11/7/22 @ 2:15 p.m. - This video is part of our Nassau Now series and celebrates the grand opening of Nassau Crossing Park, held on November 5, 2022. 

-Sabrina Robertson
 Public Information Officer

11/6/22 @ 10:15 a.m. 

Nassau County Parks & Recreation invites you to Nassau County's first Christmas Tree Lighting! The event will take place on Saturday, December 3rd at 5pm in front of the Robert M. Foster Justice Center located at 76347 Veterans Way. 

The event will feature music by the Nassau Community band, food vendors, vendors selling holiday appropriate gifs, pictures with Santa, and a showing of "Elf" on the giant movie screen. 

If you're interested in signing up to be a vendor, please call 904-530-6120 or email Parks & Recreation Director, Jay Robertson, at jrobertson@nassaucountyfl.com. 

-Sabrina Robertson
 Public Information Office

11/7/22 @ 8:45 a.m. - Approximately 150 people gathered Saturday morning to celebrate the opening of Nassau Crossing Park located 77480 William Burgess Blvd. in Yulee. This park is a result of a public-private partnership between the Board of County Commissioners and Matovina & Associates, the developer for the nearby Nassau Crossing community. 

The County and Matovina & Associates originally broke ground on Phase One of the park in September 2019 and since then, residents have been anxiously waiting its completion. Perhaps the most anxiously awaited feature of the park has been the children's play area which features two enclosed playgrounds, one built for our littlest residents and another for our growing residents looking for more thrills. This second playground features swings, rock walls, a treehouse, and Nassau County's tallest slide! 

The park also has 2.5 miles of multi-use trails, restrooms, picnic areas with gazebos, outdoor fitness stations, open green space and an abundance of beautiful trees and greenery. The community plaza contains a unique train caboose that signifies and celebrates the area's rich railroad history.

Saturday's celebration began with a welcome message by Board Chairman, Jeff Gray, followed by opening remarks from Parks & Recreation Director, Jay Robertson. Next, Greg Matovina spoke about how his partnership with the County made this project a reality. He stated, "several years ago, I emailed the Growth Management Director (now County Manager) Taco Pope telling him I would like a meeting to discuss how to rezone some property from industrial to residential. A few weeks later during that meeting, Taco took my map and drew on it. Then he said "this is where the park goes, this is where the commercial and multi-family units go, and this is where your single family homes go...we're gonna work this out so you can do what you do (build your neighborhood) and we (the County) can make it the best it can be for Nassau County."  Mr. Matovina went on to say, "If there's any one person that I would say deserves the most applause, it's Taco."

Last to speak was County Manager Pope who shared his excitement about seeing the project come to fruition. He stated, "I grew up right down the street near US 17 and Radio Avenue. I then moved in the late 80's to Radio Avenue. I bought my first house on Harts Road. This is my neighborhood and we had nothing like this growing up. To be here in this position opening this park... I couldn't have ever imagined this as a kid. I really appreciate everyone's work and this partnership with Mr. Matovina and his crew". 
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Following the ceremonial Ribbon Cutting, the gates were opened and dozens of kids ran as fast as they could to the playground. It was truly a wonderful site to see!

Coming next year in Phase Two are (2) two multi-use fields, nature outlooks, a water feature, and gated a dog park with nine activities for pups of all sizes and ability. All of these additions are anticipated to be completed in 2023.


-Sabrina Robertson
 Public Information Officer

11/4/22 @ 11:10 a.m.

​Nassau County Parks & Recreation hosted the biggest and best Halloween party in town last weekend! Several thousand people came and enjoyed a variety of activities including trick-or-treating, hayrides, inflatables and a zombie hunt.

If you were in attendance, we would love to hear your thoughts. What was your favorite part? Is there anything we could do better? We appreciate any feedback as we plan to make this an annual event that just gets better and better.

Thank you to everyone who celebrated with us!

-Sabrina Robertson
 Public Information Officer

11/1/22 @ 4:00 p.m. - 

The County and GreenPointe Communities held a walk-through of Tributary Regional Park this afternoon. Effective immediately, the playground, two family restrooms and multi-purpose fields are open. The additional pieces such as the baseball fields, full restrooms, and some other small areas have minor issues that need to be addressed and will open shortly. 

The baseball fields will be closed to the public while we continue letting the sod establish. The County will be monitoring it during the grow-in phase and will re-evaluate at the beginning of each month until it is deemed stable enough to withstand activities. At the time of release, the fields will be available to the public on a first come, first use basis. If organizations wish to reserve it for practice and/or games, they will need to contact the Facilities Maintenance Department at (904) 530-6120 and go through the County rental process. There are currently no sports lights at the fields, so the fields should be used during daytime hours. The same operational procedures apply for use of the two rectangular multi-purpose fields as well. 

Attached is a Press Release issued by GreenPointe Communities yesterday that provides additional information about the park and the Tributary community.

We have also included photos below taken at the Ribbon Cutting on October 20, 2022. 

-Sabrina Robertson
 Public Information Officer

10/28/22 @ 11:50 a.m. 

At the American Planning Association’s Florida Chapter Conference held in Orlando this past August, Nassau County received a State-wide ‘Award of Excellence’ in the Best Practices category for the Parks, Recreation, and Open Space Master Plan (PROSMP).
 
The Nassau County Parks, Recreation and Open Space Master Plan (PROSMP) represents a fundamental shift in how public and private recreation demands are addressed from a county-wide perspective. The PROSMP couples traditional planning and design principles with progressive regulatory standards that treat parks as essential infrastructure similar to electricity, water, and streets. This shift in local public policy has charted a course for developing and maintaining a fiscally sustainable parks system that is representative of all citizens.
 
County Manager, Taco Pope, AICP, stated, “It is a great honor for the County to receive an Award of Excellence from the American Planning Association. It’s an even greater honor to play a small part in facilitating public policy that will improve the quality-of-life for residents of Nassau County for generations to come”.  
 
The annual award for Best Practices from the Florida Chapter of the American Planning Association is given to a project or program that represents “…a significant advancement to specific elements of planning. This category emphasizes results and demonstrates how innovative and state-of-the-art planning methods and practices helped to implement a plan”. 
 
While Nassau County has received several regional and state-wide community planning awards over the past few years, this particular award is Nassau County’s first state-wide ‘Award of Excellence’. The distinction as an ‘Award of Excellence’ indicates that the review panel for the American Planning Association found Nassau County’s PROSMP to be innovative, of superior quality, and transferable to other communities.  
 
Information on the Nassau County PROSMP and implementing legislation can be found at https://bit.ly/NassauCountyPROSMP.
 
A special thanks to the late Dr. David Barth for all his hard work and efforts. He was instrumental in creating a plan that will serve the residents and future generations for years to come. We encourage residents to view a 2-minute project spotlight/video that highlights the project and recognizes Dr. Barth posthumously on this outstanding achievement. The video can be found on our YouTube Channel at https://bit.ly/VideoPROSMP.
 
-Sabrina Robertson
​ Public Information Officer

10/28/22 @ 8:40 a.m. - It's finally time for the Halloween Festival and we are so excited to see everyone tonight! We wanted to take a moment to share details about the event again to make sure everyone knows exactly where to go and what we have in store for you. 

The Festival will take place place from 5:00 - 8:00 p.m. at the Yulee Sports Complex located at 86142 Goodbread Road, Yulee. Please note that early election is taking place in the gym so the small parking lot directly in front of the gym can only be used for individuals coming to vote. All attendee parking will take place along Goodbread Road. The Nassau County Sheriff's Office will be there to provide traffic control. 

We have a total of 78 booths from local businesses, organizations, and community groups who will distribute candy in our Trick or Treat Alley (while supplies last). 

Above, we have a detailed site map to help you find your way around.

Here's a quick reminder of the scheduled of events as well. 

Gates Open:
5:00 p.m.

Costume Contest (open to children, adults, families and pets): 
5:30 - 6:30 p.m.. No entries will be judged after 6:30 p.m. so please don't be late!

Zombie Scavenger Hunt (ages 10 - 17) 
To participate, visit Big B's Yard Cards Booth (first booth on Trick or Treat Alley) to get a scorecard and instructions on the game. The first hunt begins at 5:30 p.m. so you must be in line by 5:20 p.m. The second hunt begins at 6:00 pm. so please be in line by 5:50 p.m. 

Trick or Treat Alley:
Open from 5:00 - 7:00 p.m. 

Bounce houses, face painting, games, hayrides, and concessions 
​Open from 5:00-8:00 p.m. 

This event is FREE to Nassau County residents. However you are encouraged to bring some cash for the face painting booth and for concessions (food/drink) which will be sold to benefit the Yulee Basketball Association.

-Sabrina Robertson
​ Public Information Officer

10/27/22 @ 1:25 p.m. - The Board of County Commissioners would like to invite you to attend a Grand Opening Event for the Nassau Crossing Park located at 77480 William Burgess Blvd. 

The park currently includes 2.5 miles of multi-use trails, children's play equipment, restrooms, picnic area with gazebos, outdoor fitness stations, open green space and a community plaza with a train caboose. Coming next year are two multi-use fields, nature outlooks, a water feature, and a dog park. 

This park is the result of a public-private partnership between the Board and developer, Matovina & Company. Matovina & Company donated the land and funded construction of the 15 acre park. We are grateful for these partnerships as they allow amenities to be built quickly and at a more affordable rate. 

At the Groundbreaking Ceremony held on September 27, 2019, Greg Matovina stated, "We are proud to partner with Nassau County to meet the recreational needs of current and future residents of the County."

The Board of County Commissioners looks forward to celebrating with the community on Saturday, November 5,2022 at 10:00 a.m. 

If you have any questions, please contact Parks & Recreation Director, Jay Robertson, at (904) 530-6120 or via email at jrobertson@nassaucountyfl.com. 

-Sabrina Robertson
​ Public Information Officer

10/27/22 @ 9:15 a.m. -

This morning, we would like to extend a special thanks to Airey Pest Control for providing pest control services at Yulee Ballpark ahead of Friday's Halloween Festival. This family owned and operated business has been providing pest management services in Northeast Florida since 1997 and is centered around community improvement. We appreciate them reaching out and offering to donate their services so that we can all enjoy a pest free experience Friday evening. 

-Sabrina Robertson
​ Public Information Officer