Written by Marcy Shortuse on . Posted in News.
BY SUSAN HANAFEE – Having hundreds of “aunts” and “grandmothers” eager to share in the excitement of your first baby is pretty special, say the Rev. Dr. Matthew and Joy Williams, whose seven-month-old son, Ethan, is still awaiting a debut at his father’s church in Boca Grande. “We wanted to introduce him to the congregation […]
Written by Marcy Shortuse on . Posted in Police & Fire.
BY MARCY SHORTUSE – It’s been a busy week of ambulance calls, alarms and water rescues for the Boca Grande Fire Department, but one of the most admirable rescues that took place didn’t even happen on the island. Boca Grande Firefighter Alex Moore was working part-time at a Sarasota gym last weekend when a man […]
Written by Marcy Shortuse on . Posted in Entertainment.
BY BOOTS TOLSDORF – With no lines to memorize this year for RPP, (yea!) I have turned to other endeavors, not unlike most of you. One of them was to organize 22 years of Royal Palm Players and me into scrapbooks. Hard to believe that in 2002, I came down the Community Center aisle dressed […]
Written by Marcy Shortuse on . Posted in News.
BY TONYA BRAMLAGE – Although one can never fully know the daily sights that will be seen while spending a day outdoors here on Gasparilla Island, encounters with butterflies, birds, fish, turtles, flowers and exotic plants are quite common. A less common sight was spotted recently under a potted tree at the Boca Grande Post […]
Written by Marcy Shortuse on . Posted in Obituaries.
Barbara Ketcham Leiter, age 76, passed from this life March 4, 2021 at the Venice Florida Regional Bayfront Hospital in the care of her family. Barbara was born in Peoria, IL on January 9, 1945 to John Robert and Ellen Shepherdson Ketcham. She died a resident of Peoria, IL and Boca Grande, FL following a […]
Written by Marcy Shortuse on . Posted in Profiles.
BY T MICHELE WALKER – When COVID-19 struck our world last year and we were all forced into lockdown, the reactions were as varied as the people themselves, serving as an impromptu Rorschach personality test. Some embraced the much-needed rest and solitude. Others controlled their environment by cleaning and organizing, some exercised and set fitness […]
Written by Marcy Shortuse on . Posted in Featured News, Letters to the Editor, News.
To the Editor, Lee County Solid Waste’s third annual “Donated not Wasted” food rescue campaign encourages seasonal residents and visitors to donate unopened pantry items before returning north. The two previous campaigns resulted in 6,000 pounds of food diverted from potential disposal – enough to provide 5,000 meals to hungry people. Nationwide, Americans throw out […]
Written by Marcy Shortuse on . Posted in Featured News, Letters to the Editor, News.
To the Editor: Well, hello again to the residents of Boca Grande. We had another power surge/outage on Sunday night at 11 pm! Did anybody call in to register that fact? Either at the time or the next day? Sorry if you ran into a dead end/wall. I called and discovered something relevant to reporting. […]
Written by Marcy Shortuse on . Posted in Featured News, Letters to the Editor, News.
Dear Editor, On January 29, 2021 Claude “Allen” Sparks passed away from a rare blood disorder named Amyloidosis. Allen was employed at Boca Bay Master’s Association as a landscape foreman serving the homeowners of the Boca Bay Community. Following his passing, Sue Najar approached the board members to request donations from the homeowners and staff […]
Written by Marcy Shortuse on . Posted in Featured News, News.
BY MARK DRISCOLL, CEO OF THE BOCA GRANDE HEALTH CLINIC – Managing the stress of a pandemic was the topic of the recent Grande Rounds hosted virtually by the Boca Grande Health Clinic and the Boca Grande Health Foundation on March 4. Ivy League trained and board-certified psychiatry specialist Alexander P. Miano, MD, addressed how […]