• The Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International (HSMAI) has bestowed upon Visit Jacksonville four “Adrian Awards.” The annual awards recognize creativity and best practices in hospitality, travel and tourism-related marketing. Visit Jacksonville received Silver Awards this year for its Web site as well as the “Jacksonville: America’s Health Center” medical tourism initiative, its multicultural sales campaign and its seasonal “Escape to Jacksonville” campaign. Judges evaluated the concept of the programs and usability of more than 1,300 campaigns this year. Representatives from Visit Jacksonville will pick up the trophies at the HMSAI Adrian Awards Gala Jan. 26 in New York City.
• Former Jacksonville City Council Member Warren Alvarez may be gone, but he is not forgotten. He made sure of that by dropping off oranges this week and they could be found on desks throughout City Hall.
• Can you blame them? A six-person delegation of municipal managers from Russia will visit Jacksonville Jan. 17-21 as part of the International Visitors Corps Jacksonville’s partnership with the U. S. State Department. The Russians are traveling to several cities in America to study issues pertaining to snow removal, but are taking a side trip to our fair city to learn about public-private partnerships and transparency in municipal government. When the delegation leaves Jacksonville they will head for Minnesota.
• Senior Human Services Planner Lacree Carswell has been recommended by Mayor John Peyton for the post of Chief of Community Development Division of the Housing and Neighborhoods Department.
• The Grimes Companies have completed their move into a new corporate headquarters and are now located at 14500 Hyatt Road near Jacksonville International Airport. The company purchased the former Pic ‘N’ Save distribution center two years ago and has completely renovated the building, which is now the home of Grimes’ trucking company, transportation brokerage, and warehousing and packaging services. The former headquarters on Ellis Road will remain open with 200,000 square feet of warehouse space and the corporate offices of FileSafe, a Grimes subsidiary that offers document management and storage services.
• Jan. 31 is the deadline to purchase a Florida Prepaid College Plan at the current prices. For 20 years, more than 881,000 children have been enrolled in the plan and more than 206,000 students have used their prepaid benefits at Florida’s 11 public universities, 28 community colleges and select technical schools. Prepaid tuition can be purchased for children and grandchildren as soon as they are born and up until they are in the 11th grade. For all the details and rates based on age of child, visit www.myfloridaprepaid.com.
• The Jacksonville City Council recognized University of North Florida Head Baseball Coach Dusty Rhodes Tuesday for being inducted into the American Baseball Coaches Association(ABCA) Hall of Fame. Rhodes has compiled a 856-389 record through 21 seasons with the Ospreys and a 1,130-481 overall record. A group of college coaches formed the ABCA in 1945 to formulate ideas for the promotion and improvement of the collegiate game.
• First check-in: Hotel Indigo, a boutique hotel in the Tapestry Park region of Southside, will be taking its first clients beginning Jan. 27, according to its reservation service. The hotel will be the third Indigo in Florida and is owned and operated by Zieg Hospitality of Jacksonville. The company’s president is Hal Steinbrenner, son of the longtime New York Yankees owner, George Steinbrenner.
• The date is set for the annual Cathedral Arts “Spring for the Arts” benefit at Deerwood Country Club. The celebration will be March 20, with Joan and Russell Newton being recognized as the “Guardian of the Arts” recipients. Past winners include Joan and Preston Haskell and Mary and Jim Winston. For more information, call 281-5599, ext. 17.