Beaver Island ArchiveA primary-source archive & encyclopedia45°40′N 85°33′W · Lake Michigan
Search

Event

24th Annual St. Patrick's Party for Holy Cross Church, 1978

Also 1978 Chicago St. Patrick's party · 24th annual Chicago Holy Cross benefit · West Hall Dolton St. Patrick's party

Draft — sources verified, prose evolving

TypeEvent
Date1978-03-11
WithinChicago
ErasModern era
On this page
Event
Date
1978-03-11
Kind
Celebration
Followed by
25th Annual St. Patrick's Party for Holy Cross Church, 1979
Eras
Modern era
Concepts
celebrationcommunityheritagereligion
Within
Chicago

Summary

The January and February 1978 Beaver Beacon issues announced “The 24th Annual St. Patrick’s Party,” held March 11, 1978, at West Hall, 14421 Greenwood, Dolton, Illinois — the only edition in the held run not held at St. Kevin’s Church Hall, Chicago — with The Klawitter Combo providing entertainment for a $5.00 per-person donation. The April issue printed an unusually detailed list of attending islander families and individuals, submitted by L.C. Gallagher, but no attendance total or proceeds figure.

Twenty-four years back from 1978 again places the founding party in 1955 (1978 − 23 = 1955). This edition’s ordinal chains directly, one year at a time, from 23rd Annual St. Patrick's Party for Holy Cross Church, 1977 the year before.

Program

Dancing and entertainment with The Klawitter Combo (rather than the Bill Stack Band used in most other held editions), buffet lunch, and door prizes, for a $5.00 per-person donation — up from $4.00 in 1976 and 1977. The venue moved from St. Kevin’s Church Hall in Chicago proper to West Hall in Dolton, Illinois, a south-suburban location.

Evidence limits

The April report is a bare attendee list, submitted by a named islander (L.C. Gallagher) rather than a Beacon staff account, with no attendance count, proceeds figure, or program description of the event itself.

Open questions

  • Why did the 1978 edition move to West Hall in Dolton rather than St. Kevin’s Church Hall, and did it return to St. Kevin’s the following year (as the 1979 edition’s announcement indicates it did)?
  • What was the 1978 edition’s proceeds total?

See also

Sources

  1. The formal announcement: "The 24th Annual St. Patrick's Party / For the Benefit of Holy Cross Church, Beaver Island, Michigan / Saturday, March 11, 1978 - 7:30 - 1:00 / WEST HALL / 14421 Greenwood / Dolton, Illinois." Donations $5.00 per person, dancing and entertainment with The Klawitter Combo, buffet lunch, door prizes. This is the only edition in the held run at West Hall, Dolton, rather than St. Kevin's Church Hall. 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 · 1978-01_Beaver-Beacon
  2. The held nine-page January issue PDF is paired with the canonical OCR source and confirms the party announcement.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1978-01_Beaver-Beacon
  3. Repeats the January announcement verbatim. 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 · 1978-02_Beaver-Beacon
  4. The held eleven-page February issue PDF is paired with the canonical OCR source and confirms the repeated party announcement.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1978-02_Beaver-Beacon
  5. Reads: "L.C. Gallagher sent us a list of native Islanders who attended the Beaver Island St. Patrick's Party in Chicago," followed by an extensive list of families grouped by surname: the Gallagher family (Martha, Earl, Leo, Sadie "Bowery"), the Greene family (Pat Burke, Burnell, Mary Margaret, Dan), the "Brown" family (Francis, Barbara, Shiela, Pete, Terry), the "L.J. Malloy's" (Larry, Loy, Mary, Bernedette, Dorothy), the Gillespie family (Jewell, Robert, Billy, Rich), the LaFreniere family (Bussy, Rita, Joe), the Cull family (Larry, Jack, Betty, Sally, Mable, Roland), the Connaghan family (Georgie, Anna Mae, Gene), the "Danny Barney" O'Donnell family (Margaret, Carol, Richie, Jack, Bobby), Jim Burnes, Eugene Mooney, Fr. Herbert from Broken Bow, Nebraska, the McCafferty family (Bing, Jim, Donald), and the Turner family (Mary, Jack, Donald, Teresa, Sharon), among others. No attendance count or proceeds figure accompanies the list. 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 · 1978-04_Beaver-Beacon
  6. The held twelve-page combined April–May issue PDF is paired with the canonical OCR source and confirms the attendee-list report.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1978-04_Beaver-Beacon

Added 3 August 2026. Recent changes

Cite this article

Beaver Island Archive, “24th Annual St. Patrick's Party for Holy Cross Church, 1978”, https://beaverislandarchive.org/events/st-patricks-party-for-holy-cross-1978/, accessed [date], citing Beaver Beacon, January 1978, "The 24th Annual St. Patrick's Party." (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.

BibTeXRIS