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PROFILE: Gordon Allen

High tech meets high drama. And it’s all happening in a quiet neighborhood in the elegant town of Boca Grande. 
This is not the plot of a new play, but the real-life story of one of the newest actors joining the ranks of the Royal Palm Players. 

Gordon Allen took a couple of acting classes when he lived in Santa Barbara, California some 20 years ago. He was not actually looking to perform on stage, though. He was hoping to improve his skills as a salesman. 

“It was more just for fun. I’m in sales, so I spend a lot of time in front of people,” he explained. “I was talking to lots of senior-level executives, tech executives, things like that. So taking an acting class was a help in getting better at just talking … talking on my feet and thinking on my feet.”

That changed recently, however.

GUEST EDITORIAL: SHARING THE RESPONSIBILITY

Over the years, I’ve read the Boca Beacon without fail. The best parts of the weekly paper are what I call “The Boca Soaps.” I savor every word. I love the Gilchrist sagas that kept going for several months … then the private fence on the south end of the island that extended across the […]

Make it Grande! Royal Palm Players announces their 2023-24 season

After three years of partial seasons, Royal Palm Players is poised and ready to entertain and excite you. They are back with a full season of four major productions starring over 40 different actors—some brand new to our stage—some familiar and beloved—all are committed to raising the bar of entertainment excellence.

The season is off to a “grande” beginning. The Crowninshield is the perfect setting for The Dining Room On Boca Grande, November 13th and 14th at 5pm. RPP’s opening show is adapted from A.R. Gurney’s dramedy of manners. This table reading literally takes place around a dining room table in a mansion on Gilchrist Avenue. Through a vivid mosaic of scenes, different families in different time periods, create a portrait of life on Boca Grande over the past 100 years.

Parking discussion continues

NOTE: This story contains new information that cannot be found in the hard copy or e-edition story. Just after press time we received information requested earlier in the week that is pertinent to the facts of the story and is included here.

We went from no towers to lots of towers

BY SHEILA EVANS AND MARCY SHORTUSE Not only do we have a new cell phone tower in the middle of town, baby cell phone towers have popped up as well … and more are being planned. Right now we have two new “Q-tip” towers at the north end – one at Gulf Shores Drive and […]

A lack of south end dunes has led to a lot of flooding … so what can be done?

Back in July of 1967, the headline in the News-Press of Fort Myers was, “What to Do About Eroded Tip of Boca Grande.”

Then, as now, islanders were looking to beach nourishment to help prevent erosion on the southern tip of Gasparilla Island. At that time, the Boca Grande Conservation Council, headed by Homer Addison of The Temptation, was in favor of establishing a park at the tip of the island, as the Lighthouse was for sale from the Coast Guard through the General Services Administration. It seemed an ideal solution; the only challenge being the “erosion problem.”

Six decades later, the issue of erosion, while not fixed, is regularly addressed through a mix of federal, local and tourist tax monies. Gasparilla, and indeed all of the Gulf of Mexico islands in Florida, are under regular schedules for replenishment. But what is also a challenge is the flooding at the tip of the island, which hit the south end’s streets and historic buildings during hurricanes Irma, Ian and Idalia.

Gone too soon: ‘Miss Heidi’ Cahill

There are few people in this world who made as much of a positive impact on so many people as did Heidi Cahill, who passed away last week at the age of 49.  After years of tending island little ones at the Boca Grande Childcare Center – 2009 to 2016 – Heidi moved on from […]