ORANGE PARK, Fla. – Cary Benefield was born in Orange Park. She attended Orange Park Elementary School, where her mother was a teacher.
“My mom taught him in second grade,” she said nodding toward her husband, Doug, as he sat next to her.
“We had spelling tests,” said Doug, smiling. “She had this paper mâché Pacman that you would put on me,” he said smiling at his wife about their years attending the same elementary school.
It wasn’t until middle school at St. Johns Country Day that they started to really notice one another.
“I remember seeing him and going to my mom and being like, mom, there is this boy,” Cary laughed.
Give the two a “few” more years, cotillion, prom and they would eventually become husband and wife. They were married at Club Continental in Orange Park, 14 years ago.
We sat together in their living room talking about the reasons why they can’t imagine raising their children anywhere else.
First, family.
Doug’s family has “always” been in Orange Park. Cary’s too. Neither lives far from them.
“My sister lives at the end of the street right here. His aunt is on the corner, right there,” points Cary.
“Mom is five houses south,” interrupts Doug.
“My parents are like a stone’s throw that way,” added Cary motioning just outside their home.
Their younger son, Edwin, is 3 years old. Douglas is 8. Dogs Berta and Agnes round out the family.
Cary loves the “bubble” where they are raising their sons. They know all their neighbors and are literally related to many of them.
Second, the word they use to describe the town of Orange Park is community.
They acknowledge Orange Park can get a bad rap. People tend to associate it with Blanding Boulevard, which is notorious for its traffic.
“Blanding is not the town of Orange Park,” explained Doug. “The town of Orange Park is 5 square miles. We have 9,000 plus residents. We have our own fire service. We have our own police. We have our own EMS.”
Cary said if it’s not the traffic on Blanding, many associate the town with the mall.
But the Orange Park Mall is not actually located in the town of Orange Park. Neither is the high school, despite its name, Orange Park High.
Doug is a town councilman, who decided to run for election to help the town maintain its charm.
“I was concerned that I would look back 20 years from now and not have done something that I should have or been upset about the way the town grew or turned out, and I didn’t want to be the person that just complained about it after it happened,” he explained about running for office. “I wanted to have done something during the process.”
He hopes the residents of the town of Orange Park know how fortunate they are to live there.
“I do know my neighbors, and I know who the town manager is, and if I have a problem, I call the town. Somebody is going to answer the phone. I can show up for a town council meeting and voice my opinion,” Doug said.
Cary and Doug said their favorite date night spot is Club Continental and they hope more people will visit the town to see its charm, first-hand and not let traffic on the Buckman Bridge deter them.
“I think the idea from Jacksonville residents, if you say Orange Park, is it feels like it’s a long way away; feels like it’s on the other side of the world,” Doug said. “But Jacksonville Beach or Ponte Vedra or St. Augustine, those places to us are not far away, 20 or 30 minutes.”
“I loved growing up here. I love raising my kids here,” added Cary. “It’s just a good place to be.”