• The Jacksonville Home and Patio Show will team up with Habitat for Humanity of Jacksonville, Inc. and the HabiJax ReStore for the Oct. 1-4 show with an expansive feature area where HabiJax will build and showcase one of their new homes in the middle of the Osborn Center. The HabiJax ReStore area will feature home improvement items for purchase, how-to seminars and more. The HabiJax ReStore at 5800 Beach Blvd. sells appliances, cabinets, carpeting, doors, flooring and tile, furniture, hardware and many other home improvement supplies. Proceeds from the HabiJax ReStore provide additional funding for HabiJax which helps working families in need of high-quality, affordable housing in Jacksonville.
• The 30th Annual Realtor-Builder Florida Tradeshow is set for Oct. 22 and the theme is “Back to Our Future” — a play off the 1985 movie “Back to the Future.” The event will be at the University of North Florida’s University Center this year and runs from 9 a.m.–3 p.m.
• Keep Jacksonville Beautiful Commission has weighed in on a couple of ordinances. The organization is opposed to an ordinance sponsored by Council member Warren Jones that would allow advertising on bus shelters and supports an ordinance sponsored by Council member John Crescimbeni that would ban such advertising. Both bills are in committee.
• Last week, the United Way’s board of trustees and directors has decided to cut more than $1.78 million from programs for the 2009-10 fiscal year. According to Trustees Chair Kevin Twomey and Directors Chair Barbara Drake, United Way will cut its annual operating budget by $400,000. The cuts come at a time when calls to United Way for emergency financial assistance are up 30 percent and referrals for food, shelter and clothing are up 113 percent.
• The Sierra Club will meet July 13 at 7 p.m. at Lakewood Presbyterian Church. Tony Burch, a volunteer with the National Marine Fisheries Apex Program, will discuss conservation issues concerning sharks and a catch and release program he started seven years ago at St. Simon’s Island. Admission is free. For more information e-mail [email protected].
• The numbers are in for this past spring’s “Jax Reads” initiative at the Jacksonville Public Library when people were encouraged to read “Call of the Wild,” Jack London’s classic tale of a dog named Buck and prospecting in the Yukon Territory during the Gold Rush in the late 1800s. The book was borrowed 1,113 times between Feb. 20 and April 30 from the Main Library and neighborhood branch libraries.
• If you celebrate the French national holiday “Bastille Day” on July 14, there’s a way to do it here at home. L’Alliance Francaise and the Jacksonville Sister Cities Association is hosting a river cruise on the Annabelle Lee to celebrate the anniversary of the beginning of the French Revolution in 1789. The vessel will cast off at 6:30 p.m. on the Southbank at the Chart House parking lot. Tickets are $60 per person and that includes dinner. For reservations call 737-1454.
• The Old Florida Museum has relocated and is offering daily interactive tours this summer. A guided tour is being offered to the general public for the first time this summer. The tours will be available through Aug. 23. The Old Florida Museum is now located at 259 San Marco Ave. (at the corner of State Road 16) in St. Augustine. For more information including prices and tour times, call 904-824-8874 or visit www.oldfloridamuseum.com.