KevinClark's blog

The St. Johns County School Board reached a decision Tuesday night on the name of the northwest's new high school: Creekside.

According to a St. Augustine Record story Wednesday, there was much discussion over naming the school after a person or another name all together. Though none of the five members were "enthused" about their choice, the vote was unanimous, the story said.

What do you think? Did they get it right? Looks like Creekside was the most popular choice on our unscientific poll, so clearly there were some in favor of it.

One point: For at least the first few years of its existence, the name will probably not indicate to folks outside of St. Johns County where the school is located. Maybe that's not an issue, but there has been discussion about a name that unifies or points to the specific community the school serves. Perhaps in time it will.

At the recent committee meeting that decided the mascot, colors and possible names for the new northwest St. Johns County high school (DDD), School Board member Beverly Slough mentioned that she would not be in favor of "St. Johns" as a name choice. The Board will decide the name at its Dec. 11 meeting based on the choices of St. Johns, Northwest, Creekside, or some other name they determine.

Slough's reason was that too much in the northwest carries the "St. Johns" moniker. We've heard similar arguments after folks voted to add "St. Johns" to the 32259 postal designation. What's the problem with St. Johns?

We especially love those leftover stories about Thanksgivings past and present. Got something wacky that happened to you or your family this year?

Did cousin Helga ruin the turkey again? Got a proud teen who graduated from the kids table to the adult table? Did dad begin snoring in front of the televised football game again? We want to hear about it. Go on, be brave (and you can leave out names to protect the innocent).

Respond to this blog or create your own! Thoughtful, funny or interesting blogs may be printed in a future issue of My St. Johns Sun.

A few weeks ago an e-mail came in that asked "what in the world is going into that brick building next to the Fireworks store on County Road 210?" In case you haven't noticed it while rocketing your car past this area during the morning commute (pause for chuckle ...), it's literally just before the Interstate 95 exits.

From the outward appearance, it seems to have inside seating and a drive-through, so a restaurant would have been my first guess.

Because there are so many gas stations right by the interstate, you would think gas pumps would go up within the property, too.

Julington Creek Elementary Principal Michael Story announced this week the school will hold classes on Friday, Nov. 2 while the rest of the St. Johns County School District gives students a break for a District Inservice day.

However, Story said he was told by the district that Nov. 2 will also be an early release day, meaning students will be released at 1 p.m.

"That means we'll have two early release days next week," Story said, referring to the school's usual early-release day of Wednesday.

Julington students have to go to class in order to make up the day they missed earlier this month due to heavy rains and flooding on Race Track Road, which made road conditions in front of the school unpassable for several hours.

Has it really been six years?

Sept. 11, 2001 was the second major news event I experienced while working in the Florida Times-Union newsroom. The first was the 2000 presidential election (I'm still reminded of that night in many ways, but I digress).

I lived in Fernandina Beach and usually enjoyed the 45-minute commute to my downtown Jacksonville office each day. That fateful day was no different. I was on the road from about 8 a.m. to almost 9 -- just before the live news accounts hit the radio stations. I was oblivious to the first plane hitting the Towers until I arrived at work.

PET IDOL IS UNDERWAY!!

Hopefully you've noticed the Pet Idol feature in the Sept. 1 My St. Johns Sun. These photos represent the 37 contestants sent by St. Johns County residents.

Each community section of the Florida Times-Union (Clay Sun, Nassau Sun, Shorelines, Mandarin Sun, Southside, Westside, Arlington and Northside) is featuring entrants from their respective areas. So the ultimate winners will not only be crowned this year's Pet Idol from Jacksonville -- they'll also represent the best in each county!

Let's not let our St. Johns County pets and owners down! You want to see those folks from Clay County cheering and jeering us from across the St. Johns River? Me neither.

If you subscribe to the St. Augustine Record, you probably opened your paper Saturday (Aug. 11) and noticed something was missing -- My St. Johns Sun.

Unfortunately this was a planned action, not a distribution mistake. A soft business climate for newspapers right now played a large role in this decision. But so did the desire to think long-term in the future of My St. Johns Sun.

Believe it or not, the Sun was originally a Record project several years ago. At some point (before I arrived on the scene) the details for getting the Sun off the ground shifted to the "big brother" paper, the Times-Union. As a way to help target the best coverage for readers, it was decided to insert the new paper in both the Times-Union and St. Augustine Record home delivery, while also putting free copies in racks around the county.

For those of you monitoring the St. Johns County debate on instilling a charter government system, the next forum on that subject is scheduled for Thursday, Aug. 9 at 6:30 p.m., according to a news release from the county Public Affairs Office.

This meeting will be at the Southeast Branch Library, 6670 U.S. 1 South, just north of County Road 206.

As with the other meetings, this one's open to the public. County commissioners will be there to listen to ideas and proposed changes to the draft. The draft is available now on the county Web site, www.co.st-johns.fl.us and at all branches of the county library system, the release says.

I have no illusions about the promise of death, for me or any member of my family. I'm content knowing that I don't know what to expect.

As I watch my parents struggle and cope with the eventual passing of their aging parents, I'm struck by an apparent lesson: One can prepare for the logistical and financial ramifications of the end, but you're never really fully prepared for the emotional ones.

My dad's mother passed away a few years ago. The youngest of four kids, my father voiced his concern at the time that my 90-year-old grandfather would slip into depression. "He may go soon out of lonliness," dad said at the time. His two brothers and sister didn't disagree.