42 GASPARILLA MAGAZINE • July/August • 2020
By Tim Spain
Photos by Dusty Hopkins,
Marcy Shortuse and Jamison Ford
Around this time last year, folks from
Gasparilla Magazine asked me if I
would be interested in writing a story
about Florida Cracker heritage, and I began
writing the story of a little ranch right before
you get to the causeway to go to Boca
Grande. I didn’t know the ranchers who
owned it then, and didn’t think I knew the
future owners ... but as it turns I did. I realized
that the new owners of the ranch were familiar
faces that I have seen doing my private
events on the island.
I work when I can as a private chef on
Gasparilla Island. Mr. and Mrs. Hager were
part of a dinner party I was asked to cater
back in 2016. It seemed that after talking
to Mr. Hager, though it was brief, I made
a friend. I could tell he liked fi shing and
wildlife and just on those two topics alone, I
could have spoken with him all evening but
there was work I needed to get done for the
catering.
Fast forward a few years.
Archie and Debbie Hager purchased the
land in the later part of 2019, and that wasn’t
an easy acquisition. The folks who owned
the property before the sale are Florida
Crackers from Placida, and their family
owned it for more than half a century. This
land was for sale for several years and
probably had several potential buyers;
however they just didn’t want to sell to
people looking at it as an opportunity for
investment or development.