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Ten Years Ago The Beacon reported that, like this
year, mother nature rained on our Fourth of July parade, but it
took place despite the downpour. A Craft Show scheduled for the
4th was held over for August 13th.
The Island Players prepared to offer a three-act comedy, Terror
in the Suburbs. The cast included Ed Maudrie, Suzi Myers, Joan
LaFreniere, Pat McGinnity, Helen Pike, Erin Martin, Tara Palmer,
Phil Lange, and Fran Teeter.
The Curator of the Grand Rapids Planetarium put on an inside-and-outside
star-and-planet show. Jeff Cashman won a $100 essay contest.
The Beacon covered the failure of the Beaver Islander's
starboard marine gear 20 minutes from Paradise Bay, requiring
Captain Kevin McDonough to dock her using only the port engine,
and resulting in the South Shore being pressed into triple duty:
she made 23 trips in the following nine days. A poem referring
to this incident appeared in Dave Gladish's Beacon Lite:
The South Shore July Four
A Coast Guard Skipper saw eighty
Huddled on deck. He said, “Matey,
Have a sailor
Go out and hail her.
She must be coming from Haiti.”
The Episcopal Mission celebrated its 40th anniversary with a
gala reception.
Sally Neilsen and Annette Dashiell reported finding a “note
in a bottle” on the beach at Greenes' Bay. It was not a call
of distress, but a hello from the bored crew of the Togue, which
tossed it in between Point Betsie and Sturgeon Bay. Sally and
Annette wrote back, offering to give them a tour if they ever
came to Beaver Island.
St. James Township decided not to post any “No Loitering”
signs.
The passing of bass fishermen Gerald Leitheit and A. Wright Seymour
was noted. These Aurora Blacktop men had a cottage in the Port
of St. James for twenty years, until a quick-moving patch of thick
fog doomed their airplane. It crashed off Donegal Bay after they
attempted to circle back and land at the Township Airport, from
which they had taken off. For a day all the boats were marshaled
to help search for possible survivors, to no avail.
Twenty Years Ago Supervisor Dick Burris complained
to the Petoskey News Review that the assessor's failure to consider
certain costs of land improvements had led to the unfair and unnecessary
implementation of an across-the-board factor of 1.07, improperly
raising property taxes. St. James decided not to rehire Charlevoix
County's Equalization Department to do its assessing, and voted
to tear down the deteriorating pavilion at the Township Park.
An investigation of the Coast Guard Boathouse determined that
the GAO would sell it to the Township for $75,000. The Township
decided to see if the County might be interested in playing a
role.
Bill Wagner urged the townships to get a replacement for him
as DNR Officer when he retires in September.
The school announced that a replacement for five-year principal
Barb Rakowski has been found: Shari Ann Hogue, a graduate of WMU,
who had been teaching in Watervliet, where she also chaired the
Planning Commission.
The Game Club added 1,700 tiger muskies to Font Lake, hoping
they would clean up the stunted perch. They were expected to grow
to 15" the first year, 25" by the following summer,
and to eventually reach 30" (the legal size.) The Game Club
also planted 3,000 brook trout in 20 ponds between Cornelius’
Swamp and Lake Geneserath. CMU continued its 14-year program of
tagging smallmouth bass at Garden and Hog Islands.
The passing of Charlie Martin was noted. He was born in 1906
and lived all his life on Beaver Island, working as a commercial
fisherman. The previous year he had been the subject of several
CMU film students’ project; their work was shown in the Shamrock
with him as guest of honor. He was survived by his wife, six sons,
three daughters, and 27 grandchildren.
The Civic Association asked residents for help compiling a “wish
list” of things needed for the Island, and made a few suggestions:
flowers, trees, and benches for the Harbor; picnic tables for
the public beaches; volleyball equipment for Iron Ore Bay; more
public beach; and a Community House. It was also moving forward
on its planned Monument to the Dead at Sea.
Thirty Years Ago The Beacon noted that smallmouth
bass fishing was very good at Garden and Hog Islands. Don Welke
planted some pheasants on his farm south of the airport.
A crew of volunteers, including John Gallagher, Patricia Nelson,
and the Andrew Crewckshank family, was thanked for having painted
the Mormon Print Shop museum. Bruce Struik was thanked for having
made the shutters for the Protar Home.
The emergency plane made two flights in the previous month: Marguerite
Runberg's son in law Tom Bussell, after getting food caught in
his throat (ill effects lingered for weeks), and Bea Townsend,
who fell at the Lodge.
The first of a two-part article on freighter travel by Dr. N.
P. Sorensen appeared. Having traveled extensively by freighter
for fifteen years, he offered some interesting anecdotes. His
personal preference was for ships carrying fewer than 12 passengers,
which were less formal and less costly. He particularly enjoyed
a 60-day port-to-port cruise from the Canaries through the Mediterranean.
In Genoa his family rented a car during a five-day layover and
drove along the Italian Riviera.
Passings included long-time summer resident Mickey Malloy, son
of John Malloy and Beaver-born Kate Cull.
Forty Years Ago In the Beacon's Homecoming issue,
the first story mentioned that Homecoming began as a celebration
of the centennial of Bishop Baraga coming to Beaver, the first
documented non-Native arrival. The first Homecoming included a
beauty contest, won by Edith Gallagher (daughter of James H.)
In 1964 the format was changed to include a cafeteria-style lunch,
a fish pond for the kids, and several booths. The attendees coming
from the farthest away were Lt. Commander and Mrs. John McCann
from Goose Bay, Labrador.
Dave Banghart won the Sorensen Trophy in a play-off against Neil
Goodman at the Island golf course (after both were tied with 88s.)
The Historical Society held a party to celebrate paying off its
mortgage on the Print Shop Museum. A drawing for a black-and-white
Zenith TV was held.
Summer visitor D. J. Angus of Indianapolis, a significant donor
to the Med Center, sent in an article about his donation of a
50' diesel-powered motor sailer, the Angus, to Grand Valley State
University. Vivian Visscher donated a complete oxygen set to the
Medical Center.
Jerry LaFreniere and Brian Gallagher were home on leave. Summer
visitor Dale Thomas was killed in Viet Nam. Frank Bush, a regular
visitor from Roscommon, suffered a heart attack on the Island
and was helicoptered to Munson, but did not survive.
Elmer Smith fished Geneserath for 12 days and caught 601 bullheads
(423 kept, 235 smoked, and 188 skinned), 6 perch, 3 largemouth,
2 smallmouth, 1 northern, a turtle, and many bluegills.
The Real Beacon:
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