• Mayor John Peyton has been invited to serve as a VIP marshal in this year’s Winn-Dixie Hometown Gator Bowl Parade. The Dec. 31 parade is the day before the Konica Minolta Gator Bowl, starts at 3 p.m. and runs down Bay Street. The theme of this year’s parade is “Take a Walk on the Wild Side.”
• Speaking of Peyton, he is out of the office all week. According to a release, he’s in Japan on a trade mission.
• Office Depot will open a new Jacksonville store Nov. 1. It’s on Dunn Avenue near I-95.
• The Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra is offering a new student discount pass. For $25, the Sound Check Card offers students access to all JSO Masterworks, Discovery and Coffee Series concerts for the entire season. Sound Check members are also invited to “Soundbyte” presentations at each Discovery concert prior to the performance. For information, call 354-5657 or e-mail [email protected].
• The daniel home’s motorcycle fundraiser was so successful they had to turn riders away and there’s no apparent solution. They had 700 riders this year, the maximum allowed by law enforcement officers because of traffic tie-ups. This year’s ride raised more than $125,000 to help the kids.
• Learn to Read is hosting its 10th anniversary Scrabble Soiree, Letters for Literacy at 6 p.m. Nov. 29 at St. John’s Cathedral, 256 E. Church St. To register, contact Learn to Read at 399-8894.
• Duval County Property Appraiser Jim Overton has been named president-elect of the Florida Association of Property Appraisers. Overton is currently serving as legislative chair for the organization, which provides continuing education and legislative updates to property appraisers and employees statewide as well as technical assistance to the State Legislature on property appraisal issues. Overton, a former City Council member, was elected property appraiser in 2003 and ran unopposed earlier this year.
• There are new admission prices at the Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens. The prices go into effect Nov. 1. Museum members are free, adults went from $8 to $10, seniors, military and students went from $5 to $6, and children 5 and under are free.
• City Council member and former Council president Michael Corrigan has resigned as the Council’s representative on the Florida Association of Counties. Corrigan cited increased business responsibilities.
• U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown is hosting what she calls her “birthday tailgate” party Nov. 18 coinciding with the Jaguars/Chargers game. The event is also a fundraiser and the invite says the “suggested contribution to attend this event is $2,300.”
“War is the statesman’s game, the priest’s delight, The lawyer’s jest, the hired assassin’s trade.”
– Percy Bysshe Shelley, British poet