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Clinic events raise more than $350,000

■ STAFF REPORT       The Boca Grande Health Clinic had an exciting two days last week, as their annual fundraising festivities began with a quarterly meeting on Thursday, April 7 (see page 20 for that story) and ended with the Hank Wright Golf Tournament on Friday, April 8. A new and exciting event was […]

100 trillion friends you didn’t know you had

■ BY SUE ERWIN      A common word that often comes to mind when many people think about bacteria is “gross.” Mote Marine postdoctoral research fellow Dr. Andrea Tarnecki tried to break that bad reputation on Tuesday, April 12 at a ‘Science Café’ event held at the Johann Fust Community Library. The free educational […]

Residents observe GICIA Preserve at public meeting

■ BY SUE ERWIN      Committee Chair Bayne Stevenson of the Gasparilla Island Conservation and Improvement Association unveiled a large reproduction illustrating the envisioned GICIA Preserve at a public meeting held on Wednesday, April 13 at the property, located at Gasparilla Road and the Boca Grande Causeway. He thanked the crowd for the support […]

GIBA says ‘thank you’ for another great season

Letter to the Editor; Like the tides on the beaches of Boca Grande, seasonal vehicles come and go with both predictability and occasional extraordinary highs. Each new seasonal tide provides us with good customers and a continually refreshed community. The statistics these last six months* confirm that Boca Grande has experienced new record highs, like […]

PROFILE: Jim Benson

■ BY MARCY SHORTUSE & JIM BENSON Jim Benson may be a young man, but his passion for life and his work ethic run deep. That’s not to say he’s a guy who can’t have a good time – he definitely can – but he has proven to be one of the most up-and-coming real […]

Bike Florida to bring 500 cyclists to Boca Grande on April 14

■ BY SUE ERWIN      Approximately 500 cyclists will be spinning down Gasparilla Road on Thursday, April 14. But don’t be alarmed – precautions have been well planned out, and the event shouldn’t have much effect on the island. Bike Florida is organizing its first tour of Florida’s Gulf Coast Region, and for the […]

Educational summit features educational celebrities

■ BY SUE ERWIN      At an educational summit held on Tuesday, April 5 at the Boca Grande Community Center, some of the nation’s top educators gathered with islanders to talk about new trends and successful techniques in educating our primary and secondary school-age children. The invitation-only event, orchestrated by Cavendish Global, packed the […]

Iguana millage to increase, bidding process to begin soon

■ BY MARCY SHORTUSE      Iguana hunting taxes are going up by 0.102 percent, but iguana numbers are definitely going down. At an annual meeting of the MTSBU advisory committee for Gasparilla Island’s street lighting and iguana control Friday, April 1, Lee County MSTBU Coordinator Melissa Geissler told the Board they had to raise […]

PROFILE: Garry Carley

■ BY SUSAN ERWIN    Boca Grande part-time resident Garry Carley is a native of Detroit, Michigan, and while he enjoys the peaceful island life here, he also has a sincere passion for the revitalization of his hometown. He currently serves as Chairman of Detroit Neighborhood Housing Services, Inc. Carley met his wife, Nancy, while […]

OBIT: Sydell Berman Friedman

Sydell Friedman was a Boca Grande phenomenon. She and her husband, Stanley, were well known throughout the island and highly regarded in intellectual, social and tennis circles (and in just about every endeavor in which they participated) for more than 30 years. They were loving parents, grandparents and pet owners, as well as being energetic […]