All Star 2
Family Conference

Sunday, July 7 Sunday, July 14, 2024

From Island to Shore in 2024

Bringing Star Spirit, Community, and Conservation Practices to the Mainland

With uncertainty so pervasive in our world it feels more important than ever to connect with our home communities. However, it is easy to feel overwhelmed by the world that we witness on our televisions or phones, and end up lost down that rabbit hole. In the most difficult of times Star Island has served as a reminder that a positive, supportive, and compassionate community is ever possible. Together we have proven that by holding space for each other and allowing ourselves to feel held we can work together, though opinions differ, in love and kindness. This space is both mental and physical, and the care we give to these spaces is all the more imporant when we have limited resources, whether that be on a small island or a tiny blue ball floating in space. This year we will explore the ways we can bring the love, care, and appreciation that is fostered on the island we call our spirit’s home back to our mainland homes. You can be a spark in the dark that ignites social, political or environmental change. You can inspire with small steps or large by giving back at home the way you do on Star. This year we will investigate ways to bring a seed of Star Spirit to plant and grow in our mainland lives. We look forward to working together with you this summer! - Brooke, Erik & Liz, AS2 2024 Chairs

All Star 2 Family Conference

All Star 2 (AS2) is a family-friendly, creative, and diverse week that can be as active or relaxing as you’d like it to be. Opportunities abound for both adults and children to make or enjoy music and art; dive into a game of softball, volleyball, or tennis; explore the harbor by kayak or rowboat; investigate the island’s history or ecosystems; play games; join together in chapel services; take a morning polar bear dip or a yoga break; watch the sunset at a marshmallow roast; engage in the morning lecture series or afternoon talks on the rocks; talk with friends new and old; or just settle into a porch rocker and read a good book. There are few demands but many temptations, and even more opportunities to create the kind of lasting friendships that continually delight new Shoalers and keep old Shoalers coming back for years.

Read more about Star Island in the March-April 2017 issue of Harvard Magazine or in this 2012 article from the Boston Globe!

Our Speaker of the Week

Professor Samantha "Mandy" Joye

Dr. Samantha (Mandy) Joye is a Regents’ Professor and holds the Athletic Association Professor of Arts and Sciences in the Department of Marine Sciences in the University of Georgia's Franklin College of Arts and Sciences. She is an expert in marine biogeochemistry and microbial ecology and works everywhere from salt marshes to deep-sea methane seeps. Dr. Joye's research has been widely published in leading scientific journals, and she is regularly called upon by national and international scientific and policy agencies for expert commentary. Mandy also works closely with many different artists to help communicate her work to the general public, and was among the leaders of the Ocean Memory Project of the U.S. National Academies of Science where artists and scientists got together to discuss wide-ranging topics including Genomics and Cognition; Sense and Sensing; and Pollution, Forgetting, and Loss.

Our Minister of the Week

Reverend Leon Dunkley

Leon has contributed so much to the Star Island community over the years. He was Pelican as a young adult, attended numerous confrences both as a conferee and as a minsiter, and is currently serving on the Star Island Corporation Board of Directors. Leon continues to be a voice to create a more inclusive and intentional community, to help spread more empathy and understanding in the world, and to help Star Island become a more welcoming place for all people though the Beloved Community Project. We look forward to him bringing his music and ministry to the AS2 community.

"Hello! I'm Leon Dunkley. I am a life-long Unitarian Universalist and I have been serving as minister at North Chapel since 2017. My spiritual passions are driven by a deep love of our world and everyone and everything in it. I am committed to peace, growth, health and integrity. I am committed to joyful and beloved community. Most deeply, I am committed to the spirit of life that resides in elders and children, all the same. I look forward to meeting you." 

Photo: northchapelvt.org

Our Conference Chairs

Erik, Brooke and Liz

Erik Cordes’ history with Star Island dates back to 1980 when he attended All Star 2 as a child with his grandmother, Betty Blanchard. They returned to All Star 2 the next year with his parents Ron and Cathy Cordes and his brother Ben Cordes. During his college years, Erik was a Pelican and then began to come back as a conferee at the Young Adults conference where he met his wife, Brooke Cordes. When Henry Cordes joined the family, they all returned to All Star 2, and as Henry was followed by Maude, Dorothy, and Kylar,  they have all been back every year since (pandemic notwithstanding). It is not an exaggeration to say that Star Island has shaped every aspect of Erik’s life and career. To repay this debt in some small way, Erik joined the Star Island Corporation Board of Directors in 2012 and served until 2021, was also on the Rutledge Marine Lab Committee from 2004 to 2021, and currently serves on the SIC Nominating Committee. When not on the island, Erik is a deep-sea ecologist and ocean explorer, with the title of Professor and Vice Chair of Biology at Temple University.

 

Brooke (Bradicich) Cordes, a NH native, first came to Star Island in 1996, attending the Young Religious Unitarian Universalists (YRUU), conference. She continued to attend the YRUU conference, serving as the conference registrar, through 2002. Brooke went on to attend the Young Adults Conference (YAC) and again, served as registrar, became a member of the Star Island Corporation (SIC), and was on the Membership Committee. Brooke met Erik at YAC in 2006, they were married in 2008, and are now raising 4 children together- Henry, Kylar, Maude, and Dorothy- all attending AS2 each summer as a family, and again, you guessed it- she served as the AS2 registrar. Brooke and Liz met in junior high school in 1993 in Concord, NH… they became the best of friends, meeting each year in the summer and visiting Star Island, and are celebrating 30 years of friendship this year. While not on the island, Brooke raises children (all the children), teaches kindergarten, rescues small dogs, and volunteers in the local schools when she can in Gladwyne, PA.

 

Liz Hanna is originally from New Hampshire and now hails from Portland, Oregon. Liz has been a Shoaler since 2003 when Brooke Cordes, Liz’s longtime friend, invited her to attend YAC, the Yearly Adult’s Conference. Liz has joyfully attended conferences and enjoyed overnights every year since then. Liz was program coordinator for YAC for several years and then chaired the conference in 2011. After years of delighting in Star on her own, Liz decided in 2013 that it was time to introduce her twin sons, Ellington and Rylaigh, to Star through a family conference she had heard about from her very best friend, Brooke. Brooke and her family folded Liz and hers seamlessly into AS2 and Liz has not missed a year (lol pandemic) since. Liz was assistant children’s program coordinator for AS2 in 2019, and Children’s program coordinator through the pandemic in 2020 and 2021 and met the challenges associated compassionately and fiercely, and with the help of her assistant coordinators and program teachers, made the children’s program vibrant and exciting. Liz currently sits on the SIC conference services steering committee and is excitedly looking forward to cochairing All Star 2. When Liz is not daydreaming about the next time she can be on Star, she runs a bar in Portland in the spirit of Star, and sits on the steering committee for the Portland Kitchen Cabinet, a local grassroots organization associated with the Oregon Restaurant and Lodging Association.

You can reach, Brooke Cordes, Erik Cordes, & Elizabeth Hanna, at:  as2chairs2024@allstar2.org                                                                                                                                                             

Registration Information

2024 Star Island Room and Board Rates

The rates below are per person for the full length of the conference.

Adults (18+): Standard Shared: $1,222 | Standard Single: $1,662 | Motel Shared: $1,504 | Motel Single: $2,207

Youth  Under 6: Free | 6-11 years: $565 | 12-17 years: $809

AS2 Conference Fees

Adults- $125/ Children- $110  Conference fees are paid at the time of registration.  

Financial Aid

Financial aid assistance is available to individuals with need, find the application HERE. All inquiries and awards are kept confidential.

Notifications

All correspondence, (acceptance, wait list, volunteer job, boat letter, etc), will be sent via email, please be sure to include your preferred email address in your registration information.

All Star 2 Registrar

Kathy West registrar@allstar2.org

Photo: starisland.org

Photo: starisland.org

Other Photo Credits: Brooke & Erik Cordes