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New, faster catamaran offers jaunts to Boca Grande from Punta Gorda

Written by Garland Pollard on . Posted in News.

Boca Grande will soon have a new excursion boat visitor, the “Miss Elissa,” courtesy of the Punta Gorda-based King Fisher Fleet. 

“Miss Elissa,” commissioned by King Fisher Fleet and built by Scarano Boatbuilding of Albany, N.Y., will be launched this week. She will hit the Hudson River and begin her trek down to Florida for the Christmas season.

Currently, Boca Grande is served by the King Fisher Fleet’s “Charlotte Lady” or the “Helen M.” The King Fisher line offers regularly scheduled excursions from Punta Gorda’s Fishermen’s Village. That seasonal service will resume Nov. 25. The line also offers charter excursions from Boca Grande.

IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Barbara Stirling

Written by Sheila Evans on . Posted in News, Profiles.

It was time for Barbara Stirling to open a new book, to try something different. She is not one to stagnate or rest on her laurels, so the newest incarnation of Barbara is as a thespian. 

No, that is a bit grandiose for her taste. She has taken up community theater. 

“I am a novice actor. I am a behind-the-big-people-in-front kind of actor,” she insisted. “I am the kind of person who loves to watch and be with these actors and actresses. They are so enthusiastic and they are so inclusive.”

Barbara is one of several community members who have decided this year to be part of the Royal Palm Players. She is moving from an audience position to an “on stage” position. And she is loving it. She will be playing several parts in the first program of the season, “The Dining Room on Boca Grande,” opening in mid-November.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR: More information about upcoming parking discussions

Written by Boca Beacon Reader on . Posted in Featured News, Letters to the Editor.

To the Editor:
The structured parking plan that now seems to be a source of controversy is not about Gilchrist Ave. The plan is for the Lee County portion of Gasparilla Island. It is intended to protect our entire community from becoming a massive beach parking lot, which it soon will be because of the exploding population growth around us. Aside from the tens of thousands of platted lots on the Cape Haze Peninsula, there are thousands of new homes being built from Winchester Boulevard all the way out South River Road to I-75. Have you noticed the new subdivisions and apartments under construction on SR 776 on the way to Murdock? Where do you think all of these people will be going to the beach?

THIS DATE IN THE BOCA BEACON

Written by Marcy Shortuse on . Posted in Columns, Community History.

FIVE YEARS AGOIslanders came together with donations for victiams of Hurricane Michael in the Panhandle. Smitty, J.T. and Chef Jim were back together in one place – Hudson’s Grocery. TEN YEARS AGOThe Temp’s martini sign got a check-up, as it was 36 years old. Jack Damioli resigned as president and general manager of The Gasparilla […]

BOCASCOPES

Written by Marcy Shortuse on . Posted in Columns, Entertainment.

Aries: It is entirely possible that your paranoid nature will pay off this week. Your cell phone, your computer and your car have all broken in one form or fashion, not to mention you’re camping indoors, listening to the sounds of flapping tarp and banging metal all night. If you feel like this is all […]

Gilchrist parking: It’s baaaa-ack

Written by Marcy Shortuse on . Posted in News.

While Tuesday morning’s meeting of the Lee County Board of Commissioners was relatively quick and painless, with no big agenda items pertaining to Gasparilla Island, there was one public comment that is of great importance to the island and its future.

The comment was made by Mary O’Bannon, chairman of the Boca Grande Parking Committee. She attended the meeting with Vice-Chair Deb Martin and asked the Commissioners at the meeting for one thing – transparency – in an upcoming item that was to be presented to the Board at their November meeting by Commissioner Kevin Ruane, and to not leave the fate of anything in Boca Grande in the hands of one person.

HEX hearing examiner rules in favor of Gilchrist property owner – matter to be returned to BGHPB hands

Written by Marcy Shortuse on . Posted in News.

A decision has been made in the case of the property owner at 161 Gilchrist Avenue vs. Lee County, heard on September 12 of this year by Chief Hearing Examiner Donna Marie Collins.

The appeal was made by the property owner and their representatives, based on their belief that in denying a special Certificate of Appropriateness to permit construction of a home (161 Gilchrist Avenue) and a garage and maintenance building on the adjoining lot (181 Gilchrist Avenue), the Boca Grande Historic Preservation Board did not apply the correct law, they did not afford the property owner due process and did not use the proper evidence to back up their denial.

Representing the County was Amanda Swindle, Esq.; representing the property owner at 161 Gilchrist Avenue were Jenna Persons-Mulicka, Esq. and Megan Strayhorn, Esq.

It was at the BGHPB’s April meeting when this item was on the agenda. Prior to any engagement, conversation or examination of the actual proposed structures on the two properties, which is all the COA was for, Board members asked about a feature on one of the properties called
the Whispering Bench.

Restoring cell coverage… HERE’S THE LATEST

Written by Staff Report on . Posted in News.

Electricians are on site now working on our new cell phone tower, and it looks like AT&T came up from behind to possibly be the first carrier for “cutover” (the process of bringing a system, application or interface live into an environment, which can include steps such as repointing interfaces from a non-production to production […]

Art Colony of Englewood gives a glimpse of their 2023-24 season

Written by Sheila Evans on . Posted in Community, News.

Pioneer Plaza, on Dearborn Street in Old Englewood, has become a gathering place for singers, actors, artists and dancers, thanks to the imaginative design of Sydney Martin, a lover of the arts in all forms.
Sydney is the founder of The Art Colony of Englewood, which started as a way for artists to show and sell their creations, but it has blossomed into much more.

“The Art Colony is beginning its second season,” Sydney said. “Last season we had eight artist galleries, having shows from December to April, and one dinner concert, which was in April. This season we will have 14 permanent outdoor galleries, and the season will run from October to April.

THIS DATE IN THE BOCA BEACON

Written by Marcy Shortuse on . Posted in Community History.

FIVE YEARS AGOWe said a quiet goodbye to the folks at The Fishery who had been there for so many years, like the Albrittons and Hatch Gallery. TEN YEARS AGOLee County Commissioners chucked a rock at a hornet’s nest, as they proposed a Gilchrist parking plan that set the island abuzz. FIFTEEN YEARS AGOIt wasn’t […]