Jackson County Calls for Citizen Engagement

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Jackson County is proactively addressing the challenges of flooding and its impact on our critical infrastructure with the initiation of a Comprehensive Vulnerability Assessment. The County is calling for citizens to partake in the process. There will be three separate in-person meetings held to hear from the community from individual residents to businesses. The goal is to share collective insights to develop strategies for mitigating current and future flood risks. 
These meetings will include experts ready to discuss flood-related challenges, respond to inquiries, and gather valuable community input to shape a resilient Jackson County. Click on the image to enlarge and view meeting details and more. 

Diabetes Awareness in Marianna

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The Florida Health Department of Jackson County is hosting a Community Health Fair tomorrow. From 3-7pm, come out to Madison Street Park in Marianna. The goal is to raise and celebrate diabetes awareness. There will be food, fun, health education, live music, vendors, community resources, and a live DJ. The highlight of the event is the FREE health screenings and HIV testing. Come out for an evening of fun and health safety. 

World Kindness Day

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Today is World Kindness Day! It was introduced in 1998 by the World Kindness Movement, a coalition of nations’ kindness NGOs. In a time of worldwide strife and terror, this is a wonderful opportunity to honor, celebrate, and inspire kindness in action.

Celebrate World Kindness Day by committing small acts of kindness; a compliment to a stranger, holding a door open, stopping to help get an item from a tall shelf, and more. Being kind takes so little time but it creates a ripple effect that makes the world a nicer place. 

Walmart’s Sensory Hours

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Walmart’s across the United States and Puerto Rico are implementing semi-permanent sensory hours. The hours will take place every day from 8-10 a.m. Depending on how things go, these hours could become permanent. 

Sensory hours are designed for those who are easily overwhelmed by external stimulation. During as typical Walmart visit, highly-sensitive individuals have to handle an influx of stimuli including stranger’s conversations, accidental touch, bright overhead lights, store music, and more. This can cause irritability, stress, agitation, insomnia, loss of focus, overwhelming feelings and thoughts, and anxiety. Some individuals even experience physical symptoms such as tight, itchy skin or buzzing nerves. 

Kountry Candy Store’s Fall Festival

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Kounty Candy Store is hosting its first Fall Festival! There will be candy, bounce houses, food, live music, games, and vendors galore. The event is being hosted for the benefit of the local no-kill animal shelter, Partners for Pets. The event will take place at Kountry Candy Store on November 18th from 8am-3pm. Learn more by visiting the event’s Facebook page. 

Panhandle Butterfly House

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Did you know that the Panhandle is home to a butterfly house? No, not the world-famous Gainesville Butterfly Rainforest and McGuire Center for Lepidoptera & Biodiversity. The Panhandle Butterfly House had it’s grand reopening this spring and has been slowly improving it’s grounds throughout the year. It was originally located in Navarre but recently relocated to Milton. 

The Panhandle Butterfly House is committed to displaying exclusively Florida-native butterflies; this allows visitors to learn about the butterflies they may encounter in their backyards and throughout nature in their area. Additionally, the House raises native butterflies, allowing volunteers and visitors to witness the full butterfly life cycle from egg to hatching to caterpillar to chrysalis and then – the emerging of adult butterflies! 

Learn more by visiting the official Panhandle Butterfly House website. 

2023: Fall Back Time Change

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Fall Back this weekend!

On Sunday, November 5th at 2am, time is going to fall back an hour. This gives you an extra hour of sleep and gives you more sunlight in the morning. Be sure to change your clocks either before bed on November 4th or once you wake up on November 5th. Most digital clocks such as cell phones and laptops will automatically update. 

 

Happy Halloween 2023

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Happy Halloween! Be sure to celebrate safely and keep an eye out for trick-or-treaters if you’re driving this evening. Find some fun facts about this cherished tradition below:

  • Trick-or-treating was originally known as “guising” in Scotland and Ireland and was celebrated during medieval times. 
  • When the Irish fled the potato famine that devastated their country in the 1840s, they brought their traditions and helped influence the popularity of Halloween in the USA. 
  • Halloween is the second most lucrative consumer holiday; consumers spent approximately $9 billion on Halloween in 2019.
  • Illinois produces up to five times more pumpkins than any other state; 15,000 acres are devoted to gourd growing. 

Right Whale Festival 2023

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The 2023 Right Whale Festival will take place on November 4-5 at Main Beach Park in Fernandina. The festival is part of a regional effort to educate and protect the critically endangered North Atlantic right whales. Every year in late fall, these endangered whales return to the warmer waters off the coast of northeast Florida to give birth and nurse their young. There are fewer than 350 right whales left. 

The festival features family-friendly education, marine exhibits, animal ‘ambassadors,’ a beach clean-up, live music, kids activities, food, and more. Learn more about the event by visiting the festival website.