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Celebrating the Gasparilla Island Lighthouse

Written by Sheila Evans on . Posted in News.

The Gasparilla Island Lighthouse is open for business again. The historic structure was seriously damaged during Hurricane Ian, but with the help of many groups and individuals, it has been restored and is open again to the public.
A grand ribbon-cutting officially marked the Lighthouse’s return on Saturday, April 22. Sharon McKenzie, the Barrier Island Parks Society’s executive director, thanked the many people who helped make the return happen in a timely way. That included the Florida Lighthouse Association, Island TV and the Boca Grande Disaster Relief Fund, overseen by the Lighthouse United Methodist Church, as well as all the people of the community who contributed to the fund.

IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Todd Simonds

Written by Sheila Evans on . Posted in Profiles.

After college he worked in the social sciences. “I was working in a research center at the University of Pittsburgh, in the field of ‘learning psychology’ for 10 years,” he said. “The robotics institute at Carnegie Mellon University was founded while I was doing that. Pitt and Carnegie Mellon are adjacent to one another, and I knew a great many of those people. I went to the dean of the School of Engineering and said, ‘I don’t know anything about robotics, but I know about research centers, and I can help you.’ I got hired on the spot.”

It may be that being confident, and being able to look an opportunity in the eye and not blink may be other skill sets he has been bringing to the table throughout his career.

He noted that this was during the very earliest days of robotics. “It was the first time I’d heard the word,” he said. “And Carnegie Mellon is, to this day, the pre-eminent center of research and development in the field of robotics.” In the end, Todd spent 30 years in the field, helping to make it what it is today.

THIS DATE IN THE BOCA BEACON

Written by Marcy Shortuse on . Posted in Columns, Community History.

FIVE YEARS AGO The roster was filling up for Ladies Day, and the Boca Grande Historical Society elected Karen Grace to her second term as president. TEN YEARS AGO Capt. Charlie Coleman’s team took first place in the Whidden’s Back Bayu Tournament. Capt. Matt Coleman’s team took second.  FIFTEEN YEARS AGO It was announced that […]

LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Island lover is so thankful for all of the memories made here

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

To the Editor:

I would like to thank the Boca Beacon for writing an informative story about the iconic “Whispering Bench.” The story was loaded with details and information about this historical gem located on one of the properties along the very special Gilchrist Blvd.

I found the story compelling since as a family we first came to Boca Grande when I was about twelve years old. We rented at the Boca Grande Beach Club. Aside from the homes in “town” or the “village” and some homes north of Boca Grande, there were virtually no other condominiums or homes south of the Range Light.

Your weekly red tide report

Written by Boca Beacon on . Posted in News.

Over the past week, the red tide organism Karenia brevis was detected in 86 samples collected from Florida’s Gulf Coast. Bloom concentrations (>100,000 cells/liter) were present in three samples: one from Sarasota County, one offshore of Lee County and one offshore of Collier County.  In Southwest Florida over the past week, K. brevis was observed […]

BOCASCOPES!

Written by Marcy Shortuse on . Posted in Boca Beacon Back Pages, Columns.

Boca Beacon backpages Aries: This is the week of self-realization, meaning you’ll realize how many chips you scarfed down during the Golden Girls marathon. Maybe the answer to what your pondering isn’t at the bottom of the chip back but in the words of the Ms. Petrillo herself – “To get back to my youth […]

IT’S GONE

Written by Marcy Shortuse on . Posted in Community History.

The Whispering Bench has been demolished as of this morning at 10:45 a.m. People started making phone calls at about 7 a.m. this Saturday morning, April 22. “It’s gone,” they said. “They’re taking it away.” By 8 a.m. a crowd was forming at 161 Gilchrist Ave., watching heavy equipment take the Whispering Bench down, one […]

Hang tag program update and more from the Fire Department

Written by Staff Report on . Posted in News, Police & Fire.

Since Hurricane Ian, the Boca Grande Fire Department has been working hard to update and finesse certain policies and procedures to optimize response to such natural disasters. One of those policies is the hurricane hang tag policy, which is still being worked on at this time. 

It is imperative that you get hang tags prior to a storm and, preferably, prior to the beginning of storm season. Tags will not be issued just prior to a storm, as department workers will be busy preparing and doing other things. 

Make sure all hang tags under your name are accounted for and in the right hands … and that includes tags that you might have asked for right after the storm that you haven’t picked up yet.

Local girl suffering from brain cancer hoping for lifesaving donations from Gofundme and social media campaigns

Written by Sheila Evans on . Posted in News.

Lexi was a vibrant, soft-ball-playing, teenager. No one suspected that the blurry vision and headaches she started experiencing around the first of March this year could be anything terribly serious. Teenagers always have something new going on with their bodies. But Briana wanted to be on the safe side and took her to Dr. Tad Kosanovich, at Englewood Eye Center, where Briana was working.   

The optometrist discovered there was a serious problem and immediately referred the family to Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital, in St. Petersburg. There, doctors saw that a large tumor was present on the left side of Lexi’s brain. They acted quickly and operated, removing the entire tumor. With further examination, however, they found she still had cancer, and it was aggressive and was already at stage 4, meaning it had spread.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Regarding 161/181 Gilchrist

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

To the Editor:  Regarding 161/181 Gilchrist Avenue:  As I said at the meeting, “When Mrs. Crowninshield’s hand-carved coral bench met its’ demise by a sledgehammer and was thrown in a dumpster, I feared this day would come,” the day when someone can come into the historic district with total disregard for the history, and for […]