hour in order to give you time to get home to view the program.

Florida Heritage Week

March 23-26, 2009

Here is an interesting read on the economic impact that historic preservation has on Florida.

The report cites the impact preservation has on everything from tourism to property values. And while the numbers found in the report are admittedly conservative, several conclusions can be made about the final results, including:

Historic preservation creates jobs in Florida.
More than 123,000 jobs were generated in Florida from historic preservation activities during 2000. The major areas of job creation include the manufacturing sector,
retail trade sector, services sector, and construction sector.

Historic preservation makes a substantial contribution to tax collections for Florida state and local governments.
More than $657 million in state and local taxes were generated from spending on historic preservation activities during 2000.

Visitors to Florida spend billions of dollars while visiting historic sites. More than $3.7 billion was spent in Florida by tourists who visited historic sites. The tourists are lured by Florida’s historic sites, historic museums, state parks, and archeological sites. There are more than 1,400 Florida listings in the National Register of Historic Places and more than 135,000 historic structures and archeological sites in the Florida Master Site File of historic sites.

Historic preservation helps to maintain property values in Florida. In at least fifteen of the eighteen cases studied, property in historic districts appreciated greater than in the non-historic comparison neighborhoods. No instance was found where historic designation depressed property values.

ShAdCo Meeting - March 26

The Sheriff's Advisory Council (ShAdCo) meets the fourth Thursday of each month at 7 pm at the Boyd Chapel at Ortega United Methodist Church at 4807 Roosevelt Boulevard (at the corner of Roosevelt and Longfellow Road).

This month's special guest:
Jacksonville Sheriff Office’s Gang Unit

Your attendance and participation in the ShAdCo meetings is very important, so we encourage you to attend. Please feel free to bring a neighbor or a friend with you. As always, you may present any questions to the Watch Commander, sargeant or officers that patrol your area. (Caution: If you have a question or concern of a sensitive nature, please wait to speak to one of our officers after the meeting has adjourned of fill out one of the Comment/ Complaint Forms) At the meeting you will find out what crimes are happening in your neighborhood, if they are up or down, and what is being done about it. The police want our involvement and in fact, depend on it in most instances. If you are interested, please come to the meetings.

There are 19 ShAdCos in the city. We are in Zone 4, in the J1 sub-station. The Zone Commander is Assistant Chief Thomas R. Hackney - (904) 573-3165. Our Substation is located in the Cedar Hills Shopping Center at 3726 Blanding Blvd; the email address is JSOzone4[at]jaxsheriff.org.

Sheriff John Rutherford

DIrector van de Guchte to Leave the Cummer

After almost ten years as the director of the Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens, Maarten van de Guchte is moving on. While director he has seen the museum grow in size and membership, including the aquistion of many notable pieces of artwork as well as the Women’s Club of Jacksonville on Riverside Avenue. The Cummer is now by size firmly in the top five art museums in the State of Florida. And it is the second most visited art museum in Florida.

Hope McMath will serve as interim director while the museum conducts a national search for a replacement. Best wishes to both of them.

And thank you Maarten, for all you have done to bring an increased cultural awareness to the District.

Riverside Fine Arts Series

John Williams
Friday, March 27, 2009 // 8:00 PM // Church of the Good Shepherd

The Riverside Fine Arts Series brings us one of the most versatile and respected guitarists in the world, John Williams has explored, expanded and personally inspired a modern renaissance for the classical guitar through his international concert appearances and best-selling recordings.

Volunteers Needed for the St. Johns River Celebration

Volunteers are needed for the 14th Annual St. Johns River Celebration cleanup event. Participants will spend the morning collecting litter and debris from more than 20 pre-selected riverfront and inland sites around the city.

Saturday, March 21 • 8 - 11:30 a.m.
In the District Support Sites are
Azalea Creek/Boone Park and Fishwier Creek.
Click the links for Yahoo Maps. Specific times vary by locations.
Volunteer appreciation event: noon - 2 p.m. ( Metro Park )

Part of the Florida Great American Cleanup, this event is one of many national and regional volunteer efforts to clean and protect the environment throughout the spring. Pre-selected sites around the city, locations below. For more information or to register call (904) 630-CITY or visit www.coj.net, keywords: St. Johns River Celebration.

Volunteers will be provided with trash bags, gloves and tickets at the Support Sites. Download the COJ brochure here. Tickets may be redeemed for refreshments and t-shirts (while supplies last) at an appreciation event at Metro Park following the cleanup from noon -2:00p.m.

This event provides an opportunity for students to satisfy community service requirements. Scouts may earn badges for two volunteer hours at the cleanup (while supplies last). Participants must be over 18 years of age or accompanied by an adult. Pre-registration is not required.

RAM Making News

On April 4 will become a reality. Don't miss out. If you are thinking about showing your work, you might be too late. There are only a few spaces left. If you are looking for something fun to do in the River City… set aside your Saturdays!

RAM has been everywhere in the news recently. The Times-Union interviewed Wayne Wood and Doug Colemen, Ron Littlepage had an Op-Ed piece and the blogs are buzzing (Urban Core, Globatron, Jacksonville Confidential and others!) Check out this post “Day One” from our new market manager, Tony Allegretti.

Financial Mess Got You Down?

How does a free party sound?

Super Fun Fest is this weekend. It is a totally free party! SFF is being put on by a group of people who want to meet people, build community nad have fun.

Here are a few things on tap:

• Baby plant give-away
• T-shirt printing - bring your own t-shirt and use the screen to make your own commemorative apparel
• Bike maintenance workshop
• Painting workshop
• Pinata making & breaking
• Chalk art
• Cake walk
• 3v3 soccer
• Free food - feel free to bring your own dish, vegetarian preferred but all welcome
• Really really free market - bring some stuff you don’t want anymore and take some stuff you do – clothes, books, movies, furniture…
  
• much much more!
  

There are also plans for a potential aftershow, so if you have a band and would like to perform contact the crew at jaxfest@gmai.com. Feel free to email your suggestions or volunteer as well.

Mark your calendars because it all goes down March 21 at Riverside Park. The Alleycat starts at 1pm. The bike race also starts at 1pm but the starting point will still remain in Memorial Park. Fest starts at 2! Should be an awesome time, so make sure you don’t miss it.

If you are on Facebook, check out the event page.

Community Meeting – John Gorrie Junior High

Please make plans to attend a community meeting regarding the future use of John Gorrie Junior High. The meeting will be held Monday, March 16 from 6:30 -8:30pm in Craig Hall in the Church of the Good Shepherd located at the corner of Park and Stockton.

For those of you who haven't heard, the Duval County School Board recently sold the school to Jaguars owner Wayne Weaver and his wife, Delores Barr Weaver, under the name John Gorrie Investment Group LLC. This meeting has been called to get community input as to the possible future use. Working with architect Jack Diamond, the Weavers are considering converting the facility into affordable housing for nurses and teachers. Another option is to convert the facility for charter school use.

The Stockton Street Vision Plan has been approved and is in the works. John Gorrie Junior High will have a considerable impact on the entire area. Now is your chance to be heard. Bring your ideas. This is an important meeting.

Riverside Fine Arts - Organ Series

William Whitehead
March 22 at 3:00 pm
at Church of the Good Shepherd

Submissions a now being accepted for the April's Bird Show.
All work has to be bird related and submitted
to shopbogda[at]gmail.com by March 23rd to take part.

More RAM News

RAM is so fortunate to have such support from our community from our own RAMROD committee (you know who you are!) to the recently announced sponsors. RAM is so pleased to announce its two founding sponsors, Winn-Dixie and WJCT. We are very grateful for their commitment to the Riverside Arts Market and for their investment in the cultural enhancement of our city.

And a great big thanks to Michael and Julie McKenny for their generous support of the Children's Creativity Corner. This high-energy art learning center will be housed under a huge tent near the RAM Food Court.

Tony Allegretti Named Market Director of RAM

RAM is pleased to announce the selection of Tony Allegretti as the Market Director of RAM. He was selected from nearly 100 applicants for the position. Tony is well known to the city's arts community and the Downtown culture scene. He is the originator of numerous events such as ArtWalk, Take Me to the River, Summertime in the City, and Jazz in June. Tony has worked for Downtown Vision, is a co-owner of the Burrito Gallery, worked as a special assistant to Mayor John Peyton, served as a member of the mayor's convention center task force, and was a founding partner in Main Branch LLC, which is redeveloping the old Haydon Burns Public Library.

Tony is organizer, instigator, promoter of the arts, and is a highly regarded leader in improving the quality of life in the downtown area.

The first issue of the Rambler, RAM's newsletter has hit the web. Check out all the stories. And get the lastest information. Sign up now!

LISC Jacksonville 10th Anniversary Neighborhood Photo Contest

Hey teens! LISC, a non-profit organization that helps to build better communities in underserved neighborhoods, is sponsoring a photo contest for teens 12-18 to celebrate their 10th anniversary of serving Jacksonville. Teens who live in North Riverside and in the District north of Park Street are eligible. For more information, visit the contest site for rules and map of neighborhoods.

Win prize money! Win a photography lesson! Have your work on display at the June ArtWalk!

Spring Forward

Daylight Savings Time - STARTS 3/8/09
Before you go to bed tonight, set clocks ahead 1 hour.

As if we don't get too little sleep already.

Exterior Paint Problems on Historic Woodwork

A cautionary approach to paint removal is included in the guidelines to the Secretary of the Interior Standards for Rehabilitation. Removing paints down to bare wood surfaces using harsh methods can permanently damage those surfaces; therefore such methods are not recommended. Also, total removal obliterates evidence of the historical paints and their sequence and architectural context.

This Brief from the National Park Service expands on that advice for the architect, building manager, contractor, or homeowner by identifying and describing common types of paint surface conditions and failures, then recommending appropriate treatments for preparing exterior wood surfaces for repainting to assure the best adhesion and greatest durability of the new paint.

Over One Hundred Artists and Vendors Apply in the First Ten Days!

April 4 will be here before we know it. And for those of you who haven't heard… April 4 is the official launch! The good news is that we already have over 100 artists and vendors so you will not want to miss the opening. The Charter Member status is almost gone. If you are interested, sign up now! We could use a few more farmers and organic growers… so get the word out. We are also looking for a few sponsors for a number of wonderful programs that will help emerging artists show their work.

The RAM website is looking great! It is packed with information for artisans and visitors alike. The first “Artist of the Week” feature is now up and features Mike Barnhart. He is the talented designer responsible for our wonderful logo! A new feature of the RAM website is an extensive online workshop for artists, packed with tips and suggestions for anyone who wants to exhibit at the Market.

It's real! It's happening! Get in your studios, gardens and kitchens! Mark your calendars! And visit the website often for the latest news.

Trips for the History Book

Historic Charleston Foundation’s
62nd Festival of Houses and Gardens
March 19 - April 18 • Charleston, SC

Charleston International Antiques Show
March 20-22 • Charleston, SC

The Savannah Tour of Homes and Gardens
March 26-29 • Savannah, GA

Azalea Festival Home Tour
Saturday, April 4 • Wilmington, NC

Ham Jam Arts Festival
April 17-18 • Philadelphia, MS

Sandburg Days Festival 2007
April 23-25 • Galesburg, IL

18th Annual Johnson Farm Festival
Saturday, April 25 • Hendersonville, NC

Florida Trust for Historic Preservation 2009 Conference

May 13-16, 2009 • Palm Beach, FL

North Carolina Potato Festival
May 16 • Elizabeth City, NC

East Durham Open House Home Tour
Sunday, May 17 • Durham, NC

Florida Folk Festival
May 22 – May 24

If you are into beading or want to try something new, Bead Here Now has some great classes and events scheduled. Visit their site for more details. Bead Here Now is located at 1051 Park St 5 Points . 904-475-0004.

Monday, March 2
Basic Wire Link Earrings with Catina
Time: 6:30-7:30 Fee:$15.00 + material

Wednesday, March 11
Wire link bracelet with Shannon
Time:6:30-9 Fee $20.00 + material

Saturday, March 14
Introducing the Itty Bitty Smithy
Time: 12-2pm Fee:$30. (includes material) Class limited to 4

Thursday, March 19
Basic Beading with Shannon
Time: 6:30-8:00 Fee: $15.00 + material

Sunday, March 22
Beading for Sassy Seniors-
Time:2:30-3:30 Fee: $10 + material (class starts promptly at 2:30 so arrive early to pick out your goodies)

Wednesday, March 25
Herringbone wire weave pendant with Shannon-
Time:11:30-12:30 Fee: $10 + material

Wednesday, March 25
Interchangable necklace with Shannon-
Time:6:30-8:30 Fee $15 + material

Space is limited so please sign up early!
$10 classes with student ID (does not include material)
Classes start promptly at 6:30 so please arrive around 6 or shortly after if you need to pick out your beads.

Peter Max at R. Roberts Gallery

Meet the Artist Peter Max
at R. Roberts Gallery
3606 Saint Johns Avenue
Jacksonville, Florida

Saturday, March 7th, 6-9pm
and
Sunday, March 8th, 12noon-3pm

RSVP please:
1-904-388-1188

Ask about the special opportunity
exclusively for patrons of R. Roberts Gallery.
You must call the number above to find out what it is.