FREE BACKPACKS & School supplies~several dates and locations

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So impressed with how many groups are offering free backpacks and school supplies, many with fun activities too. I am sure even more events are out there, check with your local schools and hospitals. Remember Jackson County students are all getting free school supplies this year (past blog). Florida and Alabama are also offering tax free school shopping days for things you don’t get for free and clothes! For college students you also can get computers and text books if bought during the tax free periods. Read past post if you need details for that. Be sure to read under each of these photos and also follow up with the individual place to make sure the event is still going on and hasn’t been cancelled, postponed, or relocated.

July 26th from 10am to 12pm at the Northwest Florida Community Hospital located at 1360 Brickyard Road in Chipley. Free admission and child MUST BE PRESENT to receive school supplies. They will have eye exams, vaccines, food, prizes, hair cuts, and various school supplies.
July 27th from 10am to 3pm at the ACE Hardware in Wewa. You will be able to donate blood (ID required) they will be giving a free wellness checkup and a OneBlood cooler to all those who donate blood. They will have live entertainment, refreshments, sales, drawings, games, back to school crafts and more.
August 2 from 9am to 12pm in Bonifay at Doctors Memorial Hospital located at 2600 Hospital Drive. This years Candy Land theme is sure to make kids smile. This free event is offered to the community and surrounding areas. They will have food, fun, games, and supplies. Kids must be present to receive supplies.
August 1st from 5pm to 7pm at Joe & Jeannetter Chapman Field at Tommy Oliver Stadium located at 440 E. 13th St in Panama City. Join them for free food, back-to-school clothes (while supplies last), music, bouncy houses, and LOTS of valuable back-to-school information!
August 3rd from 11am to 3pm at Cricket Wireless in Chipley. They are going to be grilling hot dogs and hambugers, have free face painting and rock painting for the kids and the kids get some school supplies too. Call 850-600-7045 for more information.

 

August 3rd from 11am to 3pm at ZENsations Salon and Spa in Chipley they are having a Back to School Bash! Kids haircuts starting at $5 each, free waterslide & face painting for kids, Cricket Wireless will be there with free food and backpacks! Adults can enjoy a 5 minute 02 sample!
August 3rd from 10am to 12pm at the Wakulla One Stop Community Center in Crawfordville. This FREE event will have haircuts, clothes, school physicals, school supplies, live music, fashion show, a kids zone, and more. Children must be present to get supplies. This is the 9th annual back to school outreach event hosted by Be a Hero to Our Hero, Inc. & the Back to School Outreach Ministry.
August 10th from 9am to 4pm at Living Word located at 500 E./19th St, in Panama City GOT YOUR BACK hosted by Living Word is here for the 16th year. 1000 Backpacks will be distributed on a first come first served basis. Coca-Cola is providing lunch. They will also have cotton candy, popcorn, and snow-cones all day. Pictures with spiderman will be available all day as well!

 

Fort Walton Beach Farmer’s Market~2nd and 4th Saturday year-around

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Another Farmer’s Market. This one is located in Fort Walton Beach Landing Park on the 2nd and 4th Saturday of each month it is year-around from 8am to 1pm. 139 SE Brooks Street. The farmers, artisan food vendors, and crafters offer an array of locally grown and handmade items. You never know what you will find at the FWB Farmers Market! They have invited all to stroll down the streets of Downtown Fort Walton Beach after the market and check out the local flavor and southern hospitality. The community offers many unique boutiques, restaurants, and bars perfect for a Saturday afternoon!

Farmer’s Market in Tallahassee~2nd & 4th Thursday till December 19th

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Southside Farmer’s Market 2019 Season is the event name on FB. The City of Tallahassee hosts this event. It is at the Walker-Ford Community Center Annex at 2301 Pasco St in Tallahassee. They will host this every 2nd and 4th Thursday of the month till December 19th. The hours are 3pm to 7pm and feature fresh, locally grown vegetables, fruits, eggs, and seafood. The market also showcases local talent, cooking demonstrations, and homemade products from local entrepreneurs. This Thursday, July 25th will be the next one.

July 25th

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Where did July go? This month has been going so fast. Here are a few events being held in the Panhandle this Thursday.

July 25th from 7pm to 8pm at the Wakulla County Public Library in Crawfordville they will have a summer performer: Dr. Magical Balloons. This show is free and for all ages, join them for a night of stories, fun, balloons, and audience participation.
July 25th from 7:30am to 11am at Weber’s Little Donut Shop-St. George Island in Eastpoint on West Gorrie Drive they will be having Christmas in July. They are excited to have Christmas themed donuts and decorations as well as other fun activities.

 

 

July 23rd & July 25th at the library

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More library fun! Be sure to read the information below each photo for the details. The library is always a great place to go for local information and events. Be sure to check your local library for even more things to do in your area!

Greenwood Branch library in Jackson County on July 23rd at 1:30pm. Dale Cox will be speaking about the Battle of the Upper Chipola, which happened in Greenwood! All are invited!
You’ll learn all about the African drum traditions at the Marianna library in Jackson County on July 25th at 10am. It will also be at the Graceville Branch Library at 2pm on the 25th. Professor Dwight Baldwin will be there for you to enjoy the sights’ sounds, and histories of the African drum. You will get to drum, dance, and sing!

 

 

Events this weekend~July 19, 20, & 21st

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~The Marianna Police Department announced they will be conducting a Safety and Sobriety checkpoint on Friday, July 19th between 8pm and midnight on Penn Avenue south of South Street. This is part of the department’s “Operation Sober City” initiative. They are trying to be proactive to reduce traffic crashes and fatalities. Remember, “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over.”

~Only a few more week for the Marianna Farmer’s Market. They will be at the Madison Street Park from 7am to noon on July 20th.

Sidewalk Stargazing at your library presented on July 19th from 9:30pm to 10:30pm, Port St. Joe Corinne Costin Gibson Memorial Public Library on Library Drive is hosting this. They ask for you to take binoculars or a personal telescope if you can. If poor viewing conditions are present, the event will be canceled. Be sure to check the FB page before heading out.
The Colonics & Massage Clinic in Marianna is hosting a wellness Day July 20th starting at 8:30am. Learn about Colonics and Ion Foot Soaks. They will also be doing Qigong, Yoga, Nutritional portion, among other activities. Lunch is provided. Everyone is invited. It will be held at 2946 Jefferson St in Marianna.
Backpack giveaway on Sunday July 21st at Verizon in Marianna. It will be held in the parking lot from noon to 4ish. They will have the Ice Box and Leola’s Carb Shack.

 

 

July 19~Ice Cream Social with Santa

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Ice cream social with Santa on Friday, July 19th from 6pm to 9pm at The Little Mustard Seed on Harrison Ave in Panama City. They are kicking off Christmas in July with a visit from Santa, stop by, have some ice cream, and say hi!

Pubix

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Publix was opened by George Jenkins. His first store was opened in Winter Haven on Sept. 6, 1930, he opened his 2nd store in 1935 across town. He closed his first 2 stores to open his dream store Publix Super Market on Nov. 8, 1940. The name came from a chain of theaters which were operating throughout Florida at the time, Jenkins liked the name. Publix is an employee-owned, American supermarket chain headquartered in Lakeland, Florida. Publix is a private corporation that is wholly owned by present and past employees and members of the Jenkins family.  When Jenkins opened his first super market the store featured several features that were rare at that time to customers. Air conditioning, automatic doors, fluorescent lighting, terrazzo floors, and a scale at the front.

The scale has been a large part of the Publix history. At the time they opened very few people owned scales at home. Several stores offered to weigh you for a price. However Jenkins insisted his scales be free to guests. The company still has the original scale in the offices in Lakeland and it still works! You will not find scales in Publix locations outside of Florida, except a few just over the Georgia border. The scales were manufactured by Mettler Toledo and they stopped producing them in 2015. Publix bought up as many as it could and houses them in a warehouse in Lakeland. Technicians maintain a couple dozen backup scales in the warehouse. Whenever a scale breaks or needs repair at a Florida store, they replace it. The technicians use a Publix People Weigher Repair handbook when they need help repairing one. The scales will stay in the stores as long as the technicians can keep them operational.

The chicken is another thing Publix is famous for. It dates back to the 1950’s when it was cooked on a Rotiss-O-Mat. Fried chicken followed in the 70’s, with the final recipe being introduced in 1992. Chicken tenders are so loved they even have a twitter account for customers to see if the chicken tender sub is on sale.

Pub subs were introduced in 1992 as well. Custom-made sandwiches remain rare among grocery chains in the south. Both the subs and chicken were introduced first in the Atlanta market.

Kids love they get a free cookie in the bakery just for walking up and asking. Nobody seems to know for sure when this tradition started but it could date back to 1957 when the chain opened. By the way, those first bakeries were not located inside Publix stores but were in separate buildings.

Tipping associates is forbidden.

Publix has 1,147 (with over 30 in the Panhandle) stores and operates in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. They employee approximately 188.00 employees

Back 2 School sales tax hoilday for Alabama(7/19-7/21) & Florida 8/2-8/6 & FREE school supplies for Jackson County Students

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All school supplies for students in Jackson County will be provided by the district this year, thanks to the donations after Hurricane Michael and also a $20,000 grant award from Save the Children. Superintendent Moore said he made this decision in hopes this will provide some financial relief for families, many who are still struggling from the impact of the storm. Individual schools will give information on the way supplies will be dispersed and this will be shared closer to the start of school. So as the tax holiday is approaching and the stores are starting to put out school supplies, keep in mind they will be provided for Jackson County students this year.

The 2019 Back-to-School Sales Tax Holiday was passed by the Florida Legislature and signed into law by Governor Ron DeSantis. This sales tax holiday begins Friday, August 2, 2019, and runs through Tuesday, August 6, 2019. During this sales tax holiday period, qualifying items will be exempt from tax. For more information and a complete list of qualifying items, please visit: floridarevenue.com/backtoschool

Alabama also has a sales tax holiday for back to school items. Those 3 days you pay no sales tax on textbooks that are $50 or less, clothing(including diapers) and footwear that is $100 of less per item, schools supplies, and computers. Be sure to check with the Alabama state revue for complete rules.

Volunteers needed~RSVP for July 18th Volunteer Workshop

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Volunteer Workshop at 4540 Lafayette St. in Marianna from 10am to 2pm on July 18th. If you are looking to help others and are interested in volunteering consider joining them to learn about how you can help. They are in need of volunteers in many capacities. Building wheel chair ramps, doing yard work, crafting or sewing, cooking & baking, fundraising & helping with special events, office work assistance, support for caregivers, companionship for patients, and much more. Volunteers are needed in Holmes, Jackson, Washington, Calhoun, and Liberty counties. Please RSVP with the volunteer Manager Alisha by calling 850-753-4985 or emailing her at alishatownsendhall@choosecovent.org