Written by Staff Report on . Posted in Columns, Community.
With Thanksgiving right around the corner I started looking at some recipes that have been given to me. I stumbled across a recipe that I made for Thanksgiving back in 2020. The recipe is from a lady named Karen Fitzgerald who I never met. I was given the recipe from one of her relatives, whose […]
Written by Marcy Shortuse on . Posted in News.
A new meeting has been scheduled for late November for Commissioner Kevin Ruane to meet with the Boca Grande Parking Panel, in order to sort out the details in the creation of a rough draft proposal to present to Lee County Commissioners regarding Gilchrist Avenue and Historic District beach access parking. Parking Panel Chair Mary O’Bannon […]
Written by Sheila Evans on . Posted in Community.
Bringing a message of love and hope, the Rt. Rev. William Mostert will be the guest preacher at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church this weekend on Sunday at 9:30 a.m. Bishop William recently retired as Bishop of the Diocese of Christ the King in Johannesburg, South Africa. “I’m retired, but not tired,” he quipped. Traveling to […]
Written by Staff Report on . Posted in Featured News, News.
New York interior designer and photographer Stephanie Stokes will visit Boca Grande to promote her new Rizzoli book “The World at Your Table” at a signing on Tuesday, Nov. 14 at J. McLaughlin.
The book, published in March, is about tabletops and indigenous architecture. The book evolved out of a series of Instagram posts. The table ideas came after Stokes had a horse accident, one which required numerous surgeries, and recuperation time at home.
“I would just invite one person or two people for dinner each night,” said Stokes. “If you are in crutches, it’s pretty nice to set up dinner.”
Written by Guest Columnist on . Posted in Entertainment, Featured News.
Imagine a dramedy of manners in a dining room on Gilchrist Avenue. Add 16 scenes time-traveling between 1917 and today. Throw 17 actors into the mix – half well-known RPP stars, the other half, brand new to our audience. Then assign each actor at least two different roles playing characters of different ages. A dash of music from each time period, plus a narrator to set the scenes, and you’ve got the recipe for a fun evening with the title, “The Dining Room on Boca Grande.”
Roger Lewis, the narrator, had a brilliant idea. What if he is a friendly ghost inhabiting this mansion who shows the audience some of the behaviors he observed over the years. His idea was the last ingredient to pull the show together.
The newcomers added just the right amount of zest.
Written by Guest Columnist on . Posted in Featured News, News.
Kerry Ann Mendez, noted gardening consultant, lecturer, author, columnist, landscape designer and owner of Perennially Yours, a company dedicated to teaching the art of high-impact, low-maintenance flower gardening and landscaping, spoke to an enthusiastic audience of Boca Grande Garden Club members on November 1 in the Community Center auditorium.
The subject of her presentation was based on her best-selling book, “The Right-Size Flower Garden,” which provides time-tested solutions on how to adapt one’s gardening endeavors to changing lifestyles and interests, focusing on both the young and the mature gardener.
Written by Sheila Evans on . Posted in Featured News, Profiles.
If it is wrong to lie about your age when you are 16 so you can earn money to help your mother support the family, Pastor Gary Beatty has probably been forgiven. What was truly wrong was how poor he and his mother and five sisters were. Someone had to relieve the burden, so young Gary took it up as his responsibility. He joined the National Guard to get a paycheck.
The Beatty family was not the only poor family in Lancaster, Ohio, and Gary was not the only underage boy who enlisted in 1956.
“It wasn’t that uncommon,” Pastor Beatty recalled. “There were probably eight or 10 of us in our company who were underage.”
Written by Marcy Shortuse on . Posted in Health & Wellness, News.
There was a lot of information to cover at the first Boca Grande Health Clinic “Welcome Back to the Island” webinar” on Thursday, Oct. 26. The doctors spoke about updates at the Clinic in technology, numbers and vaccinations. Fire Chief C.W. Blosser discussed emergency medical information and varying levels of emergency care. But the most intriguing part of the presentation was made by Clinic Executive Director Mark Driscoll and others, discussing their newest plan for the second renovation proposal that will go before Lee County and the Boca Grande Historic Preservation Board in the future.
After their initial plan was denied by the Historic Preservation Board in May of last year by a unanimous vote, Driscoll said the Clinic Foundation members have been listening to the people of the island, as have been the doctors. They’ve heard many comments, such as that the building was too big, there were too many entrances and exits, they didn’t like the windows and that there would be parking problems with a bigger facility.
Written by Garland Pollard on . Posted in News.
As fall visitors arrive and winter visitors begin to make plans, local tourism officials are looking for good news as vacation rentals come back on line.
“I think we are seeing some pent-up demand,” said Sean Doherty, the tourism director for Charlotte County tourism, which is branded the Punta Gorda and Englewood Beach Convention and Visitor Bureau.
Looking at Charlotte County’s tourism development tax revenues, in August the county saw its first actual increase in revenue since Hurricane Ian, with an upward blip of 0.7 percent. TDC revenue is derived from the lodging tax, which is assessed on any rental of less than six months and one day. These bed tax funds support both the Charlotte County and Lee County visitor bureaus.
Rental properties coming back on the market on Don Pedro and Little Gasparilla are also helping Charlotte tourism figures, as many were off market after Ian, Doherty said.
Written by Sheila Evans on . Posted in Profiles.
High tech meets high drama. And it’s all happening in a quiet neighborhood in the elegant town of Boca Grande.
This is not the plot of a new play, but the real-life story of one of the newest actors joining the ranks of the Royal Palm Players.
Gordon Allen took a couple of acting classes when he lived in Santa Barbara, California some 20 years ago. He was not actually looking to perform on stage, though. He was hoping to improve his skills as a salesman.
“It was more just for fun. I’m in sales, so I spend a lot of time in front of people,” he explained. “I was talking to lots of senior-level executives, tech executives, things like that. So taking an acting class was a help in getting better at just talking … talking on my feet and thinking on my feet.”
That changed recently, however.