- Dates
- 1981-08-08 – 1981-08-14
- Kind
- Celebration
- Where
- Holy Cross Parish Hall · Holy Cross Catholic Church building
- Carried out by
- Holy Cross Catholic Church
- Followed by
- Beaver Island Homecoming weekend, 1982
- Eras
- Modern era
- Concepts
- celebrationcommunityheritagereligion
- Within
- Beaver Island
Summary
The 1981 Beaver Island Homecoming ran from Saturday, August 8, through Friday, August 14: a Saturday-evening benefactors’ mass and dance, a Sunday choral mass and barbecue chicken dinner, the second annual Gillespie family reunion on Monday, a “Las Vegas” games night on Wednesday, and Gillespie family vocal music at Friday mass. The report — signed as “the joint effort of Eleanor and Carol LaFreniere” — is the most granular day-by-day account of any Homecoming held here.
Program
Saturday, August 8. A mass for the parish’s Grand Rapids benefactors, celebrated by Fr. Gabriel with Fr. Herbert Graf (a former pastor) as co-celebrant, and Debbie Gallagher, daughter-in-law of Jean LaFreniere, as soloist. The annual Homecoming Dance followed in the parish hall, with local talent providing the music.
Sunday, August 9. The Community Choir sang “Thank You Dear Lord for Music” and “Hymn to Holy Cross” — the latter composed by Eleanor LaFreniere, who also accompanied on the organ — at a mass celebrated by Mgr. Victor Gallagher, closing with “May the Good Lord Bless and Keep You.” The barbecue chicken dinner in the parish hall was “very well attended.” Herb Hamill of the Petoskey baseball team won the Basket of Joy; Mrs. Jo Bonadeo won an afghan crocheted by Anna May Maxwell.
Monday, August 10. The second annual Gillespie family reunion, with a family dinner followed by an evening of entertainment and dancing.
Wednesday, August 12. A “Las Vegas” games-of-chance night using play money; Dale Cull served as auctioneer, with donated auction items, a cash bar and sandwiches.
Friday, August 14. Gillespie children and grandchildren provided vocal music at mass; Jerry Kakac accompanied at the organ and Barry Pischner sang Ave Maria.
A new church organ, purchased in memory of Vera Wogan, is noted in the same report, alongside thanks “to all who provided enjoyable music during Homecoming.”
Evidence limits
This is a first-person community report, not an audited account; it gives no dinner count, attendance figure, or dollar total for any of the week’s events. The Gillespie reunion and Las Vegas night are described within the same “Homecoming” report but are family and parish social events rather than the parish’s own Homecoming program narrowly construed; they are included here because the source frames them as part of the same week.
Open questions
- Is the “second annual Gillespie family reunion” tied structurally to Homecoming week by design, or is it incidental timing? The source does not say.
- Who were “Eleanor and Carol LaFreniere” in relation to any Homecoming organizing committee? No person article exists for either.
See also
Sources
- Beaver Beacon, "July and August 1981" combined issue (filed as 1981-07), "Homecoming Events" report.The masthead reads "July and August 1981." Day-by-day report: "Saturday August 8th" — Fr. Gabriel celebrated a mass for Grand Rapids benefactors, with Debbie Gallagher (daughter-in-law of Jean LaFreniere) as soloist and former pastor Fr. Herbert Graf as co-celebrant; "the annual Homecoming Dance was held in the parish hall," with local talent providing the music. "Sunday August 9th" — the Community Choir sang "Thank You Dear Lord for Music" and "Hymn to Holy Cross" (composed by Eleanor LaFreniere, who also played organ) at a mass celebrated by Mgr. Victor Gallagher; the dinner, barbecue chicken, was held in the parish hall and "very well attended"; the Basket of Joy was won by Herb Hamill of the Petoskey baseball team, and an afghan crocheted by Anna May Maxwell was won by Mrs. Jo Bonadeo. "Monday August 10th" — the second annual Gillespie family reunion was held at the hall. "Wednesday August 12th" — a "Las Vegas" games-of-chance night, with Dale Cull as auctioneer. "Friday August 14th" — Gillespie children and grandchildren provided vocal music at mass, with Jerry Kakac at the organ and Barry Pischner singing Ave Maria. The report thanks contributors to parish-hall improvements, notes a new organ purchased in memory of Vera Wogan, and credits Eleanor and Carol LaFreniere with the information. 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 · 1981-07_Beaver-Beacon
- The held twelve-page PDF is paired with the canonical OCR source; its masthead files the combined July and August issue as 1981-07.data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1981-07_Beaver-Beacon
Added 3 August 2026 · revised 4 August 2026. Recent changes
Cite this article
Beaver Island Archive, “Beaver Island Homecoming week, 1981”, https://beaverislandarchive.org/events/beaver-island-homecoming-1981/, accessed [date], citing Beaver Beacon, "July and August 1981" combined issue (filed as 1981-07), "Homecoming Events" report. (and 1 further source 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 Homecoming week, 1981”RIS for “Beaver Island Homecoming week, 1981”