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Furry friends from here to eternity

■  SUE ERWIN When you’re placed in the awful position of deciding what to do when your pet is nearing the end-of-life stage, you are faced with some serious questions: How do I know it’s time? Is it the right thing to do? What if I regret the decision? And the answers aren’t usually easy to […]

Island Art Days to feature artist Marcus Thomas

■ STAFF REPORT Marcus Thomas is the featured artist of the 2017 Island Art Show planned for this weekend, April 1 and 2 in the parking area of the Boca Beacon, 431 Park. Ave. At the age of 26, Thomas suffered a skiing accident that broke his neck and left him paralyzed from the shoulders […]

Nat Geo photojournalist speaks to island crowd

■ BY SUE ERWIN.     National Geographic photojournalist Ami Vitale spoke about her fascinating career covering the mayhem of combat in Kosovo at the Boca Grande Community Center auditorium on Wednesday, March 29. Vitale lived in mud huts with the locals and experienced first-hand what their way of life was like. She started her […]

What’s the most expensive zip in the state? We are!

■ STAFF REPORT.   Gasparilla Island has made the list again as one of the most expensive zip codes in the country. In last month’s edition of Time Magazine, each state’s most expensive zip code was listed. Due to our incredibly small size and incredibly high real estate values, we quite often make this list. […]

Profile: Miranda Blackwell

■  SUE ERWIN Miranda Blackwell had never heard of Boca Grande or even visited the state of Florida before she decided to take a leap of faith and relocate to Englewood three years ago with her boyfriend, Adam. She presently works as the administrative assistant at The Gasparilla Inn & Club Marina. Miranda grew up in […]

Obituary: Ellen ‘Jane’ Pasman

Ellen “Jane” Pasman passed away peacefully in her home on Boca Grande on January 22, 2017 with her children by her side.  She left this world 11 weeks to the day after her devoted husband of 59 years, Jim. When people speak of the Greatest Generation, they focus mainly on the men, but it applies […]

BIPS Green Gala a huge success

To the Editor:     We kicked up our heels and boot scooted till the cows came home! Barrier Island Parks Society (BIPS) extends a heartfelt thanks to all who contributed to making our 2017 Green Gala “Kickin It Island Style” a great success! We raised more than $68,000 dollars thanks to the generous support […]

The end of a golden era: You will be missed, DR

To say that about Mr. Rockefeller is an understatement. Figures from his recent obituaries run anywhere from $900 million to $2 billion that he donated to causes throughout his lifetime. Neil deGrasse Tyson did the math, and he tweeted that if Mr. Rockefeller donated $900 million, it was the equivalent to donating $24,000 for every day of his life … and he lived to be 101. I believe the truer donation figure was much more, so that’s a whole lot of money.
He took his grandfather’s words very seriously, but I believe he was a man of true heart either way. He had friends from all walks of life, and he varied his dinner companions as much as he could because he loved good conversation. He met with leaders from other countries that many would have shunned; he helped people that others would never have helped (there was that whole Iran hostage thing that happened – Google it if you don’t know what happened there); and he did all of this with no remorse. He did what he thought was right and kept moving forward.