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LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Buchan Airport celebrates top-flight scholars

 To the Editor: After a record attendance of nearly two thousand people during last year’s 15th annual Buchan Fly-In, the Scholarship Committee decided to move ahead and award three well-deserved aviation scholarships. In spite of the inability to hold the Fly-In this year since the airport was under storm restoration by Sarasota County, the 74-year-old […]

THIS DATE IN THE BOCA BEACON

FIVE YEARS AGO There were many tears and laughs at The Island School graduation, as nine students tossed their caps in the air.   TEN YEARS AGO Capt. Stevie Ahlers took first in the World’s Richest, where 63 tarpon were released. The Reference Room in the Boca Grande Community Center closed after opening in 1987 […]

Community Center groups listening carefully as they develop future plans

For several years now, groups that use the Community Center facilities, especially high-use groups, have been talking about making improvements:  The Historical Society needs more space; Royal Palm Players needs a better back stage; Friends would like more comfortable seating and high-tech equipment in the auditorium; Boca Bargains needs more space; the duplicate bridge group needs space; The Island School needs a little more space and a dedicated room for lunch and after-school programs; all groups could benefit from a dedicated meeting room. This list goes on and on.

What would be needed is to restore and renovate all that is wonderful (that includes leaving the exterior of our buildings as they are), and modernizing the guts of the entire facility, addressing issues such as ADA compliance, HVAC shortcomings, technology challenges and opportunities, and general needs for more and better space. After all, some 34 island organizations use the Community Center at one time or another during a season.

What you need to know about strokes

Strokes happen when the blood supply to part of the brain is interrupted or reduced, which prevents brain tissue from getting oxygen and nutrients, which leads to brain damage or death. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), stroke is the fifth- leading cause of death in the U.S. and is a leading cause of long-term disability. 

May is National Stroke Awareness Month, an opportunity to learn about stroke prevention and treatment. Stroke risk increases as we age. Women generally live longer than men, so it’s not surprising that more women have strokes over their lifetimes than men. In the U.S., one in five women between the ages of 55 and 75 will have a stroke, according to the 2006 Framingham Stoke Study.

Recycled oyster shells to create new reef in Charlotte Harbor

On Thursday, May 18 Coastal Conservation Association (CCA) Florida partnered with Ingman Marine, Abbott Construction, Lee Reefs, Gasparilla Island Conservation and Improvement Association (GICIA), Capt. Jay Withers, Clermont Oyster Bar, Oyster Boys Conservation and Lake County to deploy oyster shells in Charlotte Harbor’s Turtle Bay in an effort to boost water quality, marine fisheries and recreational angling.

The oysters were hauled from CCA Florida’s Oyster Recycling Program in Lake County and transported to Placida. The oysters will be loaded onto a barge, provided by Abbott Construction, and deployed in Turtle Bay at a pre-permitted location.

OBITUARY: Mark Wyman

Mark Steven Wyman, 70, died on Friday, May 12, 2023. Born in Detroit, Michigan on Nov. 16, 1952 to Douglas and Barbara Wyman, he graduated from Fenwick High School, where he developed a passion for swimming. At the urging of his grandmother and his Aunt Peg, he moved to Boca Grande, Florida in the 1970s. […]