• The Jacksonville Suns say they’ll have a good team this year and it’s not just hype — they have a good selection of players coming up from the lower minors.
• A stellar roster of organists will perform before Jacksonville audiences in the four-concert Pipe Organ Recital Series at the T-U Center. Presented by the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra, the series opens Jan. 11 at 4 p.m., featuring Bradley Hunter Welch, winner of the 2003 Dallas International Organ Competition.
• Nancy Edwards, Joanne Lipp and Dr. Juanita Trice have been appointed to the governing board of Family Support Services of North Florida, a not-for-profit agency responsible for delivering services to over 3,000 children in foster care.
• Jacksonville auctioneer Robert Garner received the 2003 Lewis C. Dell Auctioneer Hall of Fame award from the Florida Auctioneers Association. His father, Tom Garner, received the award in 1994. The Garners run First Coast Auction and Realty.
• We misled you last week when we reported that West Inn, the Avondale bistro which many know by the old name of Monty’s, shut down its food operation so it could allow smoking. They’re still serving food. Only two complaints, they say.
• Attorney Jason Gabriel has an interesting side job. On weekends, the Edwards & Cohen associate helps manage a local band.
• The Adam’s Mark Hotel, this year’s Gator Bowl headquarters, is still accepting reservations for the Gator Bowl Association’s New Year’s Eve. Bravo!, the restaurant on the first floor, also has a few slots left on the same night.
• Speaking of the Adam’s Mark, some photos we took at a recent Great Race press conference made it into their corporate newsletter. We caught a couple of their local employees on camera and it got back to their company headquarters in St. Louis.
• Amelia Island was featured recently in the New York Times’s “36 Hours” feature, which details what you can do in that time at the place. Several restaurants got special mention including Down Under, Gourmet Gourmet, Brett’s Waterway Cafe, the Beech Street Grill and the Florida House Inn.
• The Jags worked on Christmas Day but not as long as an average Thursday. “We added a little to Wednesday and we’ll do a little more Friday in order to shorten up Christmas,” said Coach Jack Del Rio. “But, we worked. That’s part of this (pro football) game. I’ve been working on Christmas for the last 20 years.”