Written by Marcy Shortuse on . Posted in Boca Beacon Back Pages, Community History.
FIVE YEARS AGO A Port Charlotte youth visiting with a church group drowned at the south end of the island. In another scenario, two lives were saved from drowning when beachgoers formed a human chain (with some help from a pool noodle) out into the water. This incident occurred in the same spot where the […]
Written by Guest Columnist on . Posted in Health & Wellness, News.
Recently the Boca Grande community said goodbye to Pete Nicholas. In the words of Charles Dickens, “He was as good a friend as the old town ever had.” He is missed by all who knew him and the community issues that benefited from his generosity and vision. From a physician’s point of view, Peter was a pleasure to know. Not only was he a leader in the science of medical engineering, but also he really liked medicine. Not many board members have found it pleasurable to show up in the Clinic, have a cup of mediocre coffee (doctors love free mediocre coffee), and ask what is new or interesting. He would challenge me with “What can we do better for the patients?” He would ask us to “put our thinking caps on.”
Written by Marcy Shortuse on . Posted in Community History, News, Sports & Outdoors.
recounted. “Each boat was filled with Moms, brothers, sisters, cousins, grandchildren and close friends. The excitement was evident; this was an impromptu family tarpon tournament! What do guides and their families do when there are no charters? They go fishing!”
Written by Staff Report on . Posted in News, Police & Fire.
Tristan Eugene Royer, 38, of Venice was charged with burglary to an unoccupied conveyance (unarmed); fleeing to elude LEO in a boat; reckless operation of a vessel; grand theft more than $5,000 but less than $10,000; three counts of bond forfeiture; an out of county warrant; and petit theft, first degree.
The incident began to play out on Friday, July 15 when calls came in to the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office about suspicious activity at Don Pedro State Park. The caller said a man swam from his boat on the Intracoastal to the pavilion, walked out of sight in the dunes, then came back through the dunes carrying a backpack. He got on the boat and left. The caller said he and another person with him returned to where their boat was docked and realized that there were signs of forced entry to the boat and a pair of pliers and a backpack were missing. The backpack contained money, credit cards and personal items.
Written by Staff Report on . Posted in News, Police & Fire.
With August 1 coming up quickly, that means that the peak of hurricane season is as well. While we are lucky so far in 2022, that doesn’t mean we are out of the woods. In fact, most hurricanes occur from mid-August to late October. While many residents and small business owners are already prepared, there […]
Written by Tonya Bramlage on . Posted in Columns, News.
The Boca Grande Sea Turtle Patrol Team volunteers patrol the beach zones watching over the nests and care for them as needed. When the sea turtle season grows to a close, they also document the number of hatchlings hatched and unhatched, the number of hatchlings destroyed, and the number of dead and alive hatchlings in the nests and count the total of all the eggs in the nests. The patrol mainly documents the activity of the loggerhead sea turtle, but has recently documented an uptick in green sea turtle nests as well. The loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta) is easily distinguished by its relatively large head. The green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas) gets its name from the greenish color of its body fat and has the presence of a pair of scales on the front of its forehead. The loggerhead and the green sea turtle alike create specific tracks in the sand providing clues for identification.
Written by Marcy Shortuse on . Posted in Profiles.
“Children really learn through play. Their play is their work. What we do as teachers is find ways to scaffold and add learning to that play. Kids may be just playing with Clay-Doh, but what they’re doing with it, and the conversations that take place while they’re doing it are important. They might be learning how to count or creating sets of things that go together. They don’t realize what they’re learning at the time. You should fill a child’s day with their interests, and then you can incorporate all these other areas of development. If you’re playing dinosaurs outside, you’re learning gross motor skills. If you’re painting or drawing dinosaurs, that works on fine motor skills. That’s what a quality preschool strives to do – the teachers see what the kids are interested in and build upon it.”
Written by Staff Report on . Posted in Obituaries.
It is with great sadness that we announce the death of Todd Kirkpatrick Vaughan on July 11, 2022 at home on Boca Grande.Todd finally succumbed to battling cancer at the age of 80. Todd is survived by his loving wife, Janie (Susemihl Griffin), his brother, Randolph Meriwether Vaughan (Maureen), his two children Hayley Vaughan Burner […]
Written by Staff Report on . Posted in Obituaries.
Dr. Richard (Dick) Morrison, 86, died July 5, 2022, at Tidewell Hospice House. He was born Nov. 10, 1935 to Russell and Sylvia Morrison in Detroit, Michigan and moved to Venice, Fla. in 1970. In Venice he started a surgical practice known as Surgical Associates of Venice and Englewood, and held roles as president of […]
Written by Marcy Shortuse on . Posted in Boca Beacon Back Pages, Community History.
FIVE YEARS AGO A Port Charlotte youth visiting with a church group drowned at the south end of the island. In another scenario, two lives were saved from drowning when beachgoers formed a human chain (with some help from a pool noodle) out into the water. This incident occurred in the same spot where the […]