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Girl goes missing on beach, found quickly by deputies

Last Thursday, Dec. 26 a six-year-old girl was missing for about 15 minutes after being seen walking northbound of 1st Street and Gilchrist Avenue.  The girl was found safely in about 15 or 20 minutes. She reportedly wandered up the beach, where she was found. “They found her pretty quickly thank goodness,” Boca Grande Fire […]

Busy December for Causeway crossings

The Gasparilla Island Bridge Authority will have final year-end numbers from the bridge at the end of this week; so far, the December traffic count is up about 1,000 from December 2023.  “We average about 93,000 vehicles each December,” wrote Executive Director Kathy Banson in an update to the Beacon. “Through last Thursday (12/26) our […]

2025 resolutions include ‘mess with his sister less’

This Friday’s paper is the first of the new year. Despite still recovering from the dual hurricanes this fall, Boca Grande was crowded with visitors this week, here to ring in 2025 in paradise. Families packed onto bikes and golf carts to shop at local businesses, eat ice cream at The Pink Pony and enjoy […]

Get your 4-Digit listing updated for 2025

It’s the time of year to check on and update your listing in the 4-Digit Phone Book.  Since 1991, the Boca Beacon has published this reference text, one of the last remaining residential phone books in the U.S., which were once ubiquitous. Do you have a new number? Do you want to switch to or […]

Pink pachyderm in the Gulf sunset

On Saturday, Dec. 28, a pink elephant appeared in the clouds. The view was looking west across the Gulf in south Boca Grande. The photo was caught by Erin Reid, daughter-in-law of Boca Grande residents Randy and Karen Reid.                                  […]

Branch manager

This osprey was making a nest near the Range Light last week. He was spied with a number of building materials, found across the island.                         Photo by Matt

Utilities meeting

The Charlotte County Commission has scheduled a utilities quarterly update meeting at 1 p.m., Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025, in Room 119 of the Charlotte County Administration Center, 18500 Murdock Circle, Port Charlotte, FL. Discussions include but are not limited to updates on fiscal, utility projects, sewer master plan, West Port Water Reclamation Facility expansion, and […]

A welcome for the director of Mount Vernon

Next Wednesday, Doug Bradburn, director of Mount Vernon, will visit the island as part of a Friends of Boca Grande lecture in their History and Heritage series.  Most people over a certain age have a decent knowledge of the life of Washington, but this is no longer the case with later generations. (Indeed, Washington’s Birthday […]

Lemon-aid stand

Virginia & Augusta C. with Tate & Margo S. spent a day in the village selling lemonade to benefit The Island School playground, one of their favorite places. Thank you to the Island customers for their generosity. The children raised a total of $457 which will be donated to The Island School to help rebuild […]