Beaver Island Yacht Club

Organization

Founded

1960-08

Coordinates

45.7492° N, 85.5173° WGoogle Maps: Beaver Island Yacht ClubDownload KML

Eras

Modern era

Concepts

maritimetourismcommunitygovernance

Within

Saint James Harbor

Summary

The Beaver Island Yacht Club was incorporated in August 1960 by yachtsmen gathered at the King Strang Hotel in St. James Harbor following that season’s Chicago-Mackinac race. The August 1960 Beaver Beacon identifies the new club’s headquarters at the hotel and says yachtsmen aboard the Sabre and the Gypsy, under the leadership of Bill Whalen, incorporated a perpetual paying membership. By its first-year report in May 1962 the club had affiliated with the Lake Michigan Yachting Association, had 56 charter members, and was planning improvements for docks, slips, the beach, clubhouse communications, and visitor weather information.

History

The club’s founding is recorded as part of a wider harbor event: the August 1960 Beacon describes Beaver Harbor on a Wednesday evening that summer as filled with more than fifty sailing yachts and cruisers at every available dock space, during “the big celebration at the King Strang Hotel after the Chicago-Mackinac race.” It was in that setting that the yachtsmen aboard the Sabre and the Gypsy incorporated the club, with the King Strang Hotel as its headquarters. Anyone interested in joining was directed to contact Mrs. Ruth Wanty at the hotel. The same issue names two of the visiting yachts present that season: the County Mayo, owned by Martin Lavan of Brighton, Michigan, and the Maggie O’Neill, owned by Hank Shurmur of Detroit, who was with WWJ-TV and the Detroit News and was filming a color travelogue of the visit.

The May 1962 Beacon first-year report covers the club’s progress: it had become affiliated with the Lake Michigan Yachting Association and reports receiving “encouragement and support from many other club members in the association.” It had reached 56 charter members, three of them honorary life members. Mrs. Lavina Whalen was made an honorary member because she and “the late Bill Whalen” — the club’s founding leader in 1960 — had been ardent supporters of Beaver Island and of boating; the wording establishes that Whalen died between the club’s 1960 founding and this 1962 report, without giving a date. D. J. Angus of Indianapolis was made an honorary member for his moral and financial support of the island’s Medical Center and for his regular visits by private yacht. Keith Wilson, Director of the Michigan State Waterways Commission, was made an honorary member for his interest in developing the new dock at St. James Harbor.

The 1962 report lists the club’s proposed projects for the coming season: its Board of Directors would work with St. James Township and the Michigan Waterways Commission to improve small-craft docking facilities at St. James Harbor, and with the Michigan Conservation Department to establish dock slips at High and Garden Island. Other planned projects included beach benches and grills in front of the club, a flagpole and lighted sign for the club, a Citizen Band radio service at the clubhouse for use that summer, and a LAFOT weather bulletin for visiting yachtsmen.

Evidence and limits

This is a source-qualified organizational record built from two Beacon notices eighteen months apart. The sources do not provide incorporation papers, a complete membership register, bylaws, Bill Whalen’s date or cause of death, or evidence that the May 1962 projects were completed or that the club continued unchanged after 1962.

Added 1 August 2026 · revised 3 August 2026. Recent changes