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Event

Bite of Beaver Island, 2006

Draft — sources verified, prose evolving

TypeEvent
Date2006-10-07
WithinBeaver Island
ErasModern era
On this page
Event
Date
2006-10-07
Kind
Celebration
Where
Holy Cross Parish Hall
Carried out by
Beaver Island Chamber of Commerce
Followed by
Bite of Beaver Island, 2007
Eras
Modern era
Concepts
celebrationcommunitytourismeconomy
Within
Beaver Island

Summary

The fifth “Bite of Beaver Island” ran Saturday, October 7, 2006, from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. at the Parish Hall, preceded that morning by the Island Boodle 5K starting near the Mormon Print Shop at 10:00 a.m. — called the “4th annual” Boodle in a September feature and “our 5th annual” in the November recap.12 “Three hundred people” are reported to have attended the food festival, which packed the Hall to where “few of us recognized there was barely room to turn around.”3

Program

Chef registration opened in September, inviting entries with the tagline “May the best cheese-dipped shrimp make the show.”4 The October issue details a now-established Apple Pie Contest: entries due to the Hall kitchen between 11:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m., emcee John Fiegen announcing the top two winners at 3:30 p.m., the prior year’s “Pie Queen” Betty Scoggin crowning this year’s winner, prizes donated by Montaage and Whimsy, and the top two pies auctioned off for the baker’s chosen charity.5 Reportage embedded in a fiction feature in the same month’s issue names specific dishes sold that day — Pinky Harmon’s sautéed escargot, whitefish cakes, and jalapeño poppers — and puts the Boodle’s field at 70-80 walkers and runners, starting near the Mormon Print Shop.1

The November recap names the organizing committee as Kathy Speck, Jean Carpenter, Tammy LaFreniere, Liz Lanier, Sarah Owinski, Marijean Pike, Terry Meany, and Gail Weede, with Steve and Elaine West. Wendy Fogg won the best-decorated-table award; scarecrows made by the Brownies decorated the hall; music was provided by Joddy and Stryder Crosswhite.3 The Charlevoix Courier independently confirms this as the “5th Annual” edition, held with the Island Boodle 5K and an apple pie contest and auction.6

The Boodle 5K

A separate November 2006 item, “Another Beautiful Boodle,” reports the race was held on “an absolutely perfect early-October Saturday,” a week before an early snowfall, and credits Gail and Mike Weede of the Paradise Bay Dive Shop with originating it; it had grown from “only a handful of participants” to over 100 that year.2 The overall winner among the runners was Cameron Burton, a Beaver Island Community School freshman, in 21 minutes 18 seconds, who had played in that morning’s soccer game only a half-hour before; Jake Drost (21:44) and Matt Hahn III (22:18) followed. Cherri Huelsbert led the women in 23:14, followed by Margie O’Connor (24:43), Mary Grondin (30:29), and Marianne Brown (30:32); Bailey McDonough was the first girl finisher (30:03), followed by a runner the report names, across a page break, as “Libby … Ockert” (33:27) and Samantha Kuligoski (36:51). Among the walkers, power-walking specialist Rick Speck finished at 34:58, nearly four minutes ahead of David Plastrik. The report also notes that students from the Beaver Island Lighthouse School took part in the race.2

Evidence limits

Seven Beacon issues (March, April, June, August, September, October, November 2006) and one Charlevoix Courier bound-volume mention this year’s event. The food and attendance details drawn from the September fiction feature (“The Blue Dots of Beaver Island”) are treated as reliable only where they describe the real, dateable event and its logistics; the surrounding narrative is fiction and is not otherwise used as evidence here. The Boodle’s own ordinal count is not resolved: the September fiction feature’s scene-setting narration calls it the “4th annual,” while the November “Another Beautiful Boodle” recap calls the same race “our 5th annual” — in the same issue that separately calls that day’s Bite of Beaver its “fifth” running. This article carries both figures rather than choosing between them; the fiction feature’s count is treated as reportage embedded in the piece under the same standard applied to its food and course details, not as fiction. The runner surnamed “Ockert” is read across an OCR page break (“followed by Libby … Ockert”) and her first name is inferred from the unbroken sentence rather than independently confirmed.

Open questions

  • Which is correct — “4th” or “5th” annual — for the 2006 Island Boodle, given the September fiction feature and the November recap disagree within the same publication year?
  • What is the full name of the runner the November recap gives, across a page break, as “Libby … Ockert”?

See also

Footnotes

  1. “The Blue Dots of Beaver Island,” Beaver Beacon, September 2006. ↩ ↩2

  2. “Another Beautiful Boodle,” Beaver Beacon, November 2006. ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  3. “Three hundred people enjoy a Bite of Beaver,” Beaver Beacon, November 2006. ↩ ↩2

  4. “Chefs… start your ovens,” Beaver Beacon, September 2006. ↩

  5. “Calling all Pie Bakers!” and “See You at the Boodle!”, Beaver Beacon, October 2006. ↩

  6. “5th Annual Bite of Beaver Island Food Festival,” Charlevoix Courier, 2006. ↩

Sources

  1. The AMVETS Ladies Auxiliary announces its Sloppy Joe and dessert offering and says donations would support scholarships and troops overseas; the Chamber reply confirms the 10:00 a.m. Boodle, 1:00–4:00 p.m. Bite, and Holy Cross Hall. This is an advance community notice, not an independent attendance or proceeds record.
    forum · www.beaverislandforum.com · 00 · t000758
  2. Beaver Beacon calendar listings, March-August 2006.
    Repeated calendar entries across the March, April, June, August, and September 2006 issues fix the date as October 7, "Bite of Beaver Island & The Island Boodle." No public copy of this file is known; the archive holds one and can provide it on request.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 2006-08_Beaver-Beacon
  3. The held forty-four-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 · 2006-08_Beaver-Beacon
  4. "Chefs... start your ovens," Beaver Beacon, September 2006.
    Calls for chef registration for the Bite of Beaver on October 7 via the Chamber office, phone, or email, "May the best cheese-dipped shrimp make the show." No public copy of this file is known; the archive holds one and can provide it on request.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 2006-09_Beaver-Beacon
  5. The held fifty-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 · 2006-09_Beaver-Beacon
  6. "Calling all Pie Bakers!" and "See You at the Boodle!", Beaver Beacon, October 2006.
    Apple Pie Contest details: entries to the Hall kitchen 11:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m. on October 7; emcee John Fiegen announces 1st/2nd place at 3:30 p.m.; the prior year's "Pie Queen," Betty Scoggin, crowns this year's winner; prizes from Montaage and Whimsy; top two pies auctioned for the baker's chosen charity. Boodle race starts 10:00 a.m. at the Shamrock, benefiting the Sports Boosters; the Bite of Beaver runs 1:00-4:00 p.m. at "the Hall." No public copy of this file is known; the archive holds one and can provide it on request.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 2006-10_Beaver-Beacon
  7. The held forty-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 · 2006-10_Beaver-Beacon
  8. "The Blue Dots of Beaver Island" (fiction feature, framed around real event details), Beaver Beacon, September 2006.
    A fictional feature story is set against real, corroborated event detail: the 4th annual Boodle drawing "70-80 walkers and runners" starting near the Mormon Print Shop, and "the Bite of Beaver" at the Parish Hall featuring "Pinky Harmon's sautéed escargots," "whitefish cakes and jalapeño poppers." These specific food and logistics details are treated here as reportage embedded in the piece, not as part of its invented plot. No public copy of this file is known; the archive holds one and can provide it on request.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 2006-09_Beaver-Beacon
  9. The held fifty-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 · 2006-09_Beaver-Beacon
  10. Confirms a "5th Annual" Bite of Beaver Island Food Festival in 2006, held with an Island Boodle 5K run and an apple pie contest and auction. Raw ProQuest microform OCR, one word per line.
    charlevoix · issues · charlevoixcourie2006unse · charlevoixcourie2006unse_djvu
  11. "Three hundred people enjoy a Bite of Beaver," Beaver Beacon, November 2006.
    Recap: the Parish Hall was "so full ... barely room to turn around." Names organizing committee: Kathy Speck, Jean Carpenter, Tammy LaFreniere, Liz Lanier, Sarah Owinski, Marijean Pike, Terry Meany, Gail Weede, Steve West, and Elaine West. Wendy Fogg won the best-decorated-table award; scarecrows for decoration were made by the Brownies; music by Joddy and Stryder Crosswhite. No public copy of this file is known; the archive holds one and can provide it on request.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 2006-11_Beaver-Beacon
  12. "Another Beautiful Boodle," Beaver Beacon, November 2006.
    Same November 2006 issue, separate item, on the Boodle 5K that preceded the Bite of Beaver. Calls this year's race the Boodle's "5th annual," conflicting with the September 2006 fiction feature's "4th annual" label used elsewhere in this article's sources. Credits Gail and Mike Weede of the Paradise Bay Dive Shop with originating the race and reports growth from a handful of participants to over 100. Gives finish times for runners Cameron Burton (BICS freshman, overall winner), Jake Drost, Matt Hahn III, Cherri Huelsbert, Margie O'Connor, Mary Grondin, Marianne Brown, Bailey McDonough (first girl), a runner whose finish-time entry is split across a page break as "Libby ... Ockert," and Samantha Kuligoski, and for walkers Rick Speck and David Plastrik. Notes Beaver Island Lighthouse School students took part. No public copy of this file is known; the archive holds one and can provide it on request.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 2006-11_Beaver-Beacon
  13. The held forty-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 · 2006-11_Beaver-Beacon

Added 3 August 2026. Recent changes

Cite this article

Beaver Island Archive, “Bite of Beaver Island, 2006”, https://beaverislandarchive.org/events/bite-of-beaver-2006/, accessed [date], citing Beaver Island Forum topic 758, "sloppy joes and dessert at Bite of Beaver," October 4, 2006. (and 11 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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