Plan to attend the first-ever Public Safety Day on Feb. 1 from noon to 4 p.m., at the Florida Public Safety Institute, located at 75 College Drive, in Havana. At this all-ages event, there will be food, music, a kids’ play area, public safety demonstrations, fire trucks, police vehicles, motorcycle demonstrations, and your child will have a chance to ride with a cop at Public Safety Day! Take bikes and helmets and be sure to join in on the fun! There will also be a chance to win one of four $500 scholarships, and much more!
OneBlood will be onsite during this exciting day to take blood donations! Those who donate will receive a “Badges for Life” t-shirt and a Papa John’s coupon. To be an eligible donor, you must meet these criteria:
No Vaccines two weeks prior to donating
Eat before donating blood
No heavy lifting 24 hours after donating click below to reserve your spot.
The Panama Grammar School was built over 100 years ago and still sits on the corner of Harrison Avenue and 7th Street. This property has been placed on the National Register of Historic Places by The United States Department Of The Interior. For months officials have been working to get one of the oldest Panama City buildings national recognition. In November, the building received state approval and then moved toward national approval. Built in 1914, the red brick building has served as a downtown landmark for decades and has been owned by the First Presbyterian Church of Panama City since it closed as a public school in 1965. Due to extensive damage from Hurricane Michael the church put the building up for sale.
It’s camilla season in Tallahassee. If you haven’t been, you should check out Maclay Gardens State Park – with all the gorgeous camilla in bloom, it’s a beautiful sight.
Alfred B.” Maclay” Gardens State Park is a masterpiece of floral architecture and rich history, the gardens feature a picturesque brick walkway, secret garden, reflection pool, walled garden and hundreds of camellias and azaleas. Peak blooming season is from January 1 through April 30, with the floral peak in mid-to-late March. During these months, a special fee is charged for visiting the gardens and the historic Maclay House. There is something for everyone. The experiences include biking, hiking, horseback riding, weddings, tours, swimming, walking, running, geo-seeking, paddling, and so much more.
Alfred Maclay was a wealthy banker and financier from New York. He visited Tallahassee with his wife, Louise Fleischmann Maclay, in 1923 and was impressed by the huge oaks and pines, beautiful dogwoods and hollies. He decided this would be the place to fulfill his lifelong dream of creating a beautiful garden, and this would be their winter home. Over the years they established one of the most beautiful ornamental gardens in Florida. In 1953, nine years after Mr. Maclay’s death, Mrs. Maclay and her children donated the gardens to the state of Florida. She expressed her wishes that the gardens always be maintained as a memorial to her husband and his creation, and opened to the public for the enjoyment of the people of Florida and guests.
The park and historic gardens are open daily from 8am to sunset and the Maclay House museum is open January through April, 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. Located at 3540 Thomasville Road in Tallahassee. You can contact them at 850-487-4556 or click on the link below to go to the website for more information. And be sure to click the link below to see all the great events they have scheduled. You can go on full moon paddle with a park ranger in the lake, tours of the garden also given by a park ranger, and painting in the park is offered!
Who likes to sing? You can go to Beef O’ Brady’s every other Tuesday night for karaoke! The next 5 dates are: Jan 28th. Feb. 11th and 25th, and March 10th and 24th. It is from 5pm to 8pm at the Panama City Beach restaurant located at 11226 Hutchison Blvd.
January is National Hot Tea Month and with these cold days it is the perfect month for it. A warm, steaming cup of tea is welcome at any time of day, especially in the cold winter months. Whether as an alternative to coffee with the rich tradition of Irish Breakfast tea, or as a quiet cap to the end of the day, settling your nerves with Chamomile and Lavender, tea is amazing. You can drink it like the American’s do, with lemon and sugar, or perhaps a bit of honey, or you can mix in milk or creamer for a fully European experience. However you do it, Hot Tea Month is a great time to reembrace this delicious beverage that can warm your heart and body.
Have you ever wondered where tea came from, and what made someone put leaves in hot water for flavor? Well, legend says in 2737 BC, a Chinese emperor was sitting under a tree while his servant boiled drinking water when some leaves blew into it. The emperor happened to be a renowned herbalist, and he decided to taste the infusion that had just been created by accident… He loved it, and that’s where tea comes from! The Tea Council of the USA was founded in 1950 and recognizes National Hot Tea Month every January.
Tea isn’t just a warm and delicious beverage, it can also be used medicinally. There are thousands of herbal teas out there, and each of them can be used to help fortify the body, and even help you heal and fight infection. One of the most common uses is to help soothe nerves as night time rolls in with a cup of mint and chamomile tea. Tea is packed with antioxidants. These help keep our bodies “young” and protect them from toxins. It has less caffeine than coffee. (The kinds that do contain caffeine) usually contain about 50% less than coffee which means you can drink it without affecting your nervous system. Research shows a correlation between tea and heart health. A recent study says people who drink tea have a 20% less chance of having a stroke or heart attack than those who don’t. It can help with weight loss, especially when paired with a well-balanced diet and exercise. Tea is usually calorie-free, and it can give you energy and cause your body to burn more calories throughout the day.
This photo is at TeaKettle Junction which is a shrine to tea, it is located on a long bumby dirt road on the way to Racetrack, which is in Death Valley California. It is considered good luck to take a teapot or/and leave one.
National Compliment Day is today, January 24th! It offers a wonderful way to brighten someone’s day or to give credit for a job well done! Give an extra compliment annually on January 24th and any time one is deserved. In the hustle-n-bustle of our daily lives, it is easy to start taking our loved ones and people around us for granted. Compliment Day attempts to change that. It encourages people to make a conscious attempt to praise and acknowledge the little (and big) things others do for them. A compliment has a powerful effect. It can instill confidence in a child or validate someone’s hard work. A compliment not only improves the receiver’s mood, but it also says something about the giver. It tells them you noticed. Whether we recognize someone’s achievement or their classic style, a compliment can go a long way. To give a great compliment, first be sincere. People have a way of knowing when we are fake. If you don’t mean it, it’s worse than getting a thoughtless birthday gift. Complimenting character versus a new haircut are different rewards. The first says you respect the person and the other tells them you paid attention. Sometimes the receiver needs to hear one or the other, or both. Human beings like to be unique, original. Strive to give a compliment about what makes a person stand out above the rest. Take the time to reflect on what you admire about the person.
Kathy Chamberlin and Debby Hoffman created National Compliment Day in 1998. Compliments not only help spread joy, they also help create bonds. Research has shown that people tend to gravitate towards other positive people in both personal and professional settings. Appreciating others also creates an atmosphere of mutual admiration – praise someone genuinely once or twice, and you are bound to get a compliment or two back. The bottom line is this: giving compliments not only makes the other person happy, it can also make you happy, boost your self-esteem. and help you make friends. Everyone deserves to hear a compliment everyday, but especially today!
Join others from the panhandle for the start of something amazing this year supporting our local small business owners!
Date : Saturday January the 25th
Time : 9am – 3pm
Location : Southern Rebellion Boutique, 11231 Hwy 77 Southport FL 32409
This will be a free of charge fun outside shopping event, they have several pop up tents to shop at featuring the best of the best local small business owners! They will also have an amazing local food truck to fill your tummy’s while you shop!! The following booths will be featured :
1. J. Kelley Designs
2. Southern Rebellion Boutique
3. Totes by Stephenie
4. Destiny Makes Scents
5. Holly Lynn Creations
6. Spread the Love
7. Color Street Nails
8. Bedazzled By Brandi
9. Danielle with Handmade Pearls
10. Kristen with LimeLife
11. Sharp Curbside Bistro, Food Truck
12. That’s my Goat Soap
13. Usbourne books & more
14. Modern Sondays
15. Wag this way
16. Artist Tree
17. St Andrews Pepper Company
18. MonaLynn Boutique (children’s boutique clothing)
Whether this is a day to treat yourself or an outing with your kiddos they would love for you to join them for the first pop up event of the year.
—> Want to be apart of the fun and have a booth at the next event? Send an email to:
J.KelleyDesigns@yahoo.com
This Saturday, January 25th from 11am to 3pm at Tall Timbers Research Station & Land Conservancy located at 13093 Henry Beadel Drive in Tallahassee. Be sure to plan to go to this Red Hills Fire Festival if you have ever been curious about the natural role of fire in our region. It’s a fun and easy way for all ages to learn more about prescribed fire, the people who use it, and why.
It’s a free festival! It’s a good time with live music from Two Foot Level, prescribed fire demonstrations, live wildlife, guided wagon ride tours of healthy forests, hands-on fire equipment, kids’ activities, and great food vendors.
Prescribed fire demonstrations are planned for 12:30 and 2:30, weather permitting. Rain date is February 1st, and any use of the rain date will be noticed in the Facebook event page.
Please consider carpooling with friends and family to share this event with more people and to make good use of the limited parking spaces. Also take your reusable water bottles to take advantage of the water refill stations they will have throughout the festival.
What are you doing tonight, January 21st? If you have no plans consider heading over to the Jackson County Library in Marianna on Green Street at 6:30pm. Kyle Carey is performing a free Gaelic Americana concert.
Martin Luther King Jr. Day is a federal holiday falling on the third Monday of every January. This year Martin Luther King Jr. holiday on Jan. 20, 2020, marks the 25th anniversary of the day of service that celebrates the Civil Rights leader’s life and legacy. King was assassinated in April 1968 on a motel balcony in Memphis. On Nov. 2, 1983, President Ronald Reagan signed a bill marking the third Monday of every January as Martin Luther King Jr. Day. King was born on Jan. 15, 1929. The holiday was approved as a federal holiday in 1983, becoming the first federal holiday honoring an African American. MLK Day is the only federal holiday designated as a national day of service to encourage all Americans to volunteer to improve their communities. The Corporation for National and Community service has been charged to lead this effort for the last quarter century.
A few things you may not know about MLK.
~The civil rights activist was born Michael King Jr on January 15, 1929. ~When Martin Luther King Jr received a Nobel Peace Prize for combating racial inequality through nonviolence, he was just 35 years old, the youngest man at the time to do so. ~The civil rights leader was arrested 29 times and assaulted four times. ~From 1957 to 1968, King traveled over 6 million miles and spoke over 2,500 times. ~King was awarded 20 honorary degrees and was named ‘Man of the Year’ by Time magazine. ~There are approximately 900 streets named after MLK in the US, and over 70% in Southern States. ~His mother was also murdered by a gunman.
