EMBRACE THE MANDARIN EXPERIENCE |
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Dear friends,
The weather is helping our wonderful construction team move along quickly now with the additions. Both rooms are at the point that they are closed off from the outside and the inside work has begun as well. And, the wood flooring has been purchased from a sawmill in Micanopy - heart pine to match the beautiful flooring we already have. This is all very exciting!
Also, we have hired a graphic designer to help us with the exhibit signage and to create a new fresh look of the spaces in the museum. All exhibits will be new or revitalized when we open.
We have determined, however, that there is no way we can have a Grand Reopening in December - looking more like Spring. Stay tuned regarding announcements related to that and Winter Celebration.
Sandy Arpen
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Mourning a Mandarin Icon - Tommy Hazouri |
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Mandarin lost one our most prominent citizens on September 11, Councilman Tommy Hazouri. He served the county in so many different ways throughout his life: as State Representative, Mayor of Jacksonville, School Board member and as an at-large member and President of the City Council.
His lifetime of service is probably the longest and most diverse of any resident of Mandarin - over 40 years of public service!
So many of you knew Councilman Hazouri personally. If you didn't "know" him, you'd still "see" him all over Mandarin - at Walmart, Panera Bread, the Dollar Store....wherever! He was SO approachable. And he always wanted to know what you thought about specific issues. He is seen here celebrating the opening of the Walter Anderson Memorial Park in 2019, with the Anderson family and Councilman Michael Boylan.
We are so grateful to him for his commitment to the betterment of all of Jacksonville. He will be greatly missed. Our condolences to his wife Carol and his family.
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American Rescue Plan (ARP) helps Mandarin Museum |
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We are extremely grateful to Councilman Michael Boylan for selecting MMHS to be one of four non-profit organizations in his district to receive a $25,000 grant from the federal ARP Act funds received by the City of Jacksonville. Each Council Member was able to award $100,000 in grant monies to selected organizations that qualified and were negatively impacted by having economic losses due to the COVID 19 pandemic. These funds are to support operational needs and expenses. MMHS is a free museum, but we certainly have suffered since March 2020 with losses of income from tours, gift shop sales, and donations. So this grant helps us greatly as we move forward.
Councilman Boylan is seen here at the Walter Anderson Memorial Park Grand Opening and celebration in 2019. Renaming this park was his first bill as a new Council Member.
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Thank You to WJXT and Visit Jacksonville |
We are over the moon to receive the JaxBest Award for Best History Museum for the 3rd year in a row - even after over a year of being closed! This award is a partnership of News4Jax and Visit Jacksonville. It is an individual voter system, so everybody can vote. I am sure some of you did just that....and we thank you, and all the others we do not know, for voting for us.
Rance Adams of "River City Live" did a nice interview with Sandy Arpen and presented MMHS with the award. Click HERE if you'd like to see it.
We are proud and honored and we promise to live up to your expectations!
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Closings of historic buildings continue in October
As we move into October, the buildings are still closed to visitation. We are doing a couple of small outdoor things and we will revisit our status at the October 4 Board meeting - but that will be too late for this newsletter. If anything changes, you will see it posted on our Facebook page - www.facebook.com/mandarinmuseum
The Mandarin Museum building will remain closed until construction and renovation are complete.
The park remains open.
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In honor of our developing "Untold Stories of Black Mandarin" exhibit, this year's holiday ornament is the Harriet Beecher Stowe Community Center on San Jose Blvd. The center provided a meeting place for BBQs, fish fries, special events and even a children's clinic - for Mandarin's Black citizens. for many years. Now it can also be rented to anybody for small events like weddings, birthday parties, etc.
This is a view of the old center, which was built in 1946 of coquina. The person seen in the foreground is Eugene Moseley, who took on the leadership of building the new center building in 1975. Moseley went on to become Reverend Moseley of what is now Philip R. Cousin AME Church and later became Presiding Elder, South District AME Church.
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Flashback in Time
What a crowd showed up at the Mandarin Community Club in February 1955 for the
First Annual Mandarin Citrus Festival!
Besides 30 varieties of citrus, they also had candies, marmalades, cookies and cakes for sale. All proceeds went to the Mandarin Garden Club for beautification of the community and preservation of the giant oak trees.
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Oral history with Bill Van Duyn
Bill Van Duyn was born in New Jersey, but grew up (from about age 10) on the west side of State Road 13 (now officially San Jose Blvd.) - almost to Julington Creek. In fact, their family home, which was most recently the Guitars United shop, was torn down in 2021. He attended Loretto Elementary and graduated from duPont HS in 1955. He then graduated from the University of Florida with a degree in chemical engineering and planned to work at paper mill - a good solid job for a chemical engineer.
But what happened next changed the course of his life forever. He instead decided to help America meet the brand new goal of getting a man on the moon! He took a job at North American Aviation's Rocketdyne division in California, which eventually took him to Cape Kennedy and a career as one of the men who truly did get the U.S. to the moon, due to his rocket engine design for the second phase of the Saturn V rocket. On July 16, 1989, Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Mike Collins took off to the moon. And Bill was partly responsible for their success.
In fact, he was involved with every launch up until the Shuttle program. He is seen here with his Apollo 11 launch day manual and an illustration of the rocket engine that he helped build.
Can you imagine - a little boy from Mandarin grew up to be a rocket scientist and helped get the first men to the moon! What an accomplishment his career was! We should all be Mandarin Proud for him and grateful for his service.
Thanks to Paula Suhey and Karen Roumillat for conducting the oral history and thanks to Bill and his wife Linda for telling his story.
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Mandarin Newsline
The October 2021 edition of the Mandarin Newsline is online now.
This free newspaper is our chief way of sharing history stories, events and programs with the public. They are able to publish free papers due to the robust local advertising. Please pay attention to the ads and shop and eat at those businesses that support the community in this way. To read the entire Newsline click HERE and then click Digital Editions at the top of the page and then the October 2021 "Mandarin Newsline" link.
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Many museums are reopening, so don't forget that being a member of MMHS gives you discounts at other museums in the Southeast through the Southeastern Museums Conference Reciprocal Membership Program. Take your MMHS membership card to any of the museums listed HERE and some discount is applied to entry fees or gift shop sales. At MMHS, since we are always free, you receive a discount on most books in our shop.
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We are always calling for more volunteers!
We always need more volunteers, as they are the backbone of our organization. This becomes even more important as we start reopening and hoping to have the buildings open even more.
Follow us on Facebook and Instagram - click logos below.
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always remember - we live in a very special place!
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Thank you to our community partners |
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MISSION: Mandarin Museum & Historical Society shares the stories of Mandarin's history, culture and natural resources by providing engaging programs that educate, entertain and inspire.
VISIT. JOIN. VOLUNTEER
Mandarin Museum & Historical Society
904-268-0784
mandarinmuseum@bellsouth.net
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