Gasparilla Magazine

06/10/2026

Beach days are the best days!

06/09/2026

Flashback to south end high level waters, our Boca Beacon archives contain thousands of images, with many from the late 1980s and early 1990s.

06/07/2026

“The Case of the Missing Pork Chops: And Other Mostly True Stories
and Commentaries”

Book author Susan Hanafee finds humor in life's minor mishaps and moments, be sure to check this one out!

06/06/2026

06/06/2026

Kids Tarpon is today!! Let’s goooo!!

06/05/2026

Bone health for our health article. Have you been taking care of your bones lately?? Learn more in this magazine.

When Bone Health Becomes the Key to Independence
"For many people, bone health becomes real after a fall. Falls send more than three million adults 65 and older to emergency rooms each year. Hip, wrist and spine fractures can lead to months of recovery and, in some cases, a loss of independence.
Dave Anthony, director of physical therapy at Advanced Orthopedic Center, said most serious fractures in older adults are tied to falls.
“Most fractures in older adults happen because of falls, not because bones suddenly snap,” Anthony said.
Older adults can take steps to decrease their risk of falls. “Physical therapy and balance training helps by improving proprioception, your body’s sense of position in space, speeding up reaction time when balance is challenged and teaching the body to make small corrective movements instead of big, dangerous ones,” he explained.
“Even modest balance improvements can reduce fall risk significantly,” Anthony added. “They also increase confidence, which prevents activity avoidance, a hidden but major problem.”
That confidence matters. When people move less due to fear, they lose strength and stability, which raises fall risk even more."
By Angela McPhillips

06/04/2026

Long before ‘Miami Vice’ neon or CSI crime labs, Florida’s swamps, waterways and wildlife were the stars of prime-time television. Lincoln Vail of the Everglades aired from 61-62. Who remembers this TV series? Our History piece this issue covered it!
"My sister-in-law, Anne Blum Brengle, was a fan, and watched the show in New York City as a child. She can still sing the jingle. She called the show the perfect adventure series with “bad guys” and the primo “good guy,” Constable Lincoln Vail, who represented both the law, and Florida, at its best and most just. “He was a dashing, uniformed law officer who emphasized environmental protection and wildlife rescue,” Brengle recalled. “I remember one episode in which the bad guys carelessly killed a raccoon-like creature, and Lincoln placed her babies on his airboat and swooshed them off to safety.”

By Garland Pollard.

06/01/2026

05/27/2026

This was a great article Crossing for Cystic Fibrosis,
worth a read!

"In 2011, Travis Suit got the news no parent expects — his daughter had cystic fibrosis. This diagnosis sent him searching for something he could do, something bigger than fear and anticipation. What began with a paddleboard and a push into open water has since grown into a South Florida fundraising effort unlike anything the coast had seen before. This year the organization will launch its 10th annual paddle challenge from the Bahamas to Florida. Suit’s daughter Piper was only 4 years old when she came down with pneumonia. She had been sick throughout her infancy and doctors suggested that she be screened for other illnesses. This red flag led to her diagnosis of cystic fibrosis (CF). “It was her first clinic appointment, and I was asking, like, what kind of sports should she play? What kind of activities should she do to keep her lungs healthy?” Suit said. “And the respiratory therapist told us this story about surfers in Australia and how being in and around the ocean was so beneficial for people with CF because the salt air and the humidity help to provide better airway clearance for the lungs.”Cystic fibrosis is a chronic disease that affects the lungs and digestive system of about 60,000 children and adults in the United States (140,000 worldwide). A defective gene and its protein product cause the body to produce unusually thick, sticky mucus that clogs the lungs and leads to life-threatening lung infections. The mucus also obstructs the pancreas and stops natural enzymes from helping the body break down and absorb food."
By Anna Ridilla

Travis Suit with his daughter, Piper are included in photos. Great group of photos included.

05/23/2026

Turtle season!!
"Sea turtles nest along nearly the entire coastline of Florida, from the Panhandle across the Gulf and around the Atlantic coast to the Keys. In Southwest Florida, the activity follows a predictable schedule. Nesting season runs May 1 through October 31, and each year the barrier islands across Sarasota, Charlotte, Lee and Collier counties become one of the busiest nesting regions on the Gulf Coast.
Florida records between 40,000 and 84,000 sea turtle nests annually. Five species use Florida beaches — loggerhead, green, leatherback, hawksbill and Kemp’s ridley — and all are listed as threatened or endangered under state or federal protection.
Local non-profit sea turtle conservation organizations operate under a Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission permit and play a significant role in monitoring and protecting local sea turtle populations. One of those non-profits is the Coastal Wildlife Club (CWC), which covers portions of Sarasota County’s coastline from Caspersen Beach south to Charlotte County’s Manasota Key, Stump Pass Beach State Park and Don Pedro Island. Principal marine turtle permit-holder Carol McCoy said beach conditions largely explain why so many turtles return to this region.
“Our area in Sarasota County is the densest nesting turtle beach on the entire Gulf Coast,” she said. “The turtles like the beaches here because they’re natural. Up in Sarasota County there’s a minimal amount of armoring — things like seawalls and rock revetments. When you start putting those in, you reduce nesting habitat because the turtles can’t get high enough on the beach to dig the chamber.”
Continuing south along the Gulf’s barrier islands, beaches vary in width and shape, but many still offer open sand above the tide line and a gradual, unobstructed slope. After years offshore, adult females return to the region where they hatched and look for a stretch of shoreline that still meets those conditions."

By Angela McPhillips
Photos by Coastal Wildlife Club