June 28-29~ 63rd Annual Panhandle Watermelon Festival

June 28th Family night begins at 5pm. Free games and activities for kids followed by a free concert with country artist William Michael Morgan and Sara Evans at Pals Park in Chipley!

June 29th activities will be going on throughout the day including a 5k hot trot, car show, parade, gospel hour with the Drummond Family, watermelon auction, and the festival will close with former Statler Brother singer Jimmy Fortune. He will be singing at the ag center in Chipley at 1:30 pm.  panhandlewatermelon.com

June 27th ~ Local Author Homer Hirt at Greenwood Library

June 27th at 2 pm Jackson County Public Library presents Meanderings with Homer Hirt. He is a local author & historian & will be sharing snapshots of his works from his journalistic career. He will be at the Greenwood Branch Library located on 4207 Bryan Street. For more information contact Lois Jones at 850-594-4961.

Free meals for kids and teens all summer!

Summer Break Spot provides nutritious meals at no cost while school is out for the summer. Anyone 18 & under can eat breakfast and lunch for free:                                                                                                         ~ No paperwork or ID’s required                                                                                                                       ~3 locations in Jackson County                                                                                                                    ~Over 4,000 supervised locations in Florida offer a breakfast, lunch, snack, or dinner                                        ~For more details on times and locations call 850-482-9958 or 850-482-9921

SummerBreakSpot.org

Camp Connect~free to Hurricane Michael children, adolescents & their parents/caregivers June 29th

This one day camp is free and is being offered to children, adolescents, and their parents/caregivers who have been affected by Hurricane Michael. Camps will be held on Saturdays from 8am to 4pm. The remaining date is June 29th. You must RSVP prior to attending. Contact Monica Koetters at 850-384-7778 or email her at CampConnect@choosecovenant.org. The camp will be held at PlayBig on Lafayette St. in Marianna. Continental breakfast and lunch will be provided. This flyer tells more details as well.

Saturday June 22

 

This event is free and open to the public. The Blueberry Bash starts at 8am and ends at 2pm. This bash is sure to be one you don’t want to miss. Enjoy the day picking blueberries and listening to live music while shopping local vendors.
A Honey Extraction Workshop will be at Landmark Park in Dothan, Al on Landmark Drive from 9:30am to 11:30am in the AG building. Call 334-794-3452 for more information. The workshop is free with paid gate admission. Guests will have a chance to watch as honey from local hives is uncapped by hand, extracted from the comb and bottled. Honey will be on sale while supplies last.
7pm to 10pm Jesse Roberts will be preforming at Up The Creek Café in Marianna on US Highway 90. You can go early for dinner and grab a seat, then stick around for great tunes, cold beer, and tasty appetizers after 8pm.

This Saturday is the start to another great weekend in the Panhandle. If you have an event you would like me to share please email me at debson1999@gmail.com with the word blog in the subject line.

 

Blue Springs~June 20th till September 2nd

Hurricane Michael wrecked havoc on Jackson County. Blue Springs was no exception. The docks were totaled, debris scattered throughout the park, fallen trees, downed fences, and on and on. The diving boards were sent in for repair and there is no guarantee that they will be in place when they open but they are coming. They also had issues with lifeguards since they have to get certified every 2 years. But the county has worked hard to make this a beautiful place to relax and have fun again this summer!
Blue Springs is located about 5 miles east of Marianna. An average of 77 million gallons a day flows from the spring, which is the main source of water to the 202 acre reservoir known as Merritt’s Millpond. Before Hurricane Michael this park was a nationally known fishing area and locally popular boating area. Be sure to take your camera. This park has cypress wetlands and upland mixed forest. The spring emerges from an underwater cave complex that houses 2 rare species. The Georgia blind salamander and Dougherty Plain cave crayfish.

Blue Springs is projected to be open for business Thursday June 20th at 9:30am. The hours for this summer will be Thursday – Sunday from 9:30am to 6pm, weather permitting. It closes for the season on September 2nd. The water is open from 10am – 5:30pm.  Admission is $4.00 per person. Blue Springs will have concession stands open and have kayak rentals for those who would like to spread their wings in other parts of Mill Pond. It is located in Marianna in Jackson County at 5461 Blue Springs Road. visitjacksoncountyfla.com/

Nesting Sea Turtles June 18th from 2-3pm

Turtle Talk is a recurring event held at the Research Reserve Nature Center located at 108 Island Drive Eastpoint, Florida 32328. This Thursday June 18th is the next one. It begins at 2pm. This air conditioned event is a wonderful chance to learn more about sea turtles. This is your chance to learn all about nesting sea turtles and find out how you can help them. Members of the St. George Island Turtle Patrol team will be on hand to answer questions and give an update about sea turtle nests on the island. You will also get the chance to touch a sea turtle carapace or look close-up at loggerhead sea turtle eggs. For more dates and information click on the link. https://www.floridasforgottencoast.com/

Jeff Bates in Marianna on June 14th

Jeff Bates will be in Marianna, Florida on Saturday June 14th from 11am to 1pm. Nashville Recording Artist Jeff Bates will be at Miller & Miller’s Nissan Dealership to help them celebrate their 1st year anniversary. After the show he will be doing a meet and greet. Food and refreshments will be provided be sure to take your own lawn chair. Looks like it is not supposed to rain and be in the higher 80’s so don’t forget the sunscreen and hat!

Music in the Park summer Concert’s on Thursday night’s 7pm

June 6th kicked off this year’s weekly summer concert’s in the park. It is hosted by Jackson County Parks & Recycling, Jackson County Tourist Development Council, and Jackson County Chamber of Commerce. Each week at the Citizens Lodge Park in Marianna a different band will be performing on Thursday night’s through July. These concerts are free to all. They will have music, food trucks, and kid’s activities. Remember to take a lawn chair, blanket, and go out and enjoy a relaxing evening. The next 2 weeks line up is:

~June 13th – Band: Killin’ Time Food: Papa G’s Hot Dogs & Catering & JK Italian Ice-mobile Vendor                                                                        ~June 20 – Band: Heywood Food: It’s Grub Time & JK Italian Ice-mobile vendor