Written by Evan Dunbar on . Posted in Breaking News, News.
As freedom’s ringing dissipated throughout Boca Grande following yesterday’s Fourth of July holiday, many people expressed their favorite traditions concerning America’s 248th. The Dennis family, pictured above, was visiting from Cochran, Ga., an agricultural town 45 minutes south of Macon. “We usually end up in Boca Grande around the Fourth of July,” said a member […]
Written by Garland Pollard on . Posted in Community, Editorial.
Currently, the Boca Beacon is digesting hundreds of pages of correspondence between Lee County and Boca Grande as part of a public records request. On June 4, we filed and paid for a record of any recent email or text correspondence that contain the keywords “Boca Grande” or “Gasparilla Island” between all county commissioners, county […]
Written by Staff Report on . Posted in Community, News.
Editor’s Note: Due to a family emergency, this has been postponed. Sue Sligar of Gilchrist Interiors has invited Vice Chairman Kevin Ruane, who represents the island as District 1 Commissioner on the Lee County Board of County Commissioners, to come to the Community Center on Monday, July 8 to meet with “owners of shops and […]
Written by Guest Columnist on . Posted in Columns, News, Sports & Outdoors.
BY ARLENE HALLBGSTA SECRETARY The most exciting part of turtle nesting season began last week, when hatchlings from the first couple of loggerhead nests started emerging from the sand. With the first nests laid in early May, Boca Grande turtle patrollers have started observing and documenting hatches of these nests. As these nests begin to […]
Written by VAN HUBBARD on . Posted in Columns, Community History, Featured News, Sports & Outdoors.
Somewhere in the intense mid- ‘80s, I took videographer Gary Sullivan tarpon fishing. It was 1985 when I met Gary, aka Sully, when he came along on a trip. He was in the production business and, awed by our exciting, amazing tarpon fishing, said we should make a TV show. This opened a new chapter […]
Written by Guest Columnist on . Posted in Community, Community History.
BY KRISTEN VARELA-SCHILD At my father’s memorial, I was a little jealous. Jealous of the stories my brother told of connecting with my father nearly every weekend at their hunting lodge; sitting together side by side in freezing cold companionable silence waiting for the geese to come. Or at the hunting lodge in the summer, […]
Written by Staff Report on . Posted in Entertainment, Events, News.
The Englewood Art Center, a division of Ringling College of Art and Design, is offering visitors and residents a chance to enjoy original artworks created by more than 20 area artists. EAC’s Summer Art Market is from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Friday, July 19, and Saturday, July 20 in the center’s Loranger Gallery, […]
Written by Drew Stanley on . Posted in Community, Entertainment, Featured News, News.
The July/August edition of Gasparilla Island Magazine is out with new feature stories, recipes, shopping and social pages. Featured stories include a discussion of our regional water quality by Captain Van Hubbard, highlights from various modern art instillations in Sarasota, a history on housing and architecture in Punta Gorda (excerpt below), a look at nesting […]
Written by Guest Columnist on . Posted in Columns, Community History.
BY THE BOCA GRANDE HISTORICAL SOCIETY The late Robert Fischer, author of “Boca Grande: Once A Railroad Town,” wrote that there are “Many beautiful places to live or vacation in southwest Florida … Once Boca Grande had all the charm and ambience of a James Michener novel set in the South Pacific … Once Boca […]
Written by Staff Report on . Posted in Featured News, News, Sports & Outdoors.
A giant seven-inch poison cane toad was caught and bagged in the alley behind the Boca Beacon office on Tuesday, July 2. The cane toad (also known as the bufo, giant or marine toad) is an invasive species to Florida that secretes a poisonous white bufotoxin, seen in the bag. They can be deadly to […]