Greek Landing Day Celebration in St Augustine, 2009
On June 26th, 1768 nearly 500 Greek colonists arrived to St. Augustine, Florida, with the Thurnbull expedition. This arrival eventually lead to the first colony of Greeks in North America. Every year this event is celebrated at at the St. Photios Greek Orthodox National Shrine, and this year the 23rd annual celebration takes place Thursday June 25th – Saturday June 27th, 2009.
Thursday June 25th
The three day long celebration begins on Thursday at 5.30pm with an opening reception for the exhibit Steven Papadatos: A Retrospective of One Man’s 40-year Career.
Friday June 26th
Shrine Chaplain, Father Nikitas Theodosion will celebrate the services of Matins, Divine Liturgy and the colonists’ memorial Friday, June 26 at 9:00 am in the St Photios Chapel. St. Augustine Mayor Joseph Bolles will read the 2009 Greek Landing Day City Proclamation and Victoria Pitenis of Daytona Beach will read her award winning essay, St. Photios Shrine. Refreshments will be served.
Liz Lazarides White will lecture on Greek cooking class at 4:00 p.m. at the Shrine. Her cookbook Opa! will be available for purchase. Liz and her husband Ed will also be available at the Saturday Glendi.
Saturday June 26th
Bring their children for the 9:00 a.m. Colonial Spanish Quarter Scavenger Hunt, followed by tie dying! Later it’s time for a greek party. Enjoy festive Greek music and food at the annual glendi (party). Here you can try delicious Greek pastries and other food. The glendi will be held in the Constantine Sisters Courtyard Saturday, June 27, 10-3:00 p.m.
For additional information, please contact:
St. Photios Greek Orthodox National Shrine, 41 St. George Street, St. Augustine, FL 32085-1960
Tel 1-904-829-8205
Toll free 1-800-222-6727
Click here for more information about
Greek Landing Day in St Augustine 2009
St Johns Town Center Farmers Market in Jacksonville
Visit St Johns Town Center Farmers Market for fresh vegetables, plants, organic food and much more. This is one of Jacksonville’s newest farmers market. It takes place on Fridays from 3 pm to 8 pm.
Our friends Martin and Purity from Grower’s Alliance Coffee are usually there selling their coffee. Make sure to taste the Kenyan coffee – it’s absolutely wonderful. It’s fair trade and shade grown and part of the proceeds goes back to the farmers in Kenya, they can tell you all about it. Make sure to let them know that Joe sent you!
Click here for the calendar entry for St Johns Town Center Farmers Market
Independence Day in Fernandina Beach, Amelia Island, Florida
Stars & Stripes Freedom Festival – Fernandina, Amelia Island, FL
What better way to celebrate America’s independence than the Stars and Stripes Festival in Fernandina, Florida? The festival takes place in Amelia Island’s Central Park and begins with a patriotic parade down Centre Street at 7:00 p.m. in the historic district; followed by a barrage of fireworks to conclude the festivities.
This annual observance of America’s liberation takes place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.. Bring the whole family to the park for lots of activities and fun. First and foremost, there’s the Touch-A-Truck Public Safety display. Here you, or your little ones, can get hands on, up close and personal look at a number of fascinating vehicles. There will be fire trucks, police cars, garbage trucks, excavators – even an 18 wheel log truck and helicopter is scheduled. The vehicles on display come from the City of Fernandina Beach Police, Fire/Rescue and Streets Departments, Nassau County Sheriff’s Office and Fire/Rescue, Florida Highway Patrol, Coast Guard, and more.
This event is a sure hit with the younger ones.
Other activities include a Parent-Child Look-A-Like Contest. Sign up starting at 10 a.m., the contest itself at 1:00 p.m. I thought about asking one of my teenagers to participate with me, but I’m sure the answer would be a “No Wayâ€. So instead I had my hopes up for the All American Apple Pie Contest. It turns out that you have to bake pies, so I quickly crossed that off my list. Then there’s of course the usual stuff with Fun for the Kids playground, food, arts and crafts vendors.
Also the band FACE FOR RADIO, will perform on the Pirate Ship Stage during the festival.
Festival goers are invited to wear red, white and blue for the Stars & Stripes Freedom Festival Parade starting at 7 p.m. After the parade, everyone will gather in front of the Depot to enjoy music in the spirit of Independence Day by the community choir, the Sine Nomine Singers and the New Horizons Band of the Amelia Arts Academy.
After dark, it’s time to find a spot to watch the fireworks. The fireworks exhibition can be viewed to the south of the Fernandina Harbor Marina at approximately 9:30 p.m. A perfect close to a perfect day.
More information, concert agenda, and applications for the contests can be found at www.shinybadgesball.com.
Click here to visit our events calendar for Stars & Stripes Freedom Festival in Fernandina, Amelia Island, Florida
Independence Day Fireworks at the World Golf Village on July 2, 2009
Start your 4th of July celebration early this year with fireworks on Thursday July 2nd. The fireworks show is schedule to start after dark.
You can actually turn Thursday into a full-fledged Independence Day extravaganza at the World Golf Village by combining the fireworks show with dinner and a BIG movie. Enjoy an All-American buffet at Fairways café starting at 5:30pm and follow that with a special showing of “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen†at the IMAX theater. This has to be the absolutely best way to experience this action packed movie which we think is destined to be on of the big movies of the summer.
The package price for “Dinner and a Movie†are $35 for adults and $30 for children. The package also includes free putting on the Hall’s 18-hole putting course and two adult drink tickets.
There are a limited number of “dinner and a movie†packages available at the World Golf Village, St Augustine, Florida, so please call 904-940-4010 to book or visit www.wgv.com
