Leadership Jacksonville will honor Toni Crawford, Bill Mason and Izzy Spence at its 19th Annual Celebration of Leadership at Celebration 2014 from 6-9 p.m. April 17 at the Hyatt Regency.
The celebration recognizes “outstanding community trustees.”
Crawford has been a longtime supporter of children’s issues in Jacksonville and statewide as well as at the University of North Florida, including the establishment of two endowed faculty positions in the UNF College of Education and Human Services.
Crawford also has been involved in Republican politics in Duval County, having served as a committee woman, vice chair and chairman of the party.
Her work includes campaigns and efforts to involve women in politics with the Republican Party.
Mason, whose full name is William C. Mason, led Baptist Medical Center and Baptist Health System in Jacksonville for 20 years. After he retired in 1998 as CEO, he served as professor of hospital administration in the UNF College of Health, where he also earned the doctoral degree in Educational Leadership.
He recently retired from the boards of Baptist Health, Baptist Medical Center and Wolfson Children’s Hospital after 35 years and continues to be involved with the Baptist Health Foundation.
Mason came to Baptist Medical Center in Jacksonville in 1978 after serving as a foreign service officer with the U.S. Agency for International Development and building Baptist Medical Centers in Tanzania, East Africa and Bangalore, India.
Spence, whose full name is Isabelle Owen Spence, is the immediate past executive director of Leadership Jacksonville.
She joined as executive director in April 2001 and retired last May, succeeded by Jill Langford Dame.
Spence graduated from Leadership Jacksonville’s Class of 1987 and served on the board of directors from 1999-2001.
Before moving to Jacksonville in 1985, she was executive director of a community mental health center in Iowa.
From 1986 to taking the position at Leadership Jacksonville, Spence was in private practice as a licensed marriage and family therapist.
Leadership Jacksonville was created in 1976 to develop programs for community leadership.
Its four programs are designed to engage participants in learning about community issues and taking leadership roles.
The signature Leadership Jacksonville class is open to about 56 participants each year.
The yearlong program introduces class members to the community’s economic, business, civic, arts and nonprofit arenas and encourages them to remain active as community trustees.
The New Leadership Summit is open to about 20 attendees each year to introduce new CEOs and senior level executives to the area. The two-day program involves civic and business leaders who discuss the area’s assets and issues.
The Collegiate Leadership Experience is open to about 36 college students each summer.
Youth Leadership Jacksonville is open to about 54 high school juniors each year. The nine-month program is designed for students in Baker, Clay, Duval and St. Johns counties who have demonstrated leadership ability.
For more information, visit leadershipjax.org.
Dollar General tearing down Atlantic site
The unfinished shell strip center along Atlantic Boulevard will be demolished for construction of a Dollar General store.
The 18,000-square-foot center at 6830 Atlantic Blvd. is coming down at a demolition cost of $19,000.
The city approved the demolition and is reviewing a building-permit application by Concept Development LLC of Gainesville to develop a 9,100-square-foot Dollar General on the site.
Concept Development is the developer of at least 18 area Dollar General stores and is seeking approvals for several more.
First Citizens, Chase OK’d for construction
Look for First Citizens Bank and Chase Bank to add two offices in Southside.
The city approved construction for First Citizens Bank in San Marco at 1471 San Marco Blvd. and for Chase to build in Mandarin at 11389 San Jose Blvd.
Sam’s Club remodeling
The second Sam’s Club remodeling was approved.
The city OK’d the $1.53 million renovation of the Sam’s Club at 10690 Beach Blvd.
It involves a general remodel of 139,903 square feet of space for the grocery area, registers, snack bar, optical and tire and battery departments, the restrooms and the office.
The city recently approved a $1.23 million renovation of the Sam’s Club at 6373 Youngerman Circle.
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