- Dates
- 1978-08-11 – 1978-08-13
- Kind
- Celebration
- Where
- Holy Cross Parish Hall
- Carried out by
- Holy Cross Altar Society
- Followed by
- Beaver Island Homecoming weekend, 1979
- Eras
- Modern era
- Concepts
- celebrationcommunityheritagereligion
- Within
- Beaver Island
Summary
The 1978 Beaver Island Homecoming ran Friday–Sunday, August 11–13: the 3rd Annual Beaver Island Invitational Softball Tournament began Friday evening, an “Oldtime” dance was held Saturday at Holy Cross Hall, and a “Famous Islands”-themed parade and a barbecue chicken dinner followed Sunday. Father Alvin Ward and the Holy Cross Altar Society thanked the community afterward for “such a success.”
Program
Softball. The 3rd Annual Beaver Island Invitational Softball Tournament, sponsored by McDonough’s Market: double elimination, six teams, starting 6:00 p.m. Friday, August 11 through 1:00 p.m. Sunday. Cash Register Exchange won first, Erber Auto second, Beaver Island third. Dan Gillespie was named batting champ, Steve Dunkleberg won the home run trophy, and Steve Kidder was named MVP. Umpires were Jim Willis and Bill Joy of Charlevoix and Walter Wogan of Beaver Island.
Dance. Saturday, August 12, at Holy Cross Hall. Music by Jewell Gillespie, Edward Palmer and Donald “Hogie” Hogan; the High School Band — Cindy Gillespie, Ann Welke, Ron Gregg, John McCafferty, Nick Hogan and Joe Timsak — played at intermission.
Parade. Themed “Famous Islands,” though “participants were not restricted to this theme.” No Best Float prize was awarded; Angie Himebaugh won $5.00 for Best Decorated Bike. Run “under the Rafferty girls, Shannon, Nancy and Kathy Speck.”
Dinner. Barbecue chicken, 5:00–7:00 p.m. at Holy Cross Hall. Mary Ann Omer won the Basket.
Evidence limits
The report itself misdates the parade — it calls the dance “Saturday, August
12” and then, two paragraphs later, calls the parade day “Sunday, August 12,”
which cannot both be true; August 13, 1978 was the Sunday. Both dates are
quoted as printed above rather than silently corrected, and end_date here
uses August 13. No dollar total is reported for the dance/dinner/parade
portion of the weekend (only the softball tournament’s prizes are itemized).
Open questions
- Which date is the source’s typo — “Saturday, August 12” for the dance, or “Sunday, August 12” for the parade? Both cannot be correct.
- Were the “Rafferty girls” the same Shannon Rafferty later named as the 1980 parade contact? No source connects them explicitly.
See also
Sources
- Announces "The Annual Homecoming Dance will be held on Saturday, August 12th at 9 p.m. at the Holy Cross Parish Hall. The Annual Homecoming Dinner will be held on Sunday, August 13th at 5 p.m. at the Holy Cross Parish Hall." An earlier note in the same issue promises "a full report of...Homecoming" in the next Beacon. This is the canonical remote OCR source for the held combined issue. 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 · 1978-06_Beaver-Beacon
- The held nine-page combined June–July issue PDF is paired with the canonical OCR source and confirms the Homecoming announcement.data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1978-06_Beaver-Beacon
- Reports the Saturday, August 12 Homecoming Dance at Holy Cross Hall, music by Jewell Gillespie, Edward Palmer and Donald "Hogie" Hogan, with the High School Band (Cindy Gillespie, Ann Welke, Ron Gregg, John McCafferty, Nick Hogan, Joe Timsak) playing at intermission. Describes "Sunday, August 12" [sic — the dance is dated Saturday the 12th two paragraphs earlier, so the parade day is almost certainly Sunday the 13th] as "the day of the 1978 Homecoming Parade," themed "Famous Islands," with no Best Float prize awarded but Angie Himebaugh winning $5.00 for Best Decorated Bike; the parade was run "under the Rafferty girls, Shannon, Nancy and Kathy Speck." A barbecue chicken dinner followed 5–7 p.m. at Holy Cross Hall; Mary Ann Omer won the Basket. A separate "BASEBALL REPORT by Tom McDonough" describes the "3rd Annual Beaver Island Invitational Softball Tournament sponsored by McDonough's Market," held on "Homecoming weekend," a double-elimination tournament starting 6:00 p.m. Friday, August 11 and ending 1:00 p.m. Sunday: six teams (Flight Deck, Erber Auto, Town House Bar, Cash Register Exchange, Beebe's G-men, Beaver Island); Cash Register Exchange first, Erber Auto second, Beaver Island third; Dan Gillespie batting champ, Steve Dunkleberg home run trophy, Steve Kidder MVP (all Cash Register Exchange except Dunkleberg); umpires Jim Willis and Bill Joy of Charlevoix and Walter Wogan of Beaver Island. A thank-you reads: "Father Alvin Ward, and the Holy Cross Altar Society would like to thank everyone who helped to make the 1978 Homecoming such a success." This is a newspaper outcome report and does not replace attendance, financial, or independent event records. 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 · 1978-08_Beaver-Beacon
- The held nine-page combined August–September issue PDF is paired with the canonical OCR source and confirms the Homecoming outcome report.data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1978-08_Beaver-Beacon
Added 3 August 2026 · revised 4 August 2026. Recent changes
Cite this article
Beaver Island Archive, “Beaver Island Homecoming weekend and softball tournament, 1978”, https://beaverislandarchive.org/events/beaver-island-homecoming-1978/, accessed [date], citing Beaver Beacon, June–July 1978, Homecoming Dance and Dinner announcement. (and 3 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.
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