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IN THE SPOTLIGHT: No longer on vacation in Boca Grande

You may have noticed a new byline in the Boca Beacon. Behind the byline is the latest addition to the Beacon staff, Anna Ridilla. She’s new to the Beacon, and even to the newspaper business, but not to Boca Grande. Anna is the granddaughter of Melinda Thies, who lives at the north end of the […]

Getting to the heart of the story for women

BY MARY BETH SCHNEIDER I should have died this past summer. Not the illness kind of death, but the drop-dead kind that makes everyone ask “What happened? She was so fit!” Thankfully, it wasn’t my time. I survived to share my story and alert women everywhere, young and old, of a dangerous, life-threatening condition that […]

Letters: Memories of a Chicago street rekindled

Response to last week’s letter from Ron Raedeke on their memories of sharing the same street in Chicago. To the Editor:  The randomness of a conversation with a stranger at the concert a few weeks ago stirred many wonderful memories of all the occasions we shared with our tenants at 2012 N. Cleveland in Lincoln Park. We are […]

Shorebird nesting season

Shorebird/seabird beach nesting season begins Feb. 15, 2024. Each nesting season, Charlotte County staff installs temporarily fencing and educational signage around solitary and colony nesting areas to provide a safe buffer zone. Beachgoers are advised to avoid posted shorebird/seabird nesting areas and leave dogs at home. Dogs are seen as predators and have the potential […]

Bintelli golf cart for auction at March 2 Strawberry Fest

Auction item donations continue to stream in for the March 2 Strawberry Festival. Last year, the big donation prize was a vintage VW Beetle. This year, the top prize for bidders may be a Bintelli Beyond golf cart. Built in Charleston, S.C., the Bintelli is a street-legal cart, with more solid wheels and a higher […]

Dates set for tarpon tournament season

The dates for upcoming Boca Grande tarpon tournaments have been set. “The tournaments” are a great tradition, said Betsy Joiner, president of the Gasparilla Island Maritime Museum. “It’s exciting as the weather gets warmer and tarpon start coming out. Everyone gets tarpon fever.” The season begins with the Ladies’ Day Tarpon Tournament, hosted by the […]

Manta Ray expert swims into Cape Haze Feb. 22

Jessica Pate, the lead scientist for the Florida Manta Project, will be in town on Thursday, Feb. 22 to speak on The Mysterious Manta Rays of Florida. Pate started the Florida Manta Project in 2016 as a part of the work of the Marine Megafauna Foundation. She will be here as part of a lecture […]

Islanders need a lift in recent elevator entrapments

Last Saturday Feb. 10, there was an elevator entrapment on island. The Boca Grande Fire Department quickly rescued stuck passengers from a third-floor elevator at 5091 Gasparilla Road after a 911 call. There was a separate case on Jan. 27 that was also resolved. “You see how regular they are,” said Boca Grande Fire Department […]

Historic Preservation Board approves projects

Two projects, including a signature house at 181 Gilchrist Ave., were unanimously approved by the Boca Grande Historic Preservation Board on Wednesday, Feb. 14. The proposed house on Gilchrist is a two-story design. A site plan submitted by Daily Janssen Architects of Palm Beach showed the proposed two-story cottage on Gilchrist to be situated next […]