Jackson Downtown Council Donates To Music History Museum Project

From The JAX Chamber:

February 17, 2021

The Jacksonville Historical Society was gratified to receive an unexpected gift in late December from a longtime user of the facility at Old St. Andrew’s Church – the JAX Chamber’s Downtown Council.

“When our in-person meetings at the Old St Andrew’s Church halted last March due to COVID-19, the Downtown Council board missed our JHS partner and knew we wanted to find a way to collaborate,” said Gracie Simendinger, Downtown Council president as well as development director for B.E.A.M. (Beaches Emergency Assistance Ministry). “Every year we strive to raise funds through our signature event Painting of the PawPrints where proceeds raised support Downtown programs and initiatives. We were able to still hold the event yielding enough proceeds to make a significant $5,000 contribution to an organization dear to us. The JHS preserves and elevates Jacksonville’s rich history, something the Downtown Council truly values. We believe we create a brighter future when we learn and acknowledge our past, and the Downtown Council often looks to JHS to teach our members about Jacksonville’s historical significance.”

[JHS CEO] Alan Bliss has been a Downtown Council member for a number of years and continues to provide value and insight to the Council’s board and greater membership, she said. “We look forward to continuing our partnership and finding unique ways to honor our history while engaging the greater community, such as the music history museum project,” stated Simendinger.

In addition to the Downtown Council’s generous gift, the group entered a display in the historical society’s annual Gingerbread Extravaganza for the first time in 2020. “This project was a labor of love spearheaded by Laura Edgecombe and the Downtown Council board; our historical building submission was meaningful to us because our signature event Painting of the PawPrints begins every year at the old Bostwick building, now Cowford Chophouse,” shared Simendinger. “Once we learned the People’s Choice Award was a donation-based vote and we knew the proceeds were going to a great cause, we rallied our board and greater membership to get involved and inspire support. We were pleased to raise nearly $1,000 from our house votes alone to win the category, and look forward to participating again this year. After all, we have a tradition to keep up!”

Bliss gratefully acknowledged the gift, noting it would be put into the restricted fund for the music history museum project. “The membership of the Downtown Council has been supportive of the Historical Society in many ways, and getting to know this smart, dynamic group has been a privilege,” said Bliss. “When they learned about our music history project and the scope of its museum, they saw the potential immediately. It’s great to have the Chamber among our stakeholders in this new way of telling Jacksonville’s many stories.”

For more information about this topic, call (904) 665-0064 or email communications@jaxhistory.org.

This press release was produced by The JAX Chamber. The views expressed here are the author’s own.