Holiday promotion:  All bricks ordered between now and January 1,  2019, will qualify for 3 lines of inscription for the price of 2 ($100). Support the Club, honor a loved one, an occasion, or otherwise just become a part of the park itself. Bricks can be placed in your choice of three locations: along sidewalks, the Veteran’s Memorial Monument area, or near the butterfly garden. For more information, please call the Club office at 268-1622.

You may have heard of the National Historic Landmark, Maple Leaf, the Union troop transport that was sunk by Confederates at Mandarin Point on April 1,1864. You may have seen some of the Civil War material that was recovered from the ship. If so, you probably wondered what happened to the men who owned those items…Union soldiers from New York and Indiana who were waiting for their belongings in Jacksonville. Well, these men traveled north and were engaged in some important battles during the last year of the war. 

In April 1864, the men of the 112th New York, 169th New York, and 13th Indiana Regiments were soon to be a part of bloody campaigns in Virginia and North Carolina. They would be a part of largest amphibious operation the US military would carry out until June 6, 1944 and would observe the largest naval bombardment of the American Civil War - at Fort Fisher, NC. It was the biggest event in US history at the time.

Fort Fisher was the largest earthen fortification in the Confederacy. Its guns controlled one inlet into the Cape Fear River, the port of Wilmington, and the railroad.  After the savage fighting was over, seventy-two soldiers, sailors, and marines would be awarded the Medal of Honor for their actions. One of those Medal of Honor recipients, Private William Freeman of the 169th New York, might have materials still in the hold of the Maple Leaf. 

At the November Third Thursday Lecture, John Moseley, Jacksonville native and Historic Sites Manager I, Fort Fisher State Historic Site, will give a lecture and visual presentation of the battle that sealed the fate of the Confederacy, aided in bringing an end to the war and the Maple Leaf’s connection to Fort Fisher.

The Third Thursday Lecture Series, a joint offering of the Mandarin Museum & Historical Society and the Mandarin Community Club, are conducted on a quarterly basis. Programs are held at the Mandarin Community Club.  All programs remain open to the public and are free of charge; donations are welcome.

Source & images: MMHS

The Mandarin Community Club will hold its annual Wreath Laying Ceremony in honor of Veterans Day on Sunday, November 11.at 1 PM. The ceremony will take within the Billard Commemorative Park, 11641 Brady Road, adjacent to the Mandarin Community Club Building. Members and the public alike are invited and encouraged to attend. In the event of inclement weather, the ceremony will be moved indoors.
 
This is the 12th year the Club will honor our Veterans with a specific, dedicated program. The Billard Park is home to the only Veterans Memorial in all of Mandarin, something the Club is very proud of. ​

Photo from 2017 Wreath-Laying Ceremony at the Billard Commemorative Park

​Harriet Beecher Stowe was arguably the most famous woman in the English-speaking world when she arrived in Mandarin, Florida. The year 2018 marks 150 years since author Harriet Beecher Stowe took up residence in her quirky Mandarin home, a home encompassed by live oaks and nestled in an orange grove in the village some 15 miles south of Jacksonville. She wintered there until 1884.

The presentation will be made by our club president, Emily Lisska, a Jacksonville native, President of the Florida Historical Society and the former Executive Director of the Jacksonville Historical Society.

Harriet Beecher Stowe - Mandarin's Most Famous Resident
Thursday, August 16th
Doors open at 6:30 p.m., lecture begins at 7 p.m.

The Third Thursday Lecture Series, a joint offering of the Mandarin Museum & Historical Society and the Mandarin Community Club, are conducted on a quarterly basis. Programs are held at the Mandarin Community Club (12447 Mandarin Rd, 32223).  All programs remain open to the public and are free of charge; donations are welcome.

Due to space limitations, please RSVP by Mon, 9/17 to mandarincommunityclub@gmail.com

Plan NOW to attend this important 2-hour program offered by the Mandarin Community Club to provide awareness of how to respond in an active shooter situation. The program is facilitated by Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office and is built upon the Avoid, Deny, Defend (ADD) strategy. The facilitator will talk about making decisions in the stressful situation of a shooting. Limited Q&A follows the 2-hour program.

CRASE - Active Shooter Training Program
​Thursday, September 20th
Time:  7:00-9:00 PM
Mandarin Community Club - 12447 Mandarin Rd, 32223

Free and open to the club members and Mandarin residents