Written by Guest Columnist on . Posted in Letters to the Editor.
To the Editor: Lee County reached an important milestone during the weekend by collecting 1 million cubic yards of debris from Hurricane Ian. As of Monday morning, 734,136 cubic yards of vegetation and 285,282 cubic yards of construction and demolition debris have been cleaned up. That is roughly equivalent to the size of 1.1 million […]
Written by Marcy Shortuse on . Posted in Boca Beacon Back Pages.
FIVE YEARS AGO Lee County officials announced when landscaping waste would be picked up from Hurricane Irma. Land’s End and The Community of Boca Grande donated more than $14,000 to area children in clothing and personal hygiene kits. TEN YEARS AGO Whiteflies have been invading the Gasparilla Island from Argentina and are attacking the figs […]
Written by Marcy Shortuse on . Posted in News.
The hang tag program we have now has been extended until October 29, as officials feel it is still unsafe for the general public to come onto the island. The program was supposed to have ended on October 24. Anyone who wishes to gain access to the island must have a valid hang tag on […]
Written by Staff Report on . Posted in News.
Charlotte County Public Works contractors are out in force removing vegetative storm debris. It is the home and business owner’s responsibility to bring the debris to the curb and to properly separate it. For this post-storm pickup, do not put vegetative debris in bags, because it will not be picked up. Debris that is not […]
Written by Marcy Shortuse on . Posted in News.
LGI comes together to confront one of the worst storms in their history Sometimes, one innocuous post on Facebook can change a day for the better. The caption on a photo of a photograph of a lady sitting on a screened-in deck said, “A lineman brought this to us after finding it. It was near […]
Written by Sheila Evans on . Posted in News.
There is bad news and good news at the Barrier Island Parks Society (BIPS) regarding damages from Hurricane Ian. Initial assessments have been completed on the BIPS properties, and there is plenty of bad news: Significant damage was found on all its historic structures: the Amory Memorial Chapel, the Port Boca Grande Lighthouse and the […]
Written by Guest Columnist on . Posted in Community History, News.
Submitted by the Johann Fust Library Foundation For more than 70 years, Boca Grande’s Johann Fust Library has been a coral-pink-colored sentinel, providing a place of respite and literary enrichment for the community, and it will continue to do so! Fortunately, Hurricane Ian was no match for this steadfast grande dame! Since 1950, the library […]
Written by Staff Report on . Posted in Obituaries.
Joy Bowe, a beautiful island lady with a love of nature, music, flowers and most of all, her family, passed away from bone cancer on October 12, 2022. She was surrounded by family and friends. The last few months had been hard on her, and now she is no longer suffering. Her family says thank […]
Written by Staff Report on . Posted in Obituaries.
John Marley Fleming, a former resident of Boca Grande, died on August 29, 2022 in Exeter New Hampshire at the age of 92. The cause of death was Covid. John and his wife Jeanne lived for 20 years in Boca Grande, after moving there from Michigan. In 2013, they relocated to New Hampshire, and Jeanne […]
Written by Guest Columnist on . Posted in Letters to the Editor.
To the Editor, I am a Tampa resident with a home on Boca Grande. I was there this past weekend and couldn’t believe the destruction and somber vibe. There is no fatigue like trauma fatigue. Hurricane Ian hit Florida’s gulf coast on September 28, but what most folks don’t realize is that the week before […]