Written by Michelle Starr on . Posted in News, Sports & Outdoors.
I was able to find five sea stars on Christmas eve morning that had attached themselves to the trestles so that they could snack on the crustaceans. One of the smaller ones even had its stomach extended out, ready to eat. Sea stars don’t have an internal digestive system or a real mouth. Instead, their stomach extends from the underside of the central disk. The stomach then envelops the food and digests it outside of the body.
Written by Sheila Evans on . Posted in Breaking News, Community, Featured News, News, Sports & Outdoors.
Croquet is a game for the ages, and this current age is seeing a surge of interest. The Croquet Club at The Gasparilla Inn is a major player in the sport, so to speak, and recently upped its game by adding ten new, world-class mallets to its stock. Oakley Johnson, president of The Inn’s Croquet […]
Written by Sheila Evans on . Posted in Community, Profiles.
Few people are more enthusiastic, joyful, grateful, or optimistic than Pam Heilman. She is a board member and number one cheerleader for the Boca Grande Historical Society. Pam served as president of the board for a couple of years, as well. “I was lucky,” she said, “five years ago they asked me to join and […]
Written by Staff Report on . Posted in Breaking News, Letters to the Editor, News, Police & Fire.
Editor’s note: Capt. Jeff Corkhill (pictured above at right) will be moving on from Boca Grande as of Monday, and Lt. Jeff Sawicki, who had been at Captiva Island, will be taking his place. Island residents wrote in to the Boca Beacon to say thank you for his 13 years of service. A news story […]
Written by Staff Report on . Posted in Featured News, News.
The year 2023 was a year where things got back to normal, mostly, from Hurricane Ian. While there were still many houses and condos that were still incomplete, Gasparilla Island came back to some sense of normalcy. But it was not a total normal. Every storm brought angst. The question before every storm, whether Hurricane Idalia or […]
Written by Staff Report on . Posted in Community.
Englewood Young Life is celebrating one year as their own independent area! As of October 1, 2022, Englewood is more localized with its own area director, part time admin, board, and volunteers. This has been a long time dream of this community to have its own Young Life and to have more opportunities for local […]
Written by Garland Pollard on . Posted in Editorial, Opinion.
Raid sets standards for local retail shopping centers Just before Christmas, the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office and the Florida Gaming Control Commission executed a search warrant of two casino-style businesses that were operating in Charlotte County. One of the establishments was a bingo hall at Tiffany Square on McCall Road. Their video showed Charlotte County […]
Written by Boca Beacon Reader on . Posted in Education, Letters to the Editor.
From Betsy F. Joiner: I had the most delightful experience a few Wednesday nights ago at Cape Haze Publix. I went in to do my shopping and when I walked inside I saw the happy faces of The Island School teachers lined up in front of a table. I said, what are you all doing […]
Written by Staff Report on . Posted in News, Sports & Outdoors.
By MICHELLE STARR On a morning drive over the Boca Causeway, I get a true bird’s eye view of Little Gasparilla Pass, the sandbar and local water clarity and condition. The high winds over the last several days have made the water very messy, so while coming over the Causeway Sunday morning, I spotted a […]
Written by Garland Pollard on . Posted in News, Opinion, Sports & Outdoors.
Last week, a subscriber came into the Beacon office to ask for help with a one-legged ibis. The ibis was stranded by his flock (or in bird lingo, a wedge, or congregation or stand of birds). People do have a habit of calling us and stopping in with their wildlife issues, both human and otherwise. […]