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MMHS NEWS
September 2022
Embrace the Mandarin Experience
Dear Friends,

These doors represent many of the nonprofit arts and cultural organizations in Jacksonville who are recipients of the annual competitive grant - the Cultural Services Grant Program. The Cultural Council of Northeast Florida serves as the official regranting agency for City of Jacksonville funding to arts and cultural organizations. ​Each year these grants provide over $2 million to organizations in the Greater Jacksonville area. This last year, MMHS received $9007.

We have applied again for the 2022-23 Fiscal year, which starts Oct. 1 and we will report in the Oct. newsletter. We are very honored and grateful for this opportunity and I just wanted our friends to be aware of this wonderful program. You can view all participants and learn more about it and the Cultural Council at this link: https://www.culturalcouncil.org/cultural-service-grant-program.html.

Can you find our door on this poster??

Sandy Arpen
Meet "Gerald" the Frog

Don Bowden pulled this light green frog out of his truck recently and said "meet Gerald." This light green frog just happens to be the very first frog that Don hid in the park on August 22, 2015 - seven years ago! He was up front near the parking lot and got covered with leaves. Don located him and pulled him out and took him home. However, he was on view again on August 20th, 2022 when the historic buildings were open.

It's hard to believe that Mandarin's Frog Man has made over 10,000 concrete frogs in those seven years....pouring concrete and painting even when it is 90+ degrees. Talk about a labor of love - this is it!
"Images of America: Mandarin"

A third sneak peek at one of the photos we share in the book - due out in January. However, we hope we'll get some to sell for Winter Celebration on Dec. 3!

This is one side of a stereoview postcard that the museum owns. It illustrates a sugar cane grinding operation in Mandarin. The cane would be squeezed out of the stalk by the pressure of the grinder as the mule walked around and around causing it to press the juice out. Then the juice would be boiled in a big kettle and made into cane syrup which was used as a sweetener for all kinds of things.

There are still lots of folks left who remember sugar cane mills in Mandarin, watching the mule walk around and around and also enjoying the product of these efforts. There was one where St. Augustine Rd. and San Jose Blvd. intersect well into the 1960s.
Volunteer Spotlight
by Paula Suhey
“She makes me want to have a British accent”
 
These are the words of one of our Master Gardeners, Candace Barrone, as she spoke about Juliet Johnson, who has recently joined our volunteer team as a Master Gardener herself.
 
Juliet is from England and Scotland. She came to the USA to attend Smith College.
 
“And I refused to go home”, she said.
 
Juliet has been a corporate event planner, a digital media marketing professional and worked in the finance industry. She was also an auxiliary police officer in the Midtown North Precinct in NYC. She can tell you what she did then. It’s a bit racy for this newsletter.
 
 “I became a master gardener to nurture and preserve the natural beauty of our state” she said when asked how she joined the ranks of others who have achieved that recognition. Our long time Master Gardeners, George DeMario and Candace encouraged her to come and work in the garden that is in front of the school house. They are all also Master Gardeners volunteering with the Duval County UF/IFAS Extension Office.
 
Her goal is to turn that area into an educational and beautiful shade-tolerant plant garden.
 
Juliet is married and has three adult children. She plans to spend a few hours each week in the garden and welcomes a helper. Please let us know asap if you'd like to help her, Just a thought – that garden needs a name. The one by the farmhouse is called the "Harriet Beecher Stowe Kitchen Garden."

For more information please contact Paula Suhey, Volunteer Coordinator (mandarinmuseumvolunteers@gmail.com).
Third Thursday Lecture with Bill Morrow

Despite the rain, it was a packed house to hear Mandarin stories by lifetime resident Bill Morrow. His photographs and stories gave people a glimpse of old time Mandarin. He has taken on the role of Mandarin historian from his mother Jean Morrow, whose histories and donations contributed greatly to the Mandarin Museum.
Smithsonian Museum Day is Back
After a two-year absence, Smithsonian Magazine Museum Day has returned. This day is meant to be an encouragement to people to get out and visit their local museums by offering free admission this day.

Mandarin Museum & Historical Society always offers free admission, but on this day we do see lots of new visitors because they become aware of us through the Smithsonian Magazine website: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/museumday/search/?q=. This website allows you to explore museums all over Florida and the U.S. It also asks you to save or print a ticket. We're free anyway but the tickets help Snithsonian and us know how many visitors come because of Museum Day.
Mark Your Calendars for MMHS Openings in September

In September, the historic buildings in Walter Jones Park are scheduled to be open on the first and third Saturdays.

The 1875 Webb/Jones farmhouse, 1876 Barn, 1898 St. Joseph's Mission Schoolhouse for African-American Children and Losco Winery log cabin will be open from 10 am – 2 pm on September 3 and September 17 in Walter Jones Historical Park.

The Store and Post Office will be open September 17 from 10-2 - 12471 Mandarin Road.

The Mandarin Museum remains closed for renovation - except for frog sales on the front porch and book/art print sales inside any day we are open.

The "Under the Oaks" music jam is still on Summer Break.

This interesting photo was taken by visitor Robert Clark in August at the barn. The barn is full of agricultural equipment like this milk can and sugar cane kettle. Many thanks to Robert for sharing this beautiful photograph. Please stop by and spend some time looking at all the items on display.

Rain, rain rain - almost every afternoon this summer. Please understand that if it rains we will have to close the barn and the winery because we can not bring things outside that are required for visitors to see the inside. And sometimes, if it is a real storm, we have to close all the buildings and nobody should be in the park anyway, due to all the trees. But if it is just a light rain we'll have the schoolhouse, farmhouse and Store and Post office open.

Mandarin Newsline

The September 2022 edition of the Mandarin Newsline will be online soon.

This free newspaper is our chief way of sharing history stories, events and programs with the public. They are able to publish free papers due to the robust local advertising. Please pay attention to the ads and shop and eat at those businesses that support the community in this way.

To read the entire September Newsline click HERE
Until Next Time...

One of the items in our Jones family collection is this passport of Agnes Jones, Mandarin's postmistress from 1928-1963. Miss Aggie apparently always loved to travel, but she was tied to her work too. Once both the Store and Post Office were closed in 1964, she took off for some really interesting trips. She was born in 1898 and this passport was from 1972, when she would have been 74. The stamps here include: Hawaii, New Zealand, Figi, French Polynesia, Paraguay and Brazil. She lived another 20 years, so there's no telling where else she ventured to.
Thank you to our community partners


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
 
Mandarin Museum & Historical Society
904-268-0784
mandarinmuseum@bellsouth.net