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Hurricane Ian book features Boca Beacon article about Little Gasparilla Island

Written by Staff Report on . Posted in Community History.

Gulf Coast Writers Association Inc. (GWCA), Southwest Florida’s 28-year-old meeting ground for writers, editors and their associates, announced today that Leoma Lovegrove, internationally-known artist whose work is in the collections of the Carter and George W. Bush Presidential Libraries, has painted the artwork for the cover of “Storm Stories – Hurricane Ian,” its anthology of personal experiences during the storm as recounted by local residents and photographers. The book is planned for publication on September 1.

The Boca Beacon will be featured in the book, with a story that ran not long after the storm, called “This may be our slice of paradise, but putting it back together will be no piece of cake.”

OBITUARY: Sackett Snow Cook

Written by Staff Report on . Posted in Obituaries.

Sackett Snow Cook died peacefully August 1 at Westview on Main in Fairhaven MA, with his wife of 41 years, Mary Elizabeth (White) Cook, by his side. He was born in Providence RI to Martha Sackett Snow Cook and Benjamin Ladd Cook Jr., president of Starkweather and Shepley Insurance Brokerage. Sackett attended Deerfield Academy and […]

OBITUARY: Joe D’Angelo

Written by Staff Report on . Posted in Obituaries.

Sadly, our family announces that Joe D’Angelo departed this world on August, 1, 2023, at the youthful age of 86. He peacefully passed away at his home in Rotonda West, Florida.  Joe was born in Passaic, New Jersey to Elsie and Tony D’Angelo, a proud Italian family. After Belleville High School he joined the U.S. […]

PROFILE: Amy Cyr

Written by Sheila Evans on . Posted in Profiles.

Amy Cyr loves music, and she has since she was very young. Now she has joined The Island School as its music teacher, and she hopes to pass that love on to the young people there. 

Amy is excited about her new position at The Island School, and she feels it is the ideal place for her. 

“I’ve never really wanted to overextend myself to the point where I’m not giving my best to anything. You know, it’s easy to get like that when you want to have your hands in so many different things – you’re not giving your best to any of them. So, I’ve never pursued a full 9 to 5, because I work at night a lot and I’m a stay-at-home mom. Because The Island School is a smaller school, the schedule works out a lot better for me than a traditional K –12 public school. So it was an ideal situation, especially now, with both of my children being in school full-time. That opens up a brand new world. Now I have 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.open; it’s completely different.”

Drilling equipment to arrive soon? We hope so

Written by Marcy Shortuse on . Posted in Community.

Drilling equipment to begin construction of the new permanent cell phone tower may show up as early as next week, according to representatives of the Boca Grande Cell Phone Tower Committee. After numerous frustrating delays and red tape, this is definitely good news.

One committee member, Steve Raville, said they had a call earlier this week that has given them some hope.

“There have been a number of delays in the proposed demolition of the bakery, relating to engineering and permitting issues,” he said. “Vertical Bridge has reviewed the situation with the various involved individuals and determined that construction can proceed and need not be delayed by the bakery situation.”

Historical Society to take over care of veterans’ marker on 5th Street

Written by Marcy Shortuse on . Posted in Community History.

There’s a little-known memorial in Boca Grande that is about to get some much-needed love and care. It is the Veterans’ Memorial at the corner of Gilchrist and 5th St., by the entrance to The Gasparilla Inn’s Beach Club parking lot. 

There is a flagpole and flags there, but the memorial plaque is gone from the white monument. 

While it is currently unmarked, that is about to change with some help from the Boca Grande Historical Society, Lee County and other organizations that feel there should be an upgrade to the marker. 

Boca Grande Historical Society’s Executive Director Crystal Diff said details are still under wraps, since they are being finalized, but an official dedication is being planned for Veterans Day.

Lee County puts $3.3 billion valuation on island real estate

Written by Garland Pollard on . Posted in Community.

This year, preliminary tax roll values show the Lee County real estate on Boca Grande as valued at just under $3.3 billion. The $3,292,284,149 valuation for the Boca Grande Fire District, up from $3,162,022,991 in 2022, is an increase of 4.12 percent, and contrasts with the Sanibel Fire District, which had valuations drop from about $6.5 billion in 2022 to $4.2 billion in 2023, a 34 percent decrease.
This is the first property assessment year since Hurricane Ian. It reflects the greater damage to Sanibel.

Local men to take Honor Flight this fall

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

Two local men will be taking the trip of a lifetime in October, as they have been chosen to be aboard the second Honor Flight from Southwest Florida in a year. Pastor Gary Beatty of island’s First Baptist Church and his parishioner, Robert Armstrong, both served their country admirably and feel blessed to take part in this adventure.

Beatty said he had two special goals for himself. The first was to go to Israel, and the second was to go to Washington, D.C. to visit the veterans’ memorials. A couple of years ago his first dream was fulfilled, and now he is excited to have the second one come to fruition.

The smell of fresh office supplies and school uniforms fills the air as TIS is almost back in session

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

The Island School is at full capacity this year, as 60 students will start school on Thursday, Aug. 10. Head of School Christine Oliver is looking forward to a “normal” school year, free of pandemic or hurricane concerns. Classes will typically have 10 students in each grade level, with the “specials” teachers moving from class to class.

“I am pleased to announce that The Island School made impressive progress on our F.A.S.T. progress monitoring from PM1 to PM3 in both reading and math,” said Oliver. F.A.S.T. is the Florida Assessment of Student Thinking, instituted in 2022. The PM1 is testing done at the beginning of the school year, and PM3 is similar testing at the end of the year.