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LOAS II 2023
Collective Memory:
The stories we tell about ourselves
Sunday, Aug. 20 to Sunday, Aug. 27, 2023
2023 Registration is open!
Page updated Feb 27, 2023
Collective Memory: The stories we tell about ourselves
Our communities are formed and defined by the stories we tell, the rituals we share, and the monuments we sculpt. We receive culture from those who come before us, but we are also responsible to recreate it. To retell the stories, to reimagine the stories, and to remake the monuments, literally or figuratively. Join us as we explore who we are, how we want to remember the past and how we want to be remembered.
Theme Speaker
Proff. Renée Ater
Provost Associate Professor in Africana Studies at Brown University
Renée Ater a public scholar working at the intersection of art and history. Both artistic vision and the presence of the past in monumental form interest her. Standing in public space, she likes to sort out a monument's relation to the landscape and larger geographies. She is also fascinated with how public ceremonies, civic events, protests, and acts of vandalism shape how we understand monuments and the multilayered messages they convey. ReneeAter.com
She holds a B.A. in art history from Oberlin College (1987); M.A. in art history from the University of Maryland (1993); and Ph.D. in art history from the University of Maryland (2000). She taught in the Department of Art History and Archaeology at the University of Maryland from September 2000 to her retirement in July 2017. In Fall 2020, she was appointed to a two-year term as Provost Visiting Associate Professor in Africana Studies at Brown University. In July 2022, her status changed to Visiting Professor (2022-2025) in Africana Studies. During her tenure, she has taught several courses on monuments, history, and memory. Currently, she is working with Brown University Digital Publications on her digital project entitled, Memoryscapes of Slavery.

Minister of the Week
Rev. Anastassia Zinke
Rev. Anastassia Zinke serves as minister at the UU Church of Annapolis, MD. She previously served All Souls Unitarian Church in Indianapolis. Anastassia enjoys fostering community through ritual, spiritual practices, games, sharing, and our mutual love of the earth. This is her first time at Star Island, and will be attending with her spouse Kent, and two children, Sadie and Benjamin. They are very much looking forward to joining our community.


Conference Chairs
Cece Braun and Topher Soltys
We're so excited to welcome you to a week of learning, community, and fun.
Registrar: Alison Green
Alison is the one to contact with any questions around registering for the conference, including accommodation issues.

Youth Coordinator: Anna Henschel
Anna is putting together a team of youth leaders, who will lead morning and afternoon activities for children.

STARBURSTS
Mini-workshops led by conferees
Details to come!
VOLUNTEER POSITIONS
The week is made magical by our volunteers!
Volunteers will be listed as selected.
Schedule chapel service leaders for evening services.
The chief purpose of the Grand March is to say good-by to everyone in the
conference. We do this by passing everyone individually as we spiral in and spiral
out. We also have a lot of fun.
Due to COVID the Grand March now takes place on the porch.
Decide with the Chairs how the march will be configured. Ask to have a couple of minutes at the end of the Final Banquet to explain of the Grand March: The line forms behind the Grand Marshall with Current Chairs followed by the next two years of Chairs. The march proceeds through Elliot to pick up the kids, out through Gosport, and onto the porch. Once everyone is on the porch, switch to Auld Lang Syne with arms crossed and holding hands, then a Star Cheer for next year’s conference. Have someone in the banquet who will cue the Music Director when to play the March and then cue when to switch to Auld Lang Syne.
Ask conference services to turn rocking chairs sideways and push chairs up to the railing.
Arrange music and timing with the Music Director.
Ask someone to sing the new song into a mic that projects onto the porch.
Make sure the porch speaker system is on and active.
There are two versions of the Grand March:
Version I is for the Hotel Lobby. It’s more intimate and has better singing.
Version II is for the front lawn. It can handle a large crowd – children, adults, entire
conference. Don’t use this version unless there’s enough outdoor light. It’s
important that you see faces as the line passes you. For LOAS, at the end of the
banquet, it is usually dusk and beyond – hard to make out faces.
Version I
1) Arrange music and timing with Music Director.
2) Have lobby cleared of furniture.
3) Make sure porch speaker system in on and active (so music can be heard when
outside.
4) Form pairs (by two’s) led by March leader, this year’s conference chairs and
then next year’s chairs.
5) March around dining hall, thru Elliot (pick-up children), onto porch, down east
porch onto lawn and up the front stairs to enter lobby.
6) Go to the right when entering lobby.
7) Immediately switch to single file. Station someone at the door to make sure
everyone is single file.
8) Spiral in and then out. Use entire lobby space from the piano to writing desk
and front door to snack bar door to make spiral as large as possible.
9) Form single or double line to make a big circle and hold hands.
10) Sing Auld Lang Syne, then a Star cheer for next year’s conference.
Version II
1) Follow steps 1 – 5 in Version I, but omit going up the front steps. Stay on the
front lawn.
2) When everyone is on the lawn, switch to a single file, holding hands and begin
the large spiral.
3) Follow steps 8 – 10 in Version I to finish the Grand March.
4) Have someone on the front porch, watching the Grand March, who will cue the
Music Director when to play the music, when to play Auld Lang Syne, and when to
stop for the final cheer.
LOAS has an option to serve clams and mussels during one of the adult Social Hours. Usually, the Chairs, the Provisioner, and the Social Hour hosts concur to offer this event. The Chairs will then recruit a Coordinator to announce, tally participants, and collect the cost of participation.
1) Identify yourself to the Provisioner as the Coordinator of Clams & Mussels.
2) Your job begins on Star once the Provisioner tells you the day that the clams and mussels will be provided.
3) Determine from the Provisioner the cost per person for the clams and mussels.
4) Prepare a sign-up sheet to record a participating person’s name and payment. Place the sheet on the “Sign-up Desk” in the lobby.
5) Announce at Saturday evening's orientation the scheduled day and the price of the clams and mussels, plus the location of the sign-up sheet.
6) You may find it convenient to bring the sign-up sheet to Social Hour for a couple of days and collect payments there.
5) Make a simple accounting of your sales and give the collected money to the Treasurer.
It's good to have some activities planned in case of rain.
Some years, we have organized projects to help the island. Past projects have included chair caning, weeding, and others. The coordinator will need to work with the Star Island staff to figure out what project is needed.