BY MARCY SHORTUSE - Grant Bell flew into the Fort Myers Airport right over the remnants of Tropical Storm Debby, and the whirlwind didn’t stop for many days.
He was one of many who travelled to Boca Grande to attend the Boca Grande Reunion 4.0, held at P.J.’s Seagrille.
This year’s reunion was attended by approximately 150 people, including Grant, who were all excited about catching up with news from old friends and family members.

BY MARCY SHORTUSE - It started with a bang and ended with a whimper for one iguana on Monday, July 2, as he quickly found out that playing on power lines behind the water district plant is not a productive pastime.

At approximately 10:30 a.m. the call came in to Boca Grande Fire that power lines were down and small fires were occurring there. A large iguana, approximately 3 feet long, had caused the wires on a power pole to short out.

BY LIZA STROUT - Tom Freeman grew up on Gasparilla Island, the son of Joe Freeman, who worked at the port. His first time playing a musical instrument was when he was five. His parents purchased an organ for his mother to learn to play on, and before long, Tom had joined her at the keyboard. He learned quickly.

BY LIZA STROUT - While the sea turtles of Gasparilla Island may have taken the brunt of damage from Tropical Storm Debby, they are already making up for the lost nests.

In an update from Norma Jean Zvrosec of Coastal Wildlife Club, which monitors turtle activity on Gasparilla Island, it is reported that nests have been appearing rapidly on the beaches of the island.

“I think we lost about half of the nests that we had from before the storm,” said Zvrosec. “But we have been finding as many as five new nests every day. We even have two rare green sea turtles that have nested since T.S. Debby.”

The annual BoMo Tournament for island children will be held this Sunday, July 8, from 9 a.m. to noon in Boca Grande Pass.

For more information or to register your child that lives on the island for the tournament, call Melissa at 979-2676.

On Saturday, June 30 Francesco Attesti, a world-renowned pianist, performed at the Boca Grande Community Center to nearly a full house. Randy Wojcik and Bob Melvin, partners at Gasparilla Properties, helped to bring Attesti to the Boca Grande stage and are shown with him above.                      Photo by Dusty