Local news | Clay Today

Fall Festival for the Amazing Grace Family Farms is approaching quickly, and visitors are encouraged to get their tickets in advance.

Tickets going fast for Amazing Grace Family Farms’ Fall Festival

MIDDLEBURG – Many of last year’s Amazing Grace Family Farms Fall Festival sessions sold out a year ago, so the operators are encouraging visitors to get their tickets in advance. The … more

Staff Photos by Don Coble | 9/28/23

The Oxford House, an international network of self-ran recovery houses, rents family homes, which become self-ran, financially self-supported places for people to begin their journey to sobriety. The organization joined the Celebrate Recovery last Saturday at the VA Center. Clay County got its first house in June 2022.

Groups that support sobriety celebrate recoveries

MIDDLEBURG- Clay Behavioral Health Center, Clay County Fire Rescue and Groups Recover Together warmly embraced residents living with mental health disorders and recovering from addiction during the … more

By Lee Wardlaw lee@claytodayonline.com | 9/28/23

During a free session last Monday at the Clay County Extension Office, UF/IFAS volunteers Michelle Hord and Beyerl discussed the proper way to dispose of yard debris to better protect waterways.

Keeping waterways clean starts with properly disposing yard debris

GREEN COVE SPRINGS – Michelle Hord and Barbara Beyerl, volunteers with the UF/IFAS Florida Master Gardener Program, shared ways to dispose of yard debris properly and ways to protect the local … more

By Lee Wardlaw lee@claytodayonline.com | 9/28/23

Although doctors have told Anthony Reynolds he has little chance of recovering from a broken spine sustained in a four-wheeler accident, the 17-year-old Keystone Heights High senior said he’s “going to live my life” and not give up. Reynolds has received support from the Lake Region community, including visits from his mother and father, Heather and Eric.

‘I still have my life’

GAINESVILLE – Cloaked beneath a green University of Miami blanket is a body of contradicting abilities. The upper half is young and vigorous. The lower half is listless and … more

By Don Coble don@claytodayonline.com | 9/28/23

Mary Skinner makes unique jewelry pieces while caring for her brother, Andy. By handcrafting the jewelry from home, she’s able to devote time to both.

Keystone Heights woman finds way to create jewelry while helping ailing brother

KEYSTONE HEIGHTS – In 2020, Mary Skinner became the sole caretaker of her brother, Andy. They lost their father that year due to complications from exposure to Agent Orange, the infamous herbicide … more

By Natalie Gilstrap For Clay Today | 9/28/23

Lynyrd Skynyrd guitarists Rickey Medlocke (l) and frontman Johnny Van Zant will be at Whitey’s Fish Camp on Wednesday, Oct. 4, to introduce their new Hell House Whiskey. They will be autographing bottles of the hooch named after the famous Green Cove Springs shack, where many of the band’s iconic songs were written 50 years ago. The event is from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Due to the expected large turnout, they won’t be able to sign any other merchandise.

Skynyrd fans can salute launch of Hell House Whiskey at Whitey’s Fish Camp

FLEMING ISLAND – Johnny Van Zant fondly recalled a story about getting ready to go on stage early in his career. His father, Lacy, offered him a shot of whiskey to smooth his vocal cords and calm … more

By Don Coble don@claytodayonline.com | 9/28/23

City council sets budget at $428,174 with 6.48% millage rate increase

While the Keystone Heights City Council approved a new budget for 2023-24, which includes a 6.48% millage rate increase compared to last year’s rollback rate, members learned City Manager Lynn … more

By Don Coble don@claytodayonline.com | 9/28/23

Jackson de Ville, the mascot for the Jacksonville Jaguars, will join with the American Cancer Society’s Making Strides Against Breast Cancer in October. Clay County District athletic teams will help promote the event by wearing pink at selected games.

County schools athletic departments promote ‘Pink Out’ month

CLAY COUNTY – Clay County Athletics is proud to announce its second year partnering with the American Cancer Society and the Jacksonville Jaguars Foundation to promote PINK OUT month. In … more

For Clay Today | 9/28/23

Girl Scouts honor Hair by Lee & Friends owner Lee Goodnight

ORANGE PARK – Lee Goodnight, Hair By Lee & Friends owner in Orange Park, has been an adult volunteer with the Girl Scouts since 1987, and with the Gateway Council as a canoe and kayak … more

PHOTO BY HAIR BY LEE & FRIENDS | 9/28/23

Crackers to break ground with fresher approach

Brad Skwirsk purchased and remodeled the original Cheers on Wells Road in 2011, rebranding the Orange Park-based bar to Locals Pub. Now, he will seek to redesign another Clay County bar: Crackers … more

By Lee Wardlaw lee@claytodayonline.com | 9/28/23

Gov. DeSantis presents BCC $3.5 million for infrastructure projects

CLAY COUNTY – Gov. Ron DeSantis awarded more than $3.5 million to the Clay County Board of County Commissioners Monday through the Governor’s Florida Job Growth Grant Fund for targeted … more

9/21/23

The Lighthouse Archaeological Maritime Program research team members recently completed an excavation of buried ruins from Fort Mose in St. Augustine. Orange Park’s Robert Phillips joined the effort and chronicled much of the work with his camera. Archaeologists found pieces of pots and dishes, but they weren’t sure if they were left by residents from Spain, France, England or the first legally sanctioned free African settlers.

Orange Park man digs into St. Augustine’s past

ORANGE PARK – Early on summer mornings, photographer Robert Phillips set out to work with professors Dr. Lisa Lee and Dr. James Davidson researching fossils and remnants in an archelogy dig in St. … more

Zeibab Faraj For Clay Today | 9/21/23

From left, Joshua, Crystal and Matthew Chisholm now have a home in Green Cove Springs. True Vine Fellowship, Penney Retirement Center, Breaking Bread Ministry and Orange Park United Methodist Church James Boys all banded to help the family who lost their home and were forced to live in a shed or car. True Vine’s Pastor John Sanders gave the family keys to their home.

Homeless to happiness

GREEN COVE SPRINGS – A shed. A car. A hotel. Three places Crystal Chisholm and her sons had to call home until they found a place they could call their own. A community means having support and … more

Kyla Woodard For Clay Today | 9/21/23

Clay Watch is a new program at the Clay County Sheriff’s Office designed to help identify and locate people with special needs who become lost. By creating a voluntary database of those with histories of wandering, communication and cognitive issues, CCSO said it could cut valuable minutes, if not hours, from the time it takes to identify or locate someone.

CCSO creates databank to speed recovery of missing, lost residents with cognitive issues

CLAY COUNTY – It’s the call most deputies and officers hate most: someone’s missing. Whether it be someone with a diminished mental capacity or a child, they know every second matters. The … more

By Don Coble don@claytodayonline.com | 9/21/23

Green Cove Springs approves millage rate, budget for 2023-24

GREEN COVE SPRINGS – The City Council approved a 4.7 millage rate Tuesday night for the next fiscal year that will generate $3.3 million in revenues, a 14.85% increase from last year’s … more

Clay Today Staff | 9/21/23

Long-tenured former General Counsel Sam Garrison

Town ranks five law firms in search for new attorney

ORANGE PARK – The Town Council moved forward in replacing General Counsel Sam Garrison by ranking five law firms that filed for Requests of Qualifications, The council pared the list to three, with … more

By Lee Wardlaw lee@claytodayonline.com | 9/21/23

Fighting to find peace

ORANGE PARK – Mike Anderson finds inner peace every time he throws a punch. He feels a sense of calmness with every jab and emotional tranquility with each uppercut. The Fleming Island … more

By Don Coble don@claytodayonline.com | 9/21/23

Middleburg High’s Breyana Stilts emphasizes real-life scenarios, like filing taxes, budgeting, calculating deductions, planning finances, registering to vote and analyzing political platforms in her classroom.

Middleburg’s Stilts trades banking career for education award

MIDDLEBURG – In a major victory for the County School District, Breyana Stilts, an Economics, Government and U.S. History Teacher at Middleburg High, was recently selected as the Warren Tracy … more

By Lee Wardlaw lee@claytodayonline.com | 9/21/23

Justin Daniels brings a sense of excitement and honesty to challenge his students at Orange Park High to embrace learning social studies.

Daniels’ inspiring tactics leads to state honor

ORANGE PARK – Justin Daniels, a veteran educator and cornerstone of the Orange Park High community, recently earned the prestigious 2023 Florida Council for Social Studies Excellence in Teaching … more

By Lee Wardlaw lee@claytodayonline.com | 9/21/23

Florida Sen. Jennifer Bradley (R- Fleming Island) addressed property insurance concerns and provided updates on legislative sessions at the Clay Chamber’s Bridge-To-Bridge meeting on Sept. 13.

Jennifer Bradley said legislature to tackle complex insurance problems

FLEMING ISLAND – Florida Sen. Jennifer Bradley (R-Fleming Island) highlighted property insurance concerns in her constituents’ districts last week at the Clay Chamber’s Bridge to Bridge … more

By Lee Wardlaw lee@claytodayonline.com | 9/21/23

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