The Way We Were: Dr. William Cordell Mason III
Reflecting on a 50-year career filled with medicine and ministry Reflecting on his 50 years as a hospital administrator for Baptist hospitals worldwide, Bill Mason realized his career was the perfect mix of medicine and ministry. The San Marco resident has held leadership positions at Baptist Health in Jacksonville for 40+ years, from 1978 until […]
Celebrating bees & beekeepers in June
June is the time to celebrate everything to do with bees, specifically June 22-28, the week designated to celebrate the nectar-seeking wonders, promote beekeeping and publicize the critical food-chain importance of fragile pollinators: birds, hummingbirds, butterflies, moths, bats, beetles and small animals. Apiologists – honeybee experts – want to inform the public about threats to […]
The Way We Were: Arthur Chester Skinner, Jr.
As the sun’s rays penetrated through the pine trees, a young man galloped down the dirt roads of a primitive South Jacksonville in the 1930s on his horse, Vinny, long before commercial and residential areas and the city and state roads needed to provide transportation to them, were developed. This was when the lands south […]
The Way We Were: Michael Swann
From playing baseball at Lakeside Park or fishing with the boys at Fishweir Creek as a youngster, to now, walking the streets as a human billboard advertising the Cathedral District Project during Art Walk, Michael Swann’s love for community runs deep. Swann’s outlook and life priorities have been molded by the connections he’s made with […]
The Way We Were: Carole Poindexter
Sometimes you don’t have to leave home to make an impact in others’ lives, or succeed in business, breaking a few glass ceilings and motivating folks along the way. For Colonial Manor resident Carole Poindexter, being a life-long “stayer” – in her family neighborhood, with the same company her entire career, and by increasing dedication […]
CDC: Companion pets won’t get you sick
Pet owners, who question if the new coronavirus COVID-19 can infect or harm animals, will take comfort in the constantly updated information now available. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), in coordination with the scientific veterinarian community and leading animal experts and organizations, have released pet owner and pet safety guidelines to […]
Animal House: Playing Santa to the homeless and their pets
Cynthia Saben, employee of the Jacksonville Electric Authority and dedicated animal advocate, had an idea in November 2018 that would have a profound impact on her life. She wanted to provide a hot breakfast and an equally warm helping of respect, care and assistance to the homeless and their pets, on Christmas morning. She chose […]
The Way We Were: Wayne W. Wood
Many years before Wayne W. Wood, 74, became a noted historian, author, and the founder of Riverside Avondale Preservation, he was just a kid from Belle Glade in South Florida visiting grandparents Guy D. and Elma T. Wood during the summers in Riverside. That was decades before he would run a successful optometry business in […]

