BY MARCY SHORTUSE - When word got out that the Friends of the Boca Grande Community Center were thinking about dropping their after-school program and the Munchkins program, the reaction from the community was one of instant anger. Parents and island residents let that be known to Friends Executive Director Marta Howell on Tuesday, March 6.

She told the crowd at an impromptu meeting that Friends was no longer going to fund the programs.

On Tuesday morning the Boca Beacon office started getting phone calls about traffic on the Causeway backing up. Wayyy up.

Why do they call us? To find out what’s going on, of course. We were here, in the office.

We didn’t know. When we got a hold of Gasparilla Island Bridge Authority Executive Director Jim Cooper, he said he had just found out about it as well. A board member had contacted him about it, and he made sure that the utility company who decided it was perfectly all right to shut down the road without mentioning it to GIBA.

It wasn’t. And people weren’t happy.

At all.

From about 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., traffic was backed up, both ways, as workers tried to manipulate power lines and huge pieces of conduit. To add to motorist distress, there was a large amount of boats waiting at the bridge, so bridge openings were up.

“This is part of the whole utility coordination issue,” Cooper said. “Unfortunately, it wasn’t coordinated with me.”

It was a fluke, and not to be expected again in the near future.

GIBA will be doing a second survey at all three toll booths, beginning March 15 for one week.

Feel free to fill it out again, and try to win that 30-day toll pass.

The Johann Fust Community Library and the Boca Grande Woman’s Club are combining their book sales on Saturday, March 17 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. This is the day of the annual Woman’s Club Fair.

Donations of books, CDs and DVDs will be accepted at the Fust Library prior to the sale.

The Woman’s Club Room will be available for drop-offs on Wednesday, March 14 from 3 to 5 p.m., Thursday, March 15 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and Friday, March 16 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. If you have questions or want to volunteer, contact Betsey Hall 964-2959 or Joanne Hall at 964-0773.

The Fust will also host a Sissy Yates Designs jewelry party on Thursday, March 22 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Half of the proceeds of the sale will be donated to the library.

Dr. Carl Wise related the weird, wacky and sometimes tragic history of the Spanish Empire in Florida during the 16th Century at the latest History Byte. The special edition was held at the Community Center Auditorium, and was well attended.