BocaBeacon.comThe Boca Beacon is Boca Grande's weekly community newspaper.
Profile: Barbara Anne Plante
Barbara Anne Plante has been in the jewelry business in Boca Grande since 1992, and will soon be in a new location. She’ll be moving from the old Theater Building where PJ’s Seagrille is located to 401 Park Ave., in the old Depot building.
Kelly Reark: An island Renaissance Woman
Kelly Reark is what one would call a “Renaissance Woman.” Her infectious smile and open personality are apparent whenever she is introduced to someone new, but there’s more to the Gasparilla Properties Realtor than meets the eye.
Profile: Dianne Rice
Dianne Rice was where she was always at as a child – in a dance studio – when a call came looking for contestants for a beauty pageant. It wasn’t just any old competition, though, it was for Miss Orlando. The winner would go on to become Miss Florida, and possibly become Miss America.
Profile: Kim Caldroney
From St. Croix to St. Lucia, Buck Island to Boca Grande, Kim Caldroney is a New Jersey native who spent a large part of her life in lush, tropical surroundings where it was common to dive for your dinner and shoes were optional.
Profile: Otto Csanki
Otto Csanki has been coming to Boca Grande for more than two decades, and is known on the island as a man who can liven up a party. He can ballroom dance one second and folk dance the next, he is a wine connoisseur and never fails to win the hearts of women far and [...]
Profile Part II: Frank Frazetta and Ringo Starr
World-renounced artist and illustrator Frank Frazetta recently sat down in his Boca Grande studio to discuss his career and attachment to the island, and remembered when his career really started taking off. It was in 1964, and the world suddenly seemed to know his name when he painted a caricature of Ringo Starr in an [...]
PROFILE: Shawn Martinez
Shawn Martinez had never been out of Miami for more than a few days at a time when she had her first son.
When she was growing up there, it was a more quiet place with a laid-back pace. As she grew, though, so did the city, and soon it became clear to her that it [...]
PROFILE: Dr. David Hayes
When Dr. David Hayes and his wife, Patty, purchased a lot on Gulf Boulevard and started to design their house, he had a lot of ideas in mind.
An island deputy who builds guitars and looks at the stars
When Angelo Lanni sits down to talk about himself, there’s not a lot of syllables exchanged. It’s obvious he’s not comfortable reminiscing about his personal life, but when one brings up subjects such as music or astronomy, his eyes light up.
PROFILE: New York City is his home, Boca Grande is his sanctuary
Matt McCue is a fan of Boca Grande’s laid-back lifestyle. When he’s here visiting his grandparents, James and Nancy Siefert, he enjoys a break from the hurried activity of his usual lifestyle. Manhattan may be his home, but Boca Grande is his retreat. The writer laughs when he describes a normal day on the island.
PROFILE: Val Mazzenga to discuss his life behind the lens
BY MARCY SHORTUSE – When Val Mazzenga puts his eye up to the viewfinder of a camera, history is captured in time in the minds of millions of people throughout the world. Though many don’t know his face, some of his legendary photographs have became the backdrop for the stories of some of the world’s [...]
PROFILE: Biologist Nancy Douglass a booster of Florida’s beaches
BY MARCY SHORTUSE – When Nancy Douglass was a child and going to an all-girls Catholic school, she was surrounded by people who voiced an interest in becoming doctors, lawyers and accountants. She wanted to work with animals.
