Featured News
No festival, but plenty of strawberries ‘ to go’
February 20, 2021
BY SUSAN HANAFEE – The annual Strawberry Festival on Boca Grande, sponsored by the United Methodist Women (UMW), will not be held this year. But there will be strawberries and Jan Myer’s famous short…
Fred Rich presents his latest novel at Fust for Booknotes 2021
February 20, 2021
T MICHELE WALKER – The Johann Fust Library Foundation kicked off it’s Island Booknotes 2021 with a successful virtual livestream event on Thursday, February 11. Featuring author Fred Rich, who spoke…
Hindsight is 2020 …
February 20, 2021
BY KATHY JAMES – No one will dispute that the year 2020 had its challenges, the biggest being COVID-19, the global pandemic. It was and is devastating to so many people for so many reasons in terms o…
Ready to catch the big one? Mark your calendar for the youth fishing tournament on February 27
February 20, 2021
STAFF REPORT – Grab your fishing pole and tackle box and come join the family fun at our youth fishing tournament on Saturday, Feb. 27 at 9 a.m. at the Boca Grande fishing pier (Behind Kappy’s Market…
GICIA Mercabo Cove seagrass planting effort brought to light
February 20, 2021
SUBMITTED BY THE GICIA – In January 2016, the Gasparilla Island Conservation and Improvement Association successfully acquired the Mercabo property located at the entrance to Gasparilla Island. It wa…
A quick salmon recipe from Chef Perkins: Fast and delicious
February 20, 2021
Braden Perkins was born in New Orleans and grew up in Boston. Braden worked for four years with celebrity chef Tom Douglas in Seattle.
In 2011 Braden and his partner, Laura Adrian, opened their firs…
LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Not everyone can ‘Ditch the Cart’
February 20, 2021
To the Editor: The recent “Ditch the Cart, Live Longer” polemic advising golf on foot rather than by cart has it wrong. My senior friends and I often have age related orthopedic, cardiovascular or ot…
PROFILE: George Benisek
February 20, 2021
BY TONYA BRAMLAGE – This is no fish tale of that you can be sure, although George Benisek has no shortage of fisherman tales to tell. An avid, lifelong fisherman, he began fishing when he was just a…
Historic Preservation Board meeting begins with request for NHR input from community
February 12, 2021
BY SUSAN HANAFEE – The chairman of the Boca Grande Historic Preservation Board on Wednesday urged all residents to let their voices be heard on a proposal to nominate a section of the historic distri…
Organizations turn to creativity in unusual season
February 12, 2021
BY SUSAN HANAFEE – Virtual speakers, open air musicals, art shows without the usual wine and cheese receptions, pop-up history tours in parking lots – all have been part of the creativity local not-f…