were usually among the first diners to come in.
Tudie, my wife, wanted to help me celebrate my 60th birthday in 1973 by having such a large group of
friends for dinner that our house couldn’t accommodate
them all. April 15 fell on a Sunday that year and most of
the local restaurants were closed. The problem was neatly
solved by Jean Montgomery, at that time the chef and
majordomo of the Temptation. Thanks to her executive
ability, Jean was able to gather up helpers to bartend and
wait on tables; even the butcher from Harry Whidden’s
grocery store came over to carve the legs of lamb!
It was a delightful party, enjoyed by all, especially the
60-year-old birthday boy. Thanks to John and Jean and the
volunteers.
her choice. Tommy carefully removed
the whole fish from the ice
chest and expertly cut one or two
fillets.
As he was wrapping our
purchase, he might (if it was the
proper season) have a football
remark for me, such as, “That Fran
Tarkenton (the Minnesota Viking’s
Tommy Parkinson
skilled former quarterback) sure
can scramble.” It was always a treat
to visit the fish market and spend
time with Tommy and his goodnatured
wife, Mary.
I understand that Tom Parkinson
and his close friend, Tommy Cost,
the green-thumbed husband of
Boca Grande Fishery
52 GASPARILLA ISLAND November/December 2017
Pansy (who has run the Johann
Fust Community Library from
the beginning), got together for
a quiet libation every New Year’s
Eve for many years. Tom Cost,
among his many other talents,
could fix any lock problem you
might have. When you inquired,
“How much?” he would always
reply, “Just give something
to the Library.”
I have many, many
pleasant memories of the
Boca Grande fishing
guides who made and still
make the atmosphere of
our island so special. Here
are just a few:
When we first came
here, all the fishing guides’
docks were located along
the Bayou beginning at the
east end of 5th Street and
running south to near
where the road to the old
golf-course bridge used to
be at the end of 4th
Street. It was quite a
gathering place. Many of
the boat slips had personal
touches, like lockers built to
store the guide’s tackle equipment.
Of course, there were
sturdy wooden platforms for
cleaning their catches. Fish parts
not wanted were promptly
scraped into the Bayou (that’s a
Early last year, as I was taking my
bike-path walk, I noticed a delivery
truck coming into town. Painted on
its side panel was the logo, “Cutright
Seafood.” My first reaction
was, “They’re bringing coals to
Newcastle.”
One reason old Boca
Grande was so grand was that
one was able to obtain fresh
local fish just by going to genial
Tommy Parkinson’s fish market,
where a fillet was “cutright”
before your eyes from a
whole fish, probably caught the
night before. The market was
first located down between
Mac Miller’s Marina and Whidden’s,
but later it moved uptown,
across the street from
what is now called the Sea
Grille Restaurant.
The pleasant routine of
purchasing fish, which we did
nearly every day, went something
like this: “Tommy, what
kind of fish have you got
today?”
Tom would open the ice chest
and enumerate the many choices:
Spanish mackerel, bluefish, mullet
(sometimes with yellow roe), and
various kinds of snappers, to name
a few. After thoroughly inspecting
the contents, my wife would make