Miss Aggie Day 2010- Press Release

Alice Stanley Receives Miss Aggie Award

Public Invited for Free Moon Pies, RC Cola on Sat., March 20
at Old Mandarin Store and Post Office

Alice Stanley

Friday, March 12, 2010 -

Alice Stanley, an active community volunteer who drove for Meals on Wheels for 25 years and led a cook team at the I.M. Sulzbacher Center for eight years, was selected as the 2010 recipient of the Miss Aggie Award. The award was announced by the Board of the Mandarin Museum & Historical Society on Tuesday, March 9.

Stanley will be honored during the Miss Aggie Day celebration from 1 to 3 p.m. on Saturday, March 20, at the Old Mandarin Store and Post Office, 12471 Mandarin Road.

Stanley, a native of Mandarin and a graduate of Florida State University, has served as a volunteer for a variety of organizations, including church programs, the Mandarin Garden Club, and Mandarin Community Club, according to Jane Cooksey, who nominated her. Cooksey was the 2008 recipient of the Miss Aggie Award.

"Alice Stanley is one of Jacksonville's and Mandarin's unappreciated volunteers," Cooksey wrote on the nomination application. "She always goes the extra mile to make newcomers welcome to her church and the community."

"I like to help people," said Stanley after she heard about the award. "It makes me feel good to be useful."

Stanley noted that she was one of the original drivers for the Mandarin Presbyterian Church Meal on Wheels program and delivered more than 4,000 meals during the past 25 years.

Stanley also led a cook team of more than 100 volunteers at the I.M. Sulzbacher Center for eight years. The beef stew that she and her husband Don made for the homeless with their first cooking team is still the standard after twelve years, said Stanley

Stanley worked extensively with the Episcopal Church of Our Saviour, serving as treasurer and as co-chair for many fundraising bazaars.

Stanley is the last living grandchild of Walter Jones. Jones owned the Mandarin Store and Post office and served as postmaster for the village until his death in 1928. Following his death, the business was operated by his daughter Agnes, "Miss Aggie" Jones, who worked there until it closed in 1964. Miss Aggie is remembered by many for her charity and devotion to the community.

Stanley fondly recalls her Aunt Aggie. "I remember when I used to go with Aggie and [Aggie's sister] Mamie to Jacksonville to buy goods for the store. I would bounce in the back seat of a big, old Chevy all the way to downtown."

Stanley helped to support the creation of the Walter Jones Historical Park, where the Jones family home is preserved. She sold her property to the City of Jacksonville so that it could be developed into the city's first historical park.

P.O. Box 23601, Jacksonville, FL 32241 (904)268-0784 fax (904)268-0752
www.mandarinmuseum.net
mandarinmuseum@bellsouth.net