Written by Marcy Shortuse on . Posted in News.
■ BY SUE ERWIN – Boca Grande resident Tom Shaffer was taking his regular morning stroll on the beach around 9 a.m. on Saturday, May 14 when he noticed a peculiar group of manatees frolicking in very shallow water just a few feet from the beach shore. His four-year-old Golden Retriever, Maggie, paused just north of […]
Written by Marcy Shortuse on . Posted in News.
■ STAFF REPORT – The sheriff’s office activity log for the island has been a little busier lately, with a vehicle accident, an assault and a theft reported recently. On Friday, May 13 at approximately 5 p.m. the vehicle shown here was southbound on Gasparilla Road at the north end of the island when the […]
Written by Marcy Shortuse on . Posted in News, Profiles.
■ BY SUE ERWIN – Betty Hill distinctly remembers arriving in Boca Grande for the first time in 1955. It was a time when there was, quite literally, nothing here with the exception of about 125 people and a bare-bones infrastructure of a town. She recalls that in the 1950s there was the post office, a […]
Written by Marcy Shortuse on . Posted in Editorial, Letters to the Editor, News.
To the Editor: The Boca Grande Area Chamber of Commerce’s 26th Annual Ladies Day Tarpon Tournament had a successful outcome with a field of 36 boats and 11 total tarpon released on May 7, 2016. Brendan Coudal designed the 2016 Ladies Day logo and the tournament art again this year. A limited supply of his […]
Written by Marcy Shortuse on . Posted in News.
BY MARCY SHORTUSE – Capt. Timmy Smith hadn’t caught a lot of tarpon this season up to the time of the 2016 World’s Richest Tarpon Tournament, held last week on Thursday and Friday, May 19 and 20. Maybe that’s because he was saving his mojo up for those two days, because he and his anglers […]
Written by Marcy Shortuse on . Posted in News.
BY MARCY SHORTUSE – Day One of the 2016 World’s Richest Tarpon Tournament is complete, and in just a few short hours Day Two will begin. Day One, on Thursday, May 19, yielded 24 releases for 26 boats in the competition. The First Fish Award, with a release at 2:51 p.m. , went to Capt. […]
Written by Marcy Shortuse on . Posted in News.
■ BY SHARON MCKENZIE BARRIER ISLAND PARKS SOCIETY The Barrier Island Parks Society (BIPS) reported that thus far the fundraising for the Gasparilla Island Light restoration project has brought in $1,068,000 in gifts and pledges. Larry Hannah, BIPS director and chair of the fundraising effort, said that “over 350 individual gifts have propelled […]
Written by Marcy Shortuse on . Posted in News.
■ BY SUE ERWIN The Boca Grande Fire Department took part in a Public Protection Classification survey in March. The results are expected to lower island homeowners’ insurance premiums. The survey was completed by ISO, a company based in New Jersey that rates fire departments based on their capabilities to protect a community. The ratings […]
Written by Marcy Shortuse on . Posted in News.
■ STAFF REPORT A Naples man was arrested on Wednesday, May 11 after hundreds of gallons of gasoline were found in barrels off the coast of Lee County. Deputies received information about stolen boats and fuel being stored on Cayo Costa, and it led to the discovery of 345 gallons of fuel on the island. […]
Written by Marcy Shortuse on . Posted in News.
■ BY SUE ERWIN The tarpon were rolling in every direction as the sun was setting on the day of Friday, May 13 … and they seemed hungry. There were 17 teams participating in the annual Howl at the Moon Tarpon Tournament that night, and the tarpon proved to be hungry. The team aboard Capt. […]