• The Community Foundation has released its annual report for 2008. Last year, the organization awarded 1,492 grants worth $16.2 million. Of those, 76 percent were doled out in the Northeast Florida region and 26 percent went to education.
• Sundrez at the Landing is selling left over T-shirts from the Florida-Georgia game for $8.
• Look for a group of area ultra-marathon runners to announce a big event today to benefit Wolfson Children’s Hospital. Next year, the hospital will celebrate 55 years of service and to mark the occasion, a group of marathoners will run 55 miles Jan. 30. There will also be a birthday cake with 55 three-foot candles on display at the main entrance to the hospital throughout January.
• The view of Northeast Florida from the sky might be good, but Jacksonville Aviation Authority officials hope to help airline representatives get better acquainted with the region on the ground level. The JAA is hosting a three-day airline summit with multiple commercial representatives on hand for an overview and tour of the area. The summit is at One Ocean Resort in Atlantic Beach but will feature tours of Downtown, Amelia Island, Fernandina Beach and Jacksonville International Airport, with the goal of updating and educating representatives on travel-related possibilities in the region. The hope is the representatives will then use the information to make new service recommendations to their airlines.
• JTA is doing some work on the Beach Boulevard Bridge over the Intracoastal Waterway this week. Eastbound lanes will close Thursday at 8:30 p.m. and won’t reopen until 6:30 a.m. Friday. Traffic will be reduced to two lanes, one in each direction over the bridge.
• Allied Veterans of the World, Inc. & Affiliates have donated $50,000 toward the Jaguars’ half-time Military Appreciation Show at Sunday’s game against the Kansas City Chiefs and have purchased 1,000 tickets to be given away to military personnel. New to the event this year is a Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall replica entitled “Bringing Home the Wall” that Allied Veterans of the World, Inc. has donated $20,000 to aid in its construction. It will be assembled at the South End Zone just outside Municipal Stadium. The display includes all 58,000 plus names as seen on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, D.C.
• If you’re looking for an opportunity to expand your social network, First Friday Lunch Bunch may be for you. FFLB is an opportunity to dine with and meet artists, actors, dancers, musicians, painters, photographers and arts enthusiasts. The next gathering is Friday at Clara’s at the Cathedral at Saint John’s Cathedral (256 E. Church St.) from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Cost for lunch catered by the Clara White Culinary Arts program is $10 and an RSVP is not necessary to attend.