Beaver Island Fourth of July celebration, 1990

Event

Date

1990-07-04

Kind

Celebration

Where

Saint James Harbor

Carried out by

Beaver Island Chamber of Commerce

Followed by

Beaver Island Fourth of July 1991

Eras

Modern era

Concepts

celebrationcommunitytourism

Within

Beaver Island

Summary

Beaver Island’s 1990 Fourth of July celebration, produced by the Beaver Island Chamber of Commerce under organizer Patti Wojan, ran a “Celebrate the Century” decade-themed parade, a carnival and Chamber-sponsored Art Fair between the ferry dock and the Beacon Building, and fireworks. The July Beaver Beacon names the judges, nine prize-category winners, carnival games and booths, and a Chamber thank-you roster of more than forty volunteers.

Program

Parade. Organized by Patti Wojan under the theme “Celebrate the Century,” judged by Phyllis Townsend, Jeannie Vreeland, and Don Vyse. Prize winners: Best Overall, Central Michigan University; Best Theme, McDonough’s Market and Beaver Island Gift Shop; Best Group Effort, Illinois Alumni; Best Business, Stoney Acre Grill; Most Attractive, Beachcomber Restaurant; Best Individual, Elizabeth Stack as “The Little Mermaid”; Best Foreign Entry, Eric Peterson as “Ambassador of Hog Island”; Most Clever, Beaver Island Lighthouse (printed as “Y.E.P.T.”); Best Junior, Carl Evans’ A&W Root Beer stand float. The parade began 4:00 p.m. Wednesday, July 4.

Carnival and Art Fair. Also organized by Patti Wojan, held between the ferry dock and the Beacon Building from 5:00 p.m. until dusk. Games: Duck Pond, Treasure Chest, Shooting Gallery, Bean Bag Toss, Milk Bottle Ball Toss, Fish Pond, Balloon Darts, and Sucker Tree. Booths and tables: Face Painting, Photo Buttons, Mylar Balloon Stand, B.I.G.G., E.M.T.s (blood pressure checks by John and Joyce Runberg, Ruthie Gregg, Joe Moore, Bill Markey, Jerry Sowa, Bill McDonough, and Mike McGinnity, with Mimi Lewis, Becki LaFreniere, and Carrie Wojan in waiting), Holy Cross Catholic Church, the Beaver Island Historical Society, and a Chamber of Commerce raffle table. The Fire Department Auxiliary ran a hot dog and lemonade stand; the Chamber provided watermelon, cupcakes, cotton candy, and crackerjacks.

Fireworks. Set off at dusk by Tim and Bill McDonough.

Volunteers. The Chamber’s printed thank-you, signed by Patti Wojan, names more than forty volunteers across two tables, including JoAnne and Chuck Hooker, Ron Wojan, Jim and Karen Wojan, K.K. Belfy, John and Carolyn Works, Alice Belfy, Don and Joan Vyse, Amy Munger, Phil and Joni Becker, Ami Tank, Jim and JoEllen Owens, Mary Palmer, Joel and Cathy Meintsma, Larry Scholl, JoAnne and Jeff Cashman, Jerry Sowa, Kathy and Rick Speck, Dave Adams, Dennis and Fran Clarkson, Gus Schmidt, Sue Welke and daughter, Ian Becker, Dave and Shannon Heynig, Emmett Martin, Tom and Doris Morlan, Roy Elsworth, Vince Pickhardt, Suzy Belfy, Donna Stambaugh, Ed Maudrie, Michael Himebaugh, Ruthie Gregg, Jewell Gillespie, Lil Gregg, Madonna McCafferty, Sue Howard, Marilyn Damstra, and Pat McGinnity, with a second table adding Mary Beth Lyons, Jackie Martin, Kari McDonough, Ann Weber, Beth Croswhite, Tara Palmer, Betty Duckworth, Katrina Martin, Roberta Mooney, Erin Martin, Don Myster, Dave DeRosia, Deborah Goschi, and Amy Goschi, and continuing beyond what is transcribed here.

Significance

1990 paired the parade and carnival with a Chamber-sponsored Art Fair, not reported in the 1988 or 1989 accounts held here, and its “Celebrate the Century” theme — prize categories running by decade from 1900-1910 through 1990-2000 — is the only year in this held run built around a historical retrospective rather than an open theme. The printed thank-you naming more than forty volunteers across two tables is also the largest single volunteer roster recorded for any year in this series held here, a scale of named participation the 1988 and 1989 accounts do not match.

Evidence limits

This is a set of contemporary announcements and a detailed post-event newspaper report, not an attendance count or audited financial statement. The printed volunteer roster runs to well over forty names across two tables in the July 1990 issue; the list above is transcribed in full through the point given, but the source table’s exact final entries are not all individually re-verified here against the page image. The July heading itself is printed “CELEBRATON,” a period typesetting error kept as printed rather than silently corrected. took_place_at uses place/saint-james-harbor because the carnival/Art Fair site (ferry dock to Beacon Building) and the fireworks are harbor-area events; no more specific existing structure article for the boat dock or Beacon Building is used here.

Added 3 August 2026. Recent changes