Written by Marcy Shortuse on . Posted in Columns, Community History.
FIVE YEARS AGO PJ’s Seagrille and The Grapevine were officially out of business. TEN YEARS AGO Kathy Banson-Verrico was named as the new GIBA director. The pipes were smokin’ in some island homes, as GIWA was looking for pipe leaks. FIFTEEN YEARS AGO The Boca Grande Reference Room in the Community Center was complete, featuring […]
Written by Marcy Shortuse on . Posted in Community History, News.
Tuesday, July 18 was the beginning of the end for two pieces of Cape Haze Peninsula’s history. The former home of Mike Schworm was dismantled and taken down to the ground, while Eunice Albritton’s little house that stood nearby waited forlornly for its turn under the proverbial wrecking ball.
Both homes were in grave disrepair even before Hurricane Ian, but afterward they were damaged even more. They had stood there since the 1940s, when Walter Gault brought his fishing operation from the village of Gasparilla at the north end of the island over the waters of Gasparilla Sound to the southern tip of the Cape Haze Peninsula, in Placida. He purchased the Gasparilla fishery property in the 1930s, but a decade later the railroad sold the land.
Written by Garland Pollard on . Posted in Community, News.
This week, Florida’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) signed a contract to complete repairs at the Port Boca Grande Lighthouse at Gasparilla Island State Park, according to Brooke Keck, communications and external affairs officer for the Department.
“The Florida Department of Environmental Protection has replaced the roofs for the Boca Grande Lighthouse and Museum and chapel,” said Keck. “Park staff continue to work diligently on these ongoing restoration projects and are working closely with the Florida Department of State’s Division of Historical Resources to ensure care is taken to repair and restore these historic structures to their original conditions.”
Written by Garland Pollard on . Posted in Community History, News.
Did you really think it wouldn’t be back? Ha ha, ho ho, hee hee, you must belong in the maison de fous!
The Temptation martini sign, destroyed during Hurricane Ian, is finally put back together and ready to hang over Park Avenue.
“It is finished,” said Jeff Simmons, co-owner of The Temptation.
Written by Marcy Shortuse on . Posted in News, Sports & Outdoors.
Whale sharks just aren’t something you see every day, even in the offshore waters of the Gulf of Mexico in our area. But that doesn’t mean it never happens.
In fact, it happened to some boaters approximately 26 miles off the coast of Sarasota County not too long ago, on July 3.
A video on TikTok surfaced with the encounter, taken by a charter captain named Michael Russo with the alias “Boca Grande Tarpon.” It was captioned “One of the coolest encounters I have ever had out of Sarasota. I think that sharks just follow me.”
Written by Sheila Evans on . Posted in Community History, Health & Wellness, Profiles.
Author George Bernard Shaw famously claimed youth was wasted on the young. Apparently, he never met Effie Joiner, because she is not wasting a moment of her youth. Effie is not yet 27 but is putting nearly every minute to good use and having great fun along the way.
Effie is the newest member of the staff at the Friends of Boca Grande Community Center. She is a program assistant, helping primarily on the music front. She also helps with the lecture series, selling tickets in the office and assisting wherever needed.
Written by Garland Pollard on . Posted in Community, News.
Many were relieved to hear that Palm Island Resort fared as well as it did. It has become a generational family place to visit, with many grandparents taking their grandchildren to see Redbeard the Pirate perform, to eat ice cream at the tables outside Coconuts and play on the purple turtle playground, just as they did when they were young.
Written by Garland Pollard on . Posted in News, Sports & Outdoors.
There’s yet another weather phenomenon beachgoers have to watch for in on the Gulf of Mexico. It’s the meteotsunami, a water wave seen June 21 on Clearwater Beach.
The storm is another bit of off-kilter weather that seems to be hitting the Gulf of Mexico this summer, where oddities include record heat, scarce afternoon rains, bathtub-hot beach water and an upgraded hurricane forecast. All of this is not even a year after Hurricane Ian.
Written by Sheila Evans on . Posted in News.
Southwest Florida Honor Flight (SWFL) has just announced it is hosting a second Honor Flight this year. The first one was in May (and included Boca Beacon publisher Dusty Hopkins), and this next one is scheduled for October 10.
Naomi Copeland, president of SWFL, said the second flight will leave from the Punta Gorda Airport. “This is the first time in 14 years that there has been more than one ‘mission’ annually,” Copeland said. She noted that the original intention was to have this mission dedicated to women veterans, but there have not been enough female veteran applications received to fill an entire flight. Thus they are now including men veterans, as well.
Written by Marcy Shortuse on . Posted in Profiles.
There are few Southern gentlemen left, but by outward appearances, so far, John Garland Pollard IV might be one of them. He is our new staff writer at the Boca Beacon and Gasparilla Island Magazine, and knowing how crazy you have to be to write for a living, we might want to check his crawl space and backyard to see if there are any bodies hidden there.