• Brewster Durkee is the Cal Ripken Jr. of the Meninak Club. The longtime member hasn’t missed a meeting in two years. True, Ripken’s streak lasted for 13 years, but the Baltimore Orioles shortstop wasn’t 92 years old at the time like Durkee.
• Dave Tuttle, director of missions for First Presbyterian Church, spent his Martin Luther King Day holiday in Pascagoula, Miss. He led a team of volunteers conducting relief work in the Hurricane Katrina-ravaged area.
• Good chance to meet your local state legislators next Thursday. The National Federation of Independent Business Florida and the Jacksonville Regional Chamber of Commerce Small Business/Area Council department is sponsoring a 2006 legislative mixer from 5:30-7 p.m. at the Main Library.
• Mayor John Peyton has been appointed to the board of the Florida League of Mayors, a Tallahassee-based organization that looks at issues facing municipalities across the state.
• Speaking of Peyton, he and much of his staff will be tough to find Thursday morning — staff retreat starting at 8:30.
• Timuquana Country Club will host the third annual Spina Bifida Golf Classic March 27. The Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 5-30 is cosponsoring the event and there should be a good turnout as golf will still be a hot topic around here. The Players Championship wraps up the day before.
• Enormous garage sale next month at the Fairgrounds. The Junior League of Jacksonville is hosting its 15th annual Whale of a Sale Feb. 25 from 8:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. The Whale of a Sale is a 1,200-family garage sale and proceeds go to Northeast Florida families in need while also raising funds for Junior League community projects. Admission is $1, children under six admitted free.
• Starting Monday, you’ll be able to line up a tour of the Merrill House, the old building across from the Arena. The historical society has brought the turn-of-the-century (the 20th century, by the way) home back to much like its original look.
• National newspaper USA Today is working on a story of the problems in the local Episcopal Church and has a reporter and photographer poking around.