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Barrier islands show rental inventory rebounding steadily

Written by Garland Pollard on . Posted in Community.

Rental inventory in Boca Grande and on other nearby islands, like Palm Island, is gradually coming back on line, almost a year after the storm.

“We feel kind of lucky compared to our neighbors to the south,” said Robin Madden, an owner/broker at Islander Properties, a leasing firm for properties on Palm Island. She represents individual houses there, and not the resort, which is a separate operation.

This summer, for instance, Lee Board of County Commissioners voted to waive tolls on the Sanibel Causeway for six consecutive Sundays to support a “Savor the Shore” campaign organized by the Lee County Visitor & Convention Bureau.

Locals could do more on Lemon Bay Scenic Byway

Written by Garland Pollard on . Posted in Community, News.

The two approach roads to Boca Grande, namely Gasparilla Road and Placida Road, are both part of one of 27 Florida Scenic Byways. Officially called the Lemon Bay/Myakka Traill Scenic Byway, the honorific status promotes and celebrates “cultural, historic, archaeological, recreational, natural and scenic aspects” of the entrance to Boca Grande. A key part of […]

PROFILE: Terry Hoffman, new Island School art teacher

Written by Sheila Evans on . Posted in Education, Profiles.

The Island School has not only found an art teacher with pizazz, they found one with a sense of humor and a sense of purpose. The new art teacher is Terry Hoffman, and she loves bringing out the artistic creativity she believes is present in everyone, especially children.

Monday, Aug. 14 was her first day with her new students. “It was a great first day!” she reported. 

The bright orange sundress she wore was a great ice- breaker, as children noticed the drawings of pineapples on the dress. “I love pineapples,” one student told her. “I break out when I eat pineapple,” another offered. Everyone had something to say about the dress or the jewelry or the artwork … and Terry knew that is how it would work.

EDITORIAL: We are all ‘somebody’ in the history of Gasparilla Island … for better, or for worse

Written by Marcy Shortuse on . Posted in Community History, Editorial, Obituaries.

There’s so much that has changed in our community in the last year or two. It’s difficult sometimes to wrap our minds around what has happened just since last September, much less the other changes that have taken place. Some of them were fast and furious, like Hurricane Ian, but others have been a slow, […]

THIS DATE IN THE BOCA BEACON

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

TEN YEARS AGO A mystery survey was sent to random island residents, regarding Gilchrist Avenue parking? Who sent it? And why? FIFTEEN YEARS AGO A group that included Robert Johnson, sisters Carolyn Ryals and Janette Washington, Chevalia Scurry, Bumps and Janell Johnson and others discussed with the Boca Grande Historical Society what it meant to […]

ECOWATCH: An important reading adventure for August

Written by Delores Savas on . Posted in Columns, Opinion.

August weather can often make some people uncomfortable, and that has made the month known as “the dog days of summer.” The Farmer’s Almanac says that the name is linked to the rising of Sirius, the Dog Star.  Ancient Egyptians, Romans and Greeks believed that the rising of Sirius in mid-to late summer caused the temperatures to rise and conditions to become less comfortable. Though temperatures remain hot and conditions humid in many parts of the northern hemisphere throughout the month of August, the dog days officially end on August 11.  

   While the dog days of summer may officially be over, no one has told the powers that be to shut the heat off, as so far, August is headed toward becoming the second-warmest month, with temperatures in the high 90s in Florida, while July 2023, at 99 degrees, is listed as the highest on record on Florida’s temperature chart.

Kerfuffle and confusion at the old bakery as crews clash over miscommunication

Written by Marcy Shortuse on . Posted in News.

Thursday morning got a little crazy over on Railroad Avenue, as demolition crews showed up to start on the old Bakery Building at the same time T. Steele Construction was there to work on the new cell phone tower site. Neither crew knew the other would be there, and apparently Aaron Diaz, owner of The Barnichol, didn’t know demo crews would be beginning today, either, and was concerned for the safety of his store patrons. The problem was exacerbated by the fact that the person charged with dealing with the bakery demolition was out of the country.

An agnostic view of Boca Grande’s alien visits over the years

Written by Garland Pollard on . Posted in News.

In the wake of the recent explosive hearings in the U.S. Congress on UFOs, now called Unidentified Aerial Phenomena, the sole report of a 1999 UFO hovering near the causeway to Boca Grande still remains a mystery.

The report was from Dec. 18, 1999, when an unknown couple is alleged to have come onto the island and seen a “football-field-sized saucer with blinking white lights, that made no sound as it traveled across the sky.”

The report is one of over 8,000 sightings of mysterious things in the air over Florida, according to the National UFO Reporting Center (NUFORC).

GICIA Bike Path landscape project begins

Written by Guest Columnist on . Posted in Community.

The Gasparilla Island Conservation and Improvement Association (GICIA) is pleased to announce that a Bike Path enhancement project began earlier this week.  Each year summer maintenance and improvement projects are established for the five miles of the GICIA Bike Path.  The focus this year is returning GICIA’s Bike Path property to pre-hurricane condition.  

Hurricane Ian destroyed much of the island’s beautiful vegetation.  It is estimated that approximately 300 trees and countless grasses and shrubs along the Bike Path were lost to the storm. This week crews began planting nearly 2,500 trees, shrubs and grasses to replace what was lost to Ian.