The Strawberry Festival is right around the corner, and here is another item up for silent auction. Dinner for six at the Boca Grande Club, anyone? The item was donated by Bob and Carolyn Frederick.

The festival will be held on Saturday, March 3 from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. It will feature the annual boutique and bargain sale, children’s activities, a wine grab and, of course, strawberry shortcake.                  

Patrick Chapin, the brother of islander Roger Chapin, returned to Central Florida recently after spending a week climbing, and then descending, 19,340-foot Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. More than 25,000 people climb the mountain, Africa's highest point, each year.

During the 20 minutes or so that Chapin’s group was at the top of Kilimanjaro, he held aloft a flag with the name of Roger’s daughter, 10-year-old Blair, and several other children who have Sanfilippo syndrome, an enzyme deficiency that causes developmental problems and ultimately results in dementia.

The flag featured the word “courage.”

As the 3rd Annual Gasparilla Island Tennis entered its second and final week, there were a few surprises.

Ingrid Yonkers and Doris Richards, partners in the ladies’ mixed doubles, pulled off a victory after an exciting and grueling match against Kristin Levanovich and Susannah Coe.

“It was an amazing match, and I can’t believe that age prevailed, but it did after two-and-a-half hours,” said Yonkers.

Cecilia Jonsson-Bisset won Best of Show at the Visual Art Center’s bi-annual exhibit on Thursday, Feb. 9. It was very exciting for her as this was a national, juried show. Out of more than 500 entered works of two-dimensional art from 38 states, about 165 were accepted and will be on display through March 11. The V.A.C. is located on Maud Street in Punta Gorda, across from Fishermen's Village.         

John Frederic Requardt Jr. died on Friday, Feb. 10, 2012. Fred, or “Hootie” as he was known to his close friends on the Eastern Shore of Maryland and Boca Grande, died peacefully in his sleep in Easton, Maryland, after, as he said on is recent birthday, a very full 92 years.
He was born on January 20, 1920.
He was predeceased by his wife, Nancy Burroughs Requardt.

BY LIZA STROUT - Jane Shanley has come full circle. Born in a small fishing village in Rhode Island, she watched her father head out the front door and go to his boat each morning, a calling he followed for 75 years. Her childhood home was almost a mirror image of where she lives now.

“The reason that Boca Grande suits me so much is because I grew up in a fishing village,” Jane said. “Our front yard was water, and the backyard was a railroad track. The track there is now a bike path.”
She continued. “We grew up without a car, because my dad had a boat, so we walked everywhere. I think that’s another reason that I’m so comfortable here. I can either just walk or get on my bike and everything is in reach. There is certainly no need for a car living downtown with everything right here.”