Written by Guest Columnist on . Posted in News.
BY THE BOCA GRANDE WOMAN’S CLUB Boca Grande Woman’s Club President Chris Reecher announced this week that while new applications for financial help following Hurricane Ian continue to be received, the number of requests has slowed considerably. Since the announcement of the Hurricane Ian Recovery Fund immediately following the storm, over 500 applications have been […]
Written by Staff Report on . Posted in News.
Lee County Solid Waste requests residents of Boca Grande to put their Hurricane Ian debris curbside by Tuesday, Jan. 3. Contractor continue collections of storm debris and residents are reminded to place green vegetation out for their regular yard-waste collection, which occurs weekly. Lee County this week marked another milestone for debris collection, with five […]
Written by Guest Columnist on . Posted in News.
BY SUSAN HANAFEE Notes of gratitude continue to pour into the Boca Grande Disaster Relief Fund, which was set up in the wake of Hurricane Ian to help businesses and other island essentials get back on their feet. “I wanted to take a moment and thank all parties, collectively, for their efforts to re-open the […]
Written by Guest Columnist on . Posted in News.
BY ROGER LEWIS Two favorite speakers from past years, Candice Millard and Akhil Reed Amar, will lead the 2023 programming for Friends of Boca Grande at the Community Center. Candice Millard will talk about her new book, “River of the Gods: Genius Courage and Betrayal in the Search for the Source of the Nile,” on […]
Written by Sheila Evans on . Posted in News.
People have started noticing a change in the air. It is not only the cold fronts that have started bringing lower temperatures and lower humidity, but the air is full of birds. Recovery from Hurricane Ian is starting to happen among wildlife, as it is doing to many of the human species. Dr. Robin Bast, […]
Written by Boca Beacon Reader on . Posted in Editorial.
T’was the night before Christmas and all around No noses were frozen, no snow fluttered down. No children in flannels were tucked into bed, They all wore their shorty pajamas instead! To find wreaths of holly was not very hard, For holly trees grow in everyone’s yard. In front of the houses were daddies and […]
Written by Marcy Shortuse on . Posted in Columns, Community History.
FIVE YEARS AGO The Pink Pony got that really cool machine that presses pennies into different designs. TEN YEARS AGO Ed Seale passed away, a true Southern gentleman who helped shape Gasparilla Island with his real estate company. FIFTEEN YEARS AGO A company that was looking into purchasing the old Mercabo facility wanted to put […]
Written by Marcy Shortuse on . Posted in Editorial, Opinion.
This has been a strange year. So was the year before it … and the year before it … and so on. It’s been a non-stop parade of “unprecedented” situations we’ve been experiencing, all the while trying to continue on with what we recall our “normal” lives to have been. That memory is slipping further […]
Written by Marcy Shortuse on . Posted in News.
In some cases, insurance premiums are up 400 percent on island homes for fiscal year 2022-23 Everyone has been aware of the unavoidable insurance premium increase that would come after Hurricane Ian, but one Gasparilla Island couple was so flummoxed by their recent renewal premium, they see this as a game changer for many residents […]
Written by Staff Report on . Posted in News, Police & Fire.
The actions of one local man erratically driving drunk last Friday, Dec. 9, could have had a much worse outcome than it did. According to witnesses, that day at approximately 7:30 a.m. Timmie Carroll Spain, 49, of Port Charlotte was northbound on Gasparilla Road and allegedly ran several people off the road in the Lee […]