Hello, If you intend to attend Reunion and you haven’t registered yet, PLEASE consider registering for Reunion immediately. If we have too few registrations and we have to scale back to one conference boat, the number of spaces we have left is seriously limited. Thank you for your consideration, LAurie Lentz-Marino
Contact; registrar@pelicansarepelicans.org
From SeacoastOnline.Com
dmcdermott@seacoastonline.com
Sandy Smith of Eliot, Maine, and her sister, Linda Walton of York, were born and raised in Kittery Point.
Smith is fond of saying that her first trip out to the Isles of Shoals occurred in 1939 when she “came out in a wicker basket” as an infant. Sister Linda’s similar trip occurred in 1941, “so I guess you know who’s older,” Walton was quick to quip.
The sisters’ grandmother had been the head of waitresses at the Oceanic House on Star Island since the 1920s, and on weekends, the family would gather on their father’s fishing boat for the trip from the mainland.
Some of the sisters’ favorite childhood memories are of the one precious week each summer they were allowed to stay on the island with their grandmother.
As adults, Smith and Walton have long been Shoalers, following in the tradition of their childhood. Out on the island for a conference several weeks ago, they joined a group of folks out on the rocks around a bonfire for a night of old-fashioned Shoals ghost stories.
Many well-worn tales were told. There’s the ghost of Blackbeard or at least his wife, who legend has it was abandoned on the isles by her roving husband who is said to have left buried treasure behind.
Then there’s the child of Betty Moody. Moody hid in one of the natural rocky crevices, more of a cave, from Native Americans, so the story goes. Moody’s child started whimpering, and she smothered the child to death trying to stop the sound.
And of course, Smuttynose Island is replete with tales of the ghosts of Karen and Anethe Christensen, who were murdered in March 1873.
Smith later sent along her own ghost stories to share with Seacoast Sunday readers. Following are her accounts: (more…)
New CEO: ‘I want to encourage people to come here’
May 18, 2008
From Seacoastonline.com
By Karen Dandurant
kdandurant@seacoastonline.com
May 18, 2008 6:00 AM
RYE — The new chief executive officer of the Star Island Corp. at the Isles of Shoals has a goal of bringing the island up to code and into the 21st century.
Of course, visiting Star Island is a bit like stepping back in time, and that’s important to many of the regular visitors.
And that means walking a fine line to accomplish both objectives.
Victoria Hardy said the island is part of Rye and the Seacoast community and, as such, it needs to be more accessible to the public.
“I want to encourage people to come here,” Hardy said. “I am looking at promoting a lot more day trips, and offering incentives like ‘dinner and a mooring.’ We are partnering with the staff at the Wentworth by the Sea to maybe donate box lunches. They are going to provide executive training for our food service people. They, in turn, want information about Star Island to give to their guests.”
Maybe this’ll be a new feature here, find a blog entry/website/ebay listing that’s Pel related? Post it here. Just found this today:
http://ontheselvage.blogspot.com/2008/03/isles-of-shoals.html
This unlikely couple met at a little island hotel on one of the rocky islands divided along the border of New Hampshire and Maine. She was a waitress and he was a scholar and Shakespearian actor from a prominent family. Fortunately, opposites attract, because this pair are my great-grandparents (that’s Dar on the right!).
My Grandmother told the best stories of their adventures together… she being the one to change a flat tire when the car broke down, and her mother-in-law scolding him because his wife preferred the company of “the help” in the kitchen to that of the high-society guests at a dinner party.
I have their wedding silverware, and I use it every day. The thought of her standing over a sudsy sink, laughing with the servants (she had such a servant’s heart) makes me smile and makes washing my own dishes a little more pleasant.Maybe this Spring I’ll make it to this place that was so special to all of them… I’ve always wanted to go. It’s not so far from Brooklyn…
Rye — The Seacoast Science Center’s Feb. 28 Heritage Dinner brings Emmy-award winning producer Andrea Melville for a dynamic discussion on the making of a documentary about the historic Isles of Shoals.
Intended to air on public television in New Hampshire and Maine in October, “An Island Kingdom” will feature photographs, film, paintings, music and interviews with regional scholars to showcase the remarkable cultural changes at the Isles of Shoals over the past several centuries.
To set the stage, Shoals historian Ann Beattie will explore the four century history of the Isles through a series of fascinating historical images. Ms. Melville will then delve into the creative and hands-on process of producing and taping the hour-long documentary, An Island Kingdom.
Sponsored by Public Service of New Hampshire, the evening begins with a social hour at 6 p.m., dinner and presentation follows. Cost is $45/person; full payment is required to reserve your spot; reservations must be made by Feb. 22. To learn more, contact 436-8043, ext. 20 or registrar@seacentr.org, or visit www.seacoastsciencecenter.org
As you may be aware, on July 20th, the Star Island Corporation board announced the formation of the “Island Opened Late” committee “to review the elements which lead to the delayed opening of the 2007 season and recommend any changes to board policy and process or the staff and its process.”
The committee has been meeting and reviewing documents, as well as talking to interested Shoalers.
A summary of the committee’s activities to date is available on the web at http://StarIslandOpenedLate.BlogSpot.com – the blog is intended to give the Star Island community a way to know what the committee has been doing. All of the committee’s conclusions and products will be released when they are ready for public review. The blog will *not* contain any “interim” reports or conclusions; it is just a vehicle for talking about the committee’s activities.
The committee welcomes input from the entire Star Island community. Our e-mail address is StarIslandOpenedLate@gmail.com
In the Star Spirit,
Jordan Young
Chair, “Island Opened Late” committee
Forwarding message from Ben Kunz - benckunz@gmail.com
Hey Everybody,
Sorry for the late notice but Pelicans are Pelicans.
The Pelicans Present…
A BANQUET BENEFIT FOR STAR ISLAND
Saturday, July 21, 2007
at South Church in Portsmouth, NH.
Social Hour begins at 5:00 p.m. (BYOB)
with dinner fresh from the kitchen of the Oceanic
and a short but spirited Pel Show to follow
Suggested donation $25 (young adults), $50 (adults), $100 or more
(anyone
who can)
All proceeds to benefit Star Island directly in a time of great need
Donations are tax deductible (less banquet value of $25)
Reservations strongly suggested; space is limited
Call the Front Desk at (603) 601-0832 to reserve your space!
CHILD CARE WILL BE AVAILABLE!
(South Church is at 292 State Street in downtown Portsmouth, NH)
Directions are located here
http://southchurch-uu.org/soChurchDirections.html
You Will Come Back!
Ben Kunz
Snack Bar Supervisor
_______________________________________________
Pelicans mailing list
Pelicans@lists.pelicansarepelicans.com
http://pelicansarepelicans.com/mailman/listinfo/pelicans
THIS MESSAGE SENT ON BEHALF OF AMY LOCKWOOD. PLEASE REPLY TO alockwood@starisland.org.
Dear Star Island Community Members,
As you know, we have been working closely with the Rye Fire Department and New Hampshire fire officials to outline a thorough process to enhance the level of safety at Star Island. As a result of the assertive planning and execution of the life safety upgrades, we are pleased to inform you that today the Rye Fire Department granted Star Island permission to reopen.
We are so thankful for the support of the safety officials who guided our people through this process, to the licensed professionals who completed the safety upgrades expeditiously, and to our people and the generous community for its uncompromising support as we worked diligently to make the essential life safety upgrades.
Star Island will reopen its doors to conferees Sunday, July 22, 2007.
Our focus now turns to our hotel operations so we may ensure our facilities are ready for the arrival of our conferees and other visitors. We are now contacting conference leaders directly to inform them of the opening as we coordinate the new transportation schedules and other details. We ask for the continued patience of our conferees as we make these arrangements.
During the next several days, we will be contacting our vendors, ordering food, and making the beds in anticipation of our guests. We apologize again for this disruption and we look forward to serving everyone again in the days and months ahead.
We have asked our conference leaders to begin assessing the interest of conferees in attending a personal retreat model conference. Star Island will begin taking reservations from planned guests on Wednesday, July 18, 2007 at 5 p.m. Priority will be given to the conferences scheduled for this time period. Reservations may be made by contacting the front desk of Star Island’s Oceanic Hotel by calling (603) 601-0832.
Additional details will follow in a subsequent email tomorrow afternoon and will also be posted on our website at www.starisland.org.
Here is a link to the media release we will be sending to press in the morning regarding this news.
http://www.starisland.org/PDF/StarIslandOpensMediaRelease20070718.pdf
Sincerely,
Amy Lockwood
–
Brian Winters FOR AMY LOCKWOOD
Development Associate
Star Island Corporation
10 Vaughan Mall, Suite 8, Worth Plaza * Portsmouth, NH 03801
(603) 430-6272 * bwinters@starisland.org * www.starisland.org
Dear Pelicans!
As you should have read - the Fire Marshall and Safety Folks have reviewed all the work as well as the plans for further upgrades. As those of us you have ever worked on the island know - we will ALWAYS be needing to make things safer - and pick up the bits and pieces (some pretty big) that were done quickly and need to be finished properly - for our safety, not just to satisfy inspectors.
Just from the loss of 5 full weeks and the cost of the various trained safety consultants and licensed State approved engineers to do the work, we have lost a significant amount from our reserves. For us to complete this season, pay the accrued bills, and prepare for next season we MUST make up the losses.
We must complete the 2007 Annual Fund Drive of $625,000 — ** EQUALLY ** important is that we really need to each evaluate how much this piece of rock - that is so much more - means to us and give more generaoulsy than ever before as the additional funds just to cover the expenses of this year is an addition $1.2 million.
This makes a GRAND total of $1.825 million as soon as We Shoalers can manage.
To make this easier - there is a SECURE link at the starisland.org website - so you may donate on line. If you are so moved - you may also send a check (relieving the island of paying the credit card company to transfer the funds).
You can mark that you are a Pelican and should be “categorized” as part of Pelicans or Pelican Reunion (even if you have not yet made it to Pel Reunion!).
Also check the starisland.org web site for regular updates.
I hope to see at least some of you who live nearby at the Banquet & Pel Show fundraiser this Saturday!
Sincerely, Joanne Bulley
‘76 & ‘77
Thank you to everyone who has offered support during this very challenging time. It is heartening that so many people have responded with generous donations, fundraising ideas, and words of encouragement and support.
I am happy to tell you that we now have the capability of accepting Visa or MasterCard donations directly through our website. There is a link to the secure form on the Donating page at starisland.org. Here’s a direct way to get there:
http://www.starisland.org/donating/online
Please let other interested Shoalers know.
Thank you. Together we can meet these challenges.
Karen Muldoon
Development Director
–
SENT BY
Brian Winters
Development Associate
Star Island Corporation
10 Vaughan Mall, Suite 8, Worth Plaza * Portsmouth, NH 03801
(603) 430-6272 * bwinters@starisland.org *
www.starisland.org
http://www.seacoastonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070717/NEWS/707170402
RYE — The staff and “Pelicans” at Star Island have raised the term “making the best of a bad situation” to an art form.
The nonprofit conference center was dealt a heavy blow when it was forced to remain closed instead of opening for the season after failing a fire-safety inspection. Now hoping to open in early August, the center is facing a revenue loss of $1.15 million and an outlay of $330,000 for the mandated electrical work.
While disappointed at the delay, staff members are using the time to get projects done that had been delayed because of a lack of time.
Executive Director Amy Lockwood said the decision to stay active has been a good one.
“We’re all about the silver lining here,” said Stephanie Katz, a “Pelican” and the island naturalist. This is Katz’s third year returning to Star, and she clearly has deep feelings about being there. “Pelican” is an affectionate term used to describe about 100 young people who work on the island.
Each regular job on the island, including docking boats and handling freight; cooking and serving food; maintaining the grounds, buildings, power plant and waste-water treatment facility; and providing all hospitality services is performed by a Pelican.
The Pelicans, invariably upbeat, are the soul of Star Island. The term was started by a worker in the 1920s who bought a sailboat and named it the Pelican.
Katz said the conference center closure has presented some unique opportunities for first-year Pelicans, who usually don’t get their pick of jobs.
“We have nicknames for the jobs here,” she said. “We call them dishies, kitchies, truckies. Since some of the Pelicans can’t do their job without conferees, they are learning some valuable new skills.”
Some Pelicans repaired roofs while others built beds during the enforced stand-down. They were gardening, painting and even working at the waste-water treatment plant. The island staffers generate their own power, handle waste and have a reverse-osmosis water purifier for drinking water. They are completely self-contained.
Since they have spare time, Pelicans are holding classes, learning from each other’s areas of expertise. They learn to sail, they play music and take philosophy classes.
Lorenzo Reef said they are calling themselves residents of Gosport Town and have developed a real sense of community.
“I’m teaching the philosophy class,” he said. “I’m talking about autonomy and free will. We have baking, handyman, knitting classes.”
Star Island is a rambling property that combines the old with the new. Recently, boardwalks have been added to connect buildings. As part of fire-safety measures, 50-foot “trenches” are kept between the old buildings and the brush from the wild parts of the island.
“Making those is really hard work,” said Katz. “But, we’re so invested in keeping this island safe, we are OK with the work.”
It’s not all work, though. Katz said they celebrate all holidays while on the island, like Christmas, Valentine’s Day and Halloween.
“Only the Fourth of July gets celebrated on the right day,” said Katz. “We celebrated all day long; it was great. We built a boat, made paper airplanes and played ‘capture the flag.’ We also play softball, tennis — and there’s lots of board games.”
Star Island is now open to day visitors, but not to overnight guests because the bulk of the work is being done at the former Oceanic Hotel. Sitting in one of the long line of wooden rockers on the big front porch, a visitor took in the spectacular views and peaceful location and cited a desire to sit there forever.
It’s easy to see why Star Island has remained popular ever since the 1600s, when it was a thriving fishing settlement. It’s simply an easy, serene place to be — and soon, it will be back to business as usual.
Star Island Corporation News
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