- Founded
- 1975-02-24
- Dissolved
- 1976-12
- Eras
- Modern era
- Concepts
- heritagegovernancecommunicationcommunitytourism
- Within
- Beaver Island
Summary
The Beaver Island Bicentennial Committee was a project-planning and fundraising group, chaired by Archie LaFreniere, that organized in February 1975 to prepare a Michigan Bicentennial Commission matching-funds application. Its March 1975 proposal set a $42,000 goal for historic restoration, documentation and publicity projects; by early 1976 the Committee had narrowed its work to five official projects — a Marine Museum, a Heritage Park, a rebuilt Post Office, historic-site signs, and a publications program — after dropping restoration of the Protar Home as “too controversial.” Islander donations, township land, a $5,000 state grant and a National Bicentennial Certificate of Recognition funded a restored net-shed Marine Museum opened July 4, 1976, the Mabel and A. J. Roy Heritage Park, and, on 17 December 1976, the Committee’s capstone project: a 218-page history book, The Journal of Beaver Island History, Volume One.
History
The Committee first appears in the Beacon on 24 February 1975, meeting to complete forms for the Michigan Bicentennial Commission’s matching-funds program. Its March proposal, signed “Archie LaFreniere, Chairman,” set out six projects — restoring the Protar Home, the Bonner Home and the Mormon Print Shop/Post Office and beginning a Heritage Park; collecting and photocopying historical documents; an oral-history project using high school students; a multi-media documentary; historic pamphlets and brochures; and a bicycle tour of historic sites — under a $42,000 goal, funded through individual pledges and matching state money.
Momentum built through the spring of 1975. At its annual meeting that April, the St. James Township Board agreed to a 99-year lease of township land on Donegal Bay Road, near the Museum, for a Heritage Park, on condition that development begin within five years; the same report noted Beaver Island’s designation as an official Bicentennial Community. A June 7 testimonial dinner for A. J. and the late Mabel Roy, honoring their work founding the Historical Society and its Museum, closed with an announcement that the planned Heritage Park would carry their names. Contributions grew steadily: $1,785 pledged by late April, $2,396 pledged and $1,287.28 in cash by mid-June.
In July 1975 the Committee reported a $5,000 grant from the Michigan Bicentennial Commission — restricted to publication, against an original $20,000 request — and a Certificate of Recognition from the National Bicentennial Commission in Washington; the Bicentennial flag went up at the Museum, and the Heritage Park land transaction closed. By late September the Heritage Park site had been surveyed and a sign erected, and cumulative cash contributions — swelled by the state grant — stood at $6,772.78 against $3,096 in pledges. That October, George and Martha Miller donated harbor property including one of the last surviving net sheds for a Marine Museum, and the Beaver Island Club of Grand Rapids’s annual party raffled a shipwreck lamp for $200 toward it. November brought further small gifts — a Christian Church collection, a model-ship raffle, a $500 pledge from the Boat Company.
By February 1976 the Committee had settled, “after a winter of organization and deliberation,” on five official projects — Marine Museum, Heritage Park, Post Office, Publications, and Signs — explicitly setting aside restoration of the Protar Home as “too controversial for us to tackle at this time.” The Committee reported needing $38,000 against $11,500 raised. The Fourth of July, 1976, brought both a historical pageant — a parade with floats depicting Anishinaabe presence, Bishop Baraga, the Strang kingdom, Irish settlement and the logging era — and the public opening of the restored Marine Museum, raised eighteen inches, reshingled and refounded from a derelict net shed. A special Bicentennial Issue that month, compiled by the Committee and written by Dave Gladish, named the Committee’s leadership in full: Archie LaFreniere as chairman, Ed Wojan as executive vice-chairman, Ed Ladd as treasurer, and sub-committee chairs A. J. Roy (Post Office), Robert Gillespie (Marine Museum), Marge Wagner (Heritage Park), Tom McDonough and Mark LaFreniere (Signs), and Bill Cashman (Publications).
The Committee’s publications project produced its most lasting result. A $6.00-a-person “Beaver Island Caper” dance in Wyoming, Michigan, that October added to the fund, and on 17 December 1976 — after six months’ work and $6,000 in production cost — the Committee’s book, The Journal of Beaver Island History, Volume One, came off the press: 218 pages, 80 photographs, and eleven essays on the archipelago’s archaeology, the Mormon kingdom, Irish migration, Feodor Protar, fishing, logging, churches, the House of David on High Island, island ferries, 1947-1951 newspaper excerpts, and place names. Sold at $5.00 through the Historical Society, its proceeds were earmarked to finish the Marine Museum and the Post Office addition.
Evidence and limits
This record is built entirely from Beaver Beacon meeting notices, committee-authored progress reports and published contribution tables, not a charter, board minutes, a grant-award instrument, or an audited ledger. No held source states when the Committee formally dissolved or handed its remaining work to the Historical Society, which absorbed the Post Office and Marine Museum projects and sold the finished book. The March-April 1976 contribution report survives only as an OCR-garbled table with no legible total, so no dollar figure is quoted for that period. Running fund totals across issues are not always reconcilable to a single cumulative figure, since some reports record contributions by period and others cumulatively.
Significance
In under two years the Committee raised a locally reported $11,500 by early 1976 and more afterward, converted a derelict net shed into a working museum, secured 99-year use of township land for a heritage park, and produced the island’s first substantial history book since Strang’s own newspaper — achievements that Beaver Island’s Historical Society continued to build on, including its own 1976 acquisition of an original 1856 Northern Islander.
Open questions
- No held source records exactly when the Committee’s formal work ended or how its projects and remaining funds transferred to the Historical Society.
- What became of the Post Office and Signs projects after 1976 is not documented in the issues read here.
- Does a complete, reconciled fund ledger survive anywhere outside the Beacon’s periodic snapshots?
See also
The dated record
Sources
- Reports a February 24, 1975 committee meeting to complete forms for the Michigan Bicentennial Commission in Lansing, seeking matching funds for a "multitude of projects." 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 · 1975-02_Beaver-Beacon
- The held issue confirms the committee meeting notice.data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1975-02_Beaver-Beacon
- Publishes the Committee's full proposal, signed "Archie LaFreniere, Chairman," listing six projects: restoring the Protector (Protar) Home, the Bonner Home, the Mormon Print Shop/Post Office and starting a Heritage Park; collecting and photocopying documents, maps and photographs; an oral-history project using high-school students; a multi-media documentary; pamphlets and brochures; and a historic-sites bicycle tour; states a $42,000 matching-funds goal and prints a contribution form. 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 · 1975-03_Beaver-Beacon
- The held issue confirms the full proposal text and contribution form.data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1975-03_Beaver-Beacon
- Reports the St. James Township Board agreeing at its annual meeting to a 99-year lease of township property on Donegal Bay Road, near the Museum, for a Heritage Park, with a five-year development stipulation; states Beaver Island had been named an official Bicentennial Community; publishes pledges totaling $1,785.00 and cash donations of $60.28. 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 · 1975-04_Beaver-Beacon
- The held issue confirms the lease report and published contributions.data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1975-04_Beaver-Beacon
- Publishes cash contributions and pledges to June 16, 1975 (total pledges $2,396.00, total cash $1,287.28, received on pledges $375.00), and reports a June 7 Testimonial Dinner for A. J. and the late Mabel Roy at which Phil Gregg announced the proposed Heritage Park would be named in their honor and Charlevoix County Historian Michele Janisse spoke on county Bicentennial activities. 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 · 1975-05_Beaver-Beacon
- The held combined issue confirms the fund report and Heritage Park naming.data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1975-05_Beaver-Beacon
- Reports a $5,000 Michigan Bicentennial Commission grant restricted to publication (against an original $20,000 request, per Charlevoix County Historian Michele Janisse), a National Bicentennial Commission Certificate of Recognition with the Bicentennial flag flying at the Museum, and the completed land-lease transaction for the Mabel and A. J. Roy Heritage Park; publishes cash contributions ($440.50) and pledges ($550.00) to July 31, 1975. 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 · 1975-07_Beaver-Beacon
- The held issue confirms the grant, recognition, park, and accounting reports.data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1975-07_Beaver-Beacon
- Reports the Heritage Park site survey completed by Bob Welke and a sign erected, painted by Harry Warty; publishes cash contributions and pledges to September 27, 1975, including the $5,000 state grant recorded as a cash contribution: total pledges $3,096.00, total cash $6,772.78, received on pledges $825.00. 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 · 1975-08_Beaver-Beacon
- The held issue confirms the survey, sign, and accounting reports.data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1975-08_Beaver-Beacon
- Reports that George and Martha Miller donated harbor property including one of the last net sheds to the Committee for a Marine Museum, and that the tenth annual Grand Rapids Beaver Island Party (October 11) raffled a shipwreck table lamp donated by Robert Gillespie's Beaver Gems, netting $200.00 for the Marine Museum. 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 · 1975-10_Beaver-Beacon
- The held issue confirms the museum donation and raffle report.data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1975-10_Beaver-Beacon
- Publishes November cash contributions from the Beaver Island Christian Church ($315.00) and a Cruikshank model-ship raffle ($203.75), and a $500.00 pledge from the Beaver Island Boat Company. 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 · 1975-11_Beaver-Beacon
- The held issue confirms the November contribution report.data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1975-11_Beaver-Beacon
- Reports the Committee settling, "after a winter of organization and deliberation," on five official projects: Marine Museum, Heritage Park, Post Office, Publications, and Signs, stating the Protar Home "proved too controversial for us to tackle at this time"; describes each project's scope and states $38,000 was needed against $11,500 raised so far. 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 · 1976-02_Beaver-Beacon
- The held issue confirms the five-project restructuring and fund total.data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1976-02_Beaver-Beacon
- Publishes a cash-contribution and pledge table for March and April 1976; the OCR renders the table as a description rather than legible line items, so no total is quoted here. 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 · 1976-04_Beaver-Beacon
- The held issue confirms a published contribution report for the period.data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1976-04_Beaver-Beacon
- A special "Bicentennial Issue," compiled by the Committee and written by Dave Gladish, reports the July 3-4 Bicentennial Fourth celebration with a historical-pageant parade, and gives a detailed project-by-project progress report identifying the Committee's chairman (Archie LaFreniere), executive vice-chairman (Ed Wojan), treasurer (Ed Ladd), and sub-committee chairs: A. J. Roy (Post Office), Robert Gillespie (Marine Museum), Marge Wagner (Heritage Park), Tom McDonough and Mark LaFreniere (Signs), and Bill Cashman (Publications). Reports the Marine Museum structurally restored and opened to the public July 4, and the history book nearing completion for a required end-of-December sale under the state grant's terms. 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 · 1976-07_Beaver-Beacon
- The held Bicentennial issue confirms the parade and project-progress reports.data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1976-07_Beaver-Beacon
- Publishes a cash-contribution and pledge table to August 2, 1976, and advertises an October 9, 1976 "Bicentennial Year Beaver Island Caper" fundraising dance at the Knights of Columbus Hall, Wyoming, Michigan, at $6.00 per person. 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 · 1976-08_Beaver-Beacon
- The held issue confirms the August fundraising report and Caper advertisement.data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1976-08_Beaver-Beacon
- Reports the Committee's book, "The Journal of Beaver Island History, Volume One - 1976," printed December 17, 1976 after six months' work at a cost of $6,000.00; 218 pages, 80 photographs, eleven essays; sold at $5.00 by the Beaver Island Historical Society to raise funds to finish the Marine Museum restoration and the Post Office addition. 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 · 1976-12_Beaver-Beacon
- The held issue confirms the book's publication, description, and sale terms.data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1976-12_Beaver-Beacon
Added 3 August 2026 · revised 4 August 2026. Recent changes
Cite this article
Beaver Island Archive, “Beaver Island Bicentennial Committee”, https://beaverislandarchive.org/organizations/beaver-island-bicentennial-committee-1975/, accessed [date], citing Beaver Beacon, February 1975, "Bicentennial Committee Meets." (and 25 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 Bicentennial Committee”RIS for “Beaver Island Bicentennial Committee”