For a terrific slide show of Star Island, see Sofia Piel’s photographs taken during recent Conference on the Arts.

Our thanks to Sofia Piel for sending us the link.

Shannon Roecklein, Star Island Assistant Conference Center Director, had the unique pleasure of leading a guided tour of the island for Senators Judd Gregg, Trent Lott, and Lamar Alexander and their wives on Saturday, June 20. The group was brought to the island by Sue Reynolds aboard her boat, the Uncle Oscar, and by all reports the trip was a great pleasure for everyone.

“Senator and Mrs. Gregg often go to the Isles of Shoals, and have done so for many years, to visit the various UNH marine initiatives, Celia Thaxter’s Garden, and to support the White Island Lighthouse for which they helped to secure over $250,000 for restoration efforts. Last month, the Greggs enjoyed the opportunity to bring Senator and Mrs. Trent Lott and Senator and Mrs. Lamar Alexander to Star Island, and especially appreciated touring the Island which is such an important landmark and historic area in New Hampshire,” stated Laena Fallon, Press Secretary to Senator Gregg.

Members of the Board of Trustees met with the esteemed visitors and were happy to see that Senator Gregg came back to Star Island (we all do come back) and that he brought such a distinguished group of friends.

Photos: (top) Senator Gregg, Mrs. Lamar Alexander, Senator Lamar Alexander, Mrs. Judd Gregg, Former Senator Trent Lott, and Mrs. Trent Lott. (bottom) Shannon Roecklein with Senator Alexander.

“Moments after the Thomas Laighton ferry docked at Star Island yesterday, several passengers disembarked and headed straight for the wooden rocking chairs overlooking Gosport Harbor.

Some came to escape the chaos of their lives on the mainland.

Others came to tour the rocky island they haven’t seen since they were young.”

Check out the full article.

Beginning this June the Thomas Laighton, sailing out of Portsmouth, will provide ferry service to Star Island three days a week. The Isles of Shoals Steamship Company will offer passage mornings and afternoons on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays from mid-June through mid-September.

See ISSCO website for details.

The first group of staff moved to Star Island on March 30 to begin two and half months of work to prepare the facilities for the summer season, which officially begins June 13. Each week more staff will join the first crew and they will be joined by volunteers on work weekends beginning May 1 and ending June 7.

Pictured [from left to right] are Noah Blakney (Logistics and Purchasing Manager), Andrew Burt (Island Information Technology), Tietjen Hynes (Island Engineer), Ryan Langley (Transportation and Equipment Manager), Shannon Roecklein (Assistant Conference Center Director), Keith Noyes (Director of Operations and Maintenance), and Friendly (Dog).

The television production crew for the Sci-Fi Channel’s series Ghost Hunters came to Star Island in November to film an episode about its spectral visitors. The producers, directors and on-camera investigators from The Atlantic Paranormal Society (TAPS) spent a week in Portsmouth preparing for their night in on Star Island. Their work began with historical research at the Portsmouth Athenaeum and included interviews with local historians and ended with a dark and stormy night spent on Star Island.

The Star Island episode was broadcast as the premier program for its new season on March 18 at 9 pm EST on the Sci-Fi channel. It is the first program filmed in high definition. This is the second Ghost Hunter’s program filmed in the Seacoast area. In October they spent a night in the Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouse at Fort Constitution in New Castle. This show aired on December 10. Both episodes are available for viewing on the show’s website: www.scifi.com/rewind/.

Star Island historian Ann Beattie met with the television crew to film a segment about major events in the island’s history and lighter topics, including stories about pirates and mysterious events on the island.

Roxie Zwicker, author of three books, whose New England Curiosities tours include Maritime Mysteries and Ghostly Lighthouses, knows first-hand the effect of a Ghost Hunter’s show. “After the Ghost Hunter’s show about Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouse, the phone didn’t stop ringing and we had to add dates for our Lighthouse tours,” said Zwicker.

Visitors to the Seacoast and the Isles of Shoals this summer will likely include many who first heard of the area through one of the Ghost Hunters shows. We expect some will come to Star Island out of curiosity and we know some will come back because the spirit of Star Island will become part of them and they will become part of Star Island.

Star Island CEO Vicky Hardy expressed her gratitude for volunteer and community support in the following letter to the editor in the Portsmouth Herald:

Star Island Corp. grateful for help with new home

Feb. 3 — To the Editor:

On Monday, Feb. 2, the Star Island Corporation opened its offices in the Morton-Benedict House at 30 Middle St., Portsmouth. This historic building, part of the former Portsmouth Library, now the Discovery Center, was made ready by a Star Island volunteer paint crew led by Dave and Patti Boynton.

More than 20 volunteers gave up one of their weekend days on Saturday, Jan. 24, to paint the walls and the complex moldings so popular in the early 1800s when the house was built. At noon a crew from Flatbread Co. showed up with a stack of pizzas for the volunteers who happily took a break from ladders, buckets and paint brushes.

On behalf of everyone at the Star Island offices, I thank all of the volunteers who worked on this project since it began, especially Patti and Dave Boynton who have been hard at it and led the effort since Jan. 9. I also want to express our thanks to Flatbread Co., which heard about the volunteer effort and spontaneously donated the delicious lunch.

Star Island is one of the rocky, wind-swept Isles of Shoals, located off the coast of Rye. For more than 100 years, summers here have provided individuals and families with a welcome respite from their busy mainland lives. Star Island Corporation is a nonprofit organization which maintains the island and its facilities and provides hospitality services for visitors.

Victoria Hardy

CEO, Star Island Corporation