Written by Guest Columnist on . Posted in Columns, Featured News, News, Sports & Outdoors.
BY DR. JOHN FLETEMEYER Our local beaches are beginning to experience the annual invasion of sea turtles. Soon there will be mini moon nest craters doting the beach landscape. Most turtles, after being away for two to three years, journey several hundred miles to the beach where they were born. Each turtle will lay up […]
Written by Garland Pollard on . Posted in Featured News, News, Real Estate, Sports & Outdoors.
Ferryman returns making Placida/LGI runs The Little Gasparilla Island resort complex Hideaway Bay Beach Club finally has its land access open. On Saturday before last, residents were out on Placida Road fixing their parking area after their land-side dock passed inspection. “We got our ferry back,” said Maria De La Nuez, a board member who […]
Written by Staff Report on . Posted in Featured News, News.
At the quarterly meeting of the Gasparilla Island Bridge Authority, Executive Director Kathy Banson reported Wednesday, April 23 that traffic was down 8 percent this year, though there was a record day on March 19, when there were 5,635 vehicles in one day. Bridge openings are also down 33 percent, averaging about three a day. […]
Written by Staff Report on . Posted in Breaking News, News, Sports & Outdoors.
BY MARCY SHORTUSE Gasparilla Island is scheduled for a Lee County and federal beach renourishment this fall. It is unclear, however, how much a potential change in parking or public access for the beach due to a possible new Lee County parking ordinance will affect the federal funds for the project. Gasparilla Island, like beaches […]
Written by Garland Pollard on . Posted in Breaking News, News.
On Wednesday, the Gasparilla Island Bridge Authority voted to harden the islands around its bridges and roadway to prevent further deterioration in the event of a future hurricane. “One thing the board takes very seriously is maintaining access to the island,” said George Milne, engineering chair for the authority. “We know where a lot of […]
Written by Staff Report on . Posted in Events.
Volunteers from St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Boca Grande shown from left: Audrey Knapp, Regina Rockefeller, Janet Williams, Ginny Bryant, Betsy Reinert gathered around a festively decorated table before the Easter celebration that was held at the Boys & Girls Club of Englewood last week. Photo Submitted
Written by Staff Report on . Posted in Opinion.
BY EMERSON WICKWIRE Today, while reading yet another installment in the Beacon’s never-ending stream of church-related letters about their Gilchrist parking access, I paused to wonder: Why, in our fabulously warm and wonderfully welcoming little barrier island community, has this issue been so loudly ongoing for so many years? And why has it recently become […]
Written by Staff Report on . Posted in Opinion.
BY ALICE GORMAN One of the results of living and caring about a small community for many years is the awareness that certain complicated and difficult issues seem to never be permanently resolved. As a visitor to Boca Grande when my parents settled here in 1971 and a winter resident myself for the past 25 […]
Written by Garland Pollard on . Posted in Editorial.
It is time we had some good news here on Gasparilla Island. This summer, the Gasparilla Island Bridge Authority (GIBA) will embark on two major infrastructure projects – referred to as “hardening” efforts. The first will focus on fortifying their headquarters, and the second will enhance resilience on the islands of the Causeway itself. The […]
Written by Boca Beacon on . Posted in Obituaries.
Melissa A. Landon, 57, passed away on April 9, 2025. A native of Australia and a long time artist of Boca Grande, Mel had a deep love of the ocean. Her one of a kind artwork can be seen in murals around Boca Grande and in many homes throughout the state of Florida. To know […]