New Hampshire Public TV will offer two nights on Star Island for two at their annual spring auction May 7-16. Follow link (below) and scroll down to see Star Island offer in the Golden Gavel category. Tune in and make a bid for a two-night Personal Retreat.

Sally Blount, All Star 1 conferee, was named dean of Northwestern University’s Kellogg Graduate School of Management.

Wall Street Journal Article

Business Week Article

Once again Star Island survived a severe winter storm on February 25th through 27th.
Winds peaked at 90 mph with 30 foot seas. Fortunately damages were moderate which included limited roof shingle loss on the Hotel, Cottage A, B, C, Shack and Marshman; a few missing window panes, a fair amount of pier surface damage, and some downed cedar trees. A few large granite boulders on the breakwater between Star Island and Cedar Island were tossed and turned but the breakwater was not breached.

Our winter caretaker Alex endured the storm in the EMB. After the storm she made some temporary repairs and our staff followed up with intermediate repairs. I have made plans for a roofing contractor to visit the island to do permanent repairs on the roof. We will have to address the pier surface damage during open-up by patching the concrete holes with a durable concrete patch. Unfortunately, the damage is significant enough to require moving the resurfacing of the pier up on the Capital Improvement Plan to 2011.

Damage on our neighboring islands was limited as well. I spoke with Eddy Foye on Cedar Island and he lost a few pier pilings but overall reported that his camp fared well. He did request some help from our more athletic Pel staff this spring to help reposition the pier pilings and float which I assured him he could count on. Ray Randall on Lunging reported no significant damage but a bit of a mess from floating debris.

All in all it could have been worse.

Sincerely,

Keith Noyes
Director of Facilities Management

New Conference for New Ministers (1 to 10 years of experience)

A new conference for new ministers on Star Island is the result of a three-way partnership between Star Island, the Unitarian Universalist Association, and the Massachusetts Conference of the United Church of Christ. The conference, titled Challenges, Questions, Pitfalls, and Joys: The Reality of Serving a Church, will be held from Sunday August 29 to Saturday September 3, and will accommodate 20 credentialed ministers serving local congregations in their first one to ten years of ordained ministry.

Priority will be given to those serving United Church of Christ and Unitarian Universalist churches, whose members founded and continue to administer Star Island. Ecumenical colleagues are invited to register as well as to explore programming related to the first years of ministry.

The new clergy in attendance will benefit from workshops specifically designed for new ministers that will focus on church organization, organizational vitalization, and living into one’s role as a pastor. Ample time for rest and renewal will be provided as ministers gear up for the new church program year. “The goal is to provide an experience that will leave conferees feeling rejuvenated and ready to return to their congregations with new ideas and resources and a stronger peer-support network,” said Kris LoFrumento of the Massachusetts Conference, UCC. “The Reverend Jane Rzepka will serve as one of the worship ministers and we are seeking a theme speaker.”

See Conference Description

The Isles of Shoals Steamship Company (ISSCO) will once again provide transportation from their dock on Market Street in Portsmouth to Star Island for conference guests and other overnight visitors. Beginning in June we will sail to Star Island on the M/V Thomas Laighton, the boat that brought Shoalers to Star from the mid-1980s to 2004. For newcomers, the Laighton is a 90-foot vessel, with three decks, two of which are fully enclosed and heated. It has the capacity to hold 300, and has many amenities, including a snack bar, several washrooms, comfortable deck chairs, and the boat is wheelchair-accessible.

There are many reasons that we are so delighted that Star Island guests will once again embark for their trip to the island from Portsmouth on the Laighton. First, there is a very long history that ties Star Island with ferry service from Portsmouth. Shoalers may remember forerunners to the Laighton: the Viking, the Oceanic, and of course, the Kiboko, which provided service from 1946 to 1961.

Besides the historical significance, there are many practical advantages to this move:
• Using the Laighton will allow all participants from a conference to share the experience of arriving at Star together…and going home together.
• Portsmouth is accessible by public transportation, a great boon to those who are coming to Star from Logan or Manchester airports.
• Parking will be simplified; with a paved and well-lit lot, the luggage drop-off will be right next to the boats.
• Simplified parking will mean fewer SIC employees must come into Portsmouth to manage the boarding/disembarking processes.
• More time will be available on the island for turn-around; cleaning, repairs, and general maintenance can be done in a less rushed environment.
• Early arrivals can take advantage of the hotels right across the street; coming back into Portsmouth on Saturday could mean lunch and shopping, to extend their Star Island experience for another few hours.
• The ISSCO staff is familiar with Star Island, the Shoalers, and our needs…they will be genuine partners in this venture.

The details of directions to the dock, information about times, logistics of luggage handling and checking in, are all being developed as we write this note. Joe Watts and Keith Noyes are working together with Captain Jeremy Bell, the Operations Manager for ISSCO and senior captain for the Laighton to iron out all the steps for 2010. It is also important to note that the rates for transportation include only a modest increase for adults, none for children, and the parking fee is also the same as last year, but with much better facilities! Please check the Star Island website after February 1, 2010, for the details on transportation.

Star Island Newsletter

Winter 2010

Volume XXXVI, Issue 1

Inside this Issue:

• We Did Come Back
• Volunteering
• Starry Night
• Star Island Items
• Firefighter Training
• From the President
• Community
• From the Development Office
• Passages
• Flight Over Star
• New Roof

We are proud to introduce a new section dedicated to Stories from Shoalers.

The initial collection includes pieces by Edie and Steve Whitney, Alec Lowry, Joe Pescatello, Joan M. Strickland Johnson, C.E.V. Jenkins, and Lois Kenick. They span many years of Star Island’s history that include memories of a first week on Star Island in 1950, a first visit in September 2001, ending with the summer of 2009.

We welcome submissions –send your story about Star Island to Priscilla Hodgkins, email hidden; JavaScript is required.