fantastic

In the Saturday, January 2, 2010 Shorelines editions, stories and photos will capture key happenings and scenes from around the Beaches in 2009. For a preview, see photos from January through December in the shorelines.com photo gallery.

Hey Shorelines readers, check out the 2010 Shorelines Beaches Community Calendar that comes with today's Wednesday, Dec. 30 Beaches Shorelines and Ponte Vedra Shorelines editions. It's the first time The Florida Times Union has created a Shorelines calendar, which includes photos taken at Beaches events through 2009, and notes dates for key upcoming events in 2010. You can pick up a calendar in Shorelines papers in today's Florida Times Union papers sold at the Beaches, or stop by the Shorelines office at 910 N. Third Street Suite B in Neptune Beach. Call me at 249-4947, ext. 6320 for more information. 

This story ran in Shorelines on Saturday, June 27:

By MAGGIE FITZROY
maggie.fitzroy@shorelines.com

When 30 kids with family ties to Korea, China, Peru, Venezuela, Cuba, Burma and Africa met two weeks ago at Fletcher Middle School, they were strangers.
When they leave today, after attending a Children’s International Summer Villages residential camp at the school, many will be lifelong friends.
They’ve bunked together in classrooms converted into bedrooms. They ate meals together. And they played games that exercised them socially, emotionally and physically.
The aim was for the kids, who are all 11 years old, to understand other cultures in ways that few kids their age ever could.
“It changes your perspective on things,” said Betty Lu, 17, a junior counselor who was born in China and now lives in Jacksonville.
Since she participated as a camper five years ago, Lu said she’s kept in touch with the friends she made.
“The people you meet are amazing,” she said. “Everyone looks different and are from different countries. But inside, they all want the same goal: love, peace and happiness.”
Children’s International Summer Villages is a volunteer-based nonprofit organization that promotes peace education.
The organization offers several camp programs in the Jacksonville area every summer.
One of the camps is a four-week program for kids from a variety of foreign countries.
Various community organizations nominate campers for the program, said director Susan Gordon.
Guided by a live-in staff of counselors and junior counselors, the kids participated in daily planned activities, including silly games such as “Jungle Fever” Wednesday morning.
They ran around shaking hands, and one person, who was “it,” infected others, causing them to keel over “dead.”
Other activities were more “intense, and serious.”
That afternoon they were slated to participate in a role-playing game that teaches how it feels to be stereotyped.
The kids were to wear signs on their backs, labeling them as “homeless,” or “rock star” or “new immigrant.”
The game features four festive parties, and each kid has to try to join the parties.
Some kids get upset, Gordon said. Some might cry.
“For an 11-year old, it’s hard to understand the world,” she said. “But this way, they feel it.”

Maggie FitzRoy can also be reached at (904) 249-4947, ext. 6320.

It's been hot here at the Jacksonville Beaches, but that's not a surprise to anyone since we're in Florida and it's summer time. But as I went around this week taking pictures of people staying cool by staying wet, I realized how lucky we are here that we have so many fun and free or almost free options. We have our pick of beaches and can enjoy the cool Atlantic Ocean waves for free. Just have to walk, bike there, or drive and find a parking spot. The Wimpy Sutton Pool at Fletcher High School is also free every afternoon to the public courtesy of the city of Jacksonville, which staffs it with lifeguards.

I expected to be cold, hungry and tired. As it turned out, I froze, was too cold to worry about being hungry, and was exhausted by the time the Inauguration ceremony ended Tuesday, January 20. But it was all worth it. As one of the estimated 1.8 million people on the mall in front of the U.S. Capitol for the Inauguration of the 44th US President, Barack Obama, I witnessed history in the making and it's something I will never forget. I took a few days off to go, so I didn't go as a reporter or photographer for the newspaper, rather as an ordinary American who just wanted to be there. When my sister Janet called me a couple of months ago and asked if I would go with her, I didn't hesitate to say "yes."She knew someone in Cape May NJ, near where she lives, who was organizing a charter bus to Washington DC, and so I flew to Philadelphia to visit my Mom and another sister for a few days then joined the bus ride south.

This year on Tuesday Nov. 11 the 10th annual Veterans Day ceremony was held at Ponte Vedra Valley Funeral Home and Cemetery. Many people of all ages came from around the Beaches for the hour long ceremony, just as they have been doing for a decade now. The ceremony is always moving, and this year was held under beautiful sunny skies. See my story in the Saturday, Nov. 15 issue of Shorelines with many photos in the Shorelines gallery pages, and here in a photo gallery on shorelines.com.

Even though it rained Friday night, I noticed people around the Beaches still had fun on Halloween. This was the last year for Boo Boulevard in Ponte Vedra Beach, a popular annual Halloween fundraiser in Marsh Landing. At a party at The Sanctuary in Jacksonville Beach, Julie Schilbrack and her husband Scott came as their favorite Presidential election nominees, Sarah Palin and Barack Obama. They called themselves "A House Divided," and were the life of the party. See my photo galleries of both Halloween events here on shorelines.com.

Before I became a reporter/photographer, I used to be a special education teacher. I think that's why I enjoy covering the annual Buddy Walk, which raises money for the Down Syndrome Association of Jacksonville. This year the weather for the Saturday morning (Oct. 18) walk was delightful, and I was pleased to see so many participants--there were several thousand. Many were children with Down Syndrome, others were family members, friends, educators and high school student volunteers. Check out my photo gallery here at shorelines.com, and my front page story and photos in the Wed. Oct. 22 print editions of Shorelines.

The Halloween party for dogs at Paws Park Sunday (Oct. 19) was a fun time for pooches and humans. I realized while covering the annual Jacksonville Beach event that it's probably one of the most fun events of the year at the Beaches. Maybe it's just because I'm an animal lover, or maybe it was because the cool sunny weather made me glad I had an excuse to be outside. Or maybe it was because watching dogs prance around in Halloween costumes was a relief from focusing or worrying about the sinking economy or what would happen on election day. Serious issues have their place and we have to pay attention to them. But sometimes we don't. Sometimes we can spend a sunny Sunday afternoon watching dogs and their owners celebrate a fun holiday with each other, getting into the spirit of the season. Check out my story in the Wednesday, Oct. 22 Shorelines editions, and more photos in the Sat. Oct. 25 editions of Shorelines.

When I moved to Ponte Vedra Beach in 1991 with my family, my son Jake had just turned 4 years old, my son Trevor had just turned 2. At that time, I was thinking about where they should go to pre school before starting kindergarten at Ponte Vedra Palm Valley Elementary School. Then I projected my thoughts into the future. Where would they one day go to high school? "Where's Ponte Vedra High School?" I remember asking my husband JIm. We soon realized there wasn't a high school in town, that the boys would be going to a school called Nease, 13 miles west. Well, Jake graduated from Nease in 2005; Trevor in 2007. They liked that school, and enjoyed their high school years. But finally, there's a high school in town in time for our daughter Caylie to go there. She'll be a freshman at Ponte Vedra High School, the brand new school just completed west of the Intracoastal Waterway. For many years, I never thought it would happen. But now it has, a dream come true. I was touring the school earlier this week while working on a story, and it felt so good. Where's Ponte Vedra High School? I asked myself. Then did an inner cheer. It's here!.....Read my story, check out my photos about this week's orientation for students in the Saturday, Aug. 16 issue of Shorelines.