 |
MMHS NEWS
August 2019
|
|
EMBRACE THE MANDARIN EXPERIENCE
|
Thank You Volunteer Camille Ferron
Dear Friends of MMHS,
As the new school year nears, we want to congratulate our volunteer Camille Ferron who graduated this year from Mandarin High School. Camille has been an active and regular volunteer for 4 years, along with her mother Patricia and her sister Camiya. Many will remember her for the beautiful duets she and Camiya sang at Winter Celebration 2 years ago. They sang seasonal songs a capella and simply "wowed" all listeners with their wonderful voices.
Camille has also volunteered to lead and help with many different children's activities at Winter Celebration and the Back to School Bashes. She has a special way with the children who visit and serves as a wonderful role model. She has also done many different administrative projects in the office. All of this was while being a very busy student and working a job!
Now Camille heads to UNF to begin an academic path towards a degree in neuropsychology. This will be a rigorous course of study, but Camille has what it takes to do anything she sets her mind to! We congratulate her and thank her for all she has done for MMHS during her high school years.
Volunteers like Camille are the hope for the future of our museum and others like us. It is vital to have engaged young people who have the same passion that we do to keep history alive and engage our visitors in our mission.
Sandy Arpen
|
|
| Camille (right) and Camiya Ferron |
|
|
Third Thursday Lecture
August 15
Lisa Rinaman, our St. Johns Riverkeeper!
The Timucuans traveled along what is now called the St. Johns River, obtaining plentiful bounties of fish; the French sailed it and called it the River of May; the Spanish named it Rio San Juan; and the English changed it to the St. Johns. In the late 1700s, John and William Bartram, famous naturalists, also spent time in the area learning and writing about the St. Johns and the flora and fauna of the shores that lined it; Harriet Beecher Stowe could view it from her front porch in Mandarin and recorded many stories about the pleasure of cruising the beautiful river; 20th century Mandarin historian Jean Morrow wrote a poem about it called "Always the River"; and old time Mandarin residents can tell you all kinds of wild tales of their days cruising the river and fishing, crabbing and shrimping from the many docks along the shore - when the seafood was plentiful!
Almost everything that ever developed in Mandarin owed its success to "THE River." And now in the 21st century, with all the destructive impacts of population, development and high volume use, the St. Johns needs all of us to stand up with the St. Johns Riverkeeper organization to protect it from further harm.
YOUR St. Johns Riverkeeper, Lisa Rinaman, is the most outspoken and knowledgeable advocate for this mission. She will be presenting the Third Thursday Lecture, giving a general overview and focus on one of our biggest advocacy issues - working to create a more resilient river.
River UPRising
is a custom presentation based on the outcome of Riverkeeper's "River Rising Town Hall Series" that stretched over the 2018 Hurricane Season. It concludes that, working together, we can truly protect our communities and the St. Johns River while improving our quality of life, health and local economy.
This Third Thursday Lecture is on August 15, presented by the Mandarin Museum & Historical Society in partnership with and held at the Mandarin Community Club, located at 12447 Mandarin Rd. Refreshments begin at 6:30 pm with the lecture at 7 pm. It is free and all are invited and encouraged to attend.
|
Thank you Andrew Myer
We say this a lot at MMHS, because it is true - " Someone just dropped in from the heavens to help us!" And that's exactly what happened with this wonderful man, Andrew Myer. He and his family visited the museum one Saturday in February and he wrote us an email saying, "I had a delightful visit to the Mandarin Museum this Saturday with my two children ages 11 and 8. Don's excitement over the artifacts and enthusiasm for the museum was really neat. We enjoyed walking through the lovely grounds to the river finding the Mandarin Frogs along the way. It was a splendid afternoon. We wanted to thank you and all involved for the work it takes to make this wonderful museum possible."
That was a great email to get....but he went on to share that he is enrolled in the University of Florida's Masters program in Non-Profit Management and that he has experience working in museums. He said he had a big project to do in the Spring term - to create a sustainable Fundraising Plan for a non-profit in his community .....and would we be interested! Aw, what do you think we did after we got done doing flips? Of course we were thrilled, excited and very very grateful...and said yes!
Andrew did indeed develop a comprehensive plan for MMHS based on our history, financials and past efforts. We expect to use this plan very soon and put many of his ideas into action. We have spent most of our fundraising hours on capital campaigns since 2015 when we obtained the schoolhouse and more recently the expansion of the museum. It is now time to put our efforts into sustainability of program operations.
Andrew has given us a gift that is invaluable. We will be forever grateful to him for his efforts to help us move to the next level.
|
Hurricane Preparedness Information
A Mandarin Community Club Event
Thursday, August 8
Hosted by the Mandarin Community Club - 12447 Mandarin Rd. This event is FREE and open to the public. Doors open at 6:30PM, program at 7PM
* COJ Emergency Preparedness Division (JFRD) will discuss how to prepare and respond to major weather events and emergencies
* Official COJ 2019/2020 Preparedness Guides
The last few years have definitely caused us to wake up and realize that we are NOT protected...and it CAN happen to us! Be prepared this season!
|
Accessions Corner
What is in our Collection?
Mandarin Land Company - 1909. Selling lots in a new development south of Goodby's Lake - around the Sunbeam area near the railroad tracks. You could buy a lot for $25 - 35 at $5/month with promises of fertile soil, orange trees and bees. They even promised that the 28 "BIG HOTELS" in Jacksonville would buy your eggs, poultry and pigeons.
It didn't make it!
Anyway, this was the beginning of the development of Mandarin. Thanks to Tracey Arpen for finding this and the supporting materials on e-Bay and giving it to the museum.
|
Our big event in July was our special day for military families through the Blue Star Museums program. We had a wonderful turnout of families to learn about Mandarin and specifically our military history. Thank you to all the volunteers who opened the buildings for an extra Saturday during intense heat. Also too, the Civil War camp boss Dennis Short and the other reenactors, the
Maple Leaf divers and the wonderful group "Cain't Never Could," who played old time music for our visitors to enjoy. Thanks also to Wendy Layton, Chapter Director of Blue Star Families and to the Bank of America volunteers who manned the road and the kids coloring table. Thanks, too to our new Council Member Michael Boylan for joining us. Here are a few pics:
|
Mandarin Newsline
August edition
"Back in Time with Brett" by MMHS volunteer Brett Nolan features the Brown House on Mandarin Road this month.
Click HERE to see the story and the entire edition of the May Newsline.
The Newsline allows us to share our events with the community. They are supported by advertisements, so please support those who support this wonderful free local paper.
|
OUR REGULAR EVENTS FOR AUGUST
First Saturday - August 3 - All Buildings Open - READ TIMES
In Walter Jones Historical Park - 1875 farmhouse, 1876 barn, Losco Winery
are open from 10-2.
ALSO - the
historic Mandarin Store and Post Office will be open at 12471 Mandarin Road (next to the Mandarin Community Club) from 10-2.
Mandarin Museum and the
St. Joseph's Mission Schoolhouse for African-American Children will be open from 9-4,
as usual.
|
|
| Volunteer Brett Nolan, author of "Back in Time With Brett" in the Mandarin Newsline, will be hosting at the Store and Post Office from 10-2. Please stop by and meet him. |
Frog Painting - August 10
10-12
The Frog Man tells us he has LOTS of sea turtles for this one - if you'd like to paint, please reserve in advance to [email protected]. (Weather permitting of course - this is an outside event in front of the museum.)
"Under the Oaks" Music Jam
is cancelled for August and September due to the heat.
This event is co-sponsored by the North Florida Folk Network. - "Connecting Artists, Fans and venues in North Florida."
CLICK HERE to view their website.
Meet the Maple Leaf Divers - August 17
Keith Holland and SJAE divers are back in the museum August 17 from 12- 4 to tell you all about their exploration of this National Historic Landmark shipwreck.
|
|
| One of the diving suits of lead diver Lee Manley. |
|
Mark your calendars
- August 15 - Third Thursday Lecture - The St. Johns Riverkeeper
- September 21 - Smithsonian Museum Day (NOTE: THIS DATE IS A CORRECTION!)
- November 21 - Third Thursday Lecture - Dr. John Foster - discussing his new book At the Dawn of Tourism in Florid: Abolitionists, Print Media, and Images for Early Vacationers.
- December 7 - Special 20th anniversary of the Winter Celebration in Mandarin - with special event honoring Pearl Harbor Day and WWII vets.
|
|
The Mandarin Museum and the Schoolhouse are open on Saturdays from 9-4. All other historic buildings in Walter Jones Historical Park (11964 Mandarin Rd.) AND the Mandarin Store and PO (12471 Mandarin Rd.), are open from 10-2 on the first Saturday. Exceptions to this schedule are listed in the calendar above.
School field trips and youth or adult group tours are scheduled mostly during the week - by appointment. Call 268-0784 or email us at
to make a reservation.
We always need more volunteers, as they are the backbone of our organization. If you would like more information
CLICK HERE to email Paula Suhey, Volunteer Coordinator and she will give you a call and tell you all about the opportunities we have. Information is also available by clicking
HERE.
Follow us on Facebook, Instagram and our Tumblr blog by clicking on the logos at the bottom of this newsletter.
|
MISSION: Mandarin Museum & Historical Society shares the stories of Mandarin's history, culture and natural resources by providing engaging programs that educate, entertain and inspire.
VISIT. JOIN. VOLUNTEER
Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and our blog (click icons below).
Mandarin Museum & Historical Society
904-268-0784
|
|
|
|
|
|
