****The American Legion Auxiliary Unit 49 will hold a Yard Sale fundraiser on Saturday, May 5 from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Otto Walker Post 49, at 1065 South Water Street. There is lots and lots to choose from. Come early for a better look! The money from this and all fundraising efforts of the Auxiliary goes back into the community for veterans and their families in need and for summer camp for the children and grandchildren of veterans. So, give generously and often in support of our veterans. American Legion Unit 49 Auxiliary will meet at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, May 8 with the Legion Post members for dinner before their monthly meeting. Contact Unit President Debbie Mitchem at (850) 997-5456 for more information.
****Kids Inc. is a not-for-profit organization and a United Way certified agency. The agency has an active volunteer program and accepts financial and other donations. They have hosted several children's events and festivals through the years including Kidsfest, which is scheduled to be held this Saturday, May 5 at Cascades Park. The agency is no longer involved with 'A Night of Champions' and 'Havana Nights'.
Great Southern Music Festival at Pickers Paradise Park, 2217 Maddox Road in Ochlocknee, will be held on Mother's Day weekend, May 10-12 and will feature Crosswired, Coon Bottom Creek, Amanda Cook, The Kenny Hill Band, Copper Line, Blue Holler, Pure & Simple Bluegrass, Edgar Loudermilk and more. Emcee is Joe Mashburn and sound by Brian Hill. For more information contact Pat Tillman at (229) 221-5467 or ptillman.rr@gmail.com or Joe Mashburn at 251-363-8508.
****Girl Scouts are invited to participate in a night of exploration at the Florida Museum of Natural History for the “Girl Scouts Explore: Citizen Science” program on May 11. Brownie and Junior Girl Scouts will be able to visit the museum after hours from 6 to 9 p.m. and engage in hands-on activities to learn what it means to be citizen scientists. The Girl Scouts will have an opportunity to meet female role models and broaden their understanding of what science can be. They will strengthen their curiosity of science and learn how they can play a role in some awesome research both in Gainesville and beyond. The citizen science initiative seeks to connect people from different backgrounds to diverse scientific issues, including local or global projects. The program will feature researchers working on multiple citizen projects, including the Wings Over Florida certificate program, a recognition project for avid bird and butterfly spotters; School of Ants, a study of ants living in homes and schools; and Backyard Bark Beetles, which tasks citizens to monitor and track local beetles. Other groups represented at the event include Integrated Digitized Biocollections, known as iDigBio, which is digitizing biological specimens; the Florida Museum Vertebrate Paleontology Division, which studies and cares for about 850,000 vertebrate fossils, and the Lepidoptera of North America Network, which works to document insect herbivores. The museum will also lead activities in the 'Northwest Florida: Waterways and Wildlife' and 'South Florida People and Environments' exhibits. The Scouts will earn a special patch created for the event and receive resources to help them become citizen scientists, which can be used to earn a 'Citizen Science' badge through participation in the above projects. The program cost is $15 per Scout and $5 per adult chaperone. For more information, call (352) 273-2062 or visit floridamuseum.ufl.edu/event/girl-scouts-explore.
****The Jefferson County Lions Club will hold a Yard Sale fundraising event in the Monticello News parking lot on Saturday, May 19 from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. The Lions will take all that unwanted and gently used stuff you have just taking up space and turn it into eyeglasses, hearing aids and surgeries for those less fortunate. Contact Committee Chairperson June Campbell at (850) 997-1754 or Club President Debbie Snapp at 850-997-0901 to make arrangements for pickup or for directions for drop-off.
****Volunteer readers are needed for the ReadUnited Initiative in Jefferson County during the week of May 7–11. Volunteers will read classic tales The Cat in the Hat and Curious George to first grade students at Jefferson Somerset K-12. Materials for the volunteers and students will be delivered directly to the school. The United Way of the Big Bend goal this year is to read in every first grade public school classroom in the eight-county Big Bend region. 200 volunteers, 300 classrooms, and 4,500 books in just five days. To encourage a love of reading, ReadUnited provides every first grade student with a brand new and free book to build their home library. Through ReadUnited, UWBB has distributed over 35,000 free books over the past eight years. For more information contact Audrey Simmons Smith at (850) 488-8342 or (850) 294-5881 or visit United Way of the Big Bend at www.uwbb.org.