Book signings, chamber music, Tour de Parks bike ride: Things to do around the Beaches
Virtual author event Monday
Legendary former CIA operative Enrique “Ric” Prado presents his new memoir, "Black Ops: The Life of a CIA Shadow Warrior,” via The BookMark’s virtual author event on Monday, March 14 at 6 p.m.
The son of a middle-class Cuban family caught in the midst of the Castro Revolution, his family fled their war-torn home for the hope of a better life in America. Fifty years later, the Cuban refugee retired from the Central Intelligence Agency as the equivalent of a two-star general.
“Black Ops” is the story of Prado's legendary career that spanned two eras -- the Cold War and the Age of Terrorism. Operating in the shadows, Prado and his fellow CIA officers fought a little-seen and virtually unknown war to keep the U.S. safe. After duty stations in Central and South America, as well as the Philippines, Prado rose to the highest echelons of CIA headquarters at Langley, Va. In late 1995, he became Deputy Chief of Station and co-founding member of the Bin Laden Task Force.
Three years later, after serving as head of Korean Operations, Prado took on one of the most dangerous missions of his career — to re-establish a once-abandoned CIA station inside a hostile nation long since considered a front line of the fight against Islamic terrorism. He and his team carried out covert operations and developed assets that later proved pivotal in the War on Terror.
A harrowing memoir of life in the shadowy world of assassins, terrorists, spies and revolutionaries, “Black Ops” is a testament to the courage, creativity and dedication of the Agency's Special Activities Group and its elite shadow warriors.
Reserve a spot for the event on Crowdcast at https://bit.ly/3K2q3AU. For more information, visit BookmarkBeach.com, email bkmark@bellsouth.net or call (904) 241-9026.
Author book signing
New York Times bestselling author James Ponti will be at The BookMark on Friday, March 18, 6 p.m. to sign copies of his latest middle-grade novel in the City Spies series, “City Spies: Forbidden City.”
The third installment in the popular series from Ponti, an Edgar Award winner, follows the young group of spies as they help a fellow agent in another international adventure.
After taking down a mole within their organization, the City Spies are ready for their next mission — once again using their unique skills and ability to infiltrate places adults can't. The sinister Umbra has their sights set on recruiting a North Korean nuclear physicist by any means necessary, and the City Spies plan to keep an eye on his son by sending Paris to the chess prodigy's tournaments in Moscow and Beijing.
Meanwhile, Sydney's embedded as a junior reporter for a teen lifestyle site as she follows the daughter of a British billionaire on tour with the biggest act on her father's music label. She hopes to uncover what links both the band and the billionaire have to a recent threat from an old Soviet missile base.
From a daring break-in at one of London's most exclusive homes to a dangerous undercover mission to a desperate search and rescue operation on the streets of Beijing, the City Spies have their work cut out for them on their most dangerous mission yet.
The BookMark is located at 220 First St. in Neptune Beach. For more information, visit BookmarkBeach.com, email us at bkmark@bellsouth.net or call (904) 241-9026.
Chamber concert
Enjoy the rich acoustics of the historic Beaches Museum Chapel on Sunday, March 20, as the Florida Chamber Music Project presents a concert on Sunday, March 20 at 3 p.m.
“Women’s Work” is the group’s first concert of music by all female composers. Compositions by Jennifer Higdon, Caroline Shaw, Florence Price and Rhiannon Giddens will be featured. Although most of the music will probably be new to the local audience, it will also be familiar, blending new sounds with old tunes.
Tickets are $25 and a reception will follow the concert. To purchase advance tickets online, visit FLChamberMusic.org.
Acoustic music in the park
Head out to Bull Park with your lawn chair and some snacks to enjoy acoustic music from local artists on Sunday, March 20.
Hosted by Roy Peak, the free event takes place from 4 to 6 p.m. Email atlanticbeachmusic@gmail.com or recreation@coab.us, or call (904) 247-5828 for information.
Tour de Parks ride
Break out those pedal-pushers and sneakers for the Tour de Parks, a family-friendly park-to-park community bicycle ride on Saturday, March 26. Hosted by the City of Atlantic Beach, the seven-mile ride is a fun and leisurely opportunity to explore 10 of the city’s beautiful public parks.
The ride begins and ends at Jack Russell Park, 800 Seminole Road. Starting at 9 a.m., riders will visit Howell Park, Bull Park, Johansen Park, Jordan Park, Donner Park, Dutton Island Preserve, Beaches Veterans Memorial Park, Tide Views Preserve and Rose Park. Participants will be escorted from park to park by Atlantic Beach police.
Helmets must be worn by all riders and every participant must sign a liability waiver when registering. Space is limited to 50 participants. To register, visit coab.us/tourdeparks. For more information, email recreation@coab.us or call (904) 247-5828.
The event could be cancelled in the event of inclement weather, such as heavy rain or thunderstorms. Be sure to check the COAB Cultural Arts and Recreation Facebook page or the events web page at coab.us/events for information and updates.
Walk for veterans
American Legion Post 129 hosts its second-annual Challenge 22 Walk on Saturday, March 26.
On-site registration starts at 9 a.m. at the Jacksonville Beach Seawalk Pavilion, 75 First St. N. The program begins at 10 a.m. with a 2.2 mile walk to Oceanfront Park, located at 429 First Street S.
Post 129’s goal is to raise $10,000 through the event, which will be distributed among suicide-prevention groups, treatment providers and nonprofits that help veterans in need of mental health assistance, including The American Legion Department of Florida’s Project VetRelief.
Locally, American Legion 129 has 30 coalition partners and 10 strategic partners that receive funding to provide veteran suicide prevention services in Northeast Florida.
Walkers are encouraged to preregister at https://bit.ly/36XwFCA. The cost is $22 per walker and $35 to register and receive an event t-shirt.
For sponsorship information, and to download a sponsor form for the event, visit https://bit.ly/36XwFCA or contact Legion Post 129 Treasurer Jim Wineland at jimwineland@att.net.
Archaeology talk: Ancient Southwest labor
The Archaeological Institute of America — Jacksonville Society will meet at noon on March 26 in Building 51 at the University of North Florida to hear a lecture by Dr. John Kantner, associate provost of faculty and research, as well as interim dean of the Graduate School at the University of North Florida.
The title of his lecture is “Division of Labor in the Ancient U.S. Southwest: Who Was Making All Those Pots?” The ability to reconstruct how labor was organized in ancient societies is fundamental to most analyses of social, political and economic systems. This can be quite difficult, however, without direct evidence of who was involved in production. In his lecture, Kantner describes an innovative approach for determining the sex of potters in the 1,000-year-old Chaco World and discusses implications from the unexpected division of labor that he and his colleagues identified.
Free and open to the public, the lecture will be followed by complimentary refreshments in the Physical Anthropology Lab. On Saturday, parking is free, with staff, faculty and vendor spaces available to everyone.
For more information, contact Melva Price at (904) 241-9411 or aiajaxsoc@gmail.com.
NFLT annual meeting
North Florida Land Trust hosts its annual meeting on Tuesday, March 29 at Congaree and Penn.
Held from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m., the event will include farm tours, a cocktail hour, dinner and an awards program. An update from NFLT President Jim McCarthy will be provided on the land conservation organization's past and future projects.
In addition, new members will be inducted into the McQuilkin Society, which honors major donors to the land conservation organization and was named for Bill McQuilkin, NFLT founder. Awards will also be presented to the advocate of the year, volunteer of the year and the partner of the year.
Congaree and Penn is a working farm located at 11830 Old Kings Road in Jacksonville. Sponsorship opportunities are available and start at $500. Individual tickets will also be available for $100. To learn more about sponsorships or purchase tickets, visit the NFLT website at https://bit.ly/3HTakmy or contact Lee Anderson Louy at landersonlouy@nflt.org or (904) 479-1962.
Founded in 1999, North Florida Land Trust is a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving and enhancing the quality of life by protecting North Florida's irreplaceable natural environment. For more information, visit nflt.org.
Jax Beach hiring lifeguards
Are you a good swimmer who loves the beach and desires to help others? The Jacksonville Beach Ocean Rescue Division is hiring paid lifeguards.
Once application is complete:
An Encounter Assessment (situational judgment test) will be emailed to the applicant and is required to pass training.
After passing the assessment, candidates will be contacted to schedule the pre-qualification exam day and interview.
Lifeguard Academies are held on Saturdays and Sundays; the next session is as follows:
April 30 to May 22 — Candidates must apply and pass their situational judgment assessment by April 14 to be eligible for tryouts on April 17. Candidates who don't complete and pass their situational judgment test by April 14, 2022 will be ineligible for hire for the 2022 season.
All candidates are paid during training. For more information, visit http://bit.ly/JOIN-JBOR or JacksonvilleBeach.org/oceanrescue. Candidates with additional questions may also email JDonnell@jaxbchfl.net.
Tree giveaway
Want more shade in your yard? Atlantic Beach’s newly updated Chapter 23 of the Code of Ordinances expands the use of tree-conservation funds to plant trees in front yards on private property. These "Adopt-a-Tree" funds come from property owners who pay into the tree-conservation fund, which is earmarked to expand the public tree canopy.
In an effort to evenly distribute the tree-conservation funds, two trees per calendar year, per property may be planted. The plantings will occur in the spring and fall. Once planted, the property owner is responsible for maintaining the trees.
Go to https://bit.ly/3pfGKQM to complete an application for a free tree. City staff will review your requested tree location to determine if there are any site restrictions, which could include overhead or underground utilities, drainage areas and swales, easements, existing tree canopy, etc.
For more information, email trees@coab.us.
Submit events to shorelines@jacksonville.com.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: LEADING OFF: Book signings, concerts and more to do around the Beaches
