• There isn’t any golf Downtown but there will be golfers running around June 13-14 as the World Golf Village has a promotion for its British Open contest. About 20 actors from St. Augustine’s Limelight Theatre will be in the area to encourage Internet entries for the contest. The grand prize: a trip to the tournament in July.
• The annual Ch. 7 auction starts its six-day run Saturday evening. They’ll bring back some former volunteers to chat about the past and the list includes ex-Mayor Jake Godbold, car dealer Frank Griffin, realtor Walter Williams, State Sen. Jim King, developer Preston Haskell and wife Joan, and developer Chester Stokes.
• There are competitions in everything and the latest is the Ortho Bowl, which matches two-person teams of aspiring bone doctors. The Florida winners this year were from Jacksonville’s University of Florida College of Medicine-Jacksonville, Aaron Bates and Ryan Riel, who beat teams from four other hospitals in the Key Largo competition. The prize: $300 each and a trophy appropriately covered in casting material.
• If you would like an up-close look at the equipment and techniques the Urban Search and Rescue Team of Florida Task Force 5 will deploy in the event of a hurricane, here’s your chance. The team will perform their annual preparedness and operations readiness drill in front of the Target Store at St. Johns Town Center tomorrow from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Members of Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department’s Emergency Operations Center will also be on hand to provide hurricane preparedness information.
• A six-week exhibition celebrating the life and accomplishments of Benjamin Franklin will begin Wednesday at the Main Library. “Ben Franklin: In Search of a Better World” will open during Art Walk with actor Dean Bennett portraying Franklin as well as an exhibit of objects owned by the statesman, publisher and inventor. The exhibit is organized by the Benjamin Franklin Tercentenary in Philadelphia and was made possible by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. There will also be a display of photographs from past presidential visits to Jacksonville. For the complete schedule, call 630-BOOK or visit jaxpubliclibrary.org.
• The Main Library has also booked a pair of patriotic concerts. On Flag Day (June 14) the Navy Southeast Brass Quintet will perform at 1:30 p.m. and July 2 from 4-8 p.m. in conjunction with Art Walk the St. Johns River City Band will present the “Patriotic Musical Extravaganza.”
“Mere parsimony is not economy. Expense, and great expense, may be an essential part in true economy.”
– Edmund Burke, Irish philosopher and statesman