Author: Garland Pollard

Penny the shark pings Southwest Florida for Spring Break

Great white Penny first found in Carolina blue waters Penny the Shark seems to be making an early Easter visit off of Gasparilla Island. Tagged at 522 pounds as a juvenile, the Carcharodon carcharias...

Carillon bells ring again, parsonage restored at First Baptist

Those on the island at noon and 5 p.m. will know what time it is without a watch or iPhone, as the carillon is now ringing at First Baptist Church of Boca Grande. “The Baptist Church carillon is...

Trump beats non-candidate Haley by four votes in Boca Grande precinct

In-person vote in both counties had Trump tied Even though Donald J. Trump had sealed up the Republican nomination a week before during Super Tuesday primaries, a few voters still came out Tuesday,...

The value of the story of Gasparilla Island and old Florida

March 21, 2024
Garland Pollard
Editorial

This Tuesday, retired history teacher and certified tour guide David Bredemus brought a tour bus to Boca Grande. It was not an ordinary bus tour group, interested in drinks, theater or casinos. Instead,...

Local support for our tourism ‘commons’

March 14, 2024
Garland Pollard
Editorial

In the English tradition, there is the common. Not common as an adjective, as in ordinary, but the “common” as a noun, as in the places that we all own together, as a public. Many here on Gasparilla...

Classical garden surrounds shed approved by board

It was perhaps the briefest of Boca Grande Historic Preservation Board meetings. The Wednesday, March 13 meeting included just one item on the agenda, an accessory building for a garden by applicant...

Hot dogs with the Methodists at the Strawberry Beach

March 8, 2024
Garland Pollard
Editorial

On Sunday morning, the day after the Strawberry Festival, a four-year-old boy posed a question. “Can we go to the Strawberry Beach?” The boy, unconcerned with actual geography, thought the whole...

Community Center roof repair gets authentic Spanish barrel tiles

When the Boca Grande Community Center gets its new roof this spring, it will have something in common with the c. 951 Sobrado Abbey in Galacia, Spain, and many other historic sites across the U.S....

Historic Preservation Board considers shed and studio

March 7, 2024
Garland Pollard
News

The Boca Grande Historic Preservation Board has one item on its agenda at its March 13, 2024 meeting. The board will consider a new accessory shed and garden studio at a house at 171 Palm Ave. The...

Watch Lee County deputies each week on ‘On Patrol Live’

Lee County is one of the many jurisdictions from across the U.S. on the weekend television program “On Patrol Live”, on the Reelz cable channel on Fridays and Saturdays at 9 p.m. EST. The Dan Abrams-hosted...