- Dates
- 1982-08-06 – 1982-08-08
- Kind
- Celebration
- Where
- Holy Cross Parish Hall
- Carried out by
- Holy Cross Catholic Church
- Followed by
- Beaver Island Homecoming weekend, 1983
- Eras
- Modern era
- Concepts
- celebrationcommunityheritagereligion
- Within
- Beaver Island
Summary
The 1982 Beaver Island Homecoming ran August 6–8: a Bud McDonough Memorial Softball Tourney won by Carlson’s Plumbing & Heating, a Saturday dance at Holy Cross Hall, and a Sunday parade and beef-roast dinner serving roughly 450 people. The Beacon carried two bylined reports that weekend — “Homecoming” by Jacque LaFreniere and “Homecoming Parade” by Shannon Rafferty.
Program
Softball. The 1982 Bud McDonough Memorial Softball Tourney, eight teams: Townhouse Bar, Chandler’s, Big Duke, Carlson’s Plumbing & Heating, Flight Deck, B.T., McDonalds, and Beaver Island. Carlson’s Plumbing & Heating won; Townhouse Bar second, Big Duke third, Beaver Island fourth. The Shamrock Bar hosted a bluegrass band, Hamlin Garland, Friday through Sunday.
Dance. Saturday night at Holy Cross Hall; musicians Edward Palmer, Rich Scripps, Richie Gillespie, Danny Gillespie, Ed Sobie and Dick Waltham.
Parade. Sunday, 2:30 p.m., led by Deputy Ham Gebert. Bikes: Michael Himebauch, Annie Himebauch, Renee Gillespie. Pets: Kerry Wojan and Heather Gillespie with their dog “Moses.” Floats: Cole’s Market (first, designed by Jim Noyes), the Tyler’s (second), Tootie’s Pilot House (third). Baton twirlers Kerry Speck and Jennifer Wojan; trumpet by Al Dudzik. Judges Mary Minor, Gaye Cole and Phil Gregg; Ken Gallagher donated the float cash prize.
Dinner. 6:00 p.m., beef roasted on a spit under Peter Greene’s direction, corn on the cob, mashed potatoes and gravy, coleslaw and homemade desserts; approximately 450 guests served, plus helpers. Jimmy Wojan won the Basket-of-Joy.
Evidence limits
The two bylined reports (Jacque LaFreniere on the weekend generally, Shannon
Rafferty on the parade specifically) are first-person community journalism,
not an audited account; no dollar total is given for 1982. No source this
year names the sponsoring body for the dance or dinner directly — the
carried_out_by attribution rests on the January 1982 calendar’s general
statement that “the church sponsors a dance on the Saturday…and a dinner on
Sunday,” not on anything printed alongside the August report itself.
Open questions
- Was Shannon Rafferty, byline of the 1982 parade report, the same Shannon Rafferty named as the 1980 parade contact at Rafferty’s Store? The sources do not confirm the connection explicitly, though it is a plausible reading.
- The October 1983 Beacon later describes 1983 as “a much calmer Homecoming than last year” — what happened in 1982 that made it less calm? No held source says.
See also
Sources
- Describes the recurring event: "Homecoming - The second Sunday in August. The church sponsors a dance on the Saturday of the weekend and a dinner on Sunday. A Softball tournament is usually held on this weekend also." This general description, not specific to 1982's dates, is the basis for attributing `carried_out_by` to Holy Cross Church for this year. It is part of the 1982 Fudgie Issue, whose masthead does not name a month. 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 · 1982-01_Beaver-Beacon
- The held twenty-three-page PDF is paired with the canonical OCR source and confirms the general Homecoming calendar entry.data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1982-01_Beaver-Beacon
- Calendars the Homecoming dance at Holy Cross Hall on August 7, dinner at the hall on August 8, a Las Vegas Night on August 11, and the Beaver Island Softball Tournament beginning August 13. This is an advance calendar, not proof that each listed event occurred. 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 · 1982-07_Beaver-Beacon
- The held thirty-five-page mixed archive item is paired with the canonical OCR source; its first fifteen pages contain the July 1982 calendar and later pages contain a separately dated July 1985 insert.data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1982-07_Beaver-Beacon
- Bylined "By Jacque LaFreniere": "This year's Homecoming weekend fell August 6, 7 & 8." Softball began Friday: eight teams (Townhouse Bar, Chandler's, Big Duke, Carlson's Plumbing & Heating, Flight Deck, B.T., McDonalds, and Beaver Island); the 1982 Bud McDonough Memorial Softball Tourney was won by Carlson's Plumbing & Heating, with Beaver Island fourth, Big Duke third, Townhouse Bar second. The Shamrock Bar hired a bluegrass band, Hamlin Garland, Friday through Sunday. Saturday night's Homecoming Dance at Holy Cross Hall featured musicians Edward Palmer, Rich Scripps, Richie Gillespie, Danny Gillespie, Ed Sobie and Dick Waltham. The dinner at 6:00 p.m. featured beef "roasted on a spit," corn on the cob for "450 people," mashed potatoes and gravy, coleslaw and desserts, with Peter Greene overseeing the beef; "approximately 450 guests plus help" were served. Jimmy Wojan won the Basket-of-Joy. This is a remote OCR reading of the held standalone sixteen-page August issue; the newspaper account is not an audited attendance or tournament record. 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 · 1982-08_Beaver-Beacon
- The held sixteen-page August issue PDF is paired with the canonical OCR source and confirms the published Homecoming report.data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1982-08_Beaver-Beacon
- Bylined "By Shannon Rafferty," in the same issue: the parade was held Sunday, August 8, at 2:30 p.m., led by Deputy Ham Gebert in his police car. Bike-decorating winners: Michael Himebauch (first), Annie Himebauch (second), Renee Gillespie (third). Pet parade: Kerry Wojan and Heather Gillespie won first with their dog "Moses." Floats: Cole's Market (fish-themed, sign by Jim Noyes) first, the Tyler's second, Tootie's Pilot House third. Baton twirlers Kerry Speck and Jennifer Wojan; trumpet by Al Dudzik; the Sweet Adelines displayed a Honda Express for raffle. Judges were Mary Minor, Gaye Cole and Phil Gregg; Ken Gallagher donated the float cash prize. This is a remote OCR reading of the held standalone sixteen-page August issue; the newspaper account is not an audited parade or raffle record. 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 · 1982-08_Beaver-Beacon
- The held sixteen-page August issue PDF is paired with the canonical OCR source and confirms the published Homecoming Parade report.data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1982-08_Beaver-Beacon
- Thanks a visiting Charlevoix deputy "who came over...to assist during Homecoming in August" 1983, adding that the extra help "contributed to a much calmer Homecoming than last year" — i.e., 1982. The note does not say what made 1982 less calm; cited here only as the basis for the Open questions entry below, not as evidence about the 1982 programme itself. 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 · 1983-10_Beaver-Beacon
- The held eleven-page October issue PDF is paired with the canonical OCR source and confirms the retrospective Deputy''s note about the 1983 Homecoming.data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1983-10_Beaver-Beacon
Added 3 August 2026 · revised 4 August 2026. Recent changes
Cite this article
Beaver Island Archive, “Beaver Island Homecoming weekend, 1982”, https://beaverislandarchive.org/events/beaver-island-homecoming-1982/, accessed [date], citing Beaver Beacon, January 1982, calendar of annual events. (and 8 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 Homecoming weekend, 1982”RIS for “Beaver Island Homecoming weekend, 1982”