• Jacksonville will get a sneak peek at a new show that will open on Broadway early next year when “Jackie Mason - The Ultimate Jew” takes the stage at the Wilson Center for the Arts on Beach Boulevard. Mason is widely regarded as one of the greatest stand-up comics of all time and will perform his new material for two shows only Jan. 5 at 8 p.m. and Jan. 6 at 2 p.m. Tickets are $37.50 including service charge. To order by phone with a credit card, call the FCCJ Artist Series box office at 632-3373, toll-free 1-888-860-BWAY or visit www.artistseries.fccj.org.
• As the fifth seed in the playoffs, the Jags will likely get scheduled for one of the Saturday, Jan. 5 games. However, the team has asked the NFL to move their game to Sunday. Due to Tuesday’s Konica Minolta Gator Bowl, the Jags will lose a practice day.
• The first Downtown Vision, Inc. “First Wednesday Art Walk of 2008 is Wednesday and will feature some special guests courtesy of the FCCJ Artist Series. Animal costumed characters from the “Cirque Dreams Jungle Fantasy” will perform around the Museum of Contemporary Art Jacksonville. Activities at MOCA will also include a short video preview of “Cirque Dreams Jungle Fantasy” which will begin a one-week run at the T-U Center on Jan. 15.
• Speaking of MOCA, the museum will offer an eight-week class Jan. 28 - March 17 to train new docents to lead museum tours for the public. Museum docents are volunteers who are specifically trained to facilitate the educational experience of students, families and adults through the galleries and exhibitions at MOCA Jacksonville. The tour program is visitor-centered and requires no lecture skills or prior knowledge of art or art history. For more information or to receive an application, call the MOCA Education Department at 366-6911, ext. 212 or by e-mail: [email protected]. Space is limited.
• Jacksonville Aviation Authority board member and Duval County Republican Party Chairman John Falconetti is stepping down soon. He’s been appointed to the board of Enterprise Florida.
• Learn to Read! is seeking tutors for its adult literacy programs. The training sessions are Jan. 10 from 5:30-9 p.m. and Jan. 12 from 9 a.m.- 4 p.m. The fee is $20 for LTR tutors, $50 if not tutoring a Learn to Read! student. Both classes will be held at the organization’s headquarters at 2747 Art Museum Dr. For information or to register, call 399-8894 or visit www.LTRJAX.org.
• More from LTR: BlueCross and BlueShield of Florida has awarded Learn to Read! a $5,000 grant to fund a Health Literacy Program. One out of five American adults read at the 5th grade level or below and the average American reads at a 9th grade level, but most health care materials are written above the 10th grade level. The campaign is designed to better equip adults who read at a low literacy level so they can ask the right questions when seeing a doctor or pharmacist to lessen the chance of taking medications improperly or creating unnecessary health care costs.
“The safety and happiness of society are the objects at which all political institutions aim, and to which all such institutions must be sacrificed.”
– James Madison