Skip to main content
Search Results for “a

Push a pole, watch the birds, grasp opportunity in 2025

We celebrate the birth of Christ, Christmas and welcome a New Year. 2024 was tough on most of us and I’m looking forward to 2025. While times have been challenging, we live in a very special place. Recent events have us climbing uphill, but we can still enjoy our piece of paradise and go fishing. […]

Lights of Boca Grande, 2024, by Matt Gutman

Here, views of the Christmas lights of Boca Grande. Photos by Boca Beacon and Gasparilla Island Magazine photographer Matthew Gutman. Sites include on Gasparilla Road; Baily Street; Gilchrist Avenue; Barnichol Hardware, The Pink Pony; Boca Grande Marina; The Gasparilla Inn; Boca Grande Fire Department; The Temp and Gasparilla Outfitters/ Special Effects. 

Christmas Eve at Lighthouse United Methodist Church

At Lighthouse United Methodist Church, Christmas Eve came with a nativity and families dressed for dinner. Children read during the lighting of the Advent wreath. There was also a Christmas story about Papa Panov, by Tolstoy. Dress up included doves and other friendly beasts. Glow sticks replaced candles, and could be taken home. Below, some […]

William V.P. Newlin, 1933-2024

William V.P. Newlin died peacefully in his sleep at his home in Northwest Washington, D.C., on December 11, 2024. He was 91.  Born in Philadelphia on February 9, 1933, Newlin served as an officer in the Army, and received a BA and an MBA from Harvard, and an MA Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. […]

Maxine Hunter, 1930-2024

With a natural zest for life and all of its blessings, Maxine Morrison Hunter’s love of family and her never ending thirst for knowledge, guided her throughout her life. The communities of Lake Forest, IL and Boca Grande, FL lost a warm and welcoming friend on November 30, 2024. Maxine was 94 and was fortunate […]

Farmer’s Market returns Jan. 3, on the Bayou

The Farmer’s Market will have a temporary location in town, on the Boca Grande Bayou near The Pink Elephant. The Bayou Avenue spot will open for the season next Friday,Jan. 3. “We are just thrilled,” said organizer Jean Baer, in a message to the Boca Beacon. “We will be expecting 30 vendors, returning from past […]

History: Early schemes to sell lots in a town with nothing ‘garish or artificial’

By James Blaha, BGHC In 1925, a former real estate company promoted Boca Grande with the following advertisement: “Boca Grande is unique among Florida resorts. For many years it has gone on its way unexploited by commercialism, unmoved by real estate excitement, attending to its business of being beautiful and restful and the winter home […]

A chronology of the year 2024 in the Boca Beacon

Editor’s Note: This is a chronology of many of the news events during 2024 by the Boca Beacon. January: New sheriff in town The year kicked off with the Auxiliary Emergency Radio Communications System, or AUX-COMM system going live for the first time. The system was successfully tested by members of the Island EOC Emergency Communications […]

Gasparilla Island Tennis Classic opens Saturday, Jan. 18, 2025

The Gasparilla Island Tennis Classic opens on Saturday, Jan. 18. The all-island tournament, sponsored by the Boca Beacon’s publisher, Dusty Hopkins, will be held at the Boca Bay Pass Club, The Gasparilla Inn Tennis Club and the Boca Grande Club. The matches will begin on Saturday, Jan. 18 and will end on Saturday, Feb. 8. […]