The magazine Coastal Living has “discovered” a new secret island, Gasparilla.
The new fall edition of the magazine put Gasparilla on its front cover with the caption “Florida’s Secret Island. The Old-School Charm of Gasparilla.” Boca Grande, however, did not make the actual cover photo; that honor was reserved for the Reethi Rah resort in the Maldives.
Writer Tracey Minkin cited the “affinity for blue-blood Northeasterners” as an island that grew with a “sporting forward generation” that discovered “wily, hard-fighting tarpon.” Dressing is described as where “Salt Life criss-crosses with dressing for dinner.”
If you’ve been seeing a United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) truck out on the Boca Grande Causeway lately, it’s because it’s prime season for iguana hunting.
While the Lee County portion of the island uses trapper George Cera, who has been on the job for about 16 years, the Municipal Service Benefit Unit (MSBU) takes care of the iguana issue in the Charlotte County part of the island. They hired the USDA about 10 years ago.
As cash deals continue, the Lee and Charlotte County regions slightly lag the rest of the state in July real estate statistics, according to information released this week from the Florida Board of Realtors and local boards.
Statewide, existing single-family houses sales were down 6.4 percent year-over-year, to 22,198, while existing condo-townhouse sales were down 9.4 percent, to 8,463.
For Lee County and the Cape Coral Fort Myers area, closed sales were down 5.3 percent to 1,106, comparing July to July. Closed sales in the county so far for all of 2023 were down 14.6 percent, to 8,431. The median sales price in that metro area was $434,980, down just 1.1 percent for the year so far.
There is a hidden gem in Sarasota County that is shining a bit brighter this week. This gem is the Rotary Club of Englewood’s Youth Foundation Campground, on S. Moon Drive in Venice. The campground was damaged significantly by Hurricane Ian and was been unusable for nearly a year.
Daniel Martinez has found himself a home at the Boca Grande Fire Department. He’s only been here since June, but he envisions himself retiring from this department one day. Since he is 24, that means he will be here a long time.
“I’ve lived in the area pretty much my whole life,” Daniel said. “I was born in Hollywood (Florida) and moved over here when I was about five, to Rotonda West. Basically, every time I wanted to do something fun, I would come to Boca Grande. I’ve lived so close to the island, I was out here a lot as a kid. My prom was out here. I used to do the Turkey Hoop Shoot whenever I could. I ran the 5K out here sometimes. So the island’s always been a part of my life.”
He has discovered a new depth to the community since joining the fire department, though.
FIVE YEARS AGO The Beacon swept the Florida Press Association awards presentation, and Hopkins & Daughter celebrated 30 years of ownership of the Boca Beacon. TEN YEARS AGO Fire destroyed a Pilot Point Lane home, and Capt. Phil O’Bannon was in Lee County trying to make a difference in tarpon fishing gear regulations. Also, our […]
The status of our new cell tower is now officially in question after the demolition company hired to do the job has now quit, citing the safety of his crew and the public as his reason for doing so.
Allegedly Robert Phineas, the owner of the Sarasota company called Roots SRQ, said he would not take responsibility for the project, so he packed up his equipment and left. In the mean time, part of the debris hanging from the second floor of the building fell into the street either Wednesday night or Thursday morning, which meant the road had to be blocked off. Heavy rains predicted in the next few days will endanger the project more by rendering the dangling debris soggier and heavier.
The original pile of debris that was left by the demo company was scooped back into the building by the workmen on site and contractor Leo Pfliger has already done his work on the wall between the Lumen Building and the Bakery Building, which was to cut a hole so the tower assembly company, Steele Construction (who works for the main tower company, Vertical Bridge) could get their equipment through to the tower site.
After a disaster, when first responders aren’t able to communicate with each other and the public cannot communicate with them, there’s a feeling of hopelessness and anxiety that in this technological day and age we seldom feel. In part, that is why one island organization – the Boca Grande Disaster Relief Fund – has stepped up to make an initial donation of $50,000 to an island committee in charge of purchasing and implementing a new emergency operations/communications system that will be vital to our island.
There is hope that other island organizations will donate as well to help the committee reach their goal, which is a fluid number at this time – somewhere around $270,000.
The need for this type of technology became apparent after Hurricanes Irma and Ian, as Irma created a situation in which communications and cell phone failure took place sporadically up and down the Gulf Coast. Ian was worse, obviously. Not only did the island lose its cell tower, but also there was the realization that this one lone tower was serving us for just about the entire signal we had. If a tower goes down on the mainland, one might get a signal here and there – sometimes even a clear one – by repositioning and triangulation of other cell phone towers in the area, but we do not have that luxury here.
Last Saturday, the island officially hit 101 degrees, after a week of highs around 97 or 98. The “feels like” temps were, at times, around 118 degrees.
Through this heatwave and others, some places in Boca Grande still rely upon, and prize, the extra cooling potential of the humble A/C window unit.
On a hot afternoon at Gasparilla Adventures, Sam Fletcher (aka ‘Socks in Crocs’) and Brittani Salmon are still cheery when helping customers renting golf carts and bikes. Their not so secret weapon? A GE brand window unit, blasting out cool air next to the cash register. A second upstairs window unit, which keeps the second floor cool enough for Snow Mizer, had other benefits in this month’s heat and humidity.
