To begin the event, State Representative Cord Byrd welcomed everyone and provided information on the activities that would take place throughout the day. Next, Senator Aaron Bean recognized all Elected Officials that were in attendance and announced all the sponsors for the event:
- Artistic Face Painters
- Celebration Party Rental
- CBC National Bank
- Coastal Pizza
- Colonial Life
- Commissioner Justin Taylor
- Dave's Custom Wood Works
- Elaine Bowen - Owner of E-Clips & Company Salon
- Florida Public Utilities
- Harden & Associates
- Hilliard ACE Hardware
- Jan Vann
- Nassau Open MRI
- OMNI Amelia Island Plantation
- Pineland Bank
- RPM Lumber
- Shannon Barniak Smith Team of Coldwell Banker: The Amelia Group
- Shucker's Oyster Bar
- Starbuck's of Fernandina Beach
- Synovus Bank
- The Bailey Group
- The Jumbo Shrimp
- The Residence Inn
- The Ritz Carlton
- Treemendous BBQ
- Willie Jewell's
Following the opening announcements, Judge Steve Fahlgren led the teams in prayer. Commissioner Justin Taylor lead the pledge and Gracie Conn sang the National Anthem while members of Fire Rescue Local 3101 presented the United States and State of Florida flags.
Representative Cord Byrd threw the first pitch to kick-off the softball games. Each team played for a charity: The Katie Ride for Life (blue team), the United Way of Northeast Florida (the green team), the James Page Scholarship Fund (yellow team), and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (red team). The Red and Green Teams played on the Girls Senior Field with Red winning 6-2, while the Yellow and Blue Teams played on the Boys Major Field with Blue winning 15-13. The Red and Blue Teams both played in the Championship Game and the Blue Team won 10-1. Congratulations to Team Katie Ride!
Throughout the day, various Elected Officials and County employees appeared in a dunk tank provided by the Nassau County School Board. Thank you to State Representative Cord Byrd, Commissioner Justin Taylor, Planning Director Taco Pope, and Firefighter/Paramedic Brian Sloan for being good sports and allowing us to dunk them. This was a big hit for both the kids and the grown ups!
Overall, the event raised $4,470 which will be split evenly between the four charities. During the last 5 years, the County has raised just over $11,000 for this event.
A big thank you to all of our volunteers and to all of our sponsors. We could not have done this without each of you. We look forward to continuing this event and have already begun discussions about how to make next year's event bigger and better.
-Sabrina Robertson
County Manager's Office