The Gasparilla Island Bridge Authority (GIBA) Quarterly Board meeting was held on Thursday, Nov. 2, in the offices of the Authority.

The members were updated on the traffic and revenue figures for the 12 months of the 2023 fiscal year. Toll revenue was up by four percent and traffic was down by three percent, compared to last year. 

The Audit Committee report included an update on the fieldwork that was completed last week by auditors from Suplee Shea Cramer and Miller on the fiscal year 2023 audit. The final audit report will be presented to the GIBA Board at the February 2024 meeting.

The Governance Committee report included the approval of the annual contribution to the discretionary employee retirement fund at Corebridge Financial.

New York interior designer and photographer Stephanie Stokes will visit Boca Grande to promote her new Rizzoli book “The World at Your Table” at a signing on Tuesday, Nov. 14 at J. McLaughlin. 

The book, published in March, is about tabletops and indigenous architecture. The book evolved out of a series of Instagram posts. The table ideas came after Stokes had a horse accident, one which required numerous surgeries, and recuperation time at home.

“I would just invite one person or two people for dinner each night,” said Stokes. “If you are in crutches, it’s pretty nice to set up dinner.”

Kerry Ann Mendez, noted gardening consultant, lecturer, author, columnist, landscape designer and owner of Perennially Yours, a company dedicated to teaching the art of high-impact, low-maintenance flower gardening and landscaping, spoke to an enthusiastic audience of Boca Grande Garden Club members on November 1 in the Community Center auditorium. 

The subject of her presentation was based on her best-selling book, “The Right-Size Flower Garden,” which provides time-tested solutions on how to adapt one’s gardening endeavors to changing lifestyles and interests, focusing on both the young and the mature gardener.