Written by Staff Report on . Posted in Breaking News, Sports & Outdoors.
For the first day of the 2024 World’s Richest Tarpon Tournament “Blaze” is leading, according to leaderboard results. The tournament began this week and was held Wednesday, May 22 and Thursday, May 23. As of press time there were a total of 56 fish released by 20 boats on Wednesday for day one of the […]
Written by Staff Report on . Posted in Featured News, News, Sports & Outdoors.
Locals have alerted the Boca Beacon to a number of possibly derelict boats off of Gasparilla Island. In recent weeks, at the north end in Charlotte County, there have been two abandoned boats, and even a motor yacht taking on water. At the north end of the island, near the fishing pier, is a New […]
Written by Delores Savas on . Posted in Columns, Opinion, Sports & Outdoors.
“As crude a weapon as the cave man’s club, the chemical barrage has been hurled against the fabric of life – a fabric on the one hand delicate and destructible, on the other miraculously tough and resilient, and capable of striking back in unexpected ways. These extraordinary capacities of life have been ignored by the […]
Written by VAN HUBBARD on . Posted in Columns, Community, Opinion, Sports & Outdoors.
BY CAPT. VAN HUBBARD Editor’s Note: Van Hubbard’s column Hook, Line and Sinker appeared in the Beacon beginning in 1988. We are delighted to welcome him back. I’m returning to the Boca Beacon because I realize how important Boca Grande is to my career and life. I first traveled to Boca Grande because it offered […]
Written by Guest Columnist on . Posted in Community History.
BY CAPT. ROBERT JOHNSON Editor’s Note: The late Capt. Johnson wrote a history of The Boca Grande Quarantine Station during the COVID-19 outbreak for the Beacon. We are reprinting the May 2020 story. The Boca Grande Quarantine Station, located on the south end of the island, was built in 1892 on the beach next to […]
Written by Boca Beacon on . Posted in Obituaries.
Livingston Byrns Sheppard II was born in the Appalachian mountains of Jenkins, Kentucky to his father Livingston Byrns Sheppard Sr and mother Mecca Vicars, both of Virginia, on April 19, 1928. Growing up in coal country he met his wife, Glenda Huskisson of Virginia. The two married young and Livingston attended the University of Virginia […]
Written by Garland Pollard on . Posted in Featured News, Profiles.
Among the yearly regulars at the Boca Grande Club is Dr. Constantine Mavroudis, one of the nation’s top pediatric cardiac surgeons. Born an American citizen in his ancestral home of Thasos, he has just written a memoir of his journey from World War II-era Greece to his current position, as chief of pediatric cardiac surgery […]
Written by Boca Grande Health Clinic on . Posted in Featured News, Health & Wellness, News.
By MARK DRISCOLL As the pace slows down on the Island, the Boca Grande Health Clinic wraps up an extraordinarily busy season marked by record-setting patient engagements. • Patient Visits: We reached a total of 5,394 patient visits from October 2023 to April 2024, a 32 percent increase over last season. • Busiest Month: March […]
Written by Staff Report on . Posted in Featured News, News, Sports & Outdoors.
The 2024 World’s Richest Tarpon Tournament is set for Wednesday, May 22 and Thursday, May 23. This year, the Grande Tradition honorees at the Captain’s Party are Merritt ‘Babe’ Darna and the late Isabelle Joiner. Each day, the tournament runs from 3:30 to 7:30 p.m. The awards are on Thursday, May 23 beginning with a […]
Written by Anna Ridilla on . Posted in Columns, Sports & Outdoors.
Last Wednesday evening, May 8, Boca Grande Outfitters hosted a fly tying social above the store. As someone who has never fly fished, let alone tied a fly, I was the obvious choice to go represent the Beacon. I am from Colorado, where fly fishing is very popular and there are plenty of places to […]