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Friends speaker to discuss The Marquis de Lafayette:Facts you probably didn’t know

Written by Staff Report on . Posted in Community, Featured News.

From New York Times bestselling author Mike Duncan comes the story of the Marquis de Lafayette, to be presented on Wednesday, Nov. 15 at the Boca Grande Community Center. Duncan, a self-described “complete history geek” and one of the most popular American history podcasters, will be giving a lecture on, “The Hero of Two Worlds: The Marquis de Lafayette in the Age of Revolution.” This talk is part of Friends of Boca Grande’s History and Heritage series, which lets you experience some of the world’s most significant historical events and individuals through captivating stories.
The Marquis de Lafayette is one of history’s most interesting people.

PROFILE: Pastor Gary Beatty

Written by Sheila Evans on . Posted in Featured News, Profiles.

If it is wrong to lie about your age when you are 16 so you can earn money to help your mother support the family, Pastor Gary Beatty has probably been forgiven. What was truly wrong was how poor he and his mother and five sisters were. Someone had to relieve the burden, so young Gary took it up as his responsibility. He joined the National Guard to get a paycheck. 

The Beatty family was not the only poor family in Lancaster, Ohio, and Gary was not the only underage boy who enlisted in 1956. 
“It wasn’t that uncommon,” Pastor Beatty recalled. “There were probably eight or 10 of us in our company who were underage.”

OBITUARY: Klaas “Dutch” Heidsieck

Written by Staff Report on . Posted in News, Obituaries.

Klaas “Dutch” Frans Heidsieck, 84, of Sea Island, Ga. died Wednesday, Nov. 1, 2023 at Hospice of the Golden Isles. Brunswick Memorial Park Funeral Home is assisting the family. Dutch was a long-time resident of Boca Grande, a volunteer with many organizations and was loved by many.  His obituary is pending.

THIS DATE IN THE BOCA BEACON

Written by Marcy Shortuse on . Posted in Community History, Featured News.

FIVE YEARS AGOThe Boca Grande Historical Society was celebrating “Railroad Week” by introducing a new exhibit called “Railroads, Phosphate and Real Estate.” TEN YEARS AGO We had a sunrise eclipse. FIFTEEN YEARS AGO John McCain took the island vote in the polls with 58 percent. Island businesses were shuffling from locations and some disappeared altogether […]

LETTER TO THE EDITOR: News from the November Lee County Commissioners’ meeting

Written by Boca Beacon Reader on . Posted in Featured News, Letters to the Editor.

To the Editor: The Lee Board of County Commissioners on Tuesday selected District 5 Commissioner Mike Greenwell to serve as Board Chairman for the coming year and District 1 Commissioner Kevin Ruane to serve as vice chairman.  The Board selects a chairman annually in November from among the five commissioners. Commissioner Greenwell previously served as […]

Tropical Nights to feature two Neiman serigraphs (a few other familiar artists will be there, too)

Written by Staff Report on . Posted in Community, Featured News, News.

Two rare Neiman serigraphs will be auctioned off at the YMCA 27th Annual Tropical Nights fundraiser on November 18, 2023. The event kicks off at 5 p.m. at Palm Island Resort. Cocktails and gourmet dinner catered by Rum Bay Restaurant will accompany a live and silent auction featuring many other items including local artwork, vacation packages, golf, […]

Turtle Patrol gives end-of-season wrap-up

Written by Sheila Evans on . Posted in News.

Hurricane Idalia effectively ended the sea turtle nesting season this year, much like Hurricane Ian did last year. The good news is that most of the nesting season was already completed before either storm hit the area. 

This season the number of nests and hatchlings was down from 2022, according to Denise Juergens, marine turtle permit holder for the Boca Grande Sea Turtle Association (BGSTA), which covers the entire island except for the state park properties. She said, however, that there was good news with this year’s final tally of nests and hatchlings. 

“This year the depredation rate in our nests went from roughly 47 percent in 2022 to 12 percent,” she said. 

Depredation is the disturbance of the nests and hatchlings by dogs, seabirds, raccoons, ghost crabs and other predators. On Gasparilla Island, most of the destruction is done by coyotes, Juergens said.