Author: Garland Pollard

The storm Debby went on and on and on

Floridians are about out-memed with hurricanes. This time around, perhaps the only original new take was the visual of a hurricane track of Florida, with the Little Debbie snack girl, superimposed...

Gasparilla Inn asks to be ‘Public and Community Benefit’ at Lee meeting

Two items on the Lee County Board of County Commissioners on Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2024 would allow The Gasparilla Inn and properties to be found a “public and community benefit” to presumptively be able...

A church is open all week, not just Sunday morning

August 1, 2024
Garland Pollard
Editorial

Many of our readers will be of the variety of persons who watch or read English murder mysteries. In many of those dramas, there is a scene, usually on Saturday, when all the suspects can be seen at...

We play in the sea, like a dolphin ‘within the maine’

In 1612, the English writer Henry Peacham wrote about the dolphin in the book “Minerva Britanna.” The book, quite forgotten, is filled with anagrams and codes, all set in an environment of Elizabethan...

First boat sinking in recent years just off Causeway

A power boat sank just off the Gasparilla Island Bridge Authority swing bridge on Saturday, from a reported collision. Lee EMS released a “watercraft in distress” and “collision” bulletin that reported...

Truly a ‘wrap up’ of 110th season

Wood eaters BEWARE! Thus read the sign on Sunday, July 14, as The Gasparilla Inn was wrapped for termites, in black, by Truly Nolen. The wrap echoed the work of the artist Christo (except for the...

Q&A: History professor at UVA on public beach access

The issue of parking and beach access in Boca Grande is not unique to Gasparilla Island, or even Southwest Florida. University of Virginia historian Prof. Andrew Kahrl studies the social and environmental...

They came for a Boca Nut, asking questions. We like that.

Each day seems to be a series of completely new surprises in our national story, where news cycles move so quickly. What was once a 24-hour issue now seems to be a two-hour cycle, and then the next...

Where are the $igns to our $leepy little town?

While there is no official plan for parking for Boca Grande from Lee County, county officials are already circulating a draft list of ideas for this island and parking. The Beacon is sorting through...

Merchants hold impromtu meetup on parking

A dozen local retailers and officials came to a meeting to discuss possible parking restrictions in Boca Grande on Monday, July 8 at the Boca Grande Community Center. There was some confusion as...