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Profiles


September 13, 2019
■ BY SUE ERWIN Dencina Ihlanberg is an amazingly strong woman – emotionally, physically and spiritually. Over a few short years she was forced to deal with a great amount of tragedy. In 2003 she lo…

September 6, 2019
■ BY SUE ERWIN Renee Maines trusts her faith when it comes to making decisions about her next move in life. She has been a teller at Englewood Bank on the island since April, and she’s currently tr…

August 30, 2019
■ BY SUE ERWIN Steve Rinaldi remembers when there was a campground at the north end of Gasparilla Island. As a kid, he would visit Boca Grande with his family every few weeks. He also recalls when …

August 23, 2019
■ BY SUE ERWIN Lisa Sims, manager at Gasparilla Adventures, has been associated with Boca Grande since 2008. The first time she came to the island was to help with the wedding of Sarah Blakely (fou…

August 16, 2019
■ BY SUE ERWIN If you’ve visited Hudson’s Grocery recently, you might have noticed a new face helping to run the store. Sporting a bright pink T-shirt, Mike Bower has been working hard at the store…

August 8, 2019
■ BY SUE ERWIN Mary Mazyck spent almost four years in Ecuador serving with the Peace Corps before returning to her hometown of Tallahassee, where she spent a year riding horses for a living. “I wan…

August 2, 2019
■ BY SUE ERWIN Carolyn Madden has been coming to Boca Grande for 25 years. She’s always appreciated the unique shops and restaurants on the island, and she’s wanted to start her own business for ye…

July 26, 2019
■ BY SUE ERWIN Todd Hampton may have spent much of his life in Winter Haven, Florida, but he’s been coming to Boca Grande for almost than 30 years. Todd is the friendly face behind the bar inside S…

July 19, 2019
■ BY SUE ERWIN Capt. Christopher Robin is a former New Yorker who moved to Florida after finding a very special boat. Even though he had no nautical experience whatsoever, he knew the little abando…

July 11, 2019
■ BY SUE ERWIN Debbie Hagstrom creates beautifully designed one of a kind silk scarves right in front of her customers. The artist visited Boca Grande in June. She was one of the vendors at the ann…