Event slated for Saturday, September 26
The inaugural run of the Pink Up The Pace 5K on Saturday, September 26, will necessitate the closing of some streets and some intermittent traffic disruptions in the downtown area.
Pink Up The Pace
Start: 8:00am
Finish: 9:30am (approximately)
Race Route
Start on Orange St. in the vicinity of the St. Johns County School District Building, then
east on Orange St., south on S. Castillo Dr./Avenida Menendez, west on St. Francis St., south on Marine St., west on South St., south on Washington St., west on Duero St., north on Blanco St., west on South St., north on Oneida St., east on Lovett St., north on Washington St., north on Granada St., west on King St., north on Sevilla St., east on Valencia St., south on Cordova St., east on Treasury St., north on St. George St. to finish line at Orange St.
Street Closings
Orange St. between Sevilla St. and S. Castillo Drive, including the intersection with Cordova St. will be closed from approximately 7:30am until 9:30am.
Congested area
Traffic along the race route and on cross streets will be halted intermittently as needed to allow runners to pass.

Government House Museum of History and Archaeology
and Colonial Spanish Quarter Museum
Offer Free Admission on
Smithsonian Magazine’s 5th Annual Museum Day

–Museum Day 2009 Poised to be Largest to Date–

ST. AUGUSTINE (August 15, 2009)—On Saturday, September 26, 2009, both Government House Museum of History and Archaeology and Colonial Spanish Quarter Museum will participate in the fifth annual Museum Day, presented by Smithsonian magazine.  A celebration of culture, learning and the dissemination of knowledge, Smithsonian’s Museum Day reflects the spirit of the magazine, and emulates the free-admission policy of the Smithsonian Institution’s Washington, DC-based properties.  Doors will be open free of charge to Smithsonian magazine readers and Smithsonian.com visitors at museums and cultural institutions nationwide.
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Last year, upwards of 200,000 people attended Museum Day, with all 50 states plus Puerto Rico represented by over 900 participating museums, including 84 Smithsonian affiliate museums. This year, the magazine expects to attract over 1,000 museums.

“Museum Day allows smaller museums like ours to join together with major museums to share our culture and history, educate the public, and, hopefully, encourage membership,� said Catherine Culver, Marketing & Event Coordinator with the City of St. Augustine, Department of Heritage Tourism.

GOVERNMENT HOUSE MUSEUM OF HISTORY AND ARCHAEOLOGY

Government House Museum of History and Archaeology, 48 King Street, presents an overview of four centuries of St. Augustine’s history.  Providing a good introduction to the city’s past, this museum features artifacts recovered from archaeological digs and local shipwrecks.  Artifacts on display include gold and silver coins from the colonial periods, rifles, pistols, and other weaponry, military uniforms, a reproduction of Colonial-era ship’s hold, and many other historical artifacts.  Open daily.  For additional information, call 904-825-5079.
COLONIAL SPANISH QUARTER MUSEUM

In the Colonial Spanish Quarter Museum, a living history museum showing 1740s daily life in Spanish St. Augustine, museum interpreters dressed in period clothing demonstrate crafts and activities such as leatherworking, blacksmithing, carpentry, calligraphy, indoor and outdoor cooking, heritage gardening, and possibly a musket firing.  The Colonial Spanish Quarter Museum, located at 29 St. George Street, is open daily from 9:00 am to 5:30 pm.  For more information, call 904-825-6830. 

Visit www.smithsonian.com/museumday to download your Museum Day Admission Card.  Attendees must present the Museum Day Admission Card to gain free entry to participating institutions. Each card provides museum access for two people, and one admission card is permitted per household.  Listings and links to participating museums’ can also be found at www.smithsonian.com/museumday.  

Department of Heritage Tourism
The City of St. Augustine, Department of Heritage Tourism is steward of the City’s seven-decade long program of the preservation and restoration, which includes care of many historic structures.  Center around these historic structures, visitors are invited to experience a variety of interpretative programs and heritage events.  

In addition to the Colonial Spanish Quarter Museum and Government House Museum of History and Archaeology, the Department of Heritage Tourism also manages de Mesa-Sanchez House, a restored 1830s American Territorial period house museum.  For more information, call Catherine Culver at 825-5088, or visit http://www.staugustinegovernment.com/your_government/PurposeofHT.cfm
About Smithsonian Media
Founded in 1970 with the launch of Smithsonian magazine, Smithsonian Media—comprising Smithsonian magazine, Air & Space, goSmithsonian, Smithsonian Publishing Digital Network, Smithsonian Books and advertising for Smithsonian Channel—allows the intellectually curious to indulge and engage their passions for history, the arts, science, the natural world, culture and travel. Smithsonian Media’s flagship publication, Smithsonian magazine, has a circulation of more than two million. This multimedia network is also affiliated with the world’s most visited museum and research complexes at the Smithsonian Institution. For more information, visit www.smithsonian.com, www.airspacemag.com, and www.gosmithsonian.com

Government House Museum Open for Art Walk

The City of St. Augustine’s Government House Museum of History and Archaeology, located at 48 King St. will be open at no charge for guests Friday, September 4 for the First Friday Art Walk. 

More than 20 art galleries are open during the popular downtown art walk.  The Government House Museum will be open to the public from 5:30 to 8 p.m.

For more information call the Department of Heritage Tourism at 825.5033.

City Plans Annual September 11th Ceremony of Remembrance

 

On September 11, the City of St. Augustine will continue what has become an annual tradition–the remembrance of those who died in the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. The Ceremony of Remembrance will be held in the Plaza de la Constitucion on Friday, September 11 at 8:30am.

The city started the annual ceremony just two days after 9/11 and has continued each year since. The brief program will be simple and include a posting of the colors by the St. Augustine Police Department, an invocation by Reverend Joshua Dryer, Associate Pastor, Ancient City Baptist Church, and musical presentations by Ms. Maria Burk.

The ceremony will conclude with a moment of silence at 8:45am, timed to coincide with the time the first plane hit the first tower of the World Trade Center and will end with a ringing of the bells throughout the downtown. Participating in the bell ringing are The Cathedral Basilica, Trinity Episcopal Parish, Memorial Presbyterian Church and Flagler College.

The public is invited. The event is coordinated by the City’s Department of Public Affairs. For more information call 904.825.1004.

Thursday, Friday and Saturday, September 3-4-5

The City of St. Augustine’s Birthday is one of the most exciting times of the year. The commemoration grows each year and this year includes three full days of special events.

Starting on Thursday, September 3 and continuing through Saturday, September 5, the events commemorate St. Augustine’s standing as the longest continually inhabited city founded by Europeans in what is now the United States - making it the Nation’s Oldest City.

St. Augustine has set a remarkable record for endurance that is unmatched in American history.  Despite hurricanes, wars, plagues and countless pirate raids, the city has survived and flourished continuously since September 8, 1565 when its birth was proclaimed by Don Pedro Menendez de Aviles.

All activities surrounding the St. Augustine 444rd Birthday Commemoration are free and within convenient walking distance from the Visitor Information Center and adjacent parking facility.

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Schedule

St. Augustine’s 444th Birthday Commemoration

 (click on each link for a map)

Music and Birthday Cake

Thursday, September 3
7:00pm
Map to the Plaza de la Constitución

A traditional part of the St. Augustine ‘s commemoration of the anniversary of its founding is the ceremonial cutting of the community birthday cake with the opportunity to serve hundreds of pieces of cake to the public.

This year the cake cutting will be held on Thursday, September 3 at 7:00pm at the start of that evening’s Concerts in the Plaza performance by Gatorbone as a kick off for a weekend of birthday related activities.

City officials will be joined by members of the St. Augustine Royal Family for the cake cutting after which members of the St. Augustine Sister Cities Association and the Historic St. Augustine Area Council of the St. John County Chamber of Commerce will serve cake to all in attendance. Cake service will continue until 7:30pm or until it’s gone. The concert is the last of the Thursday night performances in the annual series.

 

Celebrating Those Who Were Already Here

Thursday, September 3 and Friday, September 4

9:00am - 5:00pm

Map to Fountain of Youth Archeological Park

 

The Spaniards were not the first to think of the St. Augustine area as “home.� Native Americans known as the Timucua had been living there for at least 500 years when the Europeans first arrived. In fact, from the first moments of their arrival, the Spaniards encountered the residents of Seloy, a large Timucuan village located at the present site of the Fountain of Youth Archeological Park. Seminoles and other U.S. Indian tribes that have been part of Florida’s history will also be represented.  Admission is free.

Thursday, September 3

6:00pm - 9:00pm

A Pow Wow

There will be an Indian Pow Wow which will honor the native American traditions that are part of the City’s history at the Fountain of Youth Archeological Park.  Admission is free.

 

Landing Reenactment & Celebration of Mass

Saturday, September 5

9:30am

Map to Mission Nombre de Dios

The Landing

A full morning of activities begins at 9:30 a.m. as authentically clad soldiers prepare for the reenactment of the landing by the city’s founder, Don Pedro Menendez de Aviles, at the Mission of Nombre de Dios, the exact landing point of the Spanish colonists in 1565. The site of the landing is marked today with a 208 foot stainless steel cross erected in 1965 to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the city’s founding.

Following the landing, Mayor Joe Boles will read a proclamation from the City of St. Augustine and there will be a presentation by Dr. Susan Parker, Executive Director, St. Augustine Historical Society.

                           

The Celebration of Mass

The landing reenactment will be followed, as it was 444 years ago, with a celebration of Mass at an outdoor wooden altar by the water’s edge at the Mission Nombre de Dios, located at 27 Ocean Ave. off of San Marco Ave.  Father Thomas Walsh, Pastor of San Sebastian Catholic Church, will celebrate Mass which is expected to begin at approximately 11:00am.

16th Century Cooking Contest

Saturday, September 5

6:00pm to 9:00pm

Map to Fountain of Youth Archeological Park

 

A Feast

Decades before the Pilgrims sat down for a harvest feast the good people of St. Augustine had already established the tradition with their neighbors the Timucuan. There will be a cooking contest featuring foods dating from the 16th century.  The prepared food will be judged and there will be plenty of sampling of the Spanish flavors and demonstrations that will teach about the flavors that have influenced the culinary culture of St. Augustine.  Authentic 16th Century dinners will be available for purchase and period music and dancing will be performed throughout the evening.

 

The contest will take place at a historical encampment and those entering a dish are requested to deliver their prepared food at 5:00pm to the Park.  For more information on entering the contest, call 904.669.1485.

Saturday’s Festival of the Chariots Will Necessitate Minor Interruptions in Traffic

Downtown procession is Saturday, August 22 from 11:30am until 1:30pm

This Saturday’s procession associated with the Fourth Annual Festival of the Chariots parade and Indian multi-cultural festival will necessitate some minor interruptions of traffic along the city’s Bayfront, Cordova Street and the area around the Plaza. The festival is scheduled from 11:30am until 6:00pm in the Plaza. The procession is set for 11:30am until 1:30pm.

The procession consists of a large decorated chariot pulled by and escorted by pedestrians. The procession departs Government House and continues west on Cathedral Place, north on Cordova Street, east on Orange Street, south on S. Castillo Drive/Avenida Menendez, west on Cathedral Place back to Government House.

Traffic in the area should expect slow downs, congestion or brief traffic halts to allow for the procession. St. Augustine Police will escort the procession and monitor key points to facilitate vehicular traffic and ensure the safety of the participants.

ST. AUGUSTINE — The following is a list of roadwork underway by the FDOT that my impact traffic in Putnam and St. Johns Counties.

ST. JOHNS COUNTY
State Road A1A – Bridge of Lions (contact Laurie Sanderson:  904-825-3647 or 904-669-1165)
No lane or road closures are scheduled during the week of August 24 at the Bridge of Lions Rehabilitation project. No channel closures affecting marine traffic are scheduled either.  More information on the Bridge of Lions Rehabilitation project may be found by visiting the Bridge of Lions website at www.FDOTBridgeofLions.com.

U.S. 1 from Moultrie Creek near Vail Point Road to State Road 207
Nighttime lane closures are scheduled on U.S 1 between Moultrie Creek and State Road 207, Sunday through Thursday nights, from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. as crews continue removing the old pavement and replacing it with new asphalt.  Motorists should be aware of up to 1 ½ inch drop-off between lanes.

U.S. 1 south of Race Track Road near the Duval County line (Nocatee Flyover Project)
Motorists should be aware that both northbound and southbound traffic on U.S. 1 near the Duval County line has been reduce to one lane and shifted to the east onto temporary pavement.  The lane reduction and shift are expected to remain in place through early 2010. 

State Road 16 from International Golf Parkway to County Road 13A
There are no lane closures scheduled the week of August 24 on the State Road 16 four-laning project from International Golf Parkway to County Road 13A.

State Road 312 Bridge in St. Johns County
The eastbound State Road 312 Bridge over the Matanzas River will be reduced by one lane Monday through Friday, August 24 through 28 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. for routine bridge inspection.

PUTNAM COUNTY
State Road 20 from Hollister to InterlachenÂ
Traffic on State Road 20 between Hollister and Interlachen will be shifted to the inside lanes, Monday, August 24, so crews can pave the final layer of asphalt on the outside lanes.  Motorists should use caution, watch for construction vehicles and be aware that they will be crossing through the construction zone when exiting and entering side streets off S.R. 20.

U.S. 17 at the Memorial Bridge in East Palatka
The Memorial Bridge on U.S. 17 in East Palatka may be reduced to one lane in each direction, Tuesday, August 25 and Wednesday, August 26 from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. for routine bridge maintenance.

U.S. 17 from County Road 309 in Satsuma to Currie Road in San Mateo
Periodic daytime lane closures may occur on U.S. 17 at the Dunns Creek Bridge Monday, August 24 through Friday, August 28, between 10 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. while crews work on the bridge.

MORE INFORMATION:  Contact the Public Information Office at 1-800-475-0044 or e-mail sdmancil@pbsj.com.

Mayor Joe Boles will throw out the first ball Monday night, August 3, when the Jacksonville Suns battle the Huntsville Stars on St. Augustine Night presented by Mowrey, Shoemaker, & Beardsley, PL! Join residents
and dignitaries of St. John’s County for a night of family fun highlighting the St. Augustine community.
The festivities begin at 6PM with an exhibition softball game featuring Pedro and the Setting Suns against business and community leaders from the St. Augustine area. Following the softball game the Jacksonville
Suns will take on the Huntsville Stars in a Southern League matchup beginning at 7:05pm. St. Augustine Mayor Joseph Boles will be in attendance to throw the ceremonial first pitch.
Monday, August 3rd will also feature the Suns’ first Belly Buster Buffet! For just $20, get a Homeplate Box seat
plus all-you-can-eat hot dogs, hamburgers, popcorn, ice cream treats and soft drinks from 6-9PM! Pick up a $5 discount coupon at participating St. Augustine locations or upgrade to the Buffet for $10 with an  already purchased Homeplate Box ticket.
Don’t miss this one-of-a-kind baseball event as the Suns connect America’s Oldest City with America’s oldest pastime!
Sponsorship and ticket packages for St. Augustine Night are available for $100 - $1,500. Call the Suns Director of Sales and Promotions, Casey Nichols, at (904) 358-2846, or email caseyn@jaxsuns.com to find out how you can participate..

 

Precautionary boil water notice rescinded for Abbott Tract

The City of St. Augustine has announced that the Abbott Tract area from Shenandoah St. north to Pine St. and San Marco Ave. east to the Matanzas River which has been on a water boil notice since a water main break July 28 has been rescinded as of 3 p.m., Thursday, July 30.  

The bacteriological survey has been conducted daily and now shows that the water is safe to drink.

Scheduled Water Outage for Lincolnville Area Scheduled for August 4

The City of St. Augustine will be making repairs to the water main on Blanco St. which will affect the water supply for the surrounding areas.
Beginning at 9 a.m. until 2 p.m. water will be shut off on Blanco St. between Cerro and South streets; South St. between Riberia and Oneida streets; Oneida St. between South and Cerro streets; Cerro St. between Riberia and Oneida streets; and Twine St. between Duero and Cerro streets.

If you have questions please contact the Public Works Department at (904) 825-1040.

Precautionary Boil Water Notice for Abbott Tract in Downtown

A water main break Monday evening caused a loss of water pressure in Abbott Tract from Shenandoah Ave. to Pine St. and San Marco Ave. east to the Matanzas River. 

As a precaution the City of St. Augustine advises that all water used for drinking, cooking, making ice, brushing teeth or washing dishes be boiled for the next 48 hours.  A rolling boil of one minute is sufficient.  As an alternative, bottled water may be used.

This precautionary boil water notice will remain in effect until a bacteriological survey shows that the water is safe to drink.  At that time notification of that the water is potable will be released. 

If you have any questions, please contact the Public Works Department at 825.1040.

Flags Lowered to Half Staff
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St. Augustine Mayor Joe Boles announced during last evening’s City Commission meeting that flags at City Hall would be to be lowered to half staff in honor of Florida State Senator Jim King who died on Sunday, July 26.  St. Augustine is in District 8, King’s senatorial district.

“Jim King was a friend of St. Augustine’s in so many ways,� said Boles. “His passion and commitment will be missed by many people all across North Florida, and certainly right here in St. Augustine.�

The flags will remain at half staff until noon on Saturday, August 1 following a memorial service for King at St. John’s Cathedral in downtown Jacksonville.