Written by Marcy Shortuse on . Posted in Community, News.
The Boca Grande Cell Tower Committee has been in communication with representatives from Vertical Bridge, the aerial telecommunication tower company that is installing our new permanent cell tower, who have said that everything is on schedule for the tower to be stacked by the end of August. Steve Raville, a member of the committee, said […]
Written by Staff Report on . Posted in Community.
Boca Grande’s annual Fourth of July parade will take place on, you guessed it, July 4, with the lineup beginning at 8:30 a.m. in the parking lot between Englewood Bank and the Old Theatre Building on Park Avenue. The parade will begin at 9 a.m. sharp, so make sure your decorations are on your golf […]
Written by Sheila Evans on . Posted in Community, Community History.
Fr. Jerome Carosella has been the pastor of Boca Grande’s Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Church for more than half of the time he has been a priest. He was ordained 60 years ago and has been pastor on the island for 35.
He is Boca Grande’s pastor, no matter what church one might call home. He has been a fixture on the island for longer than most residents. And now he is retiring, which also means he will no longer be living at the rectory on West Railroad Avenue.
Written by Sheila Evans on . Posted in News.
Rick Andersen is a local master carpenter and author of two children’s books. His creativity is being put to the test now, though, as he tries to build a path to the future. Rick was diagnosed with metastatic prostate cancer recently. Treatment is tough and expensive. He and wife Stacey are hoping the people of […]
Written by Sheila Evans on . Posted in Profiles.
“God is always doing something new,” she went on. “We are excited to see what God has in store for us as we serve together in ministry. Frank and I have had Lighthouse Methodist Church and all of Boca Grande in our prayers, and we hope people on the island will have us in their prayers as well, as we all go through this time of transition.”
Written by Boca Beacon on . Posted in Obituaries.
George John Benisek M.D., 91, passed away in his sleep under hospice care in Frankfort, Michigan on June 18, 2023. He is preceded in death by his wife Barbara (Ellacott), brothers John and Paul, and grandson Kyle Killworth. He leaves his son George Benisek Jr. and daughters Lisa Benisek, Kay Muller (Fred), and Anne Bralver […]
Written by Marcy Shortuse on . Posted in Boca Beacon Back Pages, Columns, Community History.
Boca Beacon backpages FIVE YEARS AGO The Matriarch of Boca Grande took her last ride over the Causeway on June 20, 2018. Isabelle Joiner took her first steps on the dock at Whidden’s, as well as her last. TEN YEARS AGO The “Jill Marie” was howlin’ as Capt. Dave Chatham and his team took first […]
Written by Marcy Shortuse on . Posted in News.
While there was only one item on the agenda for the June meeting of the Boca Grande Historic Preservation Board on Wednesday, June 14, it was one that could not be decided easily. It was all about the “Octopus Tree,” a banyan that has stood along the property line at 181 Gilchrist Avenue since the early 1900s. The ground where it stands was once part of the Crowninshield compound and the children who used to play there gave it its strange nickname.
The property that includes 181 and 161 Gilchrist Avenue is owned by a family that wants to demolish the large house, as well as the small cottage that the banyan tree stands right next to and has actually grown under and into.
Therein lies the rub.
Written by Boca Beacon on . Posted in Obituaries.
Kevin Benjamin Whispell, 68, dedicated husband, loving father of three, and beloved friend of many, has passed on June 1st, 2023, at his home in Greenwood, South Carolina. Kevin was born on February 24, 1955 to Kenneth and Jeanne Whispell and raised in Kingston, New York along with his four sisters, Cheryl, Dawn, Tammy and […]
Written by Marcy Shortuse on . Posted in Profiles.
I’ve been coming to Boca since I was a kid. I remember coming to the beach and coming to go fishing. I started working in Boca Grande in 1990, when I started as a maintenance worker for The Gasparilla Inn & Club. Not long after, I accepted a position as assistant mechanic. I worked at The Gasparilla Inn for 16 years.