Clean out your closet, help a neighbor in need
ORANGE PARK – The Clothes Closet and Food Pantry of Orange Park is getting ready for its Annual Garage Sale, it’s largest fundraising event of the year.
Area residents are urged to purge their closets and garages and turn over unused and unneeded treasures to help raise foods that will be used to help the neediest families in Clay County. Donations of clean, good repair and serviceable clothing, household items, furniture, toys, shoes, books, games, garden and sport equipment, small appliances and audio equipment will be accepted. Contribution receipts will be available upon request. Contact the Clothes Closet through the website ccfpop.org or call (904) 264-5239 to make arrangements for pickup. Donations can be dropped off on Aug. 9 from noon until 6 p.m. and Aug. 10 from 8 a.m. until 6 p.m.
This year the annual garage sale will be held on Aug. 11 from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Orange Park United Methodist gym on the corner of Reed Street and Stowe Avenue in Orange Park off US Highway 17.
Founded in 1952, the nonprofit Clothes Closet and Food Pantry of Orange Park provides outreach services, clothing, Thanksgiving and Christmas food baskets, furniture and household items to hundreds of Clay County residents in need or crisis and food each year. The nonprofit organization depends solely on donations and its annual garage sale fundraising event to fund its programs and services. All proceeds from the sale benefit the clients and operation of the Clothes Closet.

SJR State hosts engineering, manufacturing information sessions
ORANGE PARK – St. Johns River State College will hold information sessions for its new program in engineering technology and advanced manufacturing. Funded by a Florida Job Growth Grant, the program will train students to become engineering technicians.
The program includes an associate in science degree, college credit certificates in mechatronics and robotics, as well as non-degree training for production technicians.
The information sessions are free and open to the public.
Two sessions will be held in the Viking Center Classroom at the Palatka Campus on July 31 at 5:30 p.m. and Aug. 3 at 12:30 p.m. The Orange Park Campus will host a session on July 31 at 12:30 p.m. in room A0072 in the One Stop Center and the St. Augustine Campus will hold a session on Aug. 1 at 12:30 p.m. in Room 103 in the Health Building.
The program will prepare students for employment in advanced manufacturing as process and production technicians, industrial machinery mechanics, quality assurance technicians, programmable logic control technicians and operators, and industrial engineering technicians.
The core classes of the engineering technology program align with the national Manufacturing Skill Standards Council Production Technician Certification.
Core classes and non-degree boot camps will begin this fall and will be taught on SJR State’s Palatka campus. Expansion of course and program offerings is planned for the Clay County campus in 2019. For more information, contact TechEd@sjrstate.edu or call (386) 312-4259.

Museum plans inaugural flea market
GREEN COVE SPRINGS – Help raise funds for the Military Museum of Northeast Florida, 1 Bunker Ave., Green Cove Springs.
The museum is holding its first-ever Flea Market Fundraiser and hopes to make it an annual event.
Guests will have two big days – Aug. 24 & 25 from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. each day – to sell their wares while others can pick up a bargain a two.
Sell your stuff by renting a 10-foot table for $20; additional 10-foot spaces can be rented for an additional $15 per 10-foot section.
For more information, email militarymuseumnf@aol.com or call (904) 410-0781.

Literacy Coalition offering free English conversation classes
ORANGE PARK – In an effort to further its mission of helping speakers of other languages become self-sufficient, the Clay County Literacy Coalition is offering conversational English classes for the public.
Classes are available at three locations to choose from in the Orange Park area.
The Orange Park Branch Library, 2054 Plainfield Ave., will host classes every other Thursday July 26 through Dec. 13. This class is for speakers of other languages who have low-to-moderate knowledge of speaking English. Classes are 6-7:30 p.m. and will be held in the HUB classroom.
The Fleming Island Headquarters Library, 1895 Town Center Blvd. will host higher level English conversation classes every Monday from 6-7:30 p.m. Classes meet in the reference department study room.
St. Catherine’s Catholic Church, 1649 Kingsley Ave. in Orange Park, is the third host site for conversational English classes. They will meet every Wednesday from 9:30 a.m.-Noon beginning the first Wednesday after Labor Day in September.
The Literacy Coalition is also offering a free Citizenship Prep Class that will begin in September. To register and get class location, dates and times, call the Coalition at (904) 336-4458.

Clay students named National Merit Scholarship Winner
EVANSTON, Illinois – An Oakleaf resident is among approximately 3,500 students who were named winners of college-sponsored National Merit Scholarships this week.
Trystan H. Loustau, a student at Stanton College Preparatory High School in Duval County was awarded a National Merit Scholarship from Florida State University where he plans to attend and study psychology.
Officials of each sponsor college selected their scholarship winners from among the finalists in the National Merit Scholarship Program who will attend their institution.
College-sponsored awards provide between $500 and $2,000 annually for up to four years of
undergraduate study at the institution financing the scholarship.
This year, 178 colleges and universities are sponsoring more than 4,000 Merit Scholarship
awards. Sponsor colleges include 100 private and 78 public institutions located in 44 states and
the District of Columbia.

How-to Fest set for Melrose Public Library
MELROSE – Have you ever wanted to get the education of a lifetime all in one day? Now is your chance at the upcoming “How-to Fest” at the Melrose Public Library at 312 Wynnwood Ave.
All ages can learn up to 15 skills from experts in just hours. Join local authors, artists, craftspeople, chefs, musicians, businesses, dance virtuosos and more at the library for an afternoon of sharing their passions with curious students.
From “how to make a fairy garden house” to “how to weave,” this event is sure to introduce you to new skills. There will be demonstrations running throughout a 2-hour period and a skill will guide students from class to class.
The program includes the following classes; Weaving with Jane Beckenbach, Raising Chickens For Eggs And Fun with Ari Goff, Folding Origami with William Sistrunk, Healthy Cooking with UF/IFAS, Colored Pencil Coloring with Artist Pam Harween, Children’s Stories with Author Fawn Rising, How to Write and Self-Publish Books with Author C.S. Bennett, Every Story Matters with Library System Special Projects Coordinator Jeremy Yates, Positive Tips for Transforming Your Brain with Lindago and Will Stober.
Ongoing programs in the library’s teen area, include Guitar Lessons with guitarist and local music instructor Seth Hemphill of Music Lessons Inc. and 3d Printing with Isaac Washington
Schedule is subject to change but this is a rain or shine event. All events will take place indoors, rain or shine. All instructors are volunteers—helping us put on this event on their own time!
You won’t want to miss this free program provided by the Melrose Public Library, Putnam County Public Library System, and the talented lake area community. For more information about the event please contact Melrose Public Library Branch Manager Sheree Sims at (352) 475-1237.

Girl Scouts now can earn 30 new badges and new skills
JACKSONVILLE – Clay County Girl Scouts will have a chance at earning any of up to 30 new badges unveiled this week by the Girl Scouts of Gateway Council and Girl Scouts of the USA.
The badges promise to enhance the one-of-a-kind Girl Scout experience for participants ages 5-18.
The new badges address some of society’s most pressing needs, such as cybersecurity, environmental advocacy, mechanical engineering, robotics, computer science, space exploration and more. In a safe all-girl space, Girl Scouts develop important soft skills, including confidence and perseverance, as well as hard skills, which prepare them for success and empower them to create a better world.
“We’re thrilled to be able to offer our Girl Scouts the opportunity to earn new badges that address very important modern day needs in our communities and beyond,” said Mary Anne Jacobs, CEO of Girl Scouts of Gateway Council. “Today’s girls are vocal about changes they want to see and it is important that we educate and empower our girls to be future change-makers.”
According to a Girl Scouts Impact Study, girls who participate in Girl Scouts are more than twice as likely to exhibit community problem-solving skills than girls who don’t at a rate of 57 percent to 28 percent. Girl Scouts provides fun, exciting and essential experiences that carry into girls’ future careers and life success. Studies show that 76 percent of women today wish they had learned more about leadership and had more leadership opportunities while growing up, demonstrating how imperative it is for girls and volunteers to join Girl Scouts.
With the new programs available at Girl Scouts, girls can now dive deeper into modern day interests, issues and challenges and earn badges in:
•Environmental Stewardship: girls will learn to respect the outdoors and be stewards of the environment. These badges are the first to specifically prepare girls to be environmental advocates who address problems, find solutions and protect the natural world.
•Cybersecurity introduces girls to age-appropriate online safety and privacy principles, information on how the internet works and how to spot and investigate cybercrime.
•Space Science will allow girls to channel their inner NASA scientist as they learn about objects in space and how astronomers conduct investigations.
•Mechanical Engineering gives Girl Scout Juniors in grades 4 and 5 hands-on engineering experience by designing paddle-boats, cranes and balloon-powered cars, while learning about buoyancy, potential and kinetic energy, machines and jet propulsion.
•In Robotics, girls will continue to explore the world of science and technology introduced last year through programming, designing and showcasing their robot creations.
•In College Knowledge, high-school aged Girl Scouts in grades 11 and 12 will have a badge completely dedicated to college exploration. Girls will learn how to research the admissions process, financial aid and much more in this highly requested program.