Written by Garland Pollard on . Posted in Community, Editorial.
The last real top 40 hit from James Taylor was a duet with J.D. Souther. The song “Her Town Too” did not reach that high on the Billboard list in 1981, but many will remember it as a lament about how the familiar sights change after a breakup. It is unclear if it was Carly […]
Written by Staff Report on . Posted in Community, Obituaries.
FROM THE BOWEN FAMILY The Bowen family celebrated the late Helen Beardsley, who died June 19, 2025. Born in 1928, she had nine children, 23 grandchildren and 39 great grandchildren. The family wanted to share this poem of thanks to the community: You joined us in celebration of tears, A remembrance of all the years, […]
Written by Anna Ridilla on . Posted in Profiles.
Her ship sailed to Boca Grande Friends Martina Long is stepping into her new role as program director for Friends of Boca Grande, overseeing event planning and talent booking for the upcoming season – a shift from her experience on the other side of the stage, as a performer herself. Long grew up in Fort […]
Written by Staff Report on . Posted in Community.
The Friends of Boca Grande team is gearing up for the 2025-26 season. Left to right: Kyle Rich, Judy Prestia, Melissa Richardson, Tammy Rigney, Marta Howell, Martina Long and D.J. Keisling. Photo by Matt
Written by Staff Report on . Posted in Community.
The Porsche Club of America was in Boca Grande recently for one of its regular outings. Rob Vigorito, vice president of the Everglades Region of the PCA, organized the outing, which included lunch at the KeyLime Bistro in the old train depot. Members came from across Southwest Florida. The club has about 1,700 members; the […]
Written by Anna Ridilla on . Posted in Breaking News, Community, News.
Above, Chamber director Gary Cross addresses the board. Photo by Matt The Gasparilla Island parking ordinance passed unanimously at Tuesday’s Lee County Commissioners meeting with several amendments, including increasing a downtown two-hour parking limit to three hours. Commissioners Kevin Ruane and Brian Hamman motioned and seconded the ordinance before hearing public […]
Written by Staff Report on . Posted in Breaking News, Community, News, Sports & Outdoors.
$4.2 million example BY MARCY SHORTUSE A proposed parking plan for Gasparilla Island will affect the island’s future beach renourishment funding and could include a tax for renourishment, according to an internal Lee County memo. A July 2 email obtained this week by the Beacon was sent to commissioners and county staff from the Natural […]
Written by Arlene Hall on . Posted in Columns, Sports & Outdoors.
BY ARLENE HALL, BGSTA SECRETARY Last week, shortly after the start of one of our morning patrols, BGSTA volunteers received an urgent text message stating, “All, Denise has a major disorientation with turtles going into the road. She needs help asap. See if the senior walker can do without the help this morning and (come) […]
Written by Staff Report on . Posted in Community History, News, Real Estate.
The Boca Grande Historic Preservation Board meeting will be held on August 13, at 10 a.m., at St. Andrew’s Chapter House. The agenda includes items by the public, two Special Certificate of Appropriateness cases and an item by the staff. In the first item on the agenda, SCA2025-00017, the applicant is seeking approval to deconstruct […]
Written by Staff Report on . Posted in Community, News.
BY MARCY SHORTUSE Lee County Commissioners are scheduled to vote August 5 on a parking amendment for Boca Grande that, if passed, would make monumental changes to the landscape of the island. With that thought in mind, it seemed like this would be a good time to get some answers from the ordinance’s backer and […]