Osher Lifelong Learning Institute

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About OLLI E-News

OLLI E-News was created by Rod Zumbro, who served as its editor from 2005 to 2013.

Editorial Staff
Chief Editor/Technical Editor: Irene Osterman
Associate Editor:
Weekly Editorial Team: Pat Bangs, John Nash, Paul Van Hemel, Sheri Siesseger, Leslie Vandivere
Proofreaders: John West, Gordon Canyock, Susan Van Hemel Backup Chief Editor: Sheri Siesseger

Submissions. Members are encouraged to submit letters to the editor, letters to Ms. Ollie Ettakit (on etiquette matters), OLLI-related news items, articles and photos. Submit material to: [email protected].
Deadline – 6:00 pm Tuesday for that week's issue (6:00 pm Monday for letters to the editor); early submissions are greatly appreciated. Please limit articles to about 250 words.
Note: You can view past issues of OLLI E-News on the DocStore. To search the content of issues, use Search Our Site or put your search term in Google followed by "site:olli.gmu.edu/" without the quotes.

OLLI E-News May 15, 2015
Print a condensed .pdf copy of this newsletter, two web pages per sheet of paper.
Event 973: Your State Government‒Current Issues, May 13 
Visit by David Bulova, Virginia House of Delegates Member

May 15, 2015


Editor of the Week: Sheri Siesseger
Table of Contents

Alerts & Notices

The E-News will publish again on May 29. Weekly publication will resume on June 12. 

OLLI will be closed May 25 in observance of Memorial Day.

Program Idea Week is open. Please submit your ideas for courses or special events by contacting any program planning group chair (see page iv of your course catalog) or online via https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/V2LHTBD

Registration via the member portal is open for two between-term events:

  • Special screening of the 2003 movie, Calendar Girls. BYO lunch and enjoy some popcorn. Tue, May 26 from 11:30-2:30 at Tallwood. (Special Event 1001BT).
  • Screening and discussion of the first Frank Sinatra film, Higher and Higher. Tue, June 2 from 10:00-12:00 at Tallwood. (Special Event 1002BT).

Sign up by May 18 for the OLLI Spring Fling Ice Cream Social, Special Event 993. The event will be Friday, May 22 from 1:00-3:00 in TA-1.

Please check the lost and found box in the Tallwood social room. Unclaimed items will be donated at the end of the spring term. If you have uneeded cell phones or eyeglasses, please leave them in the box in the social room at Tallwood. We will donate these items.

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Registering for Summer Classes



By Jennifer Disano, Executive Director



Dear OLLI Members,
 
Summer registration starts Monday, May 18. Please go online and register for summer term offerings at http://olligmu.augusoft.net. If you registered online for spring term, you should have reset your password and updated your profile. If you haven’t gotten around to that yet, here is a tutorial to help you with that process: http://youtu.be/tT9K6FkE9Gc.
 
Once you have signed in and updated your profile, you may register for any offerings on the system. You must hold a valid membership. Those of you with memberships expiring soon will FIRST need to purchase an annual membership beginning summer 2015 and complete payment to register and see available offerings. Here is a tutorial to walk you through that purchase: http://youtu.be/Kz9dcUgdw84
 
The next step to register is to choose from ‘All Course Offerings.’ An easy way to search for a class is by using the search box in the upper right corner of the screen. Simply enter the course number (e.g. F101) and click ‘Submit.’
 
There are now two distinct ways to register:

1. ‘Request Class’ are prioritized offerings that allow you to select a class/trip/other and then prioritize your selections. When you are ready to select a course offering, simply click the ‘Request Class’ button. Here is a tutorial on that process: http://youtu.be/GZSQ4tW3rXM. This video will teach you how to request a class, choose to be or not to be a volunteer liaison, continue shopping and prioritize selections. Notification of enrollment in these offerings will be sent via email on June 3.
 
2. ‘Add to Cart’ are space available offerings allowing you to complete a checkout process to enroll. You will be automatically enrolled in add-to-cart offerings and receive a transaction receipt immediately after checkout.
 
For ‘Request Class’ offerings that require a fee, we no longer require that you pay in advance. Now, you will receive a notification if you have been chosen for the trip/class/event with a fee. Then you will need to pay for that class within one week, either online or with a check, to guarantee your spot on the roster. If for some reason you will not be in town or cannot pay online, you can still pay in advance by providing a check for the appropriate amount at the front office at Tallwood, preferably during the week of registration. If you do not get a spot on the roster we will shred the check.
 
For your convenience registration training sessions are available at all three locations. To attend a training session you must bring a completed registration form and your username and password. We can help you reset those, if necessary! If you are renewing a membership, please bring a valid form of payment (check or credit card).
 
Training Sessions
 
Fairfax (Tallwood): Social Annex
May 18:                       9:00 – 12:00
May 19:                       9:00 – 12:00
May 20:                       9:00 – 12:00
May 21:                       9:00 – 12:00
May 22:                       9:00 – 12:00
May 26:                       9:00 – 12:00
 
Reston: Room 117
May 20:                       9:00 – 12:00
 
Loudoun: Suite 100, Room 108
May 19:                       9:00 – 12:00
 
 
Helpful videos and training materials can be found on the OLLI-Mason website at https://olli.gmu.edu
and https://olli.gmu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/v7.3_LotteryStudent-ViewReg.pdf. I encourage you to view the tutorial videos completely and look through the training materials. By taking the time to carefully review these materials, you will likely find many if not all the answers to any registration questions, concerns or issues you may have. 
 
Happy registering!  
 
Reminder of Deadline for E-News Submissions

If you have content to submit to E-News, please send it to [email protected] by 6:00 pm Tuesday for publication on Friday. If we receive content after this time, and it is date-specific to the upcoming week, we will make every effort to include the item. If a late submission is not date-critical, we may opt to include it in a subsequent issue of E-News.

Please use our group email address shown above, and do not send content directly to individual E-News editors.

Thank you for your cooperation.
Learn How to Maximize Your Retirement Income at OLLI’s Special Workshop on Social Security Planning!
 
INVITE YOUR CHILDREN, FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS!
 

By Alice Slayton Clark, Communications Associate/Registrar
 
 
 
If you are like many people, you are looking for as many ways as possible to maximize your retirement money. Financial Consultant J. Michael May is returning to OLLI by popular demand to provide his workshop, Savvy Social Security Planning: What Baby Boomers Need to Know to Maximize Retirement Income.
 
May is offering this workshop to inform OLLI members about the important decisions you confront when applying for Social Security and the impacts they will have on the total amount of benefits you will receive over your lifetime. He will teach you important rules that will help you develop a strategy for the best way to collect your retirement benefits based on your individual situation.
 
The topics covered include:
 
• Five factors to consider when deciding to apply for benefits.
• When it makes sense to delay benefits—and when it does not.
• Why you should always check your earnings record for accuracy.
• How to estimate your benefits.
• Two innovative strategies for coordinating benefits with your spouse.
• How to minimize taxes on Social Security benefits.
• How to coordinate Social Security with your other forms of retirement income.
 
The one-session workshop is being held on Saturday, June 27 from 10:00 - 12:00 at the Rose Gallery at Reston Community Center in Lake Anne. It is open to OLLI members, their relatives and friends as a service to help folks optimize their Social Security benefits. It is not necessary for OLLI members to accompany their invited guests.
 
Register for this event, R203, during the summer term registration period via the OLLI member portal. Space is available on a first-come, first-served basis.
Don't Miss Friends of OLLI Bake Sale at Arts Open House



By Lesley Bubenhofer, Development Committee Chair



Friends of OLLI will hold a bake sale fundraiser during the Arts Open House event of the Creative Aging Festival, Friday May 29 from 10:00 to noon at Tallwood. Purchase a treat and benefit our OLLI. 
 
Stop by the bake sale in the Social Room. Its a WIN/WIN for you and/or your family and friends and OLLI! We'll have lots of goodies! And all proceeds go to Friends of OLLI. The bake sale is sponsored by the Development Committee.

Sign up for the Arts Open House (Special Event 992) and other Creative Aging Festival events at the member portal.

Interested in Technology? Learn with Us!  Wednesday, May 20



By Paul Howard, Audiovisual Support Committee Chair



OLLI'S Audiovisual Support Committee (a.k.a. the Tom Swift Squad) seeks additional volunteers to help ensure the smooth employment of OLLI's audiovisual resources. Our primary mission is to help instructors, liaisons and staff with any audiovisual issues that might arise during the classes we attend. Our team is learning to use the LifeSize videoconferencing systems that offer the ability to share classes and meetings between OLLI locations.

We'll be meeting at 1:00 on Wednesday, May 20 in TA-1. We'll offer hands-on training on our classroom audiovisual equipment, discuss future activities, and improvements to our equipment and operational methods.

Please let me know if you're planning to attend or would like to become a "Swiftie" even if you can't come to this meeting. Contact me by email:  [email protected] (preferred) or phone (703-860-9246).

For more information on the Audiovisual Support Committee, see its web page: http://www.olligmu.org/~finforum/private/olliav/avsupportcomm.html

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A Thank You to the Catalog Crew

By Mary Jane Steele, Publications Committee Chair

You have by now received the summer edition of the OLLI catalog. Most of you may not be aware of the amount of work and time it takes to produce our catalogs. I would like to send out a big thank you to the great Beth Davis, the go-to person for keeping the catalog production from being chaotic, the co-editors, Martha Powers and Karen Murphy, and the proofreaders, Joan Axilbund, Liz Bateman, Doris Bloch, Beth Lambert, Marilyn O'Brien and Sheri Siesseger, who helped them. Be sure to give them all a thank you when you see them.
OLLI Players Perform at Manassas Senior Center



By Kathie West, OLLI Players



The OLLI Players performed The Changing Seasons of Life at the Manassas Senior Center last Friday. We performed our play before 70 people who were a most gracious audience. There were lots of questions asked, OLLI cards were given out and we loved talking to the audience about what we do. We have another performance at Woodbridge Senior Center next Tuesday and will perform for OLLI in TA-1 today at 1:00.

We love what we do and the community wants to see more of us. We may even venture to Loudoun soon. The performers are enthusiastic veterans now, and we love talking about OLLI.

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Announcing Two New Opportunities to Learn More About Being an OLLI Liaison!



By Martha Powers, Class Liaisons Committee Chair

 

It’s Not Just Reading the Announcements! (Liaison Training for People Who Think They Don’t Need It)
Social Annex, Monday, June 1, 12:00–1:00

A well-trained liaison does more than read announcements, and even our seasoned OLLI member instructors might be surprised at what they don’t know. Please join us for a participative discussion about how to be an even better liaison—and we’ll provide free pizza to guarantee it’s time well spent!

When I Grow Up, I Want to be a Liaison! (A Liaison Open House for the Curious)
Social Annex, Tuesday, June 2, 12:30–1:30

Are you toying with the idea of being a liaison during a future OLLI term? Then please come to our Liaison Open House so you can talk with OLLI members who love being liaisons. You will find out what this fun and easy volunteer job requires. There is absolutely no obligation to become a liaison—plus pizza will be served!
 

Inside
OLLI-Mason


Hidden Talent: Beth Davis


By Nancy Scarborough, E-News Staff Writer

                         

Way down at the back of the cottage on the Tallwood campus, a very clever lady is often at work in her office, scheduling wonderful classes and special events for OLLI. She is our hardworking, behind-the-scenes Program Associate Beth Davis.

“A big part of my job is communication,” says Beth. She keeps records as ideas from members in resource groups develop into classes. This is actually the favorite part of her job because “each group brings a variety of ideas and approaches to the process of developing the curriculum.” After contacting instructors, she then schedules the classes and puts their descriptions into the catalog. This is no easy task, as she needs to “balance them according to categories and locations.”

The number of one-time lectures has increased over the years and the number of classes has doubled, making her job even more challenging. At the time that the summer catalog recently went to press, Beth was also working on the next fall and winter catalogs!

Beth has the right background for the job. Her bachelor of science degree from Virginia Tech in industrial engineering and operations research included the study of cost accounting, flow charts, business processes, and “work flow, such as how to get from point A to point B.” She also has a master’s degree in accounting from Strayer University.

A native of Virginia Beach, Beth has lived in Colorado, Ohio, Florida, California and Texas as an Air Force spouse. Beth and her husband have one daughter and their grandson, Aaron, in Colorado Springs, one daughter at Chowan University and another who is a sophomore at Lake Braddock Secondary School. 

Beth’s prediction is that OLLI will continue to grow, “providing a vision of a vibrant retirement in northern Virginia.”

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Share Your Knowledge and Experience with Mason Students and Faculty
 


By Nancy Scheeler, OLLI-Mason Board Member
 

Are you a potential “primary source”? 
 
You may not think of yourself in these terms. But if you consider it, you may have had direct experience with key events or activities in your life or career that would add value to the studies or research of Mason faculty and students.
 
The fact is that many of us in the past have had interesting careers as teachers or nurses, or held key positions in the US Government, the US military, research institutions, and professional societies in Washington, DC, and elsewhere, in some cases going back 40 and even 50 years. Although we may not have written books, we have first-hand experience in careers that Mason students aspire to, or in significant political, historical, social, medical, and military events involving the United States and other countries.
 
OLLI President Glenn Kamber estimates that our members represent 40,000 years of expertise and experiences. We now have a chance to share those 40,000 years with Mason students and faculty.
 
Dr. Thomas Prohaska, Dean of Mason’s College of Health and Human Services, has invited OLLI to submit names and brief resumes of OLLI members who could enrich the educational experience of students enrolled in any of the departments in the College. These include Global and Community Health, Health Administration and Policy, Nursing, Nutrition and Food Studies, Rehabilitation Science, and Social Work. He has invited OLLI members to spend an hour or two serving as “primary sources” with his students and faculty, either in one-on-one mentoring type sessions, with small groups of students, or as guest lecturers in an undergraduate or graduate class.
 
So, if you are a retired social worker, nurse, health care policy developer or administrator, eldercare provider, or have a career in one of the many professions described on the College of Health and Human Services website, please contact me, Nancy Scheeler, at [email protected].
 
Dr. Prohaska’s outreach to OLLI opens a new avenue for us to interact with and support George Mason University. Over time, it is possible that other Mason colleges and departments will call on our members to share their knowledge and experiences. As one OLLI member has put it, “if I were a student doing research on the Cold War, I certainly would want to talk to me.” 

French Students End Term with a Party



By Beverley Persell, Instructor



OLLI’s French Conversation class wrapped up the spring term with a viewing of the French film Mademoiselle Chambon.

To add to the fun, class members also contributed food for a French lunch of quiche, fromage, salade de fruits, and tarte aux pommes.




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Photo of the Month
 

The May Photo of the Month theme was open (i.e., unspecified). We selected George Addison's photo "France Rain Cloud" (taken on the Rhone River in France) which may also be viewed at this page. To view other photos by members of the Photography Club, visit the club's photo website.
 
—By Dan Feighery, Photography Club Coordinator
 

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Poet's Corner
Courtesy of the Poetry Workshop
 
Messes
 
Night and
day all
day after
day in and day out
 
she cleaned up messes
 
tended chores
polished floors
 
down on her knees
desperate to please
 
cobwebs to sweep
secrets to keep
 
she sighed in her sleep
 
day and
night all
night after
night begins a new day
 
 
                        Debra B. Adler
 
Arts & Music at George Mason

Performances, next ten days

By Shelly Gersten, OLLI E-News Staff Writer

For tickets for either CFA or Hylton, call 1-888-945-2468, buy tickets online through the event calendar (see links below), or visit the venue's box office. For more information see the CFA ticket page or the Hylton ticket purchase page.
At the Fairfax Campus Venues

American Youth Philharmonic Orchestra: Stories of Courage
Sun, May 31, 3:00
Concert Hall
Admission: Adults, $20; seniors, $10.

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At the Hylton Center

Manassas Ballet Theatre: Giselle
Fri, May 15 and Sat, May 16, 7:30
Sun, May 17, 3:00
Merchant Hall
Admission: $55, $45, $35.
 
Paul Reisler with Lea Morris & Marshall Keys
Sat, May 16, 8:00
Gregory Family Theater
Admission: $25.
 
2nd Annual Juried Art Show
May 17 - June 28
Buchanan Partners Art Gallery
Buchanan Partners Art Gallery is open to the public Tue-Sat, 10:00 - 6:00, Thu, 10:00 - 8:00 and two hours before performances. Gallery Reception: Thu, Jun 11 from 6:00 to 8:00. RSVP to [email protected].
Admission: Free.

The Wren Masters
Tue, May 19
12:30 - Lunch
1:30 - Concert followed by coffee and dessert reception with the artist.
Gregory Family Theater
Admission: $43 (includes lunch), $20 (concert only).
 
Capitol Steps
Sat, May 23, 7:00
Merchant Hall
Admission: $45, $40, $35.
 
Shakespeare Opera Theatre: Much Ado About Nothing
Fri, May 29, 10:30
Sat, May 30, 8:00
Sun, May 31, 3:00
Gregory Family Theater
Admission: Adults, $45; seniors, $30.
 
Shakespeare Opera Theatre: Beatrice and Benedict
Fri, May 29, 8:00
Sun, May 31, 8:00
Gregory Family Theater
Admission: Adults, $45; seniors, $30.
Combination tickets to both shows: Adults, $75; seniors, $50.
 
Manassas Chorale: Spring Concert
Sat, May 30, 7:30
Merchant Hall
Admission: $20, $18.
 
Boyle School of Irish Dance: Spring Concert
Sun, May 31, 6:00
Merchant Hall
Admission: $12.

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For further details on any of the above events, please see the CFA event calendar and the Hylton Center event calendar

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Meetings & Clubs


The following list covering the next two weeks is extracted for your convenience from the master online calendar maintained by the office, with direct web links added when available. The list is accurate as of mid-week but to check anytime for the latest information, please view the latest forecast of upcoming events on our website (News/OLLI Calendar). Note: All OLLI members are welcome at, and encouraged to attend, meetings of the Board of Directors, committees and resource groups, Kickoff Coffees, etc. (bolded below).
Sat May 16 10:30am
 1:00pm		 Tai Chi Club–TA-3
Personal User Computer Group–TA-1
Mon May 18 10:00am
10:30am		 What’s in the Daily News–TA-1
Program Committee–Hunter’s Woods Rms 1&2
Tue May 19  9:30am
10:00am		 Cottage Art–Cottage
Knitting and Needlework Club–Panera, Herndon
Wed May 20 10:00am 10:00am

10:00am
10:30am 12:30pm
12:45pm		 Mah Jongg Club–TA-2
Humanities and Social Sciences Program
Planning Sub Group–location to be announced
Bridge Club–TA-3
Tom Crooker Investment Forum–TA-1
Spanish Club Organization Meeting–TA-2
A/V Committee–TA-1
Fri May 22  9:00am
10:00am
10:00am
11:00am
 2:00pm		 Recorder Consort–TA-3
Craft and Conversation–Cottage
Classic Fiction Book Club–Cascades Library,
Homer, etc–Annex
Photography Club–TA-2
Sat May 23 10:30am Tai Chi Club–TA-3
Tue May 26  9:30am
10:00am		 Cottage Art–Cottage
Knitting and Needlework Club–Panera, Herndon
Wed May 27 10:00am
10:30am		 BridgeClub–TA-3
Tom Crooker Investment Forum–TA-1
Fri May 29  9:00am
10:00am
12:00pm
 1:00pm		 Recorder Consort–TA-3
Craft and Conversation–Cottage
Cooking Club–Cottage
Homer, etc–Annex

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OSHER LIFELONG LEARNING INSTITUTE
AT GEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY

4210 Roberts Rd. Fairfax, VA 22032-1028
Phone: (703) 503-3384
Email: [email protected]

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