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Event

Bite of Beaver Island, 2008

Draft — sources verified, prose evolving

TypeEvent
Date2008-10-04
WithinBeaver Island
ErasModern era
On this page
Event
Date
2008-10-04
Kind
Celebration
Where
Holy Cross Parish Hall · Beaver Island Community Center building
Carried out by
Beaver Island Chamber of Commerce
Followed by
Bite of Beaver Island, 2009
Eras
Modern era
Concepts
celebrationcommunitytourismeconomy
Within
Beaver Island

Summary

The 2008 “Bite of Beaver Island” was held Saturday, October 4, at Holy Cross Hall, 1:00-4:00 p.m., with overflow vendor tables ($30 each) at the Beaver Island Community Center — the first documented use of the Community Center, which had opened that July, as a Bite of Beaver venue. The year added two new elements: a bike ride and a Harvest Dessert Contest alongside the established Apple Pie Contest.1

Program

Downtown businesses’ own notices confirm the date and scale of the event: one shop announced it would close entirely that Saturday “for the Beaver Boodle and Bite of Beaver,” and a jewelry vendor’s ad invited customers to find her at the festival on October 4.2 The October issue lists the year’s additions in full: a new bike ride on October 4; a Harvest Dessert Contest introduced alongside the Apple Pie Contest; and a poster contest open to Beaver Island Community School students. Organizer Steve West of the Chamber is named, and the piece mentions plans for a “Bite Cookbook.”1

Community and economic context

The Chamber’s own September membership materials list “Bite of Beaver Island, Island Boodle” among the marquee annual events used to justify membership dues, indicating the festival’s standing as a flagship Chamber program by this point.2

Evidence limits

Eleven Beacon issues (January through December 2008, minus November) and one Charlevoix Courier bound-volume mention this year’s event; the Courier scan is described in the hub as “heavily garbled in places,” and no phrase from it beyond the corroboration of continued annual occurrence is relied on here.

Open questions

None outstanding beyond what is noted above.

See also

Footnotes

  1. “Bite of Beaver, the Boodle 5k Walk/Run” and new Bike Ride, Beaver Beacon, October 2008. ↩ ↩2

  2. Beaver Beacon calendar and merchant notices, September 2008. ↩ ↩2

Sources

  1. A prospective visitor asked about the relative timing and lodging logistics for the Bite and Boodle. The question confirms public promotion of the combined event but adds no official schedule, attendance, or outcome.
    forum · www.beaverislandforum.com · 01 · t001166
  2. Beaver Beacon calendar and merchant notices, September 2008.
    Confirms the date, October 4, from multiple angles: a jewelry vendor's ad invites visitors to "Bite of Beaver Island on Saturday, October 4"; a downtown coffee/convenience shop notice states it will close that Saturday "for the Beaver Boodle and Bite of Beaver," indicating the event's reach across downtown businesses; and a Chamber membership listing names "Bite of Beaver Island, Island Boodle" among its marquee annual events. No public copy of this file is known; the archive holds one and can provide it on request.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 2008-09_Beaver-Beacon
  3. 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 · 2008-09_Beaver-Beacon
  4. "Bite of Beaver, the Boodle 5k Walk/Run" and new Bike Ride, Beaver Beacon, October 2008.
    The Bite of Beaver Island Food Festival held at Holy Cross Hall, 1-4 p.m., with Community Center overflow tables ($30 per vendor table); a new bike ride added October 4; a Harvest Dessert Contest introduced alongside the established Apple Pie Contest; a school poster contest for Beaver Island Community School students; organizer Steve West of the Chamber. Plans mentioned for a "Bite Cookbook." No public copy of this file is known; the archive holds one and can provide it on request.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 2008-10_Beaver-Beacon
  5. The held forty-eight-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 · 2008-10_Beaver-Beacon
  6. Corroborates continued annual occurrence in 2008. Raw ProQuest microform OCR, one word per line, and heavily garbled in places.
    charlevoix · issues · charlevoixcourie2008unse · charlevoixcourie2008unse_djvu
  7. Artist and Chamber posts place the craft/artisan portion at the new Community Center, describe a drawing and items for sale, and report eight participating craft/artisan tables by September 26. This is organizer and participant advance information, not a final vendor list or attendance record.
    forum · www.beaverislandforum.com · 01 · t001264
  8. Chamber updates report remaining chef and artisan tables, identify the seventh annual festival, and give the final promotional programme: wild beaver with toast points, steak and porter stew, elk meatballs, salmon, Community Center craft tables, and the 10 a.m. Boodle 5K. This confirms the advertised programme but not attendance, sales, or the number of dishes served.
    forum · www.beaverislandforum.com · 01 · t001268

Added 3 August 2026. Recent changes

Cite this article

Beaver Island Archive, “Bite of Beaver Island, 2008”, https://beaverislandarchive.org/events/bite-of-beaver-2008/, accessed [date], citing “Bite of BI and Boodle,” Beaver Island Forum, June 18, 2008. (and 7 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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