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A flooded causeway took precedence at latest GIBA meeting

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

Flooding on the Gasparilla Island Causeway after Hurricane Ian was the main topic of discussion for the spring meeting of the Gasparilla Island Bridge Authority (GIBA), held Thursday, April 22. The long duration of the flooding has had many people wondering why, and what can be done to prevent a recurrence.

There was agreement that the flooding was a highly unusual happening, with the volume of rain generated by the storm a major factor. Nevertheless, if reasonable steps can be taken to prevent a recurrence of the situation in future storms, the Board is determined to take those steps.

Alice’s Secret Garden: A piece of the Fust Library, named for an island visionary

Written by Guest Columnist on . Posted in News.

On Friday, April 14, 2023, under the cover of dappled light and surrounded by latticed brick walls and lush greenery, an intimate crowd of current and former board members of the Johann Fust Library Foundation, its Literary Advisors, and the live poets of Boca Grande gathered just beyond the children’s library in a magical space that has been christened Alice’s Secret Garden. They were there to dedicate the space to Alice Gorman and to express gratitude for her support of the Johann Fust Library Foundation’s mission: “To preserve the buildings and gardens of the library while providing a literary and cultural center for the residents and visitors of Boca Grande.”

 Alice was first elected to the Board of Directors in 2006, when the Johann Fust was a private library. Cotton Hanley was president, Rosemary Bowler was vice president, and Board members included Paul Csank, Tim Dumas, Sue Fuller, Sandy Hemm, Bill Morton, Sue Shaffer, Charles Tyler and Daly Walker.

Knight named new BGHS president, Blaha to serve as vice president

Written by Staff Report on . Posted in Community History, News.

Johns Knight is the newly-elected president of the Boca Grande Historical Society. The Knight family came to Florida in 1840, settling first in Manatee County and later in Charlotte County. Before arriving on Gasparilla Island in 1906 to work on the railroad trestle at the north end of the island, the Knight family members ranched cattle and had a store on the Peace River. In Boca Grande, several generations of the family have been caretakers, sheriff, boat designers, builders and salvagers, librarians and marina managers. Currently Johns is a realtor. 

Celebrating the Gasparilla Island Lighthouse

Written by Sheila Evans on . Posted in News.

The Gasparilla Island Lighthouse is open for business again. The historic structure was seriously damaged during Hurricane Ian, but with the help of many groups and individuals, it has been restored and is open again to the public.
A grand ribbon-cutting officially marked the Lighthouse’s return on Saturday, April 22. Sharon McKenzie, the Barrier Island Parks Society’s executive director, thanked the many people who helped make the return happen in a timely way. That included the Florida Lighthouse Association, Island TV and the Boca Grande Disaster Relief Fund, overseen by the Lighthouse United Methodist Church, as well as all the people of the community who contributed to the fund.

IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Todd Simonds

Written by Sheila Evans on . Posted in Profiles.

After college he worked in the social sciences. “I was working in a research center at the University of Pittsburgh, in the field of ‘learning psychology’ for 10 years,” he said. “The robotics institute at Carnegie Mellon University was founded while I was doing that. Pitt and Carnegie Mellon are adjacent to one another, and I knew a great many of those people. I went to the dean of the School of Engineering and said, ‘I don’t know anything about robotics, but I know about research centers, and I can help you.’ I got hired on the spot.”

It may be that being confident, and being able to look an opportunity in the eye and not blink may be other skill sets he has been bringing to the table throughout his career.

He noted that this was during the very earliest days of robotics. “It was the first time I’d heard the word,” he said. “And Carnegie Mellon is, to this day, the pre-eminent center of research and development in the field of robotics.” In the end, Todd spent 30 years in the field, helping to make it what it is today.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Island lover is so thankful for all of the memories made here

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

To the Editor:

I would like to thank the Boca Beacon for writing an informative story about the iconic “Whispering Bench.” The story was loaded with details and information about this historical gem located on one of the properties along the very special Gilchrist Blvd.

I found the story compelling since as a family we first came to Boca Grande when I was about twelve years old. We rented at the Boca Grande Beach Club. Aside from the homes in “town” or the “village” and some homes north of Boca Grande, there were virtually no other condominiums or homes south of the Range Light.

Your weekly red tide report

Written by Boca Beacon on . Posted in News.

Over the past week, the red tide organism Karenia brevis was detected in 86 samples collected from Florida’s Gulf Coast. Bloom concentrations (>100,000 cells/liter) were present in three samples: one from Sarasota County, one offshore of Lee County and one offshore of Collier County.  In Southwest Florida over the past week, K. brevis was observed […]

BOCASCOPES!

Written by Marcy Shortuse on . Posted in Boca Beacon Back Pages, Columns.

Boca Beacon backpages Aries: This is the week of self-realization, meaning you’ll realize how many chips you scarfed down during the Golden Girls marathon. Maybe the answer to what your pondering isn’t at the bottom of the chip back but in the words of the Ms. Petrillo herself – “To get back to my youth […]

Hang tag program update and more from the Fire Department

Written by Staff Report on . Posted in News, Police & Fire.

Since Hurricane Ian, the Boca Grande Fire Department has been working hard to update and finesse certain policies and procedures to optimize response to such natural disasters. One of those policies is the hurricane hang tag policy, which is still being worked on at this time. 

It is imperative that you get hang tags prior to a storm and, preferably, prior to the beginning of storm season. Tags will not be issued just prior to a storm, as department workers will be busy preparing and doing other things. 

Make sure all hang tags under your name are accounted for and in the right hands … and that includes tags that you might have asked for right after the storm that you haven’t picked up yet.

Local girl suffering from brain cancer hoping for lifesaving donations from Gofundme and social media campaigns

Written by Sheila Evans on . Posted in News.

Lexi was a vibrant, soft-ball-playing, teenager. No one suspected that the blurry vision and headaches she started experiencing around the first of March this year could be anything terribly serious. Teenagers always have something new going on with their bodies. But Briana wanted to be on the safe side and took her to Dr. Tad Kosanovich, at Englewood Eye Center, where Briana was working.   

The optometrist discovered there was a serious problem and immediately referred the family to Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital, in St. Petersburg. There, doctors saw that a large tumor was present on the left side of Lexi’s brain. They acted quickly and operated, removing the entire tumor. With further examination, however, they found she still had cancer, and it was aggressive and was already at stage 4, meaning it had spread.