City celebrates Black History Month

From discovering a prehistoric archaeological site to founding a private school that has grown into a nationally recognized university, African Americans have made significant contributions to our city's history.

One of the ways residents can learn more about the city’s history is by visiting the Daytona Beach Black Heritage Trail, which has been designed to illustrate the many aspects of the city’s black heritage. There are 18 sites along the trail, including the home of educator Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune, which is on the campus of Bethune-Cookman University, and where Dr. Bethune lived until her death in 1955.

For more information about the trail and other ways the city celebrates the contributions of African Americans in our community, visit www.CelebratingBlackHistory.com.

Main Street during Bike Week with 80th anniversary graphic

Downtown Wine & Chocolate Walk, Feb. 20

Tickets are on sale now for the 10th Annual Wine & Chocolate Walk planned for Saturday, Feb. 20, in downtown Daytona Beach. Enjoy strolling on Beach Street and sample wonderful wine and scrumptious chocolate from 1 to 6 p.m. at more than 15 participating locations. Tickets are $20 in advance and $25 if purchased on the day of the event.

The Wine & Chocolate Walk is the first event to return to the downtown area since the city enacted its local state of emergency due to the pandemic. Social distancing protocols and other safety measures will be in place to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 including:

The event will take place outdoors on Beach Street's new beautiful sidewalks. Streets will be open to traffic.
There will be two ticket tents, one on each end of Beach Street. The lines will be socially distanced.
All staff will be required to wear gloves, masks and have disinfectant available.
Each participating merchant and vendor will be required to enforce social distancing rules, wear masks and gloves and have a hand sanitizer station available. Also, staff will conduct a health assessment before vendor set up, and vendor locations will be spaced a minimum of six feet apart.
Vendors will wear gloves or use hand sanitizer before and after handling money.
Ticket purchasers will be advised of the Event Safety Plan and asked to observe CDC guidelines as follows:
- Masks are required when not socially distanced.
- Participation is limited to no more than 50 persons per host site.
- Wear your mask at all times inside stores except when seated or tasting your sample.

Parking is available behind the shops in free public areas. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit www.riverfrontshopsofdaytona.com.

Tune in Wednesdays to Daytona Beach Radio

Residents can stay up-to-date with city news by tuning in at noon every Wednesday to Daytona Beach Radio, which provides timely and interesting discussions about projects happening in the community. Hosted by Dr. L. Ronald Durham, the city’s community relations manager, this one-hour, talk-radio show airs from noon to 1 p.m. each Wednesday on JOY 106.3 FM.

Upcoming guests include Rev. David Allen, an assistant professor of religion at Bethune-Cookman University, who will be on the radio program Wednesday, Feb. 10. Rev. Allen spearheaded the application and awarding of an Equipping Leaders for Ministry grant from the Lilly Foundation that can help equip small churches and bi-vocational pastors grow their ministries.

Listeners can tune in at 106.3 on the FM radio dial, online or by using the TuneIn Radio app on smartphones and tablets. Listeners can call in to (386) 516-8030 during the program and ask questions about the day’s topic. The radio program can also be watched via Facebook Live on the city’s Facebook page.

City makes Top 10 list for affordability

Daytona Beach was ranked the ninth Most Affordable Beach Town in the U.S. by SmartAsset, moving up two spots from last year’s report.

For the report, SmartAsset compared data from 218 beach towns and ranked them by four key real estate metrics: median home value, average number of rooms per house, median monthly property taxes paid and monthly housing costs. Findings from the report for Daytona Beach include that the area has a median home value of $153,000, the seventh lowest in the study, and that residents pay only $723 in median monthly housing costs, the fifth lowest across all 218 cities considered.

The full report is available on SmartAssets website.