By Cassy Fiano-Chesser
mail@floridanewsline.com
Jennifer Vorburger and her family have been residents of Julington Creek for 16 years. Her family, which consists of her husband Mike, and their four children: Hunter (25), Jake (18), Matthew (12), and Cate (10), is one of the longest-attending families at Durbin Creek Elementary, which has led to Vorburger’s notoriety for how much time she’s spent in the car line. With 16 consecutive years dropping kids off and picking them up, it’s totaled so far 2,970 hours, or more than 123 days. She’s also the new owner of a small business, and has some great suggestions of ways to pass the time for other car line parents out there!
Q: What brought you to the Julington Creek area?
A: I’m from Orlando, but I’ve been living in Jacksonville since 1992. I started off in Ponte Vedra Beach, lived in Mandarin, and then once we started having kids, I knew I wanted to get into Julington Creek, just because of the community, the amenities, the bike paths. It just seemed a lot more family-friendly.
Q: Have you always been a small business owner?
A: I actually worked in marketing and communications for Florida Blue for 13 years, and then when kid number four came along, I became a stay-at-home mom. My sister-in-law told me that her nine-year-old daughter had a glamper party, and she noticed that my husband and I are into camping. We bought a trailer a couple of years ago, and we did a makeover on it. It got featured on a webpage called “Pop-Up Princess,” which is a site where people can submit their camper makeovers. So she noticed we were into “glamping,” or making camping a little bit nicer. She thought I would be perfect at doing these glamper parties. I started in June, last summer, and it’s really taken off. We were pretty steadily booked for all of 2019, and going into 2020. It’s my own company, so it’s much more flexible, and it’s fun.
Q: How did you get so much time with the car line?
A: I actually thought it was kind of funny! It feels like I’ve spent years and years in the car line. We’ve always been zoned for Durbin Creek, which opened in 2003; Hunter was the first of my children to attend. With kids ranging in age from 25 down to 10, I’m on my 17th year of dropping off and picking up kids in the car rider line. This equates to a total of 2,970 hours and counting in the line — or 123 full days of my life in DCE’s line. My youngest child, Cate, is in fourth grade, so I still have another year of “The Line.” In the end, I’ll be looking at a total of 3,240 hours in the car rider line.
Q: What are your expert tips for surviving while you’re waiting in the car line?
A: I use it to get all kinds of things done! In the earlier years, I timed the current baby’s nap to coincide with pickup. Or I’ll work on doing bills, take phone calls, or even just enjoy the quiet time. Sometimes I would use it to give the pets or foster pets a ride in the van. We started fostering kittens for Jax Humane Society a little over two years ago and the kittens love to ride in their window seat we bought them. My kids always loved coming in after school and seeing the kittens too. Most recently, I use the time for advertising my new Glamper Party business that is plastered all over the back of my van.
Q: What do you like to do for fun in your spare time?
A: We’re a really outdoorsy family, and we love to travel. We also love biking on the Julington Creek bike paths. And we like to do things like hiking, camping, kayaking — anything that’s outside.
Photo courtesy Jennifer Vorburger
Jennifer Vorburger has some fun during her time in the car line.
