By Rochelle Joseph,  Support the Pink House Steering Committee

In the last few years, The Pink House on the Plum Island Turnpike in Newbury, MA has only increased in recognition as a local icon... which then only fuels the grass roots effort by Support The Pink House to keep her in the area, find new ownership and get her refurbished.

There has been a clothing line based on Ron Emmerling's painting of her, which was prominently featured in a sold-out fashion show at the Newburyport Art Association, created by and for sale at the Elephant's Trunk on Inn Street in Newburyport.  The Newburyport Five Cents Savings Bank put a wonderful drawing of her on their calendar. You will find her in some form on everything from drink koozies, to bumper stickers to tee shirts and dog bandanas, featured in coloring books,and as holiday ornaments to name a few,

This week, students from both Newburyport and Pentucket High Schools came together to paint the book donation bins in Cushing Park... and lo and behold: The Pink House was featured, along with the PI lighthouse, adorning the marshland - all things that make our area definable!

The Daily News covered the story, written by Jack Shea, on June 21, 2018 (Click on Daily News to read. Support the Pink House, and all in the community it formed to represent, really appreciates seeing The Pink House chosen of all that exists in the area, to define it. 

We also noticed that when you plug in The Pink House on Google Maps, she comes up as a landmark. And it has our website listed. We did not do this, and she is not historically registered (though we have looked into it) but it's interesting to see. 

We know there is a Wikipedia page pending approval; we'll report on that when we learn more. In the mean time, thank you to all who keep the Pink House in the minds and hearts of all in the area, and for visitors from far and near who drive past to paint her, photograph her,  write about her, talk her up, share her posts on social media, and donate! 

If you'd like to get involved, just fill out the CONTACT form here on our website. Or write us at info@SupportthePinkHouse.com! 

The Pink House Steering Committee got back to work after the holiday break,  meeting on February 6, 2018.
Two of the things determined from that meeting have already been accomplished: The first was to do our annual walk through of the house to be sure she remained secure through the winter.  We started this protective action in February/March of both 2016, and did it again in 2017. This year the third annual check up happened on Tuesday March 20.

Pink House Volunteer and Plum Island Resident Bill Barrett, our trusted, HIC/CSL builder, performed the assessment, accompanied by Parker River Wildlife Refuge Manager Bill Peterson. They cover from the cupola on top through the second floor, down the main staircase to the ground floor and through to the basement. They also walk around the house outside, looking for any leaks, foundation cracks, bowed windows, etc..., checking brick and cinder block integrity  and making note of any exposed areas. Then we ask the Refuge to please do the basic things on our list to keep her sound as possible as we work to shepherd her through this very long process to secure her for the community. 

We believe the success of her holding regardless of what it looks like on the outside is due not only to the strength of her bones, but because Support the Pink House has kept a daily eye on the house. #PinkHouse Volunteers, as well as Bill Barrett and David Dempsey, Steering Committee Building and Land Chairman, report if a window breaks or comes loose, vegetation is encroaching, or people trespass. Support the Pink House immediately asks the Refuge to act and we very much appreciate when they do.

Folks ask us all the time why she isn't able to be refurbished. The Pink House is federally owned, so while we wish we could do more, there are current limits by which we must abide. We would greatly appreciate your help in spreading the good word that her bones are quite sound and she is being regularly checked on and cared for to the extent of our limits, on behalf of the community, as we work behind the scenes. 

The second item was for Support the Pink House to call another meeting, as we did last Valentines Day 2017, gathering all the people who are invested in finding a solution around one table to discuss the considerable progress we've made and paths to move further forward. That meeting is set for early May and will include The Pink House Steering Committee,  Bill Peterson, Bill Barrett, State Senator and Minority Leader Bruce Tarr, State Senator Kathleen Ives, Morgan Bell, a representative for our district from Congressman Moulton's office, representatives from the Town of Newbury, the Greenbelt, and others. 

​We'll report on all the developments right here! 

Please keep coming to this blog for up to date information, or the public meetings we announce on our Facebook pages Save The Pink House Discussion Group and Support the Pink House. 

 
Support The Pink House just wrapped up another year of fun in the sun and community outreach as part of Yankee Homecoming 2017!
 
It was another truly rewarding experience for us, as steering committee members & volunteers manned our Pink House tent as part of the 10 day Artisan’s Revival at Newburyport’s Annual Yankee Homecoming Festival.  

We are so proud to be a part of this festival, as well as a part of the Revival, which aims to return the festival to its roots by including (exclusively) local artisans, vendors, and community groups like us.  The Inn St Artisan’s Revival was founded by local photographer & visionary John Brown, and this year it included some wonderful additions such as a night of Greek music & dancing in the square by the Greek Food Festival tent, new local food vendor additions including Metzy’s Taqueria, and dozens of fantastic local artisans & live music performances

We also formed a special partnership with The Elephant’s Trunk this year, who graciously invited us to set up our tent right outside their shop, where they were featuring the whimsical & sophisticated Pink House clothing line, designed by artist Ron Emmerling. 

​Highlights of the week included an impromptu lemonade stand created by two young Pink House supporters and their grandmother, the new additions to our clothing & merchandise line including the fabulous dog bandanas, the newly designed t-shirts, the stories we were able to tell booth visitors about the history of the house, and most importantly connecting with visitors and telling them all about the progress we’ve made. 

But the thing that puts a smile on our faces more than anything is hearing the stories about The Pink House from visitors to our booth, who just light up telling us what it means to them! It’s what reminds us why we do all this, and just how special and memorable this iconic house is to fans of all ages. 

We hope to see you all again next year! 

Since summer means many people are either traveling themselves or have guests visiting, we will wait until Fall to resume out monthly meetings.

Support the Pink House is having lots of meetings behind the scenes to help secure The Pink House and move the ball forward. On top of that, we just had a Fundraiser at Flatbread Amesbury and now are preparing for ten days at our second annual Yankee Homecoming booth on Inn Street as part of the Artisans Revival. 

 Anyone interested in volunteering at our Yankee Homecoming booth for 2 hour stints, please write to us at info@SupportthePinkHouse.com or message us on FB at Support The Pink House! We have slots available on days from 9:30-8 PM from 7/31 to 8/7! ​

Support the Pink House had their monthly meeting at PITA Hall on Plum Island last night, May 24, 2017. Steering Committee members were delighted to welcome a host of new attendees who had come from greater surrounding towns from Haverhill to Ipswich and Rowley and Seabrook along with those who attend from Newbury, W. Newbury and Newburyport,  etc...

The theme of this meeting was the history of the Pink House, which surprisingly is so rich, it is far from completed. 

Seen front in the blue shirt is writer Stewart Lytle, who has been a very supportive in faithfully attending meetings and reporting on the considerable progress we've been making. He writes cover articles above the fold on Support the Pink House for the Town Common paper and we really appreciate it!! 

The group turns from the screen at front, where they saw a slide show of the interior of the house and a video of what it's like to be in the cupola to listen to the input of Steering Committee members sitting at the side table: Building and Land Specialist David Dempsey, Founder and Research Director Alison Odle, Creative Director and Artist Leison  Eric Hoover, and Rochelle Joseph, Chair and Outreach. 

Then everyone returned their attention to the flat screen at front to listen to a very intriguing mix of found facts and questions raised by Volunteer and Researcher Extraordinaire Sandy Tilton and  Alison Odle  -- who also put together a really great Powerpoint presentation to support their findings.  Stay tuned as they continue their ace detective work to follow all they've unearthed to the end of the story.

A coffee table book will likely be made including their findings along with all the incredibly photos and paintings of the Pink House that our members and artists near and far have done on this amazing little icon. Check out the many photos posted on our Facebook pages: Save the Pink House Discussion Group and Support the Pink House.  

Plumfest got a beautiful day yesterday for it's island-wide community party. Bands set up on various porches around Plum Island and from noon to 6:00 pm, people ride bikes, drive, take a shuttle buses or walk to enjoy them. The biggest place people can park is the historic Plum Island Airport, where bus after bus lines up to take folks who come from surrounding towns. Support the Pink House felt this was an ideal place to be available to tell folks about the Pink House - which they were about to drive by! We collected signatures in support of keeping her in the community, sold a few tee shirts and bumper stickers - all in the service of raising awareness of her plight, and our successes at working to save her. 

Volunteer Pandora Hoover told us this cute sticker story: A very generous lady overpaid for a shirt and two stickers.A bus let off weary but happy people. A three-year-old, who clearly loved the color pink, departed from the crowd and circled around the table. I complimented this cherub's shocking pink sneaks and asked her mom if I could give her an official PH sticker? Mom apologized for being out of cash. "No problem! The lady before you gave extra!" The look on the little girl's face when mom gave it to her was priceless! She carried it with two hands! You've got a new, albeit young, Pink House fan! ​

A second Pink House presence was at the Beachcoma, a great bar and restaurant where we knew everyone on the island would stop at some point in the day. From there we could point out PITA Hall across the street where our monthly meetings are, and anyone who didn't head in to the Coma to see our brochures and stickers on their hostess table right inside the front door, would see the same offered at the Cottage and PI Provisions all within steps of where we were. We are SO appreciative of the island-wide support of our efforts to keep our iconic Pink House standing in the area. It's one of the things that makes the area so special...

Most of the bands play at the houses on Northern Blvd- so it was wonderful when volunteer Gail Whitley called to say she'd love to collect signatures but she was having a band on her own porch - in addition to a tent for Life if Good products. Then she offered that we put a signature clipboard and our brochures on the Table and said to bring a second clipboard so she could walk around and get signatures of those who stopped at her own house! THAT is going the extra mile and we so appreciate that kind of 

All in all it was a wonderful day - the sun was out and there is such a feel good, community vibe on the entire island. Support the Pink House collected nearly 400 signatures and passed out many brochures.