Skip to main content
Search Results for “grand

Betsy Ross sharktooth flag artwork taken from car

A resident heading back home to Boca Grande had his most recent work of art, a Betsy Ross flag made of shark’s teeth, stolen while he stopped somewhere between Tampa and home. “The flag was the best one I have ever made,” said Frank Koffend, a historian, fisherman, park volunteer, author and a lifetime collector […]

Gasparilla Island State Park targets invasive plants

Gasparilla Island State Park is finishing a restoration project to remove invasive plants from the southern half of the island, north of Boca Grande Pass. Restoration projects are frequently undertaken at Florida’s state parks to ensure that native habitats thrive. Invasive plants alter native plant communities by out competing and displacing them but provide little […]

Gasparilla Island Tennis Classic sets 2024 dates

The Gasparilla Island Tennis Classic dates for 2024 have been set. The 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. 20 and will end on Saturday, Feb. 10. […]

Look for the 2024 Boca Beacon Visitor’s Guide 

Each year, the Boca Beacon publishes a guide to all things Gasparilla Island, the Boca Beacon Visitor’s Guide. The annual publication is the official guide to Gasparilla Island. The booklet, which is free, has a 30,000 circulation. It is the only all-inclusive printed resource for visitors and residents to find out about all things Boca […]

Editorial: The value of the weekly American newspaper

The first newspaper in the U.S. colonies was a weekly, like ours. Appearing on April 24, 1704, the “Boston News-Letter” was sold at a “shop near the Old Meeting House” and printed by Bartholomew Green, an early American notable whom many on this island might claim as an ancestor. That weekly paper carried news both […]

SW Florida Fishing: Thanksgiving on the water

BY CAPT. WILL WATERHOUSE  An amazing Thanksgiving week of fishing in Boca Grande. Look for the redfish near man- groves and deeper edges, the majority of the reds are on the smaller side, but some bigger fish are showing up. The snook are still chasing white with the snook some nice keeper trout are being […]

Christmas Walk is Saturday, Nov. 25

The annual Boca Grande Area Chamber of Commerce Christmas Walk will be held this Saturday, Nov. 25 from 5 to 8 p.m. During the Christmas Walk, you can stroll down the luminary-lit town to visit with the local businesses and get a jump on your holiday shopping, as it is Small Business Saturday. Merchants are […]

Golf cart vs. tree results in injuries

The Boca Grande Fire Department and the Lee County Sheriff responded to a golf cart accident involving juveniles this past weekend. On Sunday, Nov. 19 at 4:09 p.m. a call came in regarding a single-cart accident at 4th Street and Gilchrist Avenue. The driver, the caller said, was a 16-year-old male who sustained a head […]

Briefly: Captiva eyes Gasparilla Island-type height protection

Rep. Adam Botana, a Republican from Bonita Springs who represents Boca Grande, is sponsoring a draft bill to create what would be the Captiva Island Conservation Area Act. The act would be modeled after the Gasparilla Island Conservation District Act, which has protected building heights and density on Boca Grande since the 1980s. The bill […]