Tag: NoPaywall

Hurricane memory

BY JEFF GAINES III When Hurricane Andrew was moving west towards South Florida, everyone knew it was going to turn north at some point but when? Isabelle Joiner, her extended family and most of...

A love for animals, including Chico the Monkey

Above, has Barbara looking as Chico checks Isabelle’s hair. BY KAREN GRACE Sam Whidden is remembered as a man who when he found an injured animal, especially a bird, he would nurse it and...

Where Time Stands Still: A Century of Family, Fishing & Memories

BY BETSY JOINER Whidden’s Marina is the longest-running family-owned business on Gasparilla Island. Its story began with founder Sam Whidden in the early 1920s, his home and the marina building...

Grandmother and grandson team up to write school mystery

What began as a writing project between a grandmother and her transgender grandson has become a published young adult mystery. “Leo, Detective,” written by award-winning former journalist and...

Where Boca Grande’s past remains, right here in the present

World War I veteran created a legacy on Gasparilla Island Above, the Red Gill Fish House, c 1935 BY KAREN GRACE, BOCA GRANDEHISTORICAL SOCIETY Wini Smart begins her book, “Whidden’s and...

Why Whidden’s matters: The landscape of Florida’s seaside

A notable place is not just a physical building. It is a building connected to a community and a group of people. Whidden’s Marina is a rare location, as most of the other institutions like it...

Business & Real Estate: Preservation Board meets on demo

The Boca Grande Historic Preservation Board will meet at 10 a.m. on Sept. 9 at the Auditorium of the Boca Grande Community Center, 131 1st St. W., Boca Grande, FL 33921. The board will discuss...

Data centers: The public process is critical in Florida

August 27, 2026
Brent McConnell
Columns

BY BRENT MCCONNELL Data centers are becoming one of the strangest political fights in America. Most of us use them every day without knowing where they are or what they do. They store our...

Celebrate a century

The Boca Beacon is celebrating the centennial of Whidden’s in a special edition August 28. The edition will include a history of the marina, as well as recollections. We are asking...

Manatee needs rescue after beaching herself after mating chase

A manatee in heat became stuck at the south end of the island Friday night, after a herd of male manatees chased her onto the beach. The situation began ealier Friday, when too many...