• The new Downtown VyStar branch in the Ed Ball Building is open. Also, the credit union will cut the ribbon on its other new branch May 16 at 9:30 a.m. This one’s across from Michael’s in the Regency Commons Shopping Center.
• Rogers Towers has opened a new office at Amelia Island, its fourth branch in the area — the other three are in Ponte Vedra, St. Augustine and Palm Coast. Attorneys Michael Mullin and Susan McDonald will practice in the office that’s located in the Gateway Commons II office building on A1A.
• The Duval County School System will officially recognize its acceptance into the “Teach for America” program during a May 31 event. Wendy Kopp, CEO and founder of Teach for America, will be in town for the event hosted by Duval County School Superintendent Joseph Wise.
• Gold’s Gym is into The Players Championship. New members that sign up this week get a month free and pay only an $18 enrollment fee. Also, Royale Smoothie has a putting green set up. Anyone who makes a putt gets a free smoothie.
• The Tourist Development Council will hold its quarterly meeting May 17 at 10 a.m. in City Council Chambers.
• Morton’s The Steakhouse has a $99 special through the end of June. It’s called the Four-Course Premium Pair that includes steak, seafood and all the sides.
• City Council member Elaine Brown and her husband and Neptune Beach Mayor Dick Brown, have agreed to lead Community Connections’ “Challenge Letter” campaign. Last year, the campaign raised over $80,000 for the general operations fund of Community Connections.
• Big anniversary this year for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local Union 177. It’s the 95th and they’ll celebrate Saturday at the Morocco Shrine Center.
• Jacksonville University’s College of Fine Arts is hosting a one-hour documentary called “Glass Ceiling.” The documentary follows the creation of “Lyrical Light” — the all glass, modern art piece currently on display inside the T-U Center. The piece weighs 3,000 pounds, is 100 feet long and 15 feet wide and took JU students and faculty eight months to construct. It’s May 31 in Swisher Theatre.
“Of all the joys that lighten suffering earth, what joy is welcomed like a newborn child?”
– Dorothy L. Nolte, U.S. poet.