Find Good. Share Good. Celebrate Good.
Issue #006 · Wednesday, September 9, 2026
Hey, Fleming Island 👋
Something we only noticed by putting two calendars side by side: there is live music on both sides of County Road 220 every single night from tonight through Sunday.
Also this week — the homecoming parade, a porch in Green Cove Springs, and a Rock and Roll Hall of Famer twenty minutes up the road. 🌴
⛈️
90° / 76°
HIGH / LOW
TODAY AROUND THE ISLAND
Storms possible after lunch.
A 50 percent chance, heat index near 103. Then it clears — tonight is the driest evening of the week.
🎸 The road wakes up tonight
Whitey's Fish Camp is at 2032 County Road 220. Encore is at 2015. They face each other. And between them, from tonight through Sunday, they have a dozen acts and a karaoke night booked across five evenings.
Both of them run their music Wednesday through Sunday, so tonight is the start of it, and it doesn't let up until Sunday evening.
But they're two completely different nights out, which is the good part. Encore is 21+. Whitey's is a fish camp and a restaurant that's been there since 1963 — bring the kids, bring the boat. Same road, same nights, two completely different evenings, literally across the street from each other.
Tonight
Curtis Willis on Whitey's tiki porch, 5 to 9. Karaoke with Ashe at Encore from 8.
Thursday
High N Tight on the porch, 5 to 9. Darrell Rae at Encore, 6.
Friday
Brian Rowland 4 to 8 then Elizabeth Cross 8 to midnight at Whitey's. Old Man Jameson at Encore, 8.
Saturday
Three at Whitey's — Darron Ronan from noon, Mike Cook at 4, Groove Blanket at 8. Julia Gulia at Encore, 8.
Sunday
Steff Botha at Whitey's, 2 to 6. Darrell Rae back at Encore, 4.
Whitey's porch is outdoors, and tonight is the clearest evening of the week. Make of that what you will.
🦅 The parade is tomorrow
Homecoming week rolls on at Fleming Island High, and Thursday's parade is the part anyone can turn up to. 6 to 7 PM.
It's free, it's an hour, and it's on a school night. If you've never gone because you don't have a kid there, that's the reason to go — it's the one week a year the whole school comes down the road.
Friday is the game, 7 PM at home against Ridgeview, and it's the district opener. Saturday is the dance.
Volleyball is at home tonight too, against Spruce Creek from 5:30.
🎶 Friday: free to attend, not free to put on
September Porch Fest is on the lawn of the historic Rivers House in Green Cove Springs this Friday, 7 to 9 PM, and it's run by the Green Cove Springs Preservation Society.
Playing is Brandon Leino — a Clay High graduate, a local business owner, and a guitarist for years. A hometown musician playing a porch in his own county feels pretty much perfect for a Friday night around here.
Turning up is free. Bring your own chair and the lawn is yours.
Here's the bit we liked, though, and it's in the Society's own words: "Porch Fest is free to attend, but it is not free to produce." Entertainment, security, insurance — someone pays for all of it. They're hoping to raise $1,500 on the night so they can keep putting music on that porch.
So if you want to chip in, a reserved space for two is $20, and the Front Porch Supporter package at $40 gets you a prime spot and a couple of lemonades. It's through Zeffy, which takes no cut, so every dollar lands with the Society.
Free if you want it free. Twenty dollars if you'd rather it happens again.
Friday, September 11 · 7:00–9:00 PM · The Rivers House, 219 Spring St, Green Cove Springs
📅 What's happening around town
Wednesday, September 9
🏐 Volleyball, home vs Spruce Creek
5:30 PM · Fleming Island High
🎸 Curtis Willis
5:00–9:00 PM · Whitey's Fish Camp, 2032 CR 220
🎤 Karaoke with Ashe
8:00 PM · Encore, 2015 CR 220 · 21+
Thursday, September 10
🦅 Homecoming Parade
6:00–7:00 PM · Fleming Island High · Free
🎸 High N Tight
5:00–9:00 PM · Whitey's tiki porch
🎵 Darrell Rae
6:00 PM · Encore · 21+
Friday, September 11
🇺🇸 September 11 · Patriot Day
Twenty-five years today. Clay County's 9/11 memorial and Survivor Tree stand at Fire Station 20, a place to remember those lost and honor those who served.
🏈 Homecoming: varsity football vs Ridgeview
7:00 PM · Fleming Island High · District opener
🎶 September Porch Fest
7:00–9:00 PM · The Rivers House, 219 Spring St · Green Cove Springs · Free
🎵 Brian Rowland
4:00–8:00 PM · Whitey's
🎵 Elizabeth Cross
8:00 PM–midnight · Whitey's
🎵 Old Man Jameson
8:00 PM · Encore · 21+
Saturday, September 12
🎃 Fall Festival
10:00 AM–3:00 PM · Clay County Fairgrounds · Free admission
100+ vendors and food trucks. Rain's due after 2, so the morning is the better half of it.
🌶️ No Man's Land Chili Challenge
10:00 AM–3:00 PM · Military Museum of North Florida, 990 Roland Ave
🎼 Top of the World: A Carpenters Tribute
7:30 PM · Thrasher-Horne Center, Orange Park · From $37
💃 Homecoming Dance
7:00–10:00 PM · Students
🎵 Darron Ronan
12:00–3:30 PM · Whitey's
🎵 Mike Cook
4:00–8:00 PM · Whitey's
🎵 Groove Blanket
8:00 PM–midnight · Whitey's
🎵 Julia Gulia
8:00 PM · Encore · 21+
Sunday, September 13
🎤 Ann Wilson
6:30 PM · Thrasher-Horne Center · From $47
🎵 Steff Botha
2:00–6:00 PM · Whitey's
🎵 Darrell Rae
4:00 PM · Encore · 21+
🚧 Quick local heads-up
Small things that'll save you a wasted trip:
The restrooms at Thunderbolt Park are closed for now.
One of the uncovered slides at Moccasin Slough is shut for maintenance.
The sidewalk at the Main Street Boat Ramp is closed, though the pier is still open.
🎤 One more good thing: Ann Wilson is playing Orange Park
Not a tribute act. Ann Wilson — the voice of Heart, the person who actually sang Barracuda and Crazy on You. Heart are in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and in 2023 she and her sister Nancy were given the Recording Academy's Lifetime Achievement Award.
She's at the Thrasher-Horne Center on Sunday, September 13, at 6:30 PM. Twenty minutes from here.
Tickets start at $47, and it's all-in pricing — the number you see is the number you pay, which is rarer than it should be.
Before you go... tell me something good 💛
See a new business opening? Know about an event we should have on the calendar? Got a neighbor doing something wonderful, a local team having a big season, or just something good happening around Fleming Island?
Send it our way. This only gets better when all of us help find the good stuff.
❤️ Tell Us Something Good — A neighbor doing something kind. A kid doing something awesome. Something new going in around town. Anything that makes you think, "people around here should know about this."
📅 Submit an Event — Live music at a local restaurant, a fundraiser, festival, market, school activity. Anything locals can put on their calendar.
⭐ Get Featured — Own a local business? Tell us your story through a short interview and give the community a chance to meet the people behind it.
See you on the porch,
Shelly 🌴
Find Good. Share Good. Celebrate Good.