Fort Myers Beach News - Island Sand Paper -Top Story Archives

03/28/2013 at 4:46pm

Our Island Neighbors - Richard Karger

Picture Caption: This month, on April 20th and 21st, the Las Vegas Rock and Roll Hall of Fame will be inducting Richard Karger. Richard is pictured here from those salad days.

The Fort Myers Beach Insurance Brokerage, located in the Key Estero Shopping Center, is the brainchild of Richard Karger. It is an independent, full service brokerage serving all of Florida. Outside of those needing insurance, this may be of not-so-great an interest. But if you pull the string on his story, Richard Karger turns out to be so much more than a successful insurance broker.

Issue 632

03/21/2013 at 4:21pm

The Koreshans: First Community
on Fort Myers Beach

Who were the Koreshans – creators of the first community on Fort Myers Beach in the 1890s? Some classify the group – which had its heyday from 1893 to 1910 – as a cult. Koreshans were enterprising, industrious builders, bakers, cement makers, generators of electricity, gardeners, and philosophers. They believed in women’s equality; loved art, luxury, and fine living; and aimed to build a New Jerusalem in the wilds of southwest Florida. And they were derided as the "crazies from Chicago”, whose Cellular Cosmogony proclaimed that we humans live inside a hollow sphere that is the planet Earth.

Issue 631

03/14/2013 at 3:20pm

Local Lore: The Mound House Ghost

Half an hour before dawn, the pale-gray eastern sky is reflected in the second-story windows of a stately house perched atop a hill, facing Estero Bay. The windows stare blankly, like vacant eyes, as a gentle, rosy blush tints the horizon. Gradually, daylight illumines the sky. A figure flickers past one of the windows, pauses facing the bay for a few moments, and then vanishes.

The Mound House ghost has been lore for decades, ever since rumors flew of Native spirits angry at the disturbance to the site that had been a Calusa shell mound.

Issue 630

03/07/2013 at 3:31pm

Shrimp Fever Strikes Beach

The 55th Fort Myers Beach Lions Club Shrimp Festival takes over the beach this weekend as thousands are expected to line the parade route and enjoy the Festival activities at Lynn Hall Park on Saturday and Sunday.

The Shrimp Festival Parade marches down Estero Boulevard on Saturday, March 9th at 10am. This year’s Honorary Parade Marshal is long-time Lion Pete McCagg. This Island tradition brings colorful floats, decorated cars, fire trucks and marching groups together for a 1.2 mile stroll down Estero Boulevard. The parade begins at School St. and ends at Matanzas Bridge near Lynn Hall Park where all the Shrimp Festival fun continues.