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Event

12th Annual St. Patrick's Party for Holy Cross Church, 1966

Also 1966 Chicago St. Patrick's party · 12th annual Chicago Holy Cross benefit

Draft — sources verified, prose evolving

TypeEvent
Date1966-03-19
WithinChicago
ErasModern era
On this page
Event
Date
1966-03-19
Kind
Celebration
Followed by
Chicago St. Patrick's Party for Holy Cross Church, 1967
Eras
Modern era
Concepts
celebrationcommunityheritagereligion
Within
Chicago

Summary

The March 1966 Beaver Beacon carried a formal announcement, titled “THE 12TH ANNUAL ST. PATRICK’S PARTY,” for a March 19, 1966 benefit for Holy Cross Church at the Greater Pullman V.F.W. Post, 10937 South Michigan Avenue, Chicago. This is the earliest edition in the held corpus whose own source states its ordinal directly, without requiring arithmetic: the 12th annual party held twelve years after the 1955 first party places 1955 as year one (1966 − 11 = 1955), independently corroborating the founding year the hub derives from five later numbered editions.

Program

Dancing and entertainment with the Bill Stack Band — the same band named for the 1972, 1974, and 1975 editions — plus sandwiches and salad “all you can eat” and door prizes, for a $2.00 per-person ($1.50 per child under 18) donation. Contributions from those unable to attend could be sent directly to Father Louis Wren at Holy Cross Church. Information about the party could be requested from the “Beaver Island Party Committee of Chicago” at a Colfax Avenue address, the first mention in the held run of a named organizing committee rather than an individual chairman.

Evidence limits

The April follow-up calls attendance “a record number” without a count and does not give a proceeds figure. No individual chairman is named for this edition — only the “Beaver Island Party Committee of Chicago” as a body.

Open questions

  • Who served on the Beaver Island Party Committee of Chicago in 1966, and is this the same body that later years credit to named individual chairmen (Bernard O’Donnell, Rosie McDonough Zajakowski)?
  • What was the attendance count and proceeds total for this “record” year?

See also

Sources

  1. Reads: "Definite plans for the party have been made and it will be held at the Greater Pullman V.F.W. Post, 10937 Michigan Avenue, Chicago, Illinois on March 19th. Anyone wishing more information may write to Beaver Island Party Committee of Chicago, 9051 Colfax Avenue, Chicago, Illinois."
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1966-02_Beaver-Beacon
  2. The held seven-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 · 1966-02_Beaver-Beacon
  3. The formal announcement, giving the ordinal directly: "THE 12TH ANNUAL ST. PATRICK'S PARTY / For the benefit of Holy Cross Church, Beaver Island, Mich. / SATURDAY, MARCH 19, 1966 - 8:30 P.M. / V.F.W. PULLMAN POST / 10937 S. Michigan Ave." Lists donations of $2.00 per person and $1.50 per child, dancing and entertainment with the Bill Stack Band, sandwiches and salad, door prizes, and names Father Louis Wren of Holy Cross Church as the recipient of direct contributions.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1966-03_Beaver-Beacon
  4. The held 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 · 1966-03_Beaver-Beacon
  5. Reports: "This year's Chicago Party was attended by a record number, with a good representation from the island. All reports support the fact that everyone had a great time." Names seven islanders who attended: Lloyd and Bud McDonough, Archie Minor, Walter Wojan, Dick LaFreniere, Jewell, Rita, Johnny and Bill Gillespie. No exact attendance figure or proceeds total is given.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1966-04_Beaver-Beacon
  6. The held 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 · 1966-04_Beaver-Beacon

Added 3 August 2026. Recent changes

Cite this article

Beaver Island Archive, “12th Annual St. Patrick's Party for Holy Cross Church, 1966”, https://beaverislandarchive.org/events/st-patricks-party-for-holy-cross-1966/, accessed [date], citing Beaver Beacon, February 1966, "Chicago." (and 5 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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