St. Patrick's Day on Beaver Island, 1958

Event

Date: 1958-03-17
Kind: Celebration
Where: Holy Cross Parish Hall
Carried out by: Holy Cross Altar Society
Followed by: St. Patrick's Day on Beaver Island, 1959
Eras: Modern era
Concepts: celebrationcommunityheritageirish-arranmore
Within: Beaver Island

Summary

The Beaver Beacon’s March 1958 issue announces, and its April 1958 issue confirms, a corned beef and ham dinner sponsored by the Holy Cross Altar Society in Holy Cross Hall on St. Patrick’s Day, with music by a children’s “flutophone” band directed by Sister Rene and community singing afterward.

Program

A corned beef and ham dinner, “flutophone” band music performed by grades 5-8 under Sister Rene, and community singing. The same account separately notes the Chicago delegation’s safe return and good time at the parallel Chicago St. Patrick’s Party for Holy Cross Church.

Evidence limits

Both the announcement and the outcome report are contemporary Beacon items; neither gives attendance figures or proceeds. The Chicago party is reported in the same paragraph as the island dinner but is a separate event, tracked in St. Patrick's Party for Holy Cross Church, Chicago, not as part of this edition.

Open questions

Who directed or organized the “flutophone” band beyond Sister Rene, and was this a recurring musical feature in other years?

Sources

Beaver Beacon, March 1958, "DAY O' THE MONTH."
Announces "as always will be St. Pat's Day March 17th when a corned beef & ham dinner will be served by the Altar Society in Holy Cross Hall." The same issue separately reports an island delegation planning to attend the Chicago St. Pat's Party, a distinct event covered by event/st-patricks-party-for-holy-cross-chicago. 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 · 1958-03_Beaver-Beacon
Beaver Beacon, March 1958, held issue PDF, source scan.
The held five-page issue scan is paired with the canonical OCR source and confirms the planned island St. Patrick’s dinner; it does not expand attendance, proceeds, or the separate Chicago party.
data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1958-03_Beaver-Beacon
Beaver Beacon, April 1958, "ST. PAT'S DINNER PARTY."
Reports the dinner "held on the Island in Holy Cross Hall with a corned beef success complete with dinner music supplied by Sr. Rene's 'flutophone' band made up of grades -5-6-7-8," followed by community singing, and notes the Chicago-party delegation (Don Burke, Jewell Gillespie, Archie LaFreniere, Milt Bennett, Jack Connaghan, Walt Wojan and Bussy LaFreniere) returned home in time and reported a fine time. 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 · 1958-04_Beaver-Beacon
Beaver Beacon, April 1958, held issue PDF, source scan.
The held three-page issue scan is paired with the canonical OCR source and confirms the island dinner report and Chicago delegation note; it does not expand attendance, proceeds, or the separate Chicago party.
data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1958-04_Beaver-Beacon

Added 3 August 2026. Recent changes

Cite this article

Beaver Island Archive, “St. Patrick's Day on Beaver Island, 1958”, https://beaverislandarchive.org/events/beaver-island-st-patricks-day-1958/, accessed [date], citing Beaver Beacon, March 1958, "DAY O' THE MONTH." (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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