Around Hastings: Visit Florida state parks for free with St. Johns County library card
Gain free admission to all Florida state parks with the Real Florida Readers Day Pass through Sept. 13 with a library card.
The pass, available to all St. Johns County Library cardholders at county libraries, is good for free visits to the 175 state parks.
With your pass, you can explore new places while on your learning adventure. It's good for one vehicle with up to eight people.
There are three state parks in St. Johns County:
- Anastasia State Park, 300 Anastasia Park Road, $8 per vehicle.
- Faver-Dykes State Park, 1000 Faver-Dykes Road, $5 per vehicle.
- Fort Mose, 15 Fort Mose Trail, free.
Gallery:Learning about marine science in Hastings
Around Hastings:Plenty of resources available throughout Hastings
There are six library branches in St. Johns County:
- Anastasia Island Branch: 124 Sea Grove Main St., St. Augustine Beach, 904-209-3730.
- Bartram Trail Branch: 60 Davis Pond Blvd., Fruit Cove, 904-827-6960.
- Hastings Branch: 6195 S. Main St., Hastings, 904-827-6970.
- Main Branch: 1960 N. Ponce De Leon Blvd., St. Augustine, 904- 827-6940.
- Ponte Vedra Beach Branch: 101 Library Blvd., Ponte Vedra Beach, 904-827-6950.
- Southeast Branch: 6670 U.S. 1 S., St. Augustine, 904-827-6900.
Check out a book from the library that can help you identify Florida’s wildlife, flowers or history. Passes must be checked out and returned at the same library location. Ask your local librarian for more information on The Real Florida Reader pass.
National Book Lovers Day
Aug. 9 is National Book Lovers Day and who loves libraries more than book lovers? Make it a point to get to the library and say thanks to the awesome folks working and volunteering in the library branches. Looking for a new author or topic to read? Ask for recommendations at the desk. Donations to the Friends of the Library are always appreciated and help to fund programs for the public, purchase of lending materials, and the back-to-school giveaway. Those can be made at the front desk as well.
Catholic Charities
Catholic Charities will be on the library campus at 10 a.m. the last Saturday of the month to help provide food and other items that are needed. And while some food items continue to be in lower supply, Shepherd’s Haven at 400 E. Harris St. continues to do their weekly food distribution from 2 to 4 p.m. on Tuesday afternoons. Both are set up to be drive-thru giveaways, so be sure to have your truck or trunk cleaned out and ready for groceries.
Team Up Hastings
The Friends of the Library gave away 100 back-to-school kits during the annual Team Up Hastings Community Focus event July 23 at the Hastings Branch Library. Another 100 kits were distributed during the week following the event, for a total of 200 children served in the immediate area. Seven volunteers worked with the Friends of the Library including Mike McNamara from the Library Advisory Board, to get the job done.
In addition to the school supply giveaway by the Friends, the UF Health Bus was on campus to provide physicals and vaccines for those students who needed them. The Hastings Panthers, Friends of the Library, Health and Human Services, the Supervisor of Elections Office, 4-H, SJC Parks and Recreation, Pedro Menendez High School, and Mental Health Outreach all set up information tables that were visited by the students and their families.
The library also allows patrons to reserve books or DVDs online and have them mailed to their homes. This service eliminates the need to pack up the kids and physically go the library to checkout or return items of their choice. It’s also a terrific option for caregivers and shut-ins who may not be able to count on being able to get out of the house on a regular basis.
New school year
Schools reopen on Aug. 10, so please be alert for students, cars and school busses that are back on the roadways again. Plan a few extra minutes for your drive so you can afford to slow down and use a bit more caution out on the roads.
Team Up group
The Team Up group will meet at 8:30 a.m. Aug. 16 at the Hastings Branch Library in the main meeting room. Residents, business owners, and social service providers are all invited to attend to learn what’s going on around the area and discuss ways to participate. There are several fall and winter events on deck for Hastings; some good advertising opportunities available at these events! Volunteers are also always needed.
Wreaths Across America
The Veteran’s Council of St. Johns County will once again participate in the Wreaths Across America program for 2022 and the work starts now! The council is dedicated to ensuring that every headstone in the St. Augustine National Cemetery is adorned with a live holiday wreath.
More:Remembrance wreath laying in St. Augustine to honor veterans
Gallery:Wreaths Across America
The community is invited to send donations to help purchase the wreaths. Individual wreaths are $15 and if two wreaths are purchased at $30, the council will receive a third wreath, free of charge. Business and individual support is needed to tend to the more than 1,200 gravesites at the cemetery.
Another way the community can pay their respects is to attend the Dec. 17 ceremony at the cemetery after the placement of the wreaths. Youth organizations are encouraged to participate to learn about and honor our veterans.
Checks can be made payable to Wreaths Across America and sent to the Veterans Council of St. Johns County, P.O. Box 2117, St. Augustine, FL 32085-2117. For information, contact the campaign chair, SGM (Ret.) Ray Quinn at 904-797-5622.
Contact Nancy Quatrano at nancy@nlquatrano.com by 5 p.m. on Fridays if you have information about Hastings for this column. Put “Hastings” in the subject line.