Five years ago, 2021 

• Clay County residents start to receive their Moderna COVID-19 vaccines as the first 3,000 doses were made available at the UF/IFAS Extension Office. 

• Because of the pandemic, state revenues decrease by $2 billion, prompting the Town of Orange Park Council to prioritize its financial needs. 

• Congresswoman Kat Cammack, who represents Clay County in Washington, D.C., is sworn into the 117th Congress as the U.S. Representative from Florida’s Third Congressional District. 

10 years ago, 2016 

• Nice Music, which served the music community and supported the arts for 67 years in Northeast Florida, closes its Wells Road store. 

• The traveling art exhibit, “Faces of HIV,” makes a stop at 1324 Kingsley Ave. 

 20 Years Ago, 2006 

• The Green Cove Springs Visioning Committee presents its report to the city council, which then began prioritizing items in accordance with its budget. One of the items involved purchasing the old CCAR location and converting it into a community or civic center. 

• Clay County Sheriff Rick Beseler credits a program dubbed “Operation Christmas Lights Blitz” with minimizing crime along the Wells Road corridor during the holidays. 

• Husband and wife Realtors Roger and Patricia Perkins file a lawsuit in circuit court against the Town of Orange Park after officials cited the couple for allegedly violating the town’s sign ordinance by plastering the equivalent of a billboard on a moving truck parked on Park Avenue. 

 30 Years Ago, 1996 

• Circuit Court Judge Robert M. Foster dismisses a case filed by Pat and Leslee Keller of Lake Asbury against outgoing Sheriff Dalton Bray. The suit asked the sheriff to pay for damages to the Kellers’ home sustained during a misinformed raid by the narcotics unit. 

• The Crossings at Fleming Island Community Development District announces that U.S. Highway 17 would be widened from two to three lanes in each direction to accommodate growth and improve traffic flow.  

40 Years Ago, 1986 

• Clay Electric Cooperative and the City of Green Cove Springs Electric Company battle over which entity would supply electricity to the new cushy Magnolia Point Golf and Country Club. 

• Interim Clay County Manager John Bowles and County Commission Chairman James “Jimmy” Jett meet with the Duval County Legislative Delegation, asking for help in widening Branan Field Road, citing the need as a regional problem. 

• Members of the Black Creek District, Boy Scouts of America, collect Christmas trees for the annual Dunes Day project, in which trees were placed in beach sand dunes to prevent erosion by wind and tide.