This date in the Boca Beacon: Old Clinic site, Placida boat ramp, Capt. William Sprott

Each week in the Beacon, we look back at what happened in Boca Grande and on Cape Haze:

FIVE YEARS AGO

Boca Grande Historical Society was gifted six original books dating back to 1902 that were first-hand accounts of the island history.

TEN YEARS AGO

Sixty vendors were lined up for the Farmers Market but 24 of those vendors were told that they could not participate in a Farmers Market based on Lee County regulations.

FIFTEEN YEARS AGO

The 7th annual Gasparilla Island 5k/10k run was scheduled to be held. The Sodel’s donated seven large palm trees and had them planted along the GICIA bike path.

TWENTY YEARS AGO

The Island School was facing a $720,000 shortfall due to rising building supply costs from the hurricane season.

TWENTY-FIVE YEARS AGO 

A group from the United Methodist Church spent 10 days in Costa Rica to help build a church in the impoverished mountain region.

THIRTY YEARS AGO

A bronze marker was placed on the Boca Grande bike path to commemorate Capt. William C. Sprott who ran a ferry service to the mainland for 25 years.

THIRTY-FIVE YEARS AGO

Lee County public safety inspected the old Boca Grande Health Clinic and recommended it for the site of an island-based ambulance station.

FORTY YEARS AGO

Charlotte County Commission approved the construction of a new double wide boat ramp and two finger piers on Gasparilla Sound at an old ferry landing next to the former railroad bridge to Gasparilla Island.