Written by Anna Ridilla on . Posted in Featured News, News, Real Estate.
Lee County Property Appraiser Matt Caldwell released the initial estimates for 2025 property values on Sunday, June 1. They include a $3.5 billion estimate of valuation of Boca Grande real estate. In 2025, the total assessed value of all taxable property in Lee County is estimated to be over $167 billion, which is about 4.85 […]
Written by Staff Report on . Posted in Community History, News.
BY MARCY SHORTUSE Editor’s Note: This August, Lee County commissioners are scheduled to vote on an ordinance related to parking in Boca Grande. It could contain a sweeping revision of current ordinances, which have evolved over the last decades. With that in mind, the Boca Beacon has gone back and reviewed how we got to […]
Written by Garland Pollard on . Posted in Community History, News.
Editor’s Note: Last month, the Boca Beacon filed a public records request with Lee County on issues related to Boca Grande parking. In the files, there are interesting tidbits related to Gasparilla Island. One item that came up was the 1925 plat that shows donation of public streets from the Boca Grande Corporation to public […]
Written by Garland Pollard on . Posted in Community History, Featured News, News, Sports & Outdoors.
With this year’s back-to-back winning of the World’s Richest Tarpon Tournament, the Boca Beacon has compiled a list of historical winners of the tarpon season below. One name that has come up over and over is Capt. Wayne Joiner, of Hey, Moma! On May 15, the Hey, Moma! team led by Capt. Wayne Joiner won […]
Written by Garland Pollard on . Posted in Editorial.
Here in Boca Grande, during this hurricane cleanup, we have been well served by Lee County and its various departments, from Parks and Recreation to DOT. There had been a past sense, quite right, that taxpayers on the island were paying an enormous amount of money to the county, and had been left out of […]
Written by Garland Pollard on . Posted in Breaking News, Community History, News.
Editor’s Note: The flag is up! While the American flag may not be up by Memorial Day, the Boca Grande Veterans Memorial at 5th and Gilchrist is at least landscaped and ready, after help from The Gasparilla Inn. “Once repairs are completed, Parks & Recreation has a new American flag to raise,” said Betsy Clayton, […]
Written by Staff Report on . Posted in News, Police & Fire.
On May 6, Lt. Mike Sawicki of Lee County Sheriff’s Office responded to a criminal mischief complaint involving an altercation with a group of young men and a man driving a Tesla at the bridge on Harbor Drive. The victim was driving his 2023 Tesla Model 3 across the bridge when he passed a group […]
Written by Staff Report on . Posted in News, Sports & Outdoors.
Each year, Paula Barth brings a group to Boca Grande from Miami for tennis. This has been a tradition for the last decade. This year the friendly competition was held at the Boca Bay Pass Club. Above, from left, in white, Nicole Wigelsworth, Lori Siman, Michelle Wolfe, Lindsay Waterhouse, Kelly Chestnut and Shannon Coe. […]
Written by Staff Report on . Posted in Community History, News, Sports & Outdoors.
The Port Boca Grande Lighthouse & Museum opened May 5, after, what they generously called, eight months of “stormy setbacks.” The re-opening was a celebration, as Linda Edic, the wife of the late historian Bob Edic, was there to sign copies of her husband’s history, “Fisherfolk of Charlotte Harbor.” The opening came after Lighthouse Day […]
Written by Anna Ridilla on . Posted in Featured News, News, Sports & Outdoors.
The 2025 Grande Tradition honorees were the late Freddy Futch and Capt. Wayne Joiner. Freddy Futch was local fishing guide and grew up at Gasparilla Village, north end of island. He was born in 1933 to parents Rayford “Sug” Futch and Pearl Lowe Futch and died in 2018. Wayne Joiner is one of the owners […]