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Preservation Board to meet next week on Gilchrist home

Next week on Wednesday, April 12 the Boca Grande Historic Preservation Board will meet for their monthly meeting at 10 a.m. in the Woman’s Club Room at the Boca Grande Community Center. This meeting has a couple of interesting requests from a property owner on Gilchrist Avenue that have drawn attention from island island residents, particularly in regards to a historically-contributing home on one of the old Crowninshield properties. 

The Adam family, owners of 161/181 Gilchrist Ave., have requested permission to change the status of the small cottage that sits at the front of the property from contributing to non-contributing. They intend to demolish the building, as it has become structurally unsound due to years of disrepair. 

They have also requested an allowance for the gulfside home on the property, which is not historically contributing, to be demolished. 

The public is allowed to attend but seating is limited.

PanCAN!  The ‘purple stride’ comes to Boca Grande this month

“This started when we lost friend and Boca resident Mary Tucker last summer. Then another friend, Priscilla Masselink, was diagnosed in December. Priscilla is part of a gold standard chemotherapy clinical trial at Dana Farber Cancer Institute, in Boston, Mass. (and 15 other oncology hospitals around the country) that is funded by the organization PanCAN. When I found out they were having a fundraising walk on April 29th in Tampa, I formed Team Boca and asked other friends of Mary and Priscilla to help me: Honey Skinner, Julia Pierce, Zayra Calderon and Kathy Spiteri. When we knew we had enough people, we called the PanCAN Event Organizers and asked if we could do the walk in Boca. They have been wonderful at accommodating this.”

Historical Society needs new volunteers to help keep island history alive

“As a volunteer, you can learn more about the island you love, or teach us all the stories you know!” said Diff. “We’re looking for volunteers to help foster our island’s vast culture, while having fun and meeting new friends in the process. History spans so many different topics and we’re sure to find something that satisfies anyone’s interests.”

The West Coast Chaos are jamming! Under 12 boys take second championship 

The West Coast Chaos sounds like something Hurricane Ian left in its wake, but it actually is a group of highly committed and skilled young soccer players from the Englewood area.  There are a number of teams under the “Chaos” umbrella, both boys and girls teams, but the team getting recognition at this point is […]

Art After Dark Part II featuring Susan Wood a smashing success

It’s not every day that a photographer with the body of work that Susan Wood has is featured in a slideshow on the side of a building on a tiny island like ours. It happened, though, on March 30, as the second in a series that celebrates the senses called “Art After Dark.” The J.McLaughlin store hosts the events, which are held for charity. Wood, a world famous photographer to the stars of movies, music, fashion, and politics, as well as a highly skilled photojournalist capturing down-to-earth happenings, was thrilled to be part of it. 

IN THE SPOTLIGHT: STATIONS OF THE CROSS

The procession begins at Our Lady of Mercy church at noon, and takes about an hour. Each participant receives a booklet that contains the readings and prayers. Fr. Jerome Carosella, pastor of Our Lady of Mercy, said this booklet has been used since the ritual procession began on the island in 1986, a couple of years before he arrived on the island.

The word from the wickets

The second Annual Gasparilla Mallet Club Tournaments are in the history books, and they were resounding successes, according to Skip Russo, one of the tournament’s directors. At least 24 people took part in each of the two one-day tournaments, one for Golf Croquet on March 14, and one for 6-wicket Croquet on March 21. Some participants played in both tournaments.

The Spadaro family returns to Boca Grande …

Joseph Spadaro came to Boca Grande in the 1920s. On Sunday, March 26, 2023, his great niece, Celeste Markle, came to the Boca Grande History Center to learn more about him. Her brother Bill Perta who lives in Vermont had called a few weeks earlier looking for information about his great uncle. Since Celeste was visiting from New Haven, Connecticut with a friend in Venice, Bill gave her the information that the History Center had created three notebooks about Spadaro and the Boca Grande Hotel he’d built and opened in 1929.  

Candy Hooper to talk on Absalom Markland … who?

Absalom Markland and Ulysses Grant knew each other briefly while attending school in Kentucky. At the outbreak of the Civil War, Grant called on his high school friend to create an efficient system for mail delivery. At one point, Markland and his team were handling 250,000 pieces of mail a day. So in short he was the man responsible for delivering the most important morale builder, letters from home.