Story By: Sydney Teitelbaum

The Happy Dog Inn located off Russell Road in Green Cove Springs serves as a grooming, daycare and boarding facility for dog owners who are going on vacation or have emergencies. The employees are dedicated to ensuring the safety and well-being of the animals in their care.

The Happy Dog Inn is open 365 days a year from 7 AM to 5 PM and allows owners to bring blankets and toys to make their dogs feel more comfortable. Owners are allowed to tour the facility before leaving their dog in the care of the employees, and owners are also required to have their pet vaccinated prior to their stay to ensure the safety and health of the other animals at the facility as well.

For more information on the Happy Dog Inn, please visit their website at happydoginngcs.com. 

Story By: Alexa Gonzalez

Local tattoo artists Jacob and Dani (AKA Jinx Tattoos and Lobos Tattoos) just recently founded and opened their brand-new tattoo studio, Lucky 7s. This studio sits nestled in a quaint shopping center on Jacksonville’s Southside.

The young artists decided to create their own studio after leaving a tattoo shop that they previously worked at together. Jacob specializes in floral pieces, sleeves, and any kind of realism or fine line tattoos, while Dani gravitates more towards a cartoon-like anime style with heavy detail. The pair make a great team, constantly inspiring one another when it comes to trying new things inside and out of the studio, and overall to become better artists.

Their friendship is the perfect foundation for their partnership in the business world. The two even named the studio after their shared birthday on July 7. They have many exciting endeavors ahead, and hope to one day move towards opening and running their own tattoo shop.

Story By: Skylar Catherwood

Eat Your Yard Jax is a farm that was founded by Tim Armstrong alongside his sons. The farm’s mission statement is “Our mission is to educate children and adults on growing healthy food by providing demonstrations and resources to empower them to participate in urban agriculture.” What initially started as something for Armstong to do with his sons has turned into a gathering place for the community of Jacksonville to learn about local fruits and vegetables and how to grow them. This year was the farm’s 4th annual Persimmon Festival.

The purpose of the festival is to highlight the farm, build opportunities, raise money for the farm and bring the community together. The festival is filled with local vendors that are involved with the farm or are involved in agriculture in addition to food, drinks, live music and of course persimmons! Beyond the festival, throughout the year the farm is open to the public for tours, to purchase plants and herbs, workshops and children’s field trips for local schools. A portion of the staff and volunteers at the farm are made up of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Mr. Armstrong worked with the North Florida School of Special Education for 10 years where he helped create Berry Good Farms into what it is today.

Many of his students including his son Cody who had down syndrome came to the farm to work. This is when the farm was turned into a non-profit to be able to expand and help more by creating more equal opportunity employment and inclusivity in the community.