Black Titi Flower

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Spring is upon us, and so is planting season. One Florida panhandle native is black titi. This is an evergreen and easy-care large shrub or small tree. It’s also known as buckwheat tree, and is botanically known as Cliftonia monophylla. Black titi is commonly found in wet areas and at the edges of swamps from Louisiana through the Florida panhandle and into South Carolina. If you have areas in your garden that are consistently low and moist, this is the perfect plant! Additionally, black titi takes well to pond edges. These fragrant flowers provide an early-season nectar source for bees in February and March; a little late for this year, but luckily there is more to this plant than it’s beautiful flowers. The flowers give way to golden-amber seed pods that resemble buckwheat come late summer. The seed pods, which turn a pleasing orange-brown, and the shiny dark green evergreen leaves provide additional ornamental quality to the tree in fall and early winter. Black titi is most widely available with white flowers but there is also a pink variety. Happy planting!

Free Food for children~Jackson County

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During this time of daily changes and the students home from school, Jackson County like most counties nation wide worked out a way to feed students. We want all children to be able to eat and this offers them 2 meals a day. Check with your local county to see what plan they have in place. Below are the guidelines on the curb-side meals.

~Curbside meals (2 meals per day for 2 days) will be available from 9:30-11:30 A.M. at Cottondale Elementary, Golson Elementary, Graceville Elementary, Grand Ridge School, Malone School, Marianna Middle School, Riverside Elementary School and Sneads Elementary School.

~All children 18 years old and younger (21 and under for special needs individuals) are eligible – you do NOT have to be enrolled in a Jackson County School. High school students, as well as younger students may pick up their meals at any location – does not have to be your home school.

Sweet Baby’s Farm in Youngstown

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Sweet Baby’s Farm has seen a boom in business. Ken Webb, the owner, thinks the nursery has received twice the traffic it usually does over the last few weeks. Ken and his wife opened the nursery after selling roses on Facebook, and they have seen a good amount of business since they opened. They are getting a whole lot more of it now when people are trying to find things to keep them occupied. With the calls for social distancing and self-quarantine echoing across the whole country, a good number of people are finding the time to do things they didn’t have time for before. Gardening. Sweet Baby’s Farm is a family owned nursery business located at 14403 Webb Road in Youngstown. The contact number to ask them any questions or to check the hours they are open is (850) 348-7053.

NATIONAL RECONCILIATION DAY~April 2

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National Reconciliation Day which occurs on April 2nd each year urges us to repair relationships that have been damaged through words or actions. We all know of a relationship where a misunderstanding caused friction. Eventually or suddenly the relationship was destroyed. Time passes and before long, years pass and not two words have been spoken between the two people. They may be siblings or parent and child. Childhood friendships dissolve in an instant over angry words. Friends often immediately regret the cause of the quarrel but don’t know how to start over.
Over time, feelings of resentment, bitterness, and anger cause more than the loss of friendship. These feelings add to health problems and also infect other relationships in our lives. The act of reconciliation requires some giving to achieve a peaceful balance. Someone must make the first move to break down the barriers that have been built. And while forgiveness may be a part of the conversation, it isn’t necessarily a requirement.

How can you observe National Reconciliation Day? This day encourages us to take that first step and make amends. It’s not too late. Reach out to that friend or loved one and make a fresh start. Maybe you aren’t ready to talk them yet. Try writing a letter or an email.

This day was started by newspaper columnist Ann Landers, who in 1989, in response to one of her reader’s letters, began annually promoting April 2nd as Reconciliation Day. She encouraged her readers to repair their broken relationships and dedicated each April 2nd column to letters concerning just such relationships.

With the Coronavirus and the Stay At Home Order that begins tonight and all the uncertainty that surrounds us. This seems like the best time to observe this day. You never know what tomorrow brings. Stay safe!

April

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April showers bring May flowers, or so the rhyme goes. April is the fourth month of the year in the Gregorian calendar and has 30 days. In the northern hemisphere  April is a most confusing month; rainy and wet one day, the next full of a warm promise of green growth to come. Besides the weather, the month is full of surprises and contradictions, prized for rebirth and endings, and a birth month to amazing geniuses and crazed despots both, making fun of astrological predictions. In the Roman calendar April is spelled Aprilis, meaning “to open.” The name Aprilis, then, fits April, because in so many places in the northern hemisphere April is the month when trees and flowers begin to bloom and go on to flower.

~Two flowers signify the month of April the daisy and the sweet pea. The daisy symbolizes innocence, loyal love, and purity; but it also means “I’ll never tell!” The sweat pea signifies blissful pleasure, and are used to say goodbye. Sweet peas may be a pretty flower, but they are also one of the oldest food crops on our planet, domesticated by humans about 11,000 years ago.

~The birthstone for people born in April is the diamond, one of the hardest substances on earth. They are supposed to bring balance, clarity, and abundance, and it is symbolic of eternal love and the bringer of wealth to six centuries of the diamond trade.

~Noah Webster Copyrighted the First Edition of His Dictionary in April. The famous language expert Noah Webster was a bit of an April fool: one of his dearest wishes was to reform English spelling for Americans, to make it simpler and more obvious. While millions of school children could go for that; Webster’s proposals included removing all double vowels. Bread would be spelled bred; friend would become frend; tuf for tuf, laf for laugh, kee for key, and speek for speak. He also wanted us to spell machine masheen, and pique peek.
His successes included changing plough for plow and draught for draft; but if you’re a poor speller, you might just peek your frends and attribute that to your fondness for April’s Noah Webster.

~April marks the birth of arguably the most influential writer of all time – William Shakespeare. Born on the 26th in 1564 he went on to write 36 plays and 154 sonnets. He also died in April.

~Adolf Hitler Was Born in April.

~It was on April 15, 1912 that the Titanic hit an iceberg in the Atlantic Ocean and sank. Only 700 of the 2,224 passengers were rescued.

April has many days it is known for. The most known are ~April 1st being April’s fool day. ~Passover/Easter/Food Friday. ~April 14th Tax Day, although this year it has been extended. And here are a few of the fun days coming up in April ~International Pillow Fight Day ~National No Housework Day ~Blah, Blah, Blah Day ~Go Fly a Kite Day ~National Sense of Smell Day.

 

 

Timber Creek Distillery offers 8oz of free hand sanitizer

Debbie Roney Smith on

Hand sanitizer, one of the hardest things to find during the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s so hard to find in stores but they’re lining up at the Timber Creek Distillery to stock up on hand sanitizer along with their liquor. Customers are asked to come with their own bottle and stay ten feet apart. Patrons can buy more than the free eight ounces, and Timber Creek has sold a few hundred gallons to pawn shops, FedEx, and government agencies. Aaron Barnes says he has the coolest job, he gets to make all the booze for the distillery. And now he gets to make hand sanitizer too! They were sitting on 700 gallons of rum that had just distilled, so Aaron distilled it up to 94 percent and then used the World Health Organization formula to make it like the F.D.A. recommends.

The Timber Creek Distillery is located on a family farm just north of Destin, Florida. The vision they have is to take the best local fruits and grains from the Florida Panhandle and turn them into the finest Craft Spirits. They take great pride in hand making every batch and hand bottling every bottle. They opened in 2014. Visit the distillery located at 6358 Lake Ella Rd in Crestview. Be sure to call with any questions or to make sure they are open. 408-439-0973. “BYOB” has a new meaning for this local distillery!

 

 

NATIONAL MOM AND POP BUSINESS OWNERS DAY~March 29

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National Mom and Pop Business Owners Day honors all small business owners each year on March 29th. Small businesses are a vital part of the United States economy, and the critical role they play is sometimes overlooked. You can show them their much-deserved appreciation by shopping locally and at small businesses.

~Give gift cards from your favorite small businesses to encourage others to shop there.
~Share their social media pages to improve their following.
~Talk about them. Word of mouth advertising is some of the best advertising small businesses get.
~Take their business cards and then recommend them to a friend.
~Be a repeat customer. Remember small businesses are the ones who also support local events and schools, too.

According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, there are more than 27 million small businesses in the United States. Owning your own business is a goal that many people strive to attain. It takes long hours, hard work, and much dedication. Countless hours of nurturing the business are needed in the process of growing the business. From starting out to building and expanding, a successful small business is the goal of every owner.  Some of these Mom and Pop shops are handed down from one generation to the next while others are new start-ups. “Mom and Pop” businesses offer superior customer service as the owners take personal pride in their operations as well as pride in their communities.

Rick and Margie Segel founded National Mom and Pop Business Owners Day in honor of couples like his parents whose successful hat shop opened in 1939 and grew into a 10,000 square feet and $2 million clothing store.

Especially now please consider sharing a link to a small business owner you know, buying a gift card to be used later, or even giving a shot out to them on your social media page. Thanks to all the mom and pop owners who read this!

 

Free educational sites

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With kids home from school many places are offering free educational sites for kids to learn and play. Here are a few and there are many more out there. Scholastic, ABC House, and so many more. Also the Cincinnati Zoo is introducing a daily animal at 3pm. Many other Zoo’s are doing something like this, just go to the actual Zoo and see if they are doing anything. It should be listed on the home page.

COVID-19 Testing Protocol for Jackson County

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Hoping you are all safe. However it always help to have the information somewhere you can find it if you get sick. There has been so much information everywhere and many conflicting reports about this virus. Things are changing quickly and things are happening that have never happened before.

IF you think you have COVID-19 you have 4 steps you need to follow to be tested in Jackson County. The flyer below gives all the information but here is the highlights. Many people are going to their local hospital. PLEASE do not do that. If you call the number below and don’t get a response try calling your primary care physician and they can walk you though what to do.

Some information says doing a sinus cleanse at the beginning of symptoms could help, also stay away from others, wash hands often and always after coughing and sneezing. Throw your Kleenex in the trash right away. Clean surfaces often. Do NOT go out into stores.

STAY HOME~ Call the PanCare COVID-19 response line at 850-215-4181. They will prescreen you over the phone. IF you qualify for the test you will be assigned a id number and directions on where to go and when.

Be safe and practice social distancing of 6 to 10 feet with everyone you see.

 

Social Distancing~The new normal

Debbie Roney Smith on

Social Distancing is being said by thousands of people every day. But what does it really mean? Do you need to do it? It seems like so many aren’t even trying, then there is the group that is out daring each other to do stupid things like licking shopping carts, coughing and spitting on things in grocery stores, having and attending parties, etc. This is a chance no matter your political opinions to do the right thing. The longer people don’t social distance the longer we will all be home. Let’s encourage our kids, friends, others on social media, and even our families to stay home if possible and social distance if not. Hope this video makes you laugh at least once. Please be aware this video does contain bad and crude language so turn your volume down if kids are around. We all need to think of the positives as much as possible. Be say and please stay 6 to 10 feet away from everyone you encounter throughout your day.