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Event

St. Patrick's Day on Beaver Island, 1983

Also 1983 St. Patrick's Day Dinner and Dance · Paddy's Pig 1983

Draft — sources verified, prose evolving

TypeEvent
Date1983-03-19
WithinBeaver Island
ErasModern era
On this page
Event
Date
1983-03-19
Kind
Celebration
Where
Holy Cross Parish Hall · Holy Cross Catholic Church building
Carried out by
Holy Cross Altar Society
Followed by
St. Patrick's Day on Beaver Island, 1984
Eras
Modern era
Concepts
celebrationcommunityheritageirish-arranmore
Within
Beaver Island

Summary

The Beaver Beacon’s March 1983 issue announces, and its April 1983 issue confirms, the “annual St. Pat’s Day Dinner and Dance”: Mass at Holy Cross Church on Saturday, March 19th, followed by a “Paddy’s Pig” dinner at the parish hall (a Peter Greene specialty) and a dance with a named seven-person band. The same March issue separately notes the Shamrock changed ownership on March 17th itself — an unrelated business event, not part of the celebration.

Program

Mass at Holy Cross Church, 5:30 p.m.; dinner of “Paddy’s Pig” (roast pork, Peter Greene’s specialty) served at the parish hall until 8:00 p.m.; a dance with music by Edward Palmer, Rich Scripps, Richie Gillespie, Jewell Gillespie, Danny Gillespie, Evelyn (Palmer) Oleksy, and Cindy Gillespie, running into the early morning hours.

Evidence limits

The announcement calls this “the annual” dinner and dance, implying continuity with prior years’ Altar Society-run editions (1958-1970, 1978-1982) though it does not itself cite a specific predecessor year. The Shamrock ownership change on March 17, 1983 is reported in the same issue but is a business transaction, not a celebration event, and is not treated as part of this edition. No Chicago or Lansing party report was found in the issues checked.

Open questions

  • Did the new Shamrock ownership (Dr. and Mrs. Michael Macken) change the venue’s role in subsequent years’ St. Patrick’s Day celebrations?

See also

Sources

  1. A calendar entry marks the 17th "St. Patrick's Day!!! Luck Of The Irish!" and the 19th "ST. PAT'S DAY Dinner & Dance!!!". The announcement itself: "The annual St. Pat's Day Dinner and dance will be held Saturday, March 19th, beginning at 5:30 P.M. with mass at Holy Cross Church. Following mass will be the Peter Greene special, Paddy's Pig, served at the parish hall." Separately notes that "On March 17th, St. Patrick's Day, the Shamrock bar will officially change hands," with new owners Dr. and Mrs. Michael Macken hiring Dick and Joyce Moreno to manage the bar and Barb Beckers continuing to manage the kitchen — an ownership transfer, not a celebration event. This source is the canonical remote OCR for the held fifteen-page March issue. 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 · 1983-03_Beaver-Beacon
  2. The held fifteen-page March issue PDF is paired with the canonical OCR source and confirms the St. Patrick’s Day announcement.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1983-03_Beaver-Beacon
  3. Reports the outcome: "It all began with Mass at Holy Cross Church at 5:30, then on to the Hall for a dinner of Paddy's Pig, served until 8:00 pm. Next, came the dance with music perfectly performed by Edward Palmer, Rich Scripps, Richie Gillespie, Jewell Gillespie, Danny Gillespie, Evelyn (Palmer) Oleksy, and Cindy Gillespie, until the wee hours of the morning." Thanks the Altar Society and Peter Greene for the pig, and food/kitchen/bartending/cleanup volunteers, and closes "Start looking forward to next year's St. Patrick's Day Party!!!" This is a remote OCR reading of the held twelve-page April issue. 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 · 1983-04_Beaver-Beacon
  4. The held twelve-page April issue PDF is paired with the canonical OCR source and confirms the St. Patrick’s Day recap.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1983-04_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, 1983”, https://beaverislandarchive.org/events/beaver-island-st-patricks-day-1983/, accessed [date], citing Beaver Beacon, March 1983, "St. Patrick's Day Dinner and Dance." (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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