Star Island Corporation

Joe Watts named to succeed Vicky Hardy as Star Island CEO

March 30, 2012

Dear Shoalers,

Since Vicky Hardy announced her plans to retire and join her family in Seattle, the Star Island Board has given much thought as to how to approach the search for a new CEO. During our deliberations we recognized that an internal candidate was very interested in the position. After discussion, the Board decided to interview the internal candidate this week before consideration of any external search process.

I am very pleased to announce that our Board has selected Joe Watts to serve as the next CEO of the Star Island Corporation.

In our conversations with him, the Board was impressed by his passion for Star, his serious interest in continuing his personal growth, and his understanding of the challenges we face. We are excited about how well Joe’s personal interests fit the needs of Star Island. Joe has a deep understanding of our traditions, and a balanced sense of how change can support our sustainability and the core Star Island experience.

We are committed to building upon the great work we have accomplished under Vicky’s leadership. We are fortunate to have time for up a smooth leadership transition from Vicky to Joe. We will be working closely together in the months ahead to implement an effective and forward-thinking transition plan.

You have known Joe most recently as our General Island Manager, greeting you at the “Fire & Water” orientation upon your arrival on Star. Many have interacted with Joe during his decades of engagement with Star. Joe’s love of the island started when he attended his first conference, LOAS II, thirty years ago. He started his commitment to Star as an end-of-season Pelican in 1987 and has never looked back – working in a number of seasonal and year-round roles ever since. Joe served as our Acting Executive Director before Vicky’s arrival in 2008, and more recently as our Conference Center Director. Joe is a leader dedicated to Star Island, to the people who have been coming for decades, and to the people who are new to our Spirit’s Home. We will have a CEO who has already formed enduring relationships with many of you, and has strong connections to our greater Island and Seacoast communities.

Please join us in welcoming Joe to his new position – I know he is eager to hear from you about your hopes and dreams for the future. And he’s excited to see you at the Annual Meeting in April or on the Island this summer!

Cordially,

Russell A. Peterson
Board President

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We declare April 1 to be Lime Rickey Day!

March 21, 2012

We here at Star Island love a good prank as much as the next person, but we don’t joke around when it comes to celebrating our spirit’s home. That’s why we’re declaring April 1 as an annual Lime Rickey Day.

Learn more!

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Historic Star Conference explores Shoals’ sordid history

March 19, 2012

Investigate mystery and mayhem on the Isles of Shoals this summer and attend the Historic Star Conference on Star Island from Saturday, August 25 to Saturday, September 1.

The Historic Star Conference will help you determine the truth behind stories of pirates, treasure, ghosts and murder just 10 miles off the coast of Maine and New Hampshire. Surround yourself with the cottages and structures used by fishing families in the 17th and 18th centuries while learning about the isolated village of Gosport. Uncover the seemingly peculiar behavior of Gosport’s residents while residing in what remains of this community.

Join author and NHPTV host Rebecca Rule for strange tales of New England, learn of the 18th century hanging of Portsmouth resident Ruth Blay from Carolyn Marvin of the Portsmouth Athenaeum and attend atmospheric digital photographs and art workshops.

Play the role of a famous Shoals character or a detective at an evening “Star Island Mystery Soiree.” With scandals as big as murder and stories as intriguing as pirates, witches and ghosts, the Historic Star Conference allows you to learn about our region’s history and separate from the mainland for a week.

Conference Organizer Ann Beattie said, “The Isles of Shoals have been the home to so much history. From explorer John Smith to oil tycoon Aristotle Onassis, Star Island has stories to tell and the Historic Star Conference is the perfect way to learn about the mystery and mayhem.”

Star Island CEO Vicky Hardy said, “We hear ghost stories all the time out on Star Island, and now there is an opportunity to experience more than ghosts. The Historic Star Conference provides a relaxing way to learn about New England’s isolated gem of history.”

For more information about the conference and to register, please visit StarIsland.org/HistoricStar.

The Star Island Corporation was established as a nonprofit corporation in 1916 to hold and administer Star Island and its historic properties for religious, educational, and kindred purposes. The Laighton family owned and operated hotels on the Isles of Shoals that attracted some of the most prominent artists and writers of their day. Some of the cottages on Star Island date back to the 1700s.

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Eventide Art Gallery to host Star Island exhibit

March 13, 2012

A Star Island Art Exhibition is opening at the Eventide Art Gallery in Essex, MA on Saturday, April 14. The hours of the opening will be from 3pm to 9pm, with the exhibition continuing for the next two weeks, until April 28th.

This special event is both a fund-raiser to benefit Star and a promotional to introduce Star’s many exciting conference and retreat offerings to both Shoalers and non-Shoalers.
Read more…

Star Island Corporation

AAA magazine writer goes on a Smuttynose ghost hunt

February 23, 2012

The Isles of Shoals’ spooky and macabre history slashed out by the brutal murders of two women in 1873 continues to fascinate and chill visitors today with reported ghost sightings and mystery surrounding just what exactly happened on that night nearly 140 years ago. The March/April issue of AAA’s Northern New England Journey magazine is all about mysteries of the region, and in an article titled “Scene of the Crime,” Mimi Bigelow Steadman tells of her own first-hand experience of heading to the Isles to seek out the Smuttynose specters.

Day-trippers can hike and picnic on this private 27-acre island, which offers unspoiled terrain crossed by a couple of trails. But I’d been drawn here by my fascination with a gruesome 19th- century murder mystery. Julie lasix furosemide buy online continued, pulling me further into her tale: “I told some other stewards we’d seen a ghost. They said, ‘So did we!’”

Read the rest of the article at AAA.com (the article appears after you enter your zip code, no registration or membership required).

If you want to dive deeper into the Isles of Shoals’ history, consider this year’s Historic Star and Literary Festival conferences! Anita Shreve, author of book The Weight of Water that spins a tale of the Smuttynose murders and which was later adapted to the silver screen starring Sean Penn, will speak during the Literary Festival. The theme for this year’s Historic Star Conference is Mystery and Mayhem on the Isles of Shoals, which is, you know, right up that alley.

Star Island Corporation

Grant allows Star Island to look to a solar-powered future

February 21, 2012

In her “Earth Matters” column Monday, Feb. 20, Portsmouth Herald reporter Deborah McDermott talks about the solar initiatives that Star Island is currently exploring thanks to a $10,000 grant from the Barbara K. and Cyrus B. Sweet III Fund of the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation.

Servicing an island community inherently brings much different challenges than for a community on the mainland, requiring innovative thinking to meet and exceed the level of comfort our guests desire. In addition, Star Island Corp. stays very mindful of its environmental impact and is always looking for ways to improve our facilities without compromising the island’s beautiful natural environment. Solar power makes a lot of sense for us as a renewable energy source both environmentally and financially, and McDermott explains how:

Despite energy-saving measures that include switching to fluorescent lights, no television, highly efficient washing machines and limited showers for as many as 300 people on island at a time in peak season, the island still spends $100,000 every summer on power — from three 5,000-gallon diesel tanks.

During that same tour, (Facilities Superintendent Jack Farrell) took me to a little-used, south-facing ledge on the island, now covered with poison ivy but the perfect place for a passel of solar panels. There, he said, is the future.

Read more at Seacoastonline.com.

Learn more about Star Island’s green initiatives.