Written by Guest Columnist on . Posted in News, Police & Fire.
The new boat is a 9M Interceptor with an aluminum hull and a ¾ enclosed cabin. She is powered by twin Mercury Motors, has a fire pump that delivers over 500 gallons per minute of water, front and rear deck guns and dive doors.
Written by Staff Report on . Posted in Police & Fire.
It’s been a busy time lately for the Boca Grande Fire Department and Lee County EMS, as they’ve responded to a plethora of calls that involve everything from falls to elevator rescues, downed power lines to brush fires and more. Here are some highlights from the last few days.
Written by Staff Report on . Posted in News.
Keeping all seaward lights off at night, filling in all holes left on the beach and picking up all beach furniture, toys and tents are the best things we can do to help the turtles.Sea turtles do not have the ability to back up and can become entangled in these items and die. They can also fall in the holes left by beachgoers and do not have the ability to get out.
Written by Susan Hanafee on . Posted in Profiles.
It was 10:30 p.m. and the end of a long day of moving for Matthew Williams, the new pastor at the Lighthouse United Methodist Church of Boca Grande. He was grimy and exhausted. He sat on the steps leading to the church office, contemplating the new life he and his young wife, Joy, were facing. Would this be the paradise it seemed when they crossed the bridge onto Gasparilla Island for the first time weeks earlier? Or something else?
Written by Staff Report on . Posted in Obituaries.
Dick Stem, a World War II veteran who built a successful Sarasota-area building supply company, died surrounded by family at his Boca Grande home on April 13, 2022. He was 94. The patriarch of a multigenerational Florida family, Dick was a character whose quick smile and love for telling a good joke endeared him to […]
Written by Marcy Shortuse on . Posted in Boca Beacon Back Pages.
Boca Beacon backpages 4.22.2022 FIVE YEARS AGO The United Methodist Women of Boca Grande announced they raised $80,000 at the Strawberry Festival, which would be split among 25 charitable organizations. TEN YEARS AGO The Bag Lady was back at Boca Bargains, GIBA was talking about a smaller tender house and a change to catwalks, […]
Written by Guest Columnist on . Posted in Entertainment.
The many wonderful voices of RPP were on offer, among them those of Julia Pierce, Alice Court, Kimberly Whipple, Jeff Lehrian and Peter Powell, as was the delightfully dramatic crooning of James Martin and comic bemoaning of Elaine Skypala. Jim Grant tweeted like a bluebird singing out “that it’s always darkest just before they turn on the lights.” Posturing humor was richly delivered as always by Jim Grace, Lynda Grant, Sally B Johnson, Cori Palmere, Erica Ress Martin, Priscilla Masselink, Sarah McDonald, Linda Rollyson, Nancy Ryan and Boots Tolsdorf. Kris Doubles brought down the house with his hysterical rendition as Lord Evelyn Oakleigh from Anything Goes! Four routines by Tappers Patty Brink, Carol Forrester, Robbin Gilligan, Mary Hancur and Ned Lehrian were highlighted, to the great delight of the audience, and accentuated following each routine by the deadpan delivery of “that’s a hard act to follow” by David Jenkins, who got laughs every time.
Written by Delores Savas on . Posted in Columns, Opinion.
It has been 52 years since the first Earth Day was celebrated in 1970 in Washington, D.C., and college campuses held rallies throughout America. It was a time of awakening. Many had said that Rachel Carson’s book, “Silent Spring,” which documented the adverse environmental effect caused by the indiscriminate use of pesticides, and the Santa Barbara oil spill in 1969, one of the largest oil spills in the U.S. at the time, killing over 3,500 birds and marine animals, were the catalysts for Earth Day.
Written by Boca Beacon on . Posted in Boca Beacon Back Pages.
Boca Beacon backpages 4.15.2022
Written by Delores Savas on . Posted in Boca Beacon Back Pages, Columns, Opinion.
The story of their little church took place at a time when the island was in the midst of growing pains. Boca Grande was a town that had alligators resting on the lawns of homes along the canal, large snakes sunning on the middle of the road on cold days, and a multitude of other species of wildlife on the island. All lived in harmony. Iguanas still had not made the trip from a little Mexican town. But that’s another story for another time.