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Event

Beaver Island Homecoming weekend, 2002

Also 2002 Beaver Island Homecoming

Draft — sources verified, prose evolving

TypeEvent
Dates2002-08-09 – 2002-08-11
WithinBeaver Island
ErasModern era
On this page
Event
Dates
2002-08-09 – 2002-08-11
Kind
Celebration
Followed by
Beaver Island Homecoming weekend, 2003
Eras
Modern era
Concepts
celebrationcommunityheritagereligion
Within
Beaver Island

Summary

The 2002 Beaver Island Homecoming ran August 9-11, with a softball tournament, a Saturday dance, and a Sunday “August Dinner.” The softball tournament – by the Beacon’s account, begun about 1975 when Jim Willis challenged Charlevoix teams to play the island – was won that year by the Beaver Island All-Stars.

Program

Softball. Eight teams competed for the Bud McDonough Memorial trophy. La Senorita’s of Petoskey took 3rd, Grey Gables of Charlevoix took 2nd, and the Beaver Island All-Stars won, with a roster of Todd, Brad, Drew, Tim, Jim, Nathan, and Joey McDonough, Kyle Wojan, Tony Rouch, Neal Boyle, Larry Boyle, Denny Weisenberg, and Joey Turner.

Dance. Saturday, August 10, 9:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m., per the calendar.

Dinner. “August Dinner,” Sunday, August 11, 4:30-7:00 p.m., per the calendar. A private party at Jeff Powers’s property, with music by “Beans,” began just after the dinner ended, drawing about 150 guests including longtime islander Lester Connaghan.

Evidence limits

The softball article’s “twenty-seven years ago” is the writer’s own retrospective arithmetic (implying about 1975), not a dated founding record; it is one data point among several inconsistent counts of the tournament’s start recorded elsewhere in this record (see Open questions). No organizing body or venue is named for the dance or dinner.

Open questions

  • Does “twenty-seven years ago” (implying 1975) or the “14th Annual” 1989 tournament (implying 1976) fix the softball tournament’s true start? The two are one year apart and neither cites a dated record.

See also

Sources

  1. Beaver Beacon, August 2002, calendar of events.
    Calendar: "Aug 9-11 Homecoming: Softball Tournament," "Aug 10 Homecoming Dance 9-2," "Aug 11 August Dinner 4:30-7." A separate Museum Week article characterizes Homecoming in passing as the occasion when visitors "rediscover why they've held a grudge against someone who might be their second cousin for forty-two years." Read in the in-repo data/ tree. No public copy of this file is known; the archive holds one and can provide it on request.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 2002-08_Beaver-Beacon
  2. The held thirty-six-page issue scan is paired with the OCR source and confirms the published notice or report; it does not expand the source-specific identity, event, or outcome claims.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 2002-08_Beaver-Beacon
  3. Beaver Beacon, September 2002, "The Homecoming Softball Tournament."
    States that "twenty-seven years ago Jim Willis began talking up the softball prowess of Beaver Island teams" and Charlevoix friends "issued a challenge," making the softball tournament "the defining aspect of our celebration" ever since. Reports eight teams in 2002, with La Senorita's of Petoskey 3rd, Grey Gables of Charlevoix 2nd, and the Beaver Island All-Stars winning -- naming the roster: Todd, Brad, Drew, Tim, Jim, Nathan and Joey McDonough, Kyle Wojan, Tony Rouch, Neal Boyle, Larry Boyle, Denny Weisenberg, and Joey Turner. Read in the in-repo data/ tree. No public copy of this file is known; the archive holds one and can provide it on request.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 2002-09_Beaver-Beacon
  4. The held thirty-six-page issue scan is paired with the OCR source and confirms the published notice or report; it does not expand the source-specific identity, event, or outcome claims.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 2002-09_Beaver-Beacon
  5. Beaver Beacon, September 2002, "Jeff Powers throws a Party."
    Describes a party thrown by Jeff Powers at his pole barn parking lot, with musician "Beans" playing, held just after "Homecoming Dinner had just ended," with about 150 guests including 91-year-old Lester Connaghan, described as "Beaver Island's Dancing Man." Read in the in-repo data/ tree; color reporting, not a formal program record. No public copy of this file is known; the archive holds one and can provide it on request.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 2002-09_Beaver-Beacon
  6. The held thirty-six-page issue scan is paired with the OCR source and confirms the published notice or report; it does not expand the source-specific identity, event, or outcome claims.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 2002-09_Beaver-Beacon

Added 3 August 2026. Recent changes

Cite this article

Beaver Island Archive, “Beaver Island Homecoming weekend, 2002”, https://beaverislandarchive.org/events/beaver-island-homecoming-2002/, accessed [date], citing Beaver Beacon, August 2002, calendar of events. (and 4 further sources listed on the page).

Last revised 2026-08-03. Fill in [date] with the date you read it — this page is static and cannot know that.

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