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Dog park set for Nov. 22 opening

The dog park at Wheeler Road Community Park, closed since June, will reopen to the public at dawn on Wednesday, Nov. 22, in time for the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.  The county started construction on the dog park in June 2022. The project was 90 percent complete, but the opening was delayed due to Hurricane Ian. […]

Trumpeter visit jazzes up Lemon Bay’s orchestra program

Trumpeter Rex Richardson, who has played with many of the greats of jazz, gave students at Lemon Bay High School lessons in music, and life, at a Friday seminar sponsored by the Punta Gorda Symphony. Richardson said that no matter what they improvise, the students should never forget the harmony and form, and “always kind […]

BGHPB hears renovation proposal from Friends

The meeting of the Boca Grande Historic Preservation Board on Wednesday, Nov. 8 featured a presentation by Friends of Boca Grande regarding their proposed renovations for the Community Center, The Island School, the Teacherage, the Dishong-Bowen House and the Crowninshield Community House. They wanted to see how the Board perceived their ideas and, to their benefit, everyone on the Board seemed to have no objections at all.
Three speakers were included in the presentation – Bayne Stevenson, from the Friends of Boca Grande Board of Directors; Marta Howell, Chief Executive Director of Friends; and Jeff Mudgett, an architect from Parker/Mudgett/Smith Architects, Inc. out of Fort Myers (the planners of The Island School).
Stevenson spoke first, explaining that the $11 to $12 million dollar project was strictly in the preliminary stages. Friends has sent out about 300 booklets to members of the island, to stress the importance of Louise du Pont Crowninshield’s part in the origin of the community center and the Crowninshield House. Keeping to the original vision and community use of the buildings, as well as the architecture, is vital to them, Stevenson said, as well as honoring its history.

AUXCOMM update: GIBA approves $60,000 budget for their part of program hardware

Fire Chief C.W. Blosser and the Island EOC Emergency Communications & Interoperability Working Group would like to express their sincere gratitude to the Gasparilla Island Bridge Authority (GIBA) for its participation in the island Auxiliary Emergency Radio Communications System (AUXCOMM) project.
The GIBA Board voted to approve “a not-to-exceed amount of $60,000 for the purchase of components of the emergency communications system that will be owned and maintained by GIBA.” This will fund the entire cost of the bridge’s antenna and radio repeater installation, staff handheld radios and extensive training.

Thanksgiving date still good for tower carrier installation

According to members of the Boca Grande Cell Phone Tower Committee, everything appears to be on track for complete carrier installation on the new tower by Thanksgiving. “We had a call yesterday with Verizon and today with Vertical Bridge,” said Committee Member Steve Raville. “Everyone maintains that the schedule is still on track to have […]

9th Street sailboat gone (pretty much)

Last Friday morning, Nov. 3, the process of removing the sailboat at 9th Street was over and done before it barely began. All that can be seen now are two metal poles sticking out of the sand, adding to the mystery of whether or not the base of the boat still remains under the sand. […]

Tabletops designer to visit for J. McLaughlin book event

New York interior designer and photographer Stephanie Stokes will visit Boca Grande to promote her new Rizzoli book “The World at Your Table” at a signing on Tuesday, Nov. 14 at J. McLaughlin. 

The book, published in March, is about tabletops and indigenous architecture. The book evolved out of a series of Instagram posts. The table ideas came after Stokes had a horse accident, one which required numerous surgeries, and recuperation time at home.

“I would just invite one person or two people for dinner each night,” said Stokes. “If you are in crutches, it’s pretty nice to set up dinner.”

Hank Wright auction to feature Sam Hobbs art 

The Boca Grande Health Clinic Foundation is honored to receive a beautiful one-of-a-kind shell mirror from local artist Samuel Hobbs to be auctioned off at the 29th annual Hank Wright Live Auction and Cocktail Party on Monday, Nov. 13 at 6 p.m. The event will be held at The Gasparilla Inn Beach Club. Samuel Seabury […]

Mendez speaks to Garden Club about ‘The Right-Size Flower Garden’

Kerry Ann Mendez, noted gardening consultant, lecturer, author, columnist, landscape designer and owner of Perennially Yours, a company dedicated to teaching the art of high-impact, low-maintenance flower gardening and landscaping, spoke to an enthusiastic audience of Boca Grande Garden Club members on November 1 in the Community Center auditorium. 

The subject of her presentation was based on her best-selling book, “The Right-Size Flower Garden,” which provides time-tested solutions on how to adapt one’s gardening endeavors to changing lifestyles and interests, focusing on both the young and the mature gardener.