All Star 2 - 2018

All Star 2 Family Conference 2018 Saturday, July 7 - Saturday, July 14, 2018

Family-friendly, creative, and diverse, All Star II is a 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 baseball, volleyball, or tennis; explore the harbor by rowboat; investigate the island’s history or marine and bird life; play games; join together in the candle-lit stone chapel; take a morning polar bear dip or a yoga break; bring your talents to the stage on stunt night or at the musicale; watch the sunset at a music-laden marshmallow roast; engage in the morning lecture series or afternoon talks on the rocks; partake in the many All Star II traditions; or just settle into a porch rocker to talk with friends new and old or 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!

The 2018 All Star 2 Boat Letter

(Click to view the letter)

Recent Announcements

A note form the Chairs:

Hello Shoalers,

We are almost there!! Just over two weeks to go until we are all together again on Star Island. Attached to this email is this year's boat letter. The boat letter will give you the lay of the land for preparing for, arriving at and maneuvering around Star. Take a read even if you are an old Shoaler, you may find something new. In addition, we will be posting the boat letter to the All Star II site (allstar2.org) for your viewing pleasure.

You all should have received your job assignments earlier this month. If you haven't or if you have questions about them or anything else, let us know.

We are so excited to see all of our friends and to make some new ones too.

See you on the dock,

Fiona and Josh

A note from your All Star II Music Director:

Hi,

I am Scott Ward, your, well kind of official music guy for All Star II 2018. An honor. I'm a fourth generation U, with three siblings in the ministry, and my mom, now gone, a UU Minister.

I have been the Minister of Music for First Unitarian Church of Wilmington for 25 years. Also a shoaler since I was in diapers. All in the past - now the future!

Sunday morning chapel - I have a great new anthem by Canadian U Brian Tate, come sing it with me as the chapel choir. I will lead a conference chorus a classical piece, and some B'way, bringing music from my large choral library at my church.

Stunt night? Musicale? I'm your guy. I'll have some music, but please bring your own and I will play for you and offer coaching. Leading a Candlelight? I'll help how ever I can, hymns, background music, solos, what ever.

Maybe you just want some voice coaching, or public speaking coaching, let's talk. Seagulls make a wonderful audience! I'm the go to music guy for the week, if I can't do it, I'll ask some of the incredible talented musicians that come to All Star II for help.

And of course lots of music will happen without me! Hurrah! Bring your instruments, I am a grateful audience and clap a long guy! Can't wait to see (and hear) you all!

- Scott

A note from your Art Auction Chairs:

Plans for the All Star 2 Art show and auction have already begun. Don't forget to pack some things donate to the auction. (things of the quality that you would wish to receive) We are looking for some large items, weekends at retreats, plane rides to---? Boat trips, Airline miles, Teslas-- whatever you can imagine.

As well, artists, please bring us a painting or two. Make sure they are matted and/or framed. If you have hanging devices on them -- even better. Pack your brushes and mediums for some painting at Star.

We'll give a great boost from the art auction to the Ginny Levine Fund this year.

Who can resist such an invitation?

Pat Bianco and Margaret Cooper

Additional random notes:

The island could always use a replenishment of sporting goods. They have a pretty good supply of basketballs, tennis racquets, volleyballs and kickballs, but these need to be replace almost every year, so having extra would be super helpful! They always need tennis balls. If you have some new or like new equipment you are no longer using, please bring it to donate.

If you or someone in your family needs a fire drill exemption, please ask at the front desk before dinner on Saturday.

We will be holding an island wide tie-dying activity for all ages so make sure to bring something white so you can participate!!

Looking forward to seeing you all on the dock,

Josh and Fiona

Children's Program

Experienced and dedicated program staff guide children - from newborns to high-school students - through their week. Grouped by age, children gather with their leaders for an hour and a half every morning and most afternoons. Together, they’ll visit the art barn to delve into guided art projects, investigate island mysteries and lore, row to nearby Smuttynose, spend lots of time outdoors, and - among many other activities - explore the marine lab’s touch and temporary holding tanks that showcase the surrounding sea life.

Care is taken to help each group bond and each child prosper. Highlights include the Children’s Stunt Show, where kids take to the stage to perform skits and songs before an enthusiastic audience, and the Great People Hunt, an island-wide, highly spirited game of hide and seek that involves all ages.

Each group has its own meeting space and two leaders. Before you arrive on Star, your child’s leaders will send a welcome letter noting any special requests for the week. Recent high school graduates can opt to participate in the senior-teen group.

Theme of the Week: Starting a revolution – One yard at a time

Linda Borghi and Criss Ittermann are passionate and experienced individuals who believes that part of the answer to essentially every problem facing modern society - healthcare, jobs, food, security, climate change, and more - is found in nutrient dense food and in the soil right under our feet. Local food and regenerative farming practices - BioEnergetic Agriculture - are the antidote to climate change, the engine for developing local economies, job creation, moving beyond sick care, and so much more. Their movement is called Farm-A-Yard.

About the Speakers: Linda Borghi

We have a long family history with Star beginning in 1986 when Tom, Vivian, Fiona and Eric Duncan started attending All Star II. Josh and Makayla started attending with Fiona in 2002. Makayla grew up on the island and has attended All Star II as well as the YES conference. Jackson and Carter became shoalers in 2010. They would have been on island in 2009 but as we were only six weeks into being the parents of twins, the decision was made to wait a year before introducing the boys to the wonders and freedom of Star Island. They have eagerly attended every year since.

We have had a great time planning the 2018 conference so far and look forward to a fun-filled week with friends old and new. Feel free to contact us with ideas, thoughts or questions at as2chairs2018@allstar2.org.

Your 2018 Conference Chairs: Josh and Fiona Monllor

Welcome to the 2018 All Star 2 Conference webpage!!

We are thrilled and honored to be the 2018 chairs and are excited to share information about the week.

Linda Borghi of Abundant Life Farm in Walker Valley, NY has worked both sides of the fence, as both a vendor and producer. She began her career in 1977, managing four star restaurants on the upper east side of Manhattan, including La Grenouille, Bruno’s, Toscana and Piccolo Mondo. She began farming in 1988 on Block Island, RI where she established Abundant Life Farm. There she invented a 5-gallon pasteurization machine, and was the only farm in the country with a “herd” of one cow to be licensed to sell cheese to the public. In 1992 she returned to the mainland to manage the cut flower operation of 26 Costco wholesale locations. Her territory was from Norfolk, VA to Holbrook, LI. In 1998 she was the first intern at the Pfeiffer Center Garden in Chestnut Ridge NY, which pioneered the practices of Rudolf Steiner’s Biodynamic agriculture. In 2004 she re-established Abundant Life where she began practicing SPIN-Farming and established the Eat Local Virtual Farm stand which created a direct distribution channel from farmer to eater. In 2009 Linda spoke at the United Nations at a conference entitled Food, Famine and the Future of Food Technology. In 2015 she felt the strong desire to teach others of both the importance of why they should farm-a-yard and how to do it so she took it on the road with the “Grow Food Earn Money Tour”. She is now located in South Carolina and continues to educate and grow opportunities for others through online Yard-Farming trainings.Criss Ittermann

Criss, an adventurer and vagabond in the Hudson Valley of New York, is the “Ninja Swiss-Army-Knife” on the Farm-A-Yard project. Raised by parents who introduced her to wild food and slow cooking, Criss began cooking with herbs in her late teens and soon started taking herbalism courses. Following the Wise Woman Tradition of herbal medicine, with a smattering of courses on wildcrafting, Western conventional herbalism, Ayurveda, and Traditional Chinese Medicine, Criss studied herbs for over 10 years and still wildcrafts her own medicines. She briefly taught classes on making your own medicines and wildcrafting, and was active in the movement against the FDA banning herbs in the early 1990s.

In the middle of all of this, Criss held down a variety of jobs in graphic design, desktop publishing, copywriting, programming, accounting, and more until she opened her own business. That’s when she met Linda Borghi, and Criss became Linda’s Fairy Godmother. Criss has been helping Linda with her farming projects for around 10 years.

Enamored with Linda’s chickens, Criss started raising bantam chickens in 2012 and created a short online course called Raising Chickens in Your Backyard on Udemy.com.

Criss is a loud defender of food freedom and environmental activism. Also known as The Crisses, she is also a loud voice in the peer mental health movement: she writes books for people with multiple personalities, maintains an enormous encyclopedic website for her tribe, and provides peer mental health life coaching services.

Minister of the Week: Reverend Megan Kelly Gorman

Reverend Megan Kelly Gorman has been an enthusiastic All Star II Shoaler since 1982 and is delighted to be on staff again as Minister of the week. Megan grew up as an active member of Central Unitarian Church in Paramus, New Jersey and was ordained there in April of 2006. Megan was a Religious Studies Major at Connecticut College with a Minor in Gender and Women's Studies. She graduated from Harvard Divinity School in 2003 and became a Board Certified hospital chaplain specializing in end of life care, trauma and pediatrics. Megan transitioned into working in hospital administration in 2010 but she continues to serve by volunteering as a minister in her local UU congregation and at large. She relishes serving as a minister on Star because it is this community that inspired her to become a religious leader and very much looks forward to connecting with new and old Shoalers alike.

Music Director: Scott Ward

Scott Ward joined the staff of First Unitarian Church of Wilmington as Music Director in 1991. In 1996, the Congregation honored him with the title of Honorary Minister of Music. Scott studied church music and classical voice at Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey. His musical background however, is very strong in the music of Broadway. Scott has been musical and stage director for countless musicals (from community theater to equity houses) and has performed as an actor in several of these shows. Composition is another love of Scott’s: he has written many published and unpublished works, including two oratorios, three song cycles, and two musicals. Conducting has become Scott’s favorite musical outlet. He especially enjoys working with nonprofessional singers and working together through the creative process to create beautiful performances. An avid writer, Scott has written several poems, essays, and short stories and has published two books, “A UU Service of Lessons and Carols” and “Misc. Poems”. He is currently in final production of his new book “Why is There an Olive Pit in My Pocket?” due out in the fall of 2017. Also in the recording studio working on his first solo album “Songs of my Heritage” Scottish and Irish ballads. Scott is also a Certified Hospital Chaplain.

Information for Shoalers (conference attendees)

Behind the Scenes