It is hoped that a film and forum series devoted to some knotty issues will capture the interest of Gasparilla Island over the next week. Four experts on Islam and the Arab Spring have been invited to speak by the Boca Grande Community Center and the Johann Fust Library: two university professors, a writer whose prize-winning book has been turned into an acclaimed film, and a beloved Deerfield Academy headmaster who created a modern, co-educational school in the traditional society of Jordan.

The next community spaghetti dinner will be held at the Louise duPont Crowninshield Community House on Sunday, March 11 from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m.

Anyone interested in bringing a dessert (we hope many, many people are) should contact Joy Wyman at 964-0703.

The dinners are an annual tradition, and the last one was a record-breaker. Can you help to top it? Everyone is invited.

To the Readers:

As of press time on Thursday, March 8 I am holding my editorial, pending what happens this week with the Friends organization. I have reason to believe that things might change between then and now. If things change for the better, we will all be much relieved.

If they do not, you will find my editorial here next week on this subject of after-school care and the Munchkins program.

Marcy Shortuse

Editor, Boca Beacon

To the Editor:

To the powers that be ... for the sake of our wonderful, loved and enjoyed (by all ages) community of Boca Grande, as well as, and most importantly, the children: Please do not run the young families and their children off the island.

To the Editor:

This week a good friend informed me that the Munchkin Program at the Community Center has been terminated, and Laquata Meade summarily dismissed. You do not have to be a working parent of one of the toddlers to understand how important the Munchkin Program has been, and hopefully will continue to be, to our little community of Boca Grande. The parents of these toddlers work at our restaurants, clean our houses, landscape our yards, and serve us at our local shops.

To the Editor:

On Tuesday I attended an “informational meeting” regarding the discontinuation of the after-school program. I was informed we were not there to discuss the Munchkin Program ... why not? The Munchkin Program is as valuable, if not more so, as the afterschool program. I moved to Boca Grande 19 years ago, and I stayed because it was a true community. I have volunteered my time for just about any and all youth-related activities. They are our future and I loved how it takes an island to raise wonderful human beings.