News & Events

Right Whale Week

Celebrate the return of the critically endangered North Atlantic right whales to their winter calving grounds, right here off Amelia Island! We ask for your participation in Right Whale Week to help promote awareness of the return of our precious whales! 2025 will be our third year organizing Right Whale Week! The event has grown each year, and we would love to have even more participation this year!

Here are some ideas for participation:

Have a window display featuring the North Atlantic right whale: with information to spread awareness or with your favorite whale merchandise!
Name a special drink or food item after our special whales
Display information about the whales or upcoming festival in your business (coasters, posters, table toppers, etc.)
Hold an event to celebrate the whales
Name a sale or discount after the whales (whale of a sale?)

What is the cost to participate?

No, the Right Whale Festival is organized by the Clearwater Aquarium. Right Whale Week is organized by our local non-profit, the Amelia Island Whale Ambassadors. However, we are helping to spread awareness about the festival and encourage people to attend! Attending the festival is a wonderful way to learn about the North Atlantic right whale. Island, Amelia, Whale, Ambas Save our Right Whales assador.. before they go extinct

Fore mor info http://www.ameliawhales.org/

Coastal Cottage of Amelia Partners with DAR to Collect Worn U.S. Flags

Coastal Cottage of Amelia (CCOA) is proud to announce a new community partnership with the Amelia Island Chapter of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR). Together, we are making it easier for Nassau County residents to respectfully retire their worn and tattered U.S. flags by placing a collection receptacle at our store, located at 1439 Sadler Road on Amelia Island. CCOA supports the military by provisions a military discount year-round.

The DAR has long served our community by collecting worn American flags and ensuring they are disposed of in a manner consistent with the U.S. Flag Code, which states: “The Flag, when it is in such condition that it is no longer a fitting emblem for display, should be destroyed in a dignified way, preferably by burning.”

Each year on Flag Day, June 14, the Amelia Island Chapter hosts a public Flag Retirement Ceremony at a Nassau County fire station. During this meaningful event, one American flag is ceremoniously burned while DAR members respectfully prepare and retire the remaining flags. The union (the blue field with stars) is carefully removed, and each stripe is cut away as the name of its representing state is read aloud by the chapter’s Chaplain. In addition to the ceremonial flag, many of the retired flags are donated to Oxley-Heard Funeral Home, where they are laid with deceased veterans who are being cremated—an honorable final use for these symbols of our nation.

This year, the DAR retired nearly 200 American flags thanks to community participation. Residents may now drop off flags for retirement at Coastal Cottage of Amelia, as well as at the UPS Stores in Yulee and Wildlight. All flags collected will be gathered by DAR members and prepared for next year’s ceremony.

The Amelia Island Chapter of the DAR is part of the largest women’s service organization in the world. Nationally, DAR members contribute more than one million volunteer hours annually. Locally, the Amelia Island Chapter’s 200+ members give back with approximately 5,000 volunteer hours and $5,000 in scholarships and awards each year to support education, historic preservation, and patriotism within Nassau County.

We at Coastal Cottage of Amelia are honored to partner with the DAR in this effort. Providing a convenient location for flag collection allows us to serve our community while supporting the DAR’s mission to uphold American traditions with dignity and respect.

We invite all Nassau County residents to bring their worn U.S. flags to our store and to join the DAR at the next Flag Retirement Ceremony on June 14th. Together, we can ensure that every American flag is honored properly at the end of its service.