Fishers Island differs from the typical Maine Island in very obvious and particular ways. For one thing, this is a New York State island, yet we are located off the coast of Connecticut. We have never been anything more than a hamlet of the town to which we belong, Southold, situated on the north fork of Long Island, NY. In order to reach us by ferry, one must leave from Connecticut and in order for us to get to our Town Hall we must pass through another state. There is a private end of the island and a summer influx that lends to the delicate balance that comprises our population, ranging from about 275 people in the winter and somewhere between 3,000 and 5,000 in the summer.
In terms of government, Fishers Island has embraced the inconvenience and found a way of life that is suitable for the type of person who can manage the oddities of island living. It is a special place and, as with island living everywhere, takes special people to live here year-round. Between the interstate issues, the shrinking and aging population, and the classic affordable housing problems, islanders must be concerned about their community.
My project as a fellow has been to help work on some of the structural and organizational issues that have developed on Fishers Island. The approach has been the creation of the Island Community Board (ICB), which intends to facilitate the functioning of the Fishers Island community by serving as a focal point. The board wants to increase collaboration and communication between organizations and the public, as well as provide a forum that encourages community participation and dialogue. It also hopes to help articulate and prioritize the community’s goals.
Monthly meetings are open to the public and advertised as such. Through our newsletter, The Fog Horn, we can publicize the details of current events and concerns. I started The Fog Horn, named by the F.I. School kids, as a way to engage people in the community and also bring important information to the forefront.
“The Horn” is a monthly publication that has featured stories ranging from a public ICB meeting with our Town Supervisor, to a tea party for five girls held on a friend’s porch. This is a place for little things and bigger things, and there really is a way for us to understand that, in a place like this, there is very little difference between the two.
The April edition will have detailed descriptions of how the ICB’s nomination and voting processes for board representatives will work. It will contain more information on what has been going on with the ferry district and garbage taxes, and it will give the present shuffleboard standings, the winning teams from the bowling leagues, school updates and kids’ poems; the whole spectrum of life out here.
I was very nervous about the newsletter at first, wondering what people would think of my writing about their activities — this can seem like a guarded group to an outsider. But the response has been overwhelming. I have received more and more ideas from people willing to help and write, and have been invited to more events, which I can cover. Where, in the beginning, I was worried about whether or not I could fill the pages, if information would support a monthly, now I am worried that I can’t accommodate it all. This project has brought me even closer to the community of which I am proud to a part, and proud to call home.
Mere Harr is an Island Institute Fellow on Fishers Island.