We hung seashells and sand dollars on fi shing
line for ornaments, fi xed a starfi sh on the tippy top
and we had an island Christmas tree.”
Rob said going back and forth to the mainland
to school every day seemed like a big deal at the
time, but running out of groceries was another
matter entirely.
“The little things that were more of an inconvenience
were running out of eggs, butter or milk,”
he said. “Going to the store was a bigger deal than
it is today, you had to take a cooler for perishables,
especially like ice cream.”
Rob’s father and some of his friends built the
water plant on the island. Before the water plant
was built, homes were either on cistern or shallow
well.
“It is funny the things that brought people
together back then, but being dependent on a
well pump for water was a big deal,” he explained.
“Everyone on the island knew where their neighbors
stash of PVC pipe and fi ttings were and
would borrow what they needed in a pinch. If you
got to the island Friday night and had no water you
could get pretty innovative on making it work until
you could get to town and get more parts. The
other thing that kept neighbors neighborly were
shear pins and other unreliable boat problems. In
today’s modern world boat motors start when
you turn the key. In 1970 you pulled the pull cord
and prayed. The unpredictable and often unreliable
marine engines of yesteryear meant you might
really need your neighbor one day.”
Rob recalled that growing up on an isolated
barrier island provided him with some interesting
past times.
“Growing up on LGI meant doing a lot of what
the island had to offer, fi shing and cast netting were
pretty much daily activities,” he said. “Fishing under
the dock lights at night for snook and trout, water
skiing, knee boarding and occasionally surfi ng were
also great island activities. The downside to surfi ng
was that you could only do it when you had a blistering
cold front or a hurricane or tropical storm.
The tropical storm weather was so much nicer just
because the water was warmer. People today will
have a hard time imagining it but in the 1970s and
early 80s you could still drive dune buggies on the
beach and shoot fi rearms on the island. We had a
shooting range built next to our house just north
of where Hideaway Bay is now, and dirt bike trails
everywhere.”
Rob’s parents lived, worked and played on Little
Gasparilla for 40 years. He admits there have been
some pretty big changes since they moved out
there, but said there is still a large population of
Floridians who own property on the island today.
“Many of them are from areas of coastal Florida
that have become heavily populated,” he said.
“There are a bunch of people from Sarasota,
Tampa and Fort Myers areas who visit or own on
LGI. I think that it reminds them of the barrier islands
they grew up around; an island with no paved
roads or stores is a throwback for sure these days.”
Houses on the island vary greatly in size, shape and
design. At left, an interesting more modern octagonal
shaped house. Right, a typical stilt home.
44 GASPARILLA MAGAZINE November/December 2019