St. Patrick's Day on Beaver Island, 1989

Event

Date: 1989-03-18
Kind: Celebration
Where: The Shamrock
Followed by: St. Patrick's Day on Beaver Island, 1990
Eras: Modern era
Concepts: celebrationcommunityheritageirish-arranmore
Within: Beaver Island

Summary

The Beaver Beacon’s February 1989 issue previews, and its March 1989 issue reports in detail, the first St. Patrick’s Day parade held on Beaver Island, organized around Kevin Green’s planned “exciting day of St. Patrick’s Day events,” alongside a separately announced Holy Cross Altar Society dinner and dance. The parade, Shopping Cart Race, and Tug of War described here mark the first contemporaneous account of the parade-and-games format later attributed by Robert Cole’s 2002 retrospective to a “Clan Na Gael” revival.

Program

Noon: a parade (explicitly the island’s first) with flag bearers, an Irish-themed “Free Joe Doherty” float, Irish step dancers (Tara Palmer, Erin Martin, Kendra Wojan), a youth lip-sync float to U2, a “Queen of the Northern Leprechauns and Subjects” court, a St. Patrick float, and a Shamrock Bar truck. Following the parade: the Shopping Cart Race (Dockside Market vs. McDonough’s Market, McDonough’s winning the “Emerald Cup”) and the Tug of War (Hayseeders vs. Fishchokers, Fishchokers winning two of three pulls). Evening: a Holy Cross Altar Society dinner and dance, 5:00 p.m. cocktails, 6:00-7:30 p.m. dinner, 9:00 p.m.-2:00 a.m. dance.

Evidence limits

The parade report does not name an overall organizing body — Kevin Green is credited in the February preview as the planner, but no organization article exists for a “Clan Na Gael” or similar group at this date, so carried_out_by is left empty rather than pointed at an invented id; the Holy Cross Altar Society’s dinner and dance, by contrast, is explicitly its own event within the day, though the source does not describe the dinner’s outcome (only its plan). No attendance or proceeds figures are given for either the parade events or the dinner. The Grand Rapids diaspora party announced in the same February issue is a separate event, tracked in St. Patrick's Party for Holy Cross Church, Chicago’s sibling diaspora celebrations, not this island program.

Open questions

Was Kevin Green’s 1989 parade the founding year of what the 1992 edition calls “The Clan-Na-Gael’s 5th Annual St. Patrick’s Day Festivities,” or did an unparaded 1988 event (a year with no held Beacon issue in this knowledge base) count as the first “annual” edition?
Did the Holy Cross Altar Society’s dinner and dance take place at Holy Cross Parish Hall, as in earlier and later editions? The source does not name the venue for that portion of the day.

Sources

Beaver Beacon, February 1989, "St. Patrick's Day Festivities" and Holy Cross Altar Society notice.
Announces "The Holy Cross Alter [sic] Society invites you to the annual St. Patrick's Day Dinner & Dance, Saturday March 18, 1989. Cocktails from 5:00pm through the evening, Dinner 6:00pm to 7:30pm, Dance 9:00pm to 2:00am," and separately: "Kevin Green is planning an exciting day of St. Patrick's Day events! Among them will be a PARADE with an Irish theme..., the crowning of the Queen..., and King, Shopping Cart Race between the grocery stores and other activities! The fun begins at noon on SATURDAY, March 18th." A separate item in the same issue announces the Beaver Island Club of Grand Rapids' own St. Patrick's party for March 11, 1989 in Grand Rapids — a distinct diaspora event, not this island celebration. 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 · 1989-02_Beaver-Beacon
Beaver Beacon, February 1989, held issue PDF, source scan.
The held twenty-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 · 1989-02_Beaver-Beacon
Beaver Beacon, March 1989, "St. Patrick's Day Parade and Festivities."
Reports: "March 18th marked the day of St. Patrick's Day Festivities. The day started with the parade which got underway at 12:30. This is the first time Beaver Island has held a parade on St. Patrick's Day." Describes flag bearers, a "Free Joe Doherty" McDonough's float, Irish step dancers, a "Beaver Island Youth Salute Irish Youth" lip-sync float, a "Queen of the Northern Leprechauns" court, a St. Patrick float, and a Shamrock Bar truck; then an annual Shopping Cart Race between Dockside Market and McDonough's Market (McDonough's won an "Emerald Cup" trophy); then a Tug of War between the "Hayseeders" and "Fishchokers" (Fishchokers won two of three pulls). Also glosses the historical origin of the "fishchoker"/"hayseeder" nicknames for townspeople versus country farmers. 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 · 1989-03_Beaver-Beacon
Beaver Beacon, March 1989, held issue PDF, source scan.
The held sixteen-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 · 1989-03_Beaver-Beacon

Added 3 August 2026. Recent changes

Cite this article

Beaver Island Archive, “St. Patrick's Day on Beaver Island, 1989”, https://beaverislandarchive.org/events/beaver-island-st-patricks-day-1989/, accessed [date], citing Beaver Beacon, February 1989, "St. Patrick's Day Festivities" and Holy Cross Altar Society notice. (and 3 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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