A Few Minutes with the Mayor – August 2017

July 4th has come and gone… now for the “lazy hazy days of summer.” If you missed it, we had one “swellegant” party here in town on the Courthouse lawn with 350 to 400 people this year. That’s not counting the many volunteers as well as the entertainers from the Randall Theater. So here’s a BIG thank you to the following volunteers:

Pastor Larry Jung – 1st Presbyterian Church

Sally Jung – 1st Presbyterian Church

Fred Crabtree – 1st Presbyterian Church

Kathy Crabtree – 1st Presbyterian Church

Mike McClain – 1st Presbyterian Church

Kandee McClain – 1st Presbyterian Church

Robert Roos – The Magnolia Inn

Anne Brooke – Art Presence

Debbie Earley – Art Presence

Jeff Alvis – City of Jacksonville

Stacey Bray – City of Jacksonville

Tom Glover – City of Jacksonville

Brett Barton – City of Jacksonville

Caleb Bell – City of Jacksonville

Rick Shields – City of Jacksonville

Eric Villarreal – City of Jacksonville

Kim Collins – Talent City Recorder

These volunteers all gave up their Holiday and helped to make this picnic one of the most enjoyable community events in our experience. One year ago I wrote about Jacksonville’s many volunteers and how blessed we were as a community because of them.

“They volunteer for myriads of local tasks, CERT, Commissions, Committees, the Boosters, the Kiwanians, Rotary, Food for Friends and Access… these are all alive, building and strengthening our community, They clean up our cemetery, they hang the flags out on July 4th. They volunteer for traffic control during our parades. And let’s not forget all the volunteers who help during Britt performances.”

Let me add our July 4th picnic to that list.

And finally… I would be remiss if I didn’t thank the Randall Theater performers who worked so hard to bring us their entertainment. They were: Robin Downward, Jon Oles, Mia Gaskin, and Elizabeth Suzanne. They put on quite a show.

What a great city we live in.

Photo by Sharon Becker.