September facts and trivia

Debbie Roney Smith on

September is the 9th month of the year and also has 9 letters in it’s name. It is the only month with the same number of letters in it’s English name as the number of the month. It has 30 days. It is the first month of the fall season. The birthstone is Sapphire, which was once thought to guard against evil and poisoning. The birth flowers are aster, forget-me-nots, or morning glory. And the band-aid was invented in September.

September in Old England was called Haervest-monath(Harvest Month). September’s name came from the Latin word septem, meaning “seven.” This month had originally been the seventh month of the year of the early Roman calendar.

The name “United States” came into existence in the month of September on Sept 9, 1776. Originally it was referred to as the United Colonies.

Holidays in September are : Labor Day Sept 2nd, Grandparents Day Sept 8th, Patriot Day Sept 11, Constitution Day Sept. 17, International Day of Peace Sept 21, Autumnal Equinox Sept. 23 at 3:50am EDT, Michaelmas Sept 29, and Rosh Hashanah Sept 29.

On Sept 1st Louis XIV, known as the Sun King, died at the age of 76, after ruling France since the age of 5.

Folklore about September: ~Fair on September 1st, Fair for the month. ~Heavy September rains brings drought. ~Married in September’s golden glow, smooth and serene your life will go. ~September dries up ditches or breaks our bridges.

Saturday, August 31st

Debbie Roney Smith on

Lots to do this Labor Day weekend. Below are just a handful of things that are going on. Stay safe, have fun, and keep on eye on Hurricane Dorian.

Relax and Learn hosted by Colonics & Massage of Marianna. This event runs from 9am to 2pm located at 2946 Jefferson St. Go meet and greet with health conscious individuals. Learn the many benefits or Massage, Colon Hydrotherapy and the Ion foot bath detox. They will also introduce to you the benefits of the Salt Therapy that is coming soon. There will be a special guest to speak on her weight loss journey. This lady dropped 130lbs. If you have an questions the number they provided is 850-526-3211.
The Downtown Panama City merchants has a great group of businesses participating. On August 31st from noon to 1pm stroll thru Downtown’s many locations. They will provide maps for which store has who playing in front of it. A lot of the businesses that are participating are on Harrison St in Downtown Panama City. Play Music on the Porch Day started out as an idea in 2013. By 2018 thousands of musicians from at least 60 countries and over 600 cities participated and the movement continues to grow everyday. Participation is easy. You can go to a schedule event like this one or just go outside and play music. Participate alone or invite your friends to gather on the porch. Share a video on your social media and add #playmusicontheporchday
Saving with Soul pet rescue is a foster-based rescue, so adoptable animals are in private homes in the NW Florida Panhandle. The best way to meet one of there pets is to attend the adoption events on Saturdays. They have events EVERY Saturday follow there page on FB to see what pets they have and where the location for that Saturday will be. www.savewithsoul.com Most of the pets are fully vetted and most are ready to go home right away. Fees range from $75 to $250.
Alaqua Animal Refuge is a nonprofit, no-kill animal shelter that rescues, rehabilitates and adopts a wide variety of animals in need. They are located at 914 Whitfield Road in Freeport. The webpage is http://www.Alaqua.org/ The contact phone number is 850-880-6399. This Saturday they are having a 1/2 off adoption fee promotion in order to find forever families for more of their dogs. They are completely overwhelmed by the amount of dogs in the kennels and are running at maximum capacity. They need to send home as many dogs as they can. They are open from noon to 5pm on Saturday.
Labor Day Concert Celebration at HarborWalk Village in Destin. This event is Aug 31st and Sep 1st. Live music all weekend long and on Sunday they will have fireworks over the Destin Harbor.

 

 

23rd Annual Florida Scallop, Music, & Arts Festival~August 30th through Sept. 1st

Debbie Roney Smith on

The 23rd Annual Florida Scallop, Music, & Arts Festival will be held Friday, August 20th thru Sunday,  Sept 1st. This years event will be held in George Core Park (Lighthouse Park) in St. Joe Bay. No coolers allowed but pets properly restrained on leashes will be welcomed. From 9pm to 10pm on Friday The Rachel Hillman Band will be preforming. On Saturday from 6:30pm to 8pm Bill Wharton (The Sauce Boys) will be preforming, and 14 more bands will be preforming throughout the weekend.

This event does have a charge of $20 a person for a weekend pass or $10 a day for Friday and Saturday. Then Sunday is only $5. Admission charge starts at 4pm on Friday, 2pm on Saturday, and 1pm on Sunday. All active and retired military are free with military id. And kids 10 and under are free with a parent or guardian. Below is the link for more information.

scallopfestfl.org

Florida producers eligible for reimbursment due to Hurricane Michael

Debbie Roney Smith on

A catastrophic Category 5 hurricane hit the Florida Panhandle. Hurricane Michael struck Oct. 10th and spanned from Panama City to Mexico Beach to western Georgia. The hurricane brought wind speeds up to 161mph and caused widespread damage. To date, Hurricane Michael(HM) was the 4th most powerful hurricane to hit the US. It is the most powerful hurricane to impact the Florida Panhandle in recorded history, according to the National Weather Service.

Ranchers who were in the path of HM can now access funds to rebuild provided by the Sales Tax Relief for Farmers Impacted by HM. The relief fund will provide allocations for farmers to use to purchase building and fencing materials, for fuel to transport agricultural products to a processing or storage facility or for any costs accrues while removing hurricane debris.

According to the University of Florida Extension, Florida law provides for a refund of sales and use tax and discretionary sales surtax paid on materials purchased during the period Oct. 10, 2018, through June 30, 2019. In order to access these funds, applications must be filled out no later than Dec. 31, 2019.

Any person who purchased and placed tax-paid fuel into a motor vehicle from Oct. 10, 2018 through June 30, 2019 and used the fuel on a Florida public highway to transport agricultural products to an agricultural processing or storage facility or to remove hurricane debris may apply for a refund. The refund is limited to the taxes paid on fuel used to transport agriculture products or hurricane debris from locations in Okaloosa, Walton, Holmes, Washington, Bay, Jackson, Calhoun, Gulf, Gadsden, Liberty, Franklin, Leon, or Wakulla counties.

For more information click here  https://floridarevenue.com/Pages/forms_index.aspx and then click on forms. You can also call about your refund at 850-617-8585.

 

New Italian Resturant in Marianna opens August 28th

Debbie Roney Smith on

August 28th at 5:30pm The Jackson County Chamber of Commerce and Penello’s Italian Cuisine will have a ribbon cutting ceremony to celebrate the grand opening of Penello’s Italian Cuisine located at 4217 Lafayette St. The hours will be Wednesday-Thursday 10:30am until 9pm, Friday-Saturday from 10am until 10pm, and Sunday’s from 11am to 5pm. For more information you can call them at 850-546-5200. After the ribbon cutting on the 28th they will have their grand opening with the first dinner service being served at 6pm. The public is invited to help celebrate this occasion.

Penollo’s is owned by Arty, Paula, and son Bryan who will be cooking New York Style Italian Cuisine from family recipes passed down over time. The family was born and raised in New York where Arty worked for the transit authority. Arty and Paula owned some property in Compass Lake and in 2006 someone made them an offer. So the family decided to come to the area and take a look at their investment. During the visit they fell in love with the area and moved here in July of 2006. Bryan’s love of cooking developed early in life and continued into high school where he was part of the culinary program at Marianna High School for 3 years and later at Gulf Coast State College. Bryan is not the only one in the family with culinary experience. Dad Arty operated a successful catering business for 10 years serving a wide variety of events.

The sauces they will be cooking will take between 12-24 hours to prepare. They will be sweetened with natural ingredients, no sugar, and very little salt. They plan to have New-York style cheesecake that stands 2 1/2 inches tall. They are focused on doing business locally.  They are working with Southern Craft Creamery to create a specialized surprise ice cream for the restaurant. They will have zucchini and squash noodles to provide healthier options as well. The owners plan to server locally grown vegetables for side dishes. Wine and beer will be available.

International Dog Day~ August 26th

Debbie Roney Smith on

National Dog Day, because you know it seems they have a national day for most things! And what a great excuse to adopt a dog from a shelter or rescue.

National Dog Day was founded in 2002 and is celebrated on August 26th each year. It was founded by Pet & Family Lifestyle Expert and animal advocate, Colleen Paige. The date is significate because it’s the date that Colleen’s family adopted her first dog “Sheltie” when Colleen was just 10 years old.

National Dog Day celebrates all dogs, mixed breed and pure. Their mission is to help the public realize the number of dogs that need to be rescued each year. They are against any kind of breed band. They discourage buying dogs from pet stores supplied by puppy mills, backyard breeders, the internet and newspaper ads. They encourage you to instead choose adoption first.

They ask that even those who aren’t dog lovers please consider donating $5 to the local animal shelter or rescue in honor or National Dog Day. And we have plenty of those in the Panhandle. Partners For Pets is in Marianna and is a no kill shelter in desperate need of donations, They are currently raising funds to get a new place built due to extensive damage from Hurricane Michael and also the amount of dogs/cats that have been dropped off to be cared for. They are open Monday through Friday from 8am to 3pm and on Saturdays from 8am to 1pm. They except monetary donations and also in need of cleaning supplies and pet food all the time.

National Second-Hand Wardrobe Day~August 25th~Thift Stores in Marianna

Debbie Roney Smith on

National Second-Hand Wardrobe Day is breathing new life into old clothes, allowing consumers to offset their carbon footprint by exchanging or recycling their used garments. It is celebrated on August 25th each year. Buying clothes second hand and donating your used clothing creates a positive cycle that is crucial for cutting back our waste.

Second hand shopping saves you money, has a positive impact on the environment, helps those in need, and if done correctly can lead to a closet with some cool clothes! A few second hand shops in Marianna are:

~Habitat For Humanity Restore located at 4736 US-90. They are closed on Sunday and Monday and Tuesday through Friday they are open 10am to 6pm. On Saturdays they are open from 9am to 3pm. They have a FB page and if you like and follow them they have a word of the week that when said to the cashier you receive 10% off what you buy and on Thursdays they offer 10% off as a senior discount.                                            ~Innovative Charities of Northwest Florida, located at 1994 FL-71. Closed on Sundays however they are open Monday through Saturday from 9am to 5pm.                                                                                                                                                                                                                            ~Saint Anne Catholic Church Thrift Store. It is located at 3009 Fifth St. Hours are normally Tuesday and Thursdays from 9am to 1pm however they have a sign up saying it is temporally closed.                                                                                                                                                                        ~Goodwill located at 2800 FL-71. They are open on Sundays from 10am to 6pm. Monday through Saturday they are open 9am to 8pm.

Do you have a favorite thrift store in the panhandle? If so please send the name to debson1999@gmail.com with blog in the subject line. HAPPY SHOPPING!

National Park Service’s 103rd birthday~August 25th~entrance fee is free

Debbie Roney Smith on

The National Park Service’s 103rd birthday is being celebrated on August 25th. Different parks are doing different birthday events.

The National Park Services was created on August 25, 1916, when President Woodrow Wilson signed the National Service Act. Each year, they work with partners to celebrate this anniversary. They are offering this day a Fee-free day which makes national parks accessible to more people. They offer five days in 2019 that are Fee-free, all National Park Service sites that charge an entrance fee will offer free admission to everyone. Mark your calendar for these remaining entrance fee–free dates in 2019:
~August 25: National Park Service Birthday
~September 28: National Public Lands Day
~November 11: Veterans Day
There are more than 400 parks available to everyone, every day. The fee-free days provide a great opportunity to visit a new place or an old favorite, especially one of the national parks that normally charge an entrance fee. The others are free all the time. The entrance fee waiver for fee-free days does not cover amenity or user fees for activities such as camping, boat launches, transportation, or special tours.

Here is a list of National Parks in Florida, and you can go to the website below for a complete list of parks in the US. ~Big Cypress in Ochopee, ~Biscayne in Miami, Key Biscayne, & Homestead, Canaveral in Titusville & New Smyrna Beach, ~Castillo de San Marcos in St. Augustine, ~De Soto in Bradenton, Dry Tortugas in Key West, ~Everglades in Miami, Naples & Homestead, ~Fort Caroline in Jacksonville, Fort Matanzas in St. Augustine, ~Gulf Inlands in Gulf Breeze, Florida & Ocean Springs, Mississippi, ~Gullah/Geechee in FL, GA, NC, SC, ~Timucuan in Jacksonville

http://nps.gov

August 24th & 25th Meet & Greet

Debbie Roney Smith on

Businesses and Contractors meet and greet weekend Saturday (August 24th) from 1pm to 5pm and Sunday (August 25th) from 2pm to 6pm at Rutherford High School gym in Panama City located at 1000 School Ave. Hosted by HBCU Adventures and they are doing a whole weekend with different businesses and contractors both days to give people a chance to get different quotes and information so they can choose who would fit there needs best.

They have tried to get businesses of all kinds in Bay County to help you. They plan to have company’s there who will specialize in flooring, sidings, door replacement, window replacement, or house repair in general. You can sit with bankers and let them talk to you about the hurricane loans and much more. Mold remediation companies, plumbers, electricians, landscapers, pool cleaners, painters, everyone in one location. Be sure to take your paperwork if you want to speak with lawyers or public adjusters one on one or just to ask questions or get an understanding of what you’re dealing with in your situation.

For more information contact them at 334-530-7046 or email them at hbcuadventures@gmail.com