   The West Nassau Historical Society has selected Saturday, April 22, for their signature fundraising Railroad Day Festival. The all-volunteer nonprofit’s 18th annual celebration is an all-day event held in and around the historic 1881 Callahan Train Depot and adjoining 1856 Florida Railroad bed. This year’s event will celebrate the history of the area's dairy, poultry and other industries with photos, artifacts and maps of interest displayed inside the newest exhibit building on the Train Depot campus. The 142-year old wooden train station and 1940s-era caboose will also be open.
The arts/crafts vendors and food vendors are open from 9 AM to 4 PM and the kids area will include Joel Pace hands-on music zoo and a scavenger hunt. Local live entertainment will perform on the main depot stage from 9 AM to 4 PM. Callahan Cruisers will host a classic car show at Cochrane's Collision Center next door to the depot from 10 AM to 2 PM. Various citizens and sponsors will be honored and car show and contest winners announced during the festivities. Antique machines, tractors, and scaled trains will be exhibited outside the depot while model train layouts will be on display inside the Depot Annex. This is an outdoor event so please bring your lawn chairs. Admission is free and open to the public but donations are always gladly accepted. The West Nassau Historical Society is an all-volunteer non-profit, tax exempt organization dedicated to the preservation of Nassau County’s rich and diverse history and culture as well as being entrusted with the upkeep of the historic Callahan Train Depot. Donations to the 501c3 organization are tax deductible in accordance to current IRS rules. Sponsors and volunteers are needed to help make this year’s festival a success. For additional information on the 2023 Railroad Day Festival visit www.wnhsfl.org or if you are interested in becoming a volunteer, vendor, sponsor, member, or donor call festival co-chairs John Hendricks or Emily Baumgartner at 904-879-3406.
0 Comments
 Volunteers needed!
Keep Nassau Beautiful is hosting a tree giveaway event on Saturday, March 18th at the Northeast Florida Fair Grounds main gate, located at 543378 US Highway 1 in Callahan. Set-up will begin at 8:00 AM and parking will be available at the County Extension office and along the access road. The event will end at 11:00 AM. Approximately 200 trees will be distributed during this rain or shine event. If you or someone you know is interested in volunteering, please CLICK HERE to register using Eventbrite. For questions or additional information, please email Keep Nassau Beautiful at KNB@KeepNassauBeautiful.org. Nassau County Chamber of Commerce to Host 'Doing Business with Big Business' Events in April3/7/2023 The Nassau County Chamber of Commerce will host two ‘Doing Business with Big Business’ events in the month of April. The first event, with representatives from the private sector, will take place on Tuesday, April 4, 2023, from 8:30-10:00 AM. The second event, with representatives from the public sector, will take place on Thursday, April 6, 2023, from 8:30-10:00 AM. Both events will be held at the Nassau County Chamber of Commerce office, located at 961687 Gateway Blvd., Suite 101-G in Fernandina Beach.
‘Doing Business with Big Business’ is a program that provides small Nassau County businesses the unique opportunity to meet with some of the largest companies in our community. Attendees will gain insight into the decision-making process at big companies and learn what these organizations are looking for from smaller suppliers and service providers. This event is perfect for local, existing businesses, entrepreneurs and startups that want to learn more about how procurement works in large organizations and are looking to gain an understanding of the considerations of buyers during a negotiation. ‘Doing Business with Big Business’ is free for Nassau County Chamber of Commerce members, but advanced registration is required in order to attend. For additional information and to register for Doing Business with Big Business: Private Sector, CLICK HERE. For additional information and to register for Doing Business with Big Business: Public Sector, CLICK HERE. For questions or concerns, please email the Chamber at info@NassauCountyFLChamber.com.  The Florida Department of Health in Nassau County, in partnership with Healthy Start of Northeast Florida, has started offering free parenting meetings which are open to anyone in Nassau County. These meetings are held on the first Friday of every month at 1 P.M. at 45401 N. Mickler Street, Callahan, FL 32011, and on the 3rd Friday of each month at 1 P.M. at 1620 Nectarine Street, Fernandina Beach, FL 32034.
Topics for these meetings will vary each month, but will include education on stress management, self-care for parents, family yoga, doula services, and safety education, just to name a few. For more information, please contact Jamesha Moment at Jamesha.Moment@flhealth.gov or call 904-557-9129. Although it is not necessary to be a client of Healthy Start to attend these meetings, it is helpful to know what becoming a Healthy Start client can offer. The Healthy Start coalition leads a cooperative community effort to reduce infant mortality and improve the health of children, childbearing women and their families in Northeast Florida. Healthy Start clients must reside in Nassau County. They also must be pregnant, have custody of a child under three years of age, or have experienced pregnancy loss within the last three years. Services are free and can be provided in your home, at any county health department site, at your local doctor appointments, or any other location in Nassau County. In addition to offering these parenting meetings, Healthy Start also offers breastfeeding education and support, childbirth education and support, information on baby care and safety, education and screening for your baby’s milestones and additional opportunities for parenting education and support. Enroll in the Healthy Start Program at any time by calling 904-557-9125 and select option 2. About the Florida Department of Health The Department, nationally accredited by the Public Health Accreditation Board, works to protect, promote and improve the health of all people in Florida through integrated state, county and community efforts. Thank you all for your assistance in the creation of the Nassau County Community and Business Broadband Survey.
The Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) has worked with a consulting firm to create an online version of both the Community and Business surveys. These surveys are connected to a GIS Backend. We will be able to graphically chart the results with such detailed information as Survey Address, Download Speed, Upload Speed, Location Type, and much more. This platform will also serve as an interactive repository for Nassau County broadband asset inventory (Towers, Fiber Plant, Conduit, Right of Way, DSL, satellite, Copper, Fixed Wireless, etc.). Community Survey: https://arcg.is/1jXvHb Business Survey: https://arcg.is/05CfDP0 We are requesting your assistance again. Please help us evaluate the system by taking both surveys. Be sure to select “Share Your Experience” at the end of the survey. The Testing Period will start Feb 21, 2023, and end March 07, 2023. The information gathered from this survey will be very important as we work to understand where we should focus our efforts to take advantage of the existing Broadband Opportunity Grants from the Department Economic Opportunity (DEO), the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program Grant. More importantly, it will assist in challenging the inaccurate FCC Data Mapping of our county, which is the base factor for nearly all the existing broadband grants. Be on the lookout for information regarding our next Local Broadband Planning Team Meeting. This should be coming via your email next month. Again, Thank you for your participation and support. For questions or concerns, please contact Derrick Lindsay, Chief Innovation Officer, at dlindsay@nassaucountyfl.com or (904) 530-6051. 3/2/23 @ 11:15 a.m. - This weekend, Callahan Little League will host its opening day for its 50th season. The Board recognized this milestone at the Monday, February 27th meeting by presenting Resolution No. 2023-011. League President, Bill Cantrell, and Vice President, Shannon Cox, were in attendance to accept the Resolution. Founded in 1974, Callahan Little League is run solely by community volunteers who devote countless hours to the betterment of the community. Callahan Little League has made a long-lasting footprint and has served thousands of youth, instilling them with self-confidence in the areas of leadership, teamwork, dedication, sportsmanship, respect and hard work. The Board is appreciative of all their efforts in providing direction and guidance to local youth and wishes them well as they enter their 50th season. -Sabrina Robertson Public Information Officer  2/3/23 @ 11:15 a.m.
The Board of County Commissioners has begun the budgeting process for Fiscal Year 2023/2024. Nassau County greatly values the benefits and contributions made by non-profit organizations to the community. As such, we would like to extend an invitation to nonprofit organizations serving residents of Nassau County to apply to be considered for funding. To be considered, you must complete a Nonprofit Funding Request Application. The application can be found here: https://bit.ly/NFPFundingRequest. Your funding request must be provided to the Office of Management & Budget located at 96135 Nassau Place, Suite 2, Yulee, FL 32097, by the close of business on Wednesday, March 1, 2023. On Friday, May 19, 2023, a Public Forum will be held for agencies to make a brief presentation regarding your organization and its request. Agencies submitting funding requests will be contacted by the Office of Management & Budget to schedule a time for your presentation. If you have any questions, please contact Sr. Budget Coordinator, Megan Sawyer, at (904) 530-6010, Option 2, or via e-mail at msawyer@nassaucountyfl.com. We are incredibly excited to announce the winners of the 2022 Annual Business Awards!
These businesses, organizations, and employees work hard to make our community a better place and the Chamber is honored to have the opportunity to recognize their efforts. We would also like to congratulate all of the 2022 nominees; we are proud to know you and call you members of the Nassau County Chamber of Commerce! And the winners are... LARGE BUSINESS OF THE YEAR Rayonier, Inc. MEDIUM BUSINESS OF THE YEAR Wallace Pierson Travel SMALL BUSINESS OF THE YEAR Redbones Dog Bakery & Boutique BUSINESS LEADER OF THE YEAR Ryan Deems | Destination Amelia Vacation Rentals YOUNG BUSINESS LEADER OF THE YEAR Chason Forehand | Pineland Bank CUSTOMER SERVICE PROFESSIONAL OF THE YEAR Stacy Millett | Wicked BAO NONPROFIT BUSINESS OF THE YEAR Northeast Florida Fair Association CHAMBER AMBASSADOR OF THE YEAR Dunia Taylor | REMI Realty DISTINGUISHED VOLUNTEER SERVICE AWARD Renee Stoffel | Barnabas Center, Inc. 2022 CHAIRMAN'S AWARD Jackie Darby | Century 21 Miller Elite  The Nassau County Sheriff’s Office has just launched our new Autism Decal Program. Sheriff Bill Leeper said the decals are a way to let first responders better assist those with autism. When a deputy pulls over a vehicle and/or has to respond to a residence and they see the sticker either on the back window of the vehicle or near the front door of the home it will alert law enforcement that there is potentially an occupant with autism inside. Our deputies receive specialized training related to the unique characteristics, behaviors, and needs of people with autism, who sometimes have difficulties in verbal and non-verbal communication and social interaction or may wander off. With this knowledge, deputies will be better able to communicate and interact with our citizens and calm them in stressful situations. These decals are also free to our community members who have someone in their family with autism. The Nassau County Sheriff’s also offers scent kits which can help our bloodhounds track down an autistic person who may go missing. It stores that person’s scent so they can quickly be found. You can pick up your decal and fill out the registration form at the Nassau County Sheriff's Office.
“As sheriff, I am excited about this decal program and I am proud of the continued efforts of the men and women of the Nassau County Sheriff’s Office to meet the needs of our entire community,” Sheriff Bill Leeper said. To learn more about upcoming Drive-Through Food Assistance events through Barnabas Center, visit www.BarnabasNassau.org or call (904) 261-7000.   |
Nassau County Chamber of Commerce BlogChamber Member Updates, Events and News Archives
March 2023
Categories
All
|
RSS Feed
|
Nassau County Chamber of Commerce
961687 Gateway Blvd., Suite 101-G | Fernandina Beach, FL 32034 Phone: (904) 261-3248 | info@nassaucountyflchamber.com | site map | privacy policy |
|