- Dates
- 1983-08-12 – 1983-08-17
- Kind
- Celebration
- Where
- Holy Cross Parish Hall
- Followed by
- Beaver Island Homecoming softball tournament, 1984
- Eras
- Modern era
- Concepts
- celebrationcommunityheritagereligion
- Within
- Beaver Island
Summary
The 1983 Beaver Island Homecoming ran Friday, August 12, through the following Wednesday: the Bud McDonough Memorial Softball Tournament, the Beaver Island Civic Association’s rain-delayed Fourth of July fireworks finale, a Saturday dance “at the Hall,” a Sunday spit-roasted beef dinner for which six roasts were cooked, and a Wednesday “Las Vegas” auction night with close to 90 items. A visiting Charlevoix deputy’s extra help was credited with making 1983 “a much calmer Homecoming than last year.”
Program
Softball. The Bud McDonough Memorial Softball Tournament began Friday, August 12, running through Sunday. Results: Carlson’s Plumbing & Heating first, Town House second, Beaver Island third.
Fireworks. The Civic Association fired off fireworks held over from a rained-out Fourth of July display, as the weekend’s “grand finale.”
Dance. Saturday, “at the Hall.” Musicians: Danny and Jewell Gillespie, Edward Palmer, Ed Solby, and Rich Scripps.
Dinner. Sunday: beef “roasted on a spit,” six large roasts, with Peter Green as chef; corn on the cob cooked “in a huge kettle hung over a fire outside the hall,” and homemade desserts.
Las Vegas night. The following Wednesday; close to 90 donated items were auctioned off, “from Hotel rooms to beer.”
Public safety. Charlevoix Deputy Jim Pettis came over to assist during the weekend; the October Beacon credits the extra help with a calmer Homecoming “than last year” (1982).
Evidence limits
No source this year names a sponsoring organization for the dance or dinner
specifically (only the Civic Association’s fireworks role is explicit), so
carried_out_by is left empty rather than assumed from the general pattern
described for other years. “The Hall” is treated as Holy Cross Hall / Parish
Hall on the strength of every other year’s usage of that name for the
Homecoming dance venue, though this year’s report does not spell out the full
name. No dollar total is reported for 1983.
Open questions
- What made 1982’s Homecoming less calm, prompting the October 1983 deputy’s office thanks to contrast it explicitly? See Beaver Island Homecoming weekend, 1982.
- Did the “Open House 1-3 Protar’s” calendar entry (Dr. Protar’s cabin, presumably a Historical Society open house) run as part of the Homecoming weekend program, or merely alongside it? The calendar places it on the same square as the tournament start but does not explain the relationship.
See also
Sources
- A printed calendar table marks the softball tournament starting, an "Open House 1-3 Protar's" and "Homecoming Dance" on one Saturday square, and "Homecoming Dinner / Soft Ball Tournament Ends" and "Las Vegas Night" on subsequent days. A separate item reports that the July 4 fireworks display was rained out halfway through and "carefully stored" to "be released on Homecoming Weekend." Read in the in-repo data/ tree. 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 · 1983-08_Beaver-Beacon
- The held eleven-page August issue PDF is paired with the canonical OCR source and confirms the Homecoming calendar and fireworks notice.data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1983-08_Beaver-Beacon
- Reports: "This year's Homecoming activities began Aug.12th with the Bud McDonough Memorial Softball Tournament, which ran through Sunday. Beaver Island came in third behind, Town House for second & Carleson's [sic] Plumbing & Heating for First. The Civic fired off the remaining fireworks & the grand finale was excellant [sic]. Saturday was the Annual Dance at the Hall. Music was provided by Danny & Jewell Gillespie, Edward Palmer, Ed Solby & Rich Scripps... Sunday featured the 'roasted on a spit' beef roast, corn on the cob, cooked in a huge kettle hung over a fire outside the hall and delicious desserts! This year there were 6 large roasts & Peter Green did a wonderful job as Chef! Las Vegas night was held on the following Wednesday. There were close to 90 items to be auctioned off." Read in the in-repo data/ tree. 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 · 1983-09_Beaver-Beacon
- The held nine-page September issue PDF is paired with the canonical OCR source and confirms the completed Homecoming report.data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1983-09_Beaver-Beacon
- Thanks "Deputy Jim Pettis who came over from the Charlevoix office to assist during Homecoming in August," adding "Having an extra person here helped ease the strain of long hours and contributed to a much calmer Homecoming than last year." Read in the in-repo data/ tree. 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 Deputy''s Homecoming assistance note.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, 1983”, https://beaverislandarchive.org/events/beaver-island-homecoming-1983/, accessed [date], citing Beaver Beacon, August 1983, Homecoming calendar. (and 5 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, 1983”RIS for “Beaver Island Homecoming weekend, 1983”