Isles of Shoals Association (Unitarian Universalist), Inc.

Annual Meeting Minutes

Saturday, Nov. 2, 2019

Seacoast Science Center

Rye, New Hampshire

The meeting was called to order at 2:10 PM.

Opening Words

Suzy Mansfield read a poem titled “Pieces Come Together”.

Reading of the Minutes

Suzy Mansfield read the minutes of the 2018 Annual Meeting. There was no discussion, so it was Moved, Seconded, and Approved unanimously by acclaim to accept the minutes.

President’s Report

Nate Soule led a moment of silence to commemorate the passing of Evelyn West.

Nate expanded on the theme of inspiration and its essence. Through a humorous and charming anecdote about the pursuit of inspiration, Nate suggested that the desire to help other people, as exemplified by the ISAUU, is an inspiration to action. He simply believes our collective inspiration is from our Star community to give back to each other. Nate noted that the board is growing, there are an increased number of committee volunteers, and he celebrated the good works done by so many.

Treasurer’s Report

Steve Whitney introduced a motion that the ISAUU President, Treasurer, and Assistant Treasurer have check signing privileges for the organization. The motion was Moved, Seconded, and Approved unanimously by acclaim.

Steve then presented a check to SIC Vice President Tom Coleman for $10,000 as the ISAUU’s annual autumn contribution to the SIC. Tom thanked the ISAUU for the generous gift, and for all of the myriad gifts of money, time, and talent the ISAUU brings to Star.

Steve presented the Treasurer’s report for our Fiscal Year ending October 31st, 2019. Steve observed that the numbers may appear to be down somewhat this year, but this is due to a comprehensive effort to perform a robust Shops on Star inventory, and the estimate of inventory valuation was accordingly adjusted. The Shops on Star has gross sales of $177,506.00, by all accounts a very good year! Steve reviewed the rest of the report, and as there was no discussion, it was Moved, Seconded, and Approved unanimously by acclaim to accept the Treasurer’s report.

Nominating Committee

The nominating committee presented the following nominations:
President for 1 year term: Nate Soule

1st Vice President for 1 year term: Tricia Coleman

Board Secretary for 1 year term: Cheryl Doty

Treasurer for 1 year term: Steve Whitney

Assistant Treasurer for 1 year term: Cory Easter

Membership Secretary for 1 year term: Suzy Mansfield

Directors for 3 year term through 2022:

Marlene Smurzynski

Patti Washburn

Mike Bray

Nick Bresinsky

Maura LaRocca

It was then Moved, Seconded and Approved unanimously by acclaim to adopt the slate as presented.

It was then presented that Marlene Smurzynski be appointed as Nominations Chair for a one-year term. This was Moved, Seconded and Approved unanimously by acclaim

Shops on Star

Patti Washburn, co-Chairperson of the Shops on Star presented the report. 2019 was a very successful season, with a 20 percent increase in sales over last year. The Shops also collected $3,140.00 in membership dues, for a total income of $180,654.00.

Patti noted this year we recovered and stabilized our inventory, and established good business relationships with 68 vendors. She recognized much work happens all year round, from buyers planning and attending trade shows, to Mark Nash and the Boynton paint crew freshening the shop before open up, to the dozens of volunteers who provide in season labor and close up. Patti thanked the SoS Committee by name, and extended a special thanks to Arlyn Weeks who again donated a hand knit masterpiece for raffle.

Conference Grants

Tricia Coleman opened by reading an excerpt from a John Greenleaf Whittier letter to Annie Fields. In it, he offers a timeless vignette of sitting on the porch on Appledore, and expounds on the sea, sky, sunset, and the “fast younger people” who went over the harbor to Star Island for excitement.

Tricia briefed that we awarded $11,150.00 in 2019 to 21 conferences. These grants supported various and sundry items such as childcare, music, artists, filmmakers, dancers, and interactive inflatables. She thanked her committee members Cheryl Doty, Cory Easter, and Meg LeSchack.

Clergy Grants

Miriam Coe provided a thoughtful background of the motivation and intent of the Clergy Grants program. This year, two grants were awarded, one to a family and one to a single minister. Unfortunately, the family ultimately could not attend, but the single minister did attend and was well pleased.

Membership

Suzy Mansfield briefed that there are currently 236 Life Members. She has begun a triage of this list to confirm validity. She gave thanks to Tricia Coleman for her help in this. Currently, annual memberships begin on 1 June, which is consistent with enrolling or renewing membership at the Island Gift Shop.

Suzy also briefed that she would be emailing Annual Meeting notices to members instead of mailing postcards.

New Business

Nate Soule introduced the notion to create two additional Emeritus seats. This was Moved, Seconded, and Approved by unanimous acclaim. Nate then invited Meg and Dick LeSchack to occupy these seats, to which they accepted.

There being no further New Business to bring before the body, there was a notion to adjourn, which was Moved, Seconded, and Approved by acclaim. 

The meeting was adjourned at 3:05 pm.

Notes prepared by:
            Tom Coleman, Secretary pro tem

Immediately following the meeting, Tricia Coleman read a witty biography and history of Kyle Belmont’s involvement with Star Island as a staff member, conferee, ISA Board Member, and current SIC Board Member. Tricia observed that Kyle embodies a Gold Standard, and will be missed as our Secretary. Tricia urged everyone to sign a card for Kyle, and said we would be sending him a book in thanks.

After a brief interlude for refreshments, Kristen Simard presented a thoughtful and detailed program entitled “Living the Vision” on Star Island Systems and Sustainability. The focus was on water and waste systems on Star. With a degree in Environmental science from UNH, Kristen has long been fascinated with the interaction of people and space, and since 2004 has worked on Star to improve our Shoalers interaction with our space.

She covered the unique challenges of operating on an Island, our innovations in composting, water desalination, wastewater treatment, and drinking water management. Kristen highlighted that Star Island has been a practice leader in solar generation and wastewater reuse.

A brief question and answer session followed, and Kristen was unanimously thanked by all attending.