- Dates
- 1988-07-02 – 1988-07-04
- Kind
- Celebration
- Where
- Saint James Harbor
- Carried out by
- Beaver Island Chamber of Commerce
- Followed by
- Beaver Island Fourth of July celebration, 1989
- Eras
- Modern era
- Concepts
- celebrationcommunitytourism
- Within
- Beaver Island
Summary
Beaver Island’s 1988 Fourth of July weekend was the first documented under the newly formed Beaver Island Chamber of Commerce, incorporated in February 1988 to replace the Beaver Island Civic Association (which also sold the Beacon itself that spring). The program ran Saturday through Monday in the harbor: a firehose competition and boat parade, Sunday air tours and a raft race, and a Monday, July 4 parade, carnival, and fireworks. The Beaver Beacon’s July report is a long, richly named account of the parade entrants, judges, coordinators, float winners, and carnival booth volunteers.
Program
Saturday, July 2. Firehose Competition, 5:00 p.m.; Boat Parade, 7:00 p.m.
Sunday, July 3. “Fourth of July Over the Harbor” air tours, noon-4:00 p.m.; Raft Race / Rowing Race, 4:00 p.m.
Monday, July 4. Parade, 6:30 p.m., led by flag-bearer Ernie Martin with color guard Alan Muma and Mike McGinnity, judged by Marilyn Damstra and Lano McCafferty and coordinated by Kevin Green and Lorrie Gillingham. Named floats and entrants included Ron Wojan (a Mackinac Bridge replica), McDonough’s Market, a Ronald Reagan impersonation by Bill McDonough with Kim Raskey, a 1946 Chrysler driven by Larry Scholl, a “Stonehenge II” entry by Bill Fox with Marjorie Lou Hammond, Carol and Phil VandeCar, Alex and Leonard Siudara, and Pat Gillette, Beaver Island Marine (Brad and Adam Anderson, Jeremy Barrett), Jim Stambough as Protar, the Wellman family, and the Shamrock’s float designed by Yvonne Crandell. Float prizes: 1st Central Michigan University, 2nd Beaver Island Marine, 3rd McDonough’s Market. Island Airways flew a formation overhead during the parade (pilots William and Betty Welke, Earl and Sally Barnes, Mark Welke, Paul and Ellen Welke).
The Carnival followed immediately on the park land in front of the boat dock. Named booths: blood-pressure checks by EMTs Jerry Sowa and Joyce Runberg; a Chamber of Commerce ticket booth (Howard Konetchy, Gus Schmidt); Helium Balloons (Ellen Welke and son Chris); Face Painting (Donna Stambough, Michelle Brokaw); Milk Bottle Toss (David and Doug Heynig); a Beaver Island Wild Life Club information table; Pirates Cove Treasure Chest (Pat McGinnity); Balloon Dart (Francis and Mary Jean Pike); a Photo Button Booth (Kathy Speck); and a T-shirt booth run by summer residents Louis and Frances Schaul. Fireworks followed at dusk (no operator named in the held account).
Significance
1988 documents the celebration’s first year run under the newly incorporated Beaver Island Chamber of Commerce. The Chamber’s Incorporation Committee formed in February 1988 to replace the Beaver Island Civic Association, which had also sold the Beacon itself that spring; the July report of the completed parade, carnival, and fireworks is the earliest post-transition account of the celebration held here, run and reported under the new Chamber’s name rather than the Civic Association’s.
Evidence limits
The May 1988 organizational note (Chamber of Commerce incorporation
replacing the Civic Association) and the June schedule are announcements;
the July report is a detailed post-event account naming dozens of
participants, but it is a newspaper feature, not an attendance count,
financial ledger, or complete organizer roster, and it does not name who set
off the fireworks. took_place_at uses place/saint-james-harbor because
the June schedule is explicitly headed “In the Harbor” and the carnival is
sited “in front of the boat dock”; no more specific existing structure
article (e.g., for the boat dock itself) is used here.
Open questions
- Who operated the fireworks display this year?
- Was this the Chamber of Commerce’s first year producing the celebration, or had it already taken over informally before its February 1988 incorporation?
See also
Sources
- Reports that "The Beaver Island Chamber of Commerce Incorporation Committee was formed on Feb. 13, 1988. They will replace the Beaver Island Civic Association," and that the Beacon itself, formerly published by the Civic Association, was sold to Ray and Ann Stanhope and their daughter Mary Russell; a separate item advertises "July 4th Parade, Raft Race, Carnival, & Fireworks" with carnival booth space for a $10.00 fee, contact Edie Wilmot. The holding institution's portal restricts automated access; the archive holds a copy of this issue and can provide it on request.data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1988-05_Beaver-Beacon
- The held nineteen-page May issue PDF is paired with the canonical OCR source and confirms the Chamber-era Fourth of July announcement.data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1988-05_Beaver-Beacon
- Prints the schedule, headed "Fourth of July Weekend Celebration - In the Harbor": Saturday, a Firehose Competition (5 p.m.) and Boat Parade (7 p.m.); Sunday, "Fourth of July Over the Harbor" air tours (noon-4 p.m.) and a Raft Race / Rowing Race (4 p.m.); Monday (July 4), the Annual Parade (6:30 p.m.), Carnival immediately following, and Fireworks at dusk. It directs volunteers and participants to "contact the Beaver Island Chamber of Commerce." The holding institution's portal restricts automated access; the archive holds a copy of this issue and can provide it on request.data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1988-06_Beaver-Beacon
- The held twenty-page June issue PDF is paired with the canonical OCR source and confirms the Fourth of July schedule.data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1988-06_Beaver-Beacon
- Reports the completed Monday parade in detail: flag-bearer Ernie Martin with color guard Alan Muma and Mike McGinnity; judges Marilyn Damstra and Lano McCafferty; named floats and entrants including Ron Wojan (a Mackinac Bridge replica), McDonough's Market, Kim Raskey and Bill McDonough (a Ronald Reagan impersonation), Larry Scholl (a 1946 Chrysler), Bill Fox with Marjorie Lou Hammond, Carol and Phil VandeCar, Alex and Leonard Siudara, and Pat Gillette ("Stonehenge II"), Beaver Island Marine (Brad and Adam Anderson, Jeremy Barrett), Jim Stambough as Protar, the Wellman family, and the Shamrock's float by Yvonne Crandell; parade coordinators Kevin Green and Lorrie Gillingham; float prizes to Central Michigan University (1st), Beaver Island Marine (2nd), and McDonough's Market (3rd); a carnival on the park land in front of the boat dock with named booths (EMTs Jerry Sowa and Joyce Runberg for blood pressure; the Chamber of Commerce ticket booth run by Howard Konetchy and Gus Schmidt; Helium Balloons, Ellen Welke and son Chris; Face Painting, Donna Stambough and Michelle Brokaw; Milk Bottle Toss, David and Doug Heynig; Beaver Island Wild Life Club information table; Pirates Cove Treasure Chest, Pat McGinnity; Balloon Dart, Francis and Mary Jean Pike; Photo Button Booth, Kathy Speck; a T-shirt booth run by Louis and Frances Schaul); and Island Airways formation flying during the parade (pilots William and Betty Welke, Earl and Sally Barnes, Mark Welke, and Paul and Ellen Welke). The holding institution's portal restricts automated access; the archive holds a copy of this issue and can provide it on request.data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1988-07_Beaver-Beacon
- The held eighteen-page July issue PDF is paired with the canonical OCR source and confirms the completed Fourth of July report.data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1988-07_Beaver-Beacon
- Confirms the July 4 parade formation flying by Island Airways and names the same pilot pairs. The holding institution's portal restricts automated access; the archive holds a copy of this issue and can provide it on request.data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1988-08_Beaver-Beacon
- The held twenty-page August issue PDF is paired with the canonical OCR source and confirms the retrospective Island Airways note.data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1988-08_Beaver-Beacon
Added 3 August 2026 · revised 4 August 2026. Recent changes
Cite this article
Beaver Island Archive, “Beaver Island Fourth of July celebration, 1988”, https://beaverislandarchive.org/events/beaver-island-fourth-of-july-1988/, accessed [date], citing Beaver Beacon, May 1988, editorial note on the Beacon's sale. (and 7 further sources listed on the page).
Last revised 2026-08-04. Fill in [date] with the date you read it — this page is static and cannot know that.
BibTeX for “Beaver Island Fourth of July celebration, 1988”RIS for “Beaver Island Fourth of July celebration, 1988”