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Event

St. Patrick's Day on Beaver Island, 1982

Also 1982 St. Patrick's Day Celebrated on Beaver Island · 1982 Shamrock Talent Show / Open Mike

Draft — sources verified, prose evolving

TypeEvent
Dates1982-03-13 – 1982-03-17
WithinBeaver Island
ErasModern era
On this page
Event
Dates
1982-03-13 – 1982-03-17
Kind
Celebration
Where
Holy Cross Parish Hall · The Shamrock
Carried out by
Holy Cross Catholic Church
Followed by
St. Patrick's Day on Beaver Island, 1983
Eras
Modern era
Concepts
celebrationcommunityheritageirish-arranmore
Within
Beaver Island

Summary

The Beaver Beacon reports that Beaver Island “celebrated St. Patrick’s Day twice” in 1982: a Holy Cross Parish potluck dinner and dance at the parish hall on March 13, and a “Talent Show”/“Open Mike” night at the Shamrock on March 17 itself, both extensively covered with named performers.

Program

March 13, Parish Hall: potluck dinner featuring a pig roasted by Peter Green; dance with Edward Palmer and Ed Solby featured, backed by Danny Gillespie, Rich Scripps, Jewell Gillespie, and Rich Gillespie; a packed dance floor; celebration broke up about 2:30 a.m. March 17, the Shamrock: an open “Talent Show”/“Open Mike” for island musicians, opening with R,J&J (Rick Delamater, John McCafferty, Joe Moore), then Kittie Trautman (guitar and voice), the Sweet Adelines, Terri Bussey, and other named acts (Andy Gladish, Jenneviewe, and Shannon Rafferty; Dave Gladish, Dick Burris, and Joe “The Nuke” McDonough; Robin Delamater and Amy Green; Rich Scripps; Camille Skinner; Sheri Mooney), ending with dancing to R,J&J joined by Rich Scripps until 2 a.m.

Evidence limits

Both accounts are contemporary Beacon columns by named islanders (Jacqueline LaFreniere for the parish-hall dance, Joe Moore for the Shamrock night), not attendance counts or financial records. The February 1982 announcement attributes the Shamrock event’s musical preparation to the Sweet Adelines but the April recap frames the Shamrock night as an open community talent show rather than a Sweet Adelines-organized event, so carried_out_by here covers only the Holy Cross Parish potluck/dance, not the Shamrock program. Joe Moore’s reference to a night “three years ago… with 25 musicians on stage at the same time” points to an earlier (1979) St. Patrick’s Day with comparably large musical participation; the 1979 edition (St. Patrick's Day on Beaver Island, 1979) records a Jr. High Band and a newly formed local musicians’ group but the held 1979 sources do not themselves describe 25 musicians on stage together, so this cross-reference is noted but not treated as confirming detail for 1979.

Open questions

  • Was the “25 musicians on stage” night Joe Moore recalls the same event captured in the 1979 edition, or a different occasion not otherwise documented?
  • Did the Sweet Adelines’ chartering (announced as pending in 1979) succeed by 1982, given they are treated here as an established island group?

See also

Sources

  1. Announces that the island's Sweet Adelines were "preparing for their part in the 'Talent Show' or 'Open Mic' to be held at the Shamrock on St. Patrick's Day" and that they "also sang at Holy Cross on Saturday, March 13th." 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 · 1982-02_Beaver-Beacon
  2. The held eighteen-page combined February and March issue PDF is paired with the canonical OCR source and confirms the announcement.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1982-02_Beaver-Beacon
  3. "The island celebrated St. Patrick's Day twice this year." First: a Holy Cross Parish potluck dinner at the parish hall on March 13, featuring a pig roasted by Peter Green, followed by a packed dance with Edward Palmer and Ed Solby featured, backed by Danny Gillespie, Rich Scripps, Jewell Gillespie, and Rich Gillespie, breaking up about 2:30 a.m. Second: a "Talent Show"/"Open Mike" at the Shamrock on St. Patrick's Day itself, opening with R,J&J (Rick Delamater, John McCafferty, Joe Moore), then Kittie Trautman, the Sweet Adelines, Terri Bussey, and several other named acts, ending with dancing to R,J&J and Rich Scripps until 2 a.m. Joe Moore's account recalls "St.Pat's Day three years ago in the hall with 25 musicians on stage at the same time," an explicit reference back to a distinctive multi-musician night. 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 · 1982-04_Beaver-Beacon
  4. The held sixteen-page April issue PDF is paired with the canonical OCR source and confirms the reported St. Patrick''s Day outcomes.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1982-04_Beaver-Beacon

Added 3 August 2026 · revised 4 August 2026. Recent changes

Cite this article

Beaver Island Archive, “St. Patrick's Day on Beaver Island, 1982”, https://beaverislandarchive.org/events/beaver-island-st-patricks-day-1982/, accessed [date], citing Beaver Beacon, February and March 1982, "Sweet Adelines" (by Terri Ann Liller). (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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