- Date
- 2003-03-15
- Kind
- Celebration
- Where
- The Shamrock
- Followed by
- St. Patrick's Day on Beaver Island, 2004
- Eras
- Modern era
- Concepts
- celebrationcommunityheritageirish-arranmore
- Within
- Beaver Island
Summary
The Beaver Beacon’s March 2003 issue announces, and its April 2003 issue (in print and web editions) confirms, a full day of St. Patrick’s Day festivities at and in front of the Shamrock on Saturday, March 15, 2003, including a parade, an obstacle/shopping-cart race, tug-of-war, fish toss, fish stomp, and a new “Precision Poking” event, covered all day by radio station WLTO.
Program
A parade; the “new and improved” Shopping Cart Race (5-man teams); the traditional Tug-O-War between the Fishchokers and the Hayseeders; a Women’s and Men’s Fish Toss (with live fish no longer sanctioned); the Fish Stomp (4-person teams); a new “Precision Poking” contest (2-person teams); the Limerick Contest (no longer restricted to cheese-related themes); and the King and Queen Contest (contestants required to name at least seven cheese varieties). Radio station WLTO broadcast coverage of the day.
Evidence limits
Three independent held accounts — the March announcement, the April print
report and cover photo, and the April web edition — corroborate the day’s
occurrence and its central events, which is why confidence is set to
established rather than probable. None gives attendance figures, named
individual winners, or proceeds; the “new and improved” phrasing in the April
report implies rule changes from the prior year but does not itemize them
beyond what the March announcement already describes. No sponsoring
organization is named in any of the three accounts, so carried_out_by is
left empty.
Open questions
- Who organized the 2003 festivities — is this still the Clan Na Gael, as in 1995-1999, even though the name is not used in this year’s held issues?
- What did the parade route and participants consist of, beyond the cover photograph’s tug-of-war scene?
See also
Sources
- Beaver Beacon, March 2003, "St. Patrick's Day Festivities."Announces "On Saturday, March 15th, St. Patrick's Day festivities will begin at the Shamrock at 1:00 PM": a 5-man-team Shopping Cart Race, the traditional Tug-O-War (Fishchockers vs. Hayseeders), a Women's and Men's Fish Toss ("Live fish will no longer be sanctioned for this event"), a 4-person-team Fish Stomp, a new 2-person "Precision Poking" event, the Limerick Contest, and the King and Queen Contest. No public copy of this file is known; the archive holds one and can provide it on request.data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 2003-03_Beaver-Beacon
- The held thirty-two-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 · 2003-03_Beaver-Beacon
- Beaver Beacon, April 2003, cover photo and "The St. Patrick's Day events were reported."The cover photograph shows "a large crowd of people, including many children, participating in a tug-of-war competition on a wet street"; the text reports "the parade; the 'new and improved' shopping cart race; the tug-of-war between the Hayseeders and the Fishchokers; the pitch-a-pike contest; and the Fish Stomp," and that radio station WLTO covered the festivities all day. No public copy of this file is known; the archive holds one and can provide it on request.data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 2003-04_Beaver-Beacon
- The held thirty-six-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 · 2003-04_Beaver-Beacon
- The web edition of the same April 2003 report, recounting Islanders returning from a trip to Arranmore, Ireland in time for "the obstacle race, tug of war, and fish toss" on Main Street, with a link (not followed here) to a color photo gallery.
Added 3 August 2026 · revised 7 August 2026. Recent changes
Cite this article
Beaver Island Archive, “St. Patrick's Day on Beaver Island, 2003”, https://beaverislandarchive.org/events/beaver-island-st-patricks-day-2003/, accessed [date], citing Beaver Beacon, March 2003, "St. Patrick's Day Festivities." (and 4 further sources listed on the page).
Last revised 2026-08-07. Fill in [date] with the date you read it — this page is static and cannot know that.
BibTeX for “St. Patrick's Day on Beaver Island, 2003”RIS for “St. Patrick's Day on Beaver Island, 2003”