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LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Sarasota Opera Food & Wine Festival welcomes new partners and returning favorites

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

To the Editor: Sarasota Opera’s annual Food & Wine Festival returns on September 23 from 1 to 4 p.m. and will take place at Sarasota Opera House. Local restaurants will gather to serve tasty bites, wine and other treats as a benefit for Sarasota Youth Opera. This year’s festival will feature many returning classics, such […]

LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Gulf Coast Community Foundation awards $30,000 to Conservation Foundation

Written by Boca Beacon Reader on . Posted in Editorial.

To the Editor:  The Conservation Foundation of the Gulf Coast recently received two $15,000 grants from Gulf Coast Community Foundation. These grants were made possible through the Katherine Naismith Witten Fund at Gulf Coast Community Foundation. Both grants support Conservation Foundation’s land management and restoration programs on their protected lands, with a specific focus on […]

TIMELINE FOR AUGUST 25: THIS DATE IN THE BOCA BEACON

Written by Marcy Shortuse on . Posted in Community History.

FIVE YEARS AGO The Beacon swept the Florida Press Association awards presentation, and Hopkins & Daughter celebrated 30 years of ownership of the Boca Beacon. TEN YEARS AGO Fire destroyed a Pilot Point Lane home, and Capt. Phil O’Bannon was in Lee County trying to make a difference in tarpon fishing gear regulations. Also, our […]

Demo crew quits, droopy Bakery Building more precarious than ever as crews try to begin construction of new tower base

Written by Marcy Shortuse on . Posted in News.

The status of our new cell tower is now officially in question after the demolition company hired to do the job has now quit, citing the safety of his crew and the public as his reason for doing so.

Allegedly Robert Phineas, the owner of the Sarasota company called Roots SRQ, said he would not take responsibility for the project, so he packed up his equipment and left. In the mean time, part of the debris hanging from the second floor of the building fell into the street either Wednesday night or Thursday morning, which meant the road had to be blocked off. Heavy rains predicted in the next few days will endanger the project more by rendering the dangling debris soggier and heavier.

The original pile of debris that was left by the demo company was scooped back into the building by the workmen on site and contractor Leo Pfliger has already done his work on the wall between the Lumen Building and the Bakery Building, which was to cut a hole so the tower assembly company, Steele Construction (who works for the main tower company, Vertical Bridge) could get their equipment through to the tower site.

First $50,000 donation given to emergency comms project

Written by Marcy Shortuse on . Posted in Community, News.

After a disaster, when first responders aren’t able to communicate with each other and the public cannot communicate with them, there’s a feeling of hopelessness and anxiety that in this technological day and age we seldom feel. In part, that is why one island organization – the Boca Grande Disaster Relief Fund – has stepped up to make an initial donation of $50,000 to an island committee in charge of purchasing and implementing a new emergency operations/communications system that will be vital to our island.

There is hope that other island organizations will donate as well to help the committee reach their goal, which is a fluid number at this time – somewhere around $270,000. 

The need for this type of technology became apparent after Hurricanes Irma and Ian, as Irma created a situation in which communications and cell phone failure took place sporadically up and down the Gulf Coast. Ian was worse, obviously. Not only did the island lose its cell tower, but also there was the realization  that this one lone tower was serving us for just about the entire signal we had. If a tower goes down on the mainland, one might get a signal here and there – sometimes even a clear one – by repositioning and triangulation of other cell phone towers in the area, but we do not have that luxury here.

Barrier islands show rental inventory rebounding steadily

Written by Garland Pollard on . Posted in Community.

Rental inventory in Boca Grande and on other nearby islands, like Palm Island, is gradually coming back on line, almost a year after the storm.

“We feel kind of lucky compared to our neighbors to the south,” said Robin Madden, an owner/broker at Islander Properties, a leasing firm for properties on Palm Island. She represents individual houses there, and not the resort, which is a separate operation.

This summer, for instance, Lee Board of County Commissioners voted to waive tolls on the Sanibel Causeway for six consecutive Sundays to support a “Savor the Shore” campaign organized by the Lee County Visitor & Convention Bureau.

Locals could do more on Lemon Bay Scenic Byway

Written by Garland Pollard on . Posted in Community, News.

The two approach roads to Boca Grande, namely Gasparilla Road and Placida Road, are both part of one of 27 Florida Scenic Byways. Officially called the Lemon Bay/Myakka Traill Scenic Byway, the honorific status promotes and celebrates “cultural, historic, archaeological, recreational, natural and scenic aspects” of the entrance to Boca Grande. A key part of […]

EDITORIAL: We are all ‘somebody’ in the history of Gasparilla Island … for better, or for worse

Written by Marcy Shortuse on . Posted in Community History, Editorial, Obituaries.

There’s so much that has changed in our community in the last year or two. It’s difficult sometimes to wrap our minds around what has happened just since last September, much less the other changes that have taken place. Some of them were fast and furious, like Hurricane Ian, but others have been a slow, […]

ECOWATCH: An important reading adventure for August

Written by Delores Savas on . Posted in Columns, Opinion.

August weather can often make some people uncomfortable, and that has made the month known as “the dog days of summer.” The Farmer’s Almanac says that the name is linked to the rising of Sirius, the Dog Star.  Ancient Egyptians, Romans and Greeks believed that the rising of Sirius in mid-to late summer caused the temperatures to rise and conditions to become less comfortable. Though temperatures remain hot and conditions humid in many parts of the northern hemisphere throughout the month of August, the dog days officially end on August 11.  

   While the dog days of summer may officially be over, no one has told the powers that be to shut the heat off, as so far, August is headed toward becoming the second-warmest month, with temperatures in the high 90s in Florida, while July 2023, at 99 degrees, is listed as the highest on record on Florida’s temperature chart.