JUNE 1st – Last Community First Saturday of the Season! Come celebrate up and down the RIVER!

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We are getting so excited for the June 1st Community First Saturday, we can’t even stand it! Here are just some of the activities planned!

We have lots of surprises for Saturday June 1st. Especially for the kids! Bring them down! We’ll announce some of the kids activities on the blog and facebook throughout the month. Remember the new location is only a block from the Skyway! Free rides through the Downtown sky!

First, get a nice run in with the second annual Community First Hale and Hearty 7k! This is an amazing run through Riverside, Avondale and parts of Brooklyn (Downtown). Its a great way to start your day and the perfect balance to the food truck food and beer that awaits at Community First Saturdays!

Community First Credit Union and the JAX Chamber are celebrating the rebuilding of Downtown Jacksonville after  the Great Fire of 1901 with a Community First Saturday event June 1 that will trace  the fire’s roots, path and reconstruction.

 

The event is held on the Riverwalk behind the Times Union Center next to the Jacksonville Landing.

Community First Saturdays is just a short walk (through the Landing) from previous events held near the Old Courthouse Parking Lot, which is still open for free parking on the east end of the Riverwalk.

We have numerous activities the whole family will enjoy. We’ll announce activities all month long!

Through our dynamic partnership with JTA the Skyway runs from 9am to 5pm during Community First Saturdays. Use the Skyway to explore more, Downtown.

Well then how about beer? Yep, we’ve got beer! And we have beer classes. Learn from the experts and test your knowledge of the frosty hoppy stuff. Classes are at 12:30, 1:30, and 2:30.

Just some Community First Activities for June 1:

10am – Tai Chi with Jomarie

10am- Spin Class on the River from Just Fitness 4 U

10:30 am - Shannon Miller Lifestyle Walking Group – Free Pedometer, Walk-Fit Program and light snack

10:30- noon – Historic Walking Guided Tour: The Great Fire of 1901 – Make reservations 599-0019

10:30 am - e2ride Guided Bike Tour of Historic Springfield with an emphasis on public art. Make reservations by calling  (904) 945-1571

12:30 – Beer Class

1:30 – Beer Class

2pm – 3:30 - Historic Walking Guided Tour: The Great Fire of 1901 – Make reservations 599-0019

2:30 – Beer Class

All Day:

Skyway

Kids activities

Bike Give aways

Free Wi-Fi from MacTechPro

Local Interest Tents

Food Trucks

Café tables to drink craft beer and eat food truck food!

Free Bike Valet!

Community First Saturdays is made possible by Community First Credit Union and many more sponsors. Please use hashtag #ilovejax as you post your experiences and photos to Twitter and the #ilovejax and Community First Saturdays’ Facebook pages.

For more information and updates about Community First Saturdays and the many different activities, visit Facebook.com/CommunityFirstSaturdays or the event blog at www.communityfirstsaturdays.com.

We look forward to seeing you on the RIVER!

 

MAY 4 COMMUNITY FIRST SATURDAYS – CANCELED – BUMMER!

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Hey Community!
We need to be safe and put our Community First, yes?!
It is with a heavy heart that I make the call even earlier than I had hoped to hold out. I wanted to give our participants as much notice as possible and allow for us all to have time to reach out to everyone. The forecast has become even gloomier and out of an abundance of caution we are going to push this month’s activities to June 1.
There are many reasons to call it but the winds are predicted as high as 25 mph downtown tomorrow and it shows heavy rain every hour from set up to strike. Many folks are bailing out their flooded neighborhoods already and we’ve got a lot more rain coming.
Lets stay safe and reconvene in June and make the last Community First Saturdays of the season a HUGE celebration because we have a lot to celebrate.
Oh and hey, Riverside Arts Market is still on if you need to get out of the house and work in your new galoshes!

FIRE TRUCKS! BRING YOUR KIDS!

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ladder4

 

So many awesome things happening at Community First Saturdays this weekend. One major thing I know your kids are going to LOVE! Fire Trucks!

Meet our Downtown firemen (and women!) and get a tour of a real Downtown fire truck! Various trucks will be out between 10am and 2pm at the end of Hogan Street. If you take your kids on the Skyway and let them check out the fire trucks, I’m pretty sure they’ll never forget this Community First Saturday with you!

As you may have noticed at the Community First Saturdays facebook page, we have been celebrating the rebuilding of Jacks0nville which started May 4th, 1901. The JAX Chamber, then called the Board of Trade, was instrumental in the immediate rebound of this great city. Only steps from where we will celebrate exactly one hundred and twelve years later the Board of Trade’s president Capt. Charles E. Garner exclaimed:

This beautiful city will rise again, more prosperous than ever!

This was echoed by Mayor J.E.T. Bowden, who said

Jacksonville’s best wealth is in her people, and through them she will soon sit resplendent once more with increased glory as the metropolis of the State.

 

Quotes from Bill Foley & Wayne Wood’s The Great Fire of 1901

See you on the Riverwalk Saturday! Bring the kids!

The Great JAX Comeback!

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May 4th might have been the most important day in Jacksonville history. It was the day after the Great Fire of 1901. And like 2013, May 4th was the first Saturday of the month. For the next few days, we’ll feature historic photos and excerpts from Bill Foley and Wayne Wood’s book, The Great Fire of 1901.

 

On Saturday morning, the day after the great conflagration, the city leaders awoke to another horror. The sheer magnitude of their task to put the pieces back together again must have seemed as terrifying as the fire itself.

We’re Back this Saturday Behind the Times Union Center!

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We have lots of surprises this Saturday. Especially for the kids! Bring them down! We’ll announce some of the kids activities on the blog and facebook throughout the week. Remember the new location is only a block from the Skyway! Free rides through the Downtown sky!

First, Tee Off Community First Saturdays the night before with a great concert on the river. Check out Tee Off Downtown and celebrate on our river Friday night!

Community First Credit Union and the JAX Chamber are celebrating the rebuilding of Downtown Jacksonville after  the Great Fire of 1901 with a Community First Saturday event May 4 that will trace  the fire’s roots, path and reconstruction.

“From the Ashes – Celebrate the Rebuilding of Downtown Jacksonville“ will begin behind the Times-Union Center and include walking or biking guided tours, kids activities, fiery foods and live music. We hope to see you Saturday, May 4, beginning at 10 a.m.!

The event is held on the Riverwalk behind the Times Union Center next to the Jacksonville Landing.

Community First Saturdays is just a short walk (through the Landing) from previous events held near the Old Courthouse Parking Lot, which is still open for free parking on the east end of the Riverwalk.

We have numerous activities the whole family will enjoy. We’ll announce activities all week!

Through our dynamic partnership with JTA the Skyway runs from 9am to 5pm during Community First Saturdays. Use the Skyway to explore more, Downtown.

Well then how about beer? Yep, we’ve got beer! And we have beer classes. Learn from the experts and test your knowledge of the frosty hoppy stuff. Classes are at 12:30, 1:30, and 2:30.

We are bringing back live entertainment with folk singer Tom Shed who will sing songs about North Florida and the Great Fire!

Just some Community First Activities for May 4:

10am – Tai Chi

10am- Spin Class on the River from Just Fitness 4 U

10:30 am - Shannon Miller Lifestyle Walking Group – Free Pedometer, Walk-Fit Program and light snack

10:30- noon – Historic Walking Guided Tour: The Great Fire of 1901 – Make reservations 599-0019

10:30 am - e2ride Guided Bike Tour of Historic Springfield with an emphasis on public art. Make reservations by calling  (904) 945-1571

12:30 – Beer Class

1:30 – Beer Class

2pm – 3:30 - Historic Walking Guided Tour: The Great Fire of 1901 – Make reservations 599-0019

2:30 – Beer Class

All Day:

Skyway

Kids activities

Bike Give aways

Free Wi-Fi from MacTechPro

Local Interest Tents

Food Trucks

Café tables to drink craft beer and eat food truck food!

Free Bike Valet (shown)

Community First Saturdays is made possible by Community First Credit Union and many more sponsors. Please use hashtag #ilovejax as you post your experiences and photos to Twitter and the #ilovejax and Community First Saturdays’ Facebook pages.

For more information and updates about Community First Saturdays and the many different activities, visitFacebook.com/CommunityFirstSaturdays or the event blog at www.communityfirstsaturdays.com.

We look forward to seeing you on the RIVER!

Bike Tour is on FIRE! Reserve your spot now!

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tourladies

 

Community First Saturdays GREAT FIRE BIKE TOUR DOWNTOWN INTO SPRINGFIELD with e2ride bike tours guiding the way. 

Length of Ride: 8 miles with stops at historic and picturesque places en route.
Fitness Level: Flat terrain.  If you can ride a bike, you’ll love this tour of Springfield, Southern Living Magazine’s Comeback Neighborhood of the South with a special salute to the GREAT FIRE OF 1901 (MAY 3rd). 
Price: FREE if you bring your own bike, helmet, water and snacks. $35 for equipment rentals.  FREE, BUT reservations required, as these tours sell out.  Call 904-945-1571 to reserve your spot.