Written by Boca Beacon on . Posted in News.
BY JACK SHORT The Gasparilla Island Bridge Authority closed its swing bridge briefly to road traffic and for at least 19 hours to boat traffic beginning Sunday afternoon, according to representatives from GIBA and the United States Coast Guard. During an opening at 4:45 p.m. on May 24, the bridge tender noticed that wedges which […]
Written by Boca Beacon on . Posted in Editorial, Featured News, News.
BY CARROLL SWAYZE Excitement is brewing as anglers and artists alike prepare for the 2015 Tarpon Festival in downtown Boca Grande on June 4 through 6. Each year thousands of people travel to the Englewood/Boca Grande community from all over the world to take part in this annual Tarpon Fishing Tournament and Festival. The week […]
Written by Boca Beacon on . Posted in News, Obituaries.
Virginia Jeane “Shay” Wilber, born in Albany, N.Y. on October 7, 1979 to the parents of Mr. and Mrs. David F. Wilber III, died unexpectedly at home on May 20, 2015. Shay grew up in Oneonta, N.Y. where she attended Valleyview Elementary and Oneonta Middle School. During High School, she attended Miss Hall’s School in […]
Written by Boca Beacon on . Posted in News, Profiles.
BY JACK SHORT Sometimes it takes a few knocks at the door before someone finally answers. For Rev. Matthew Morgan Williams, the new pastor at the United Methodist Church of Boca Grande, the call to pastorship came knocking three times before he knew he had to say yes. Matthew was raised a devout Christian and […]
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Twenty five years of dispute seemed to have been put aside — at least for a day or so. The ink was barely dry on an agreement between the Boca Grande Isles Property Owners’ Association and defendants 5F, LLC, and 5F BA, LLC, when those three entities and several other parties were named as defendants […]
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BY ADAM MARTON, THE FIELDWORKERS CLUB This August a small group of anglers from all over the USA will be traveling to the Caribbean to participate in the Belize Tarpon Tagging Expedition, a partnership between anglers and scientists with the University of Miami. This expedition is a unique opportunity for folks to pitch in and […]
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One of Boca Grande’s charter captains, Capt. Jimmy Robertson, is in need of some good energy and prayers from the community as he faces stage 4 liver cancer and issues from a recent fall. Jimmy was diagnosed with Stage 4 Liver cancer that has metastasized to his spine. He has lots of treatments coming up, […]
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Another dead sea turtle has been found on a local beach, this time at the very northern tip of the island. According to one sea turtle patroller, Marilyn Googins, she found it at the “northern end of zone 1 on Friday, May 15.” “There is a walkway easement off Sunset Pines Circle and it was […]
Written by Marcy Shortuse on . Posted in News.
BY MARCY SHORTUSE When you feed a kid a fish, they will eat for a day … or push it around on their plate, at least. When you teach a kid to fish, though, well … sometimes you’ll create a monster. That is what Capt. Sandy Melvin is hoping for after this year’s Gasparilla Island […]
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The Memorial Day weekend typically means crowded conditions on Florida waterways, and Save the Manatee Club cautions the boating community to keep a look out for manatees. “Collisions with watercraft are the leading cause of all manatee deaths in Florida, when a cause of death can be determined,” says Patrick Rose, aquatic biologist and Executive […]