OLLI E-News (Weekly Newsletter)

July 17, 2026

• Alerts & Notices
• “Got Course Ideas?” … Join the HSS/CE Team!
• Photo of the Month
• Poet's Corner
• Obituaries
• From the Healthcare Advisory Workgroup
• Arts & Music at George Mason
• Meetings & Clubs
• About OLLI E-News

Alerts & Notices

• Note: Member parking is available in the Fairfax Swimming Pool parking lot. If you park there, use only the half of the lot closest to Tallwood.
• Throughout the term, please use this online form to add or drop classes, clubs or other events. (Link is also available in the Daily Schedule email.)
• The next issue of OLLI E-News will be published Friday, July 24; the regular deadline for submission of items is Tuesday, July 21, at 6:00.

By Camille Hodges, HSS/CE Planning Team Chair

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July 10, 2026

• Alerts & Notices
• How Can You Support Mason Students in Fall 2026? Act as an “Elder”
• Computer Club
• Poet's Corner
• Arts & Music at George Mason
• Meetings & Clubs
• About OLLI E-News

• Note: Member parking is available in the Fairfax Swimming Pool parking lot. If you park there, use only the half of the lot closest to Tallwood.
• Throughout the term, please use this online form to add or drop classes, clubs or other events. (Link is also available in the Daily Schedule email.)
• The next issue of OLLI E-News will be published Friday, July 17; the regular deadline for submission of items is Tuesday, July 14, at 6:00.

3rd Saturday, July 18
Italian Inventions
AI Prompts: Recipes for Success

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July 3, 2026

• Alerts & Notices
• Shannon Kim Morrow Retirement
• How Can You Support GMU Students in Fall 2026? Act as an "Elder"   
• Hiking Club Update
• OLLI Artists Club
• Amazing Record Achieved by Tai Chi Instructor!
• Ancient Italy Trip April 2027
• Photography Club
• Theater Lovers' Group Planning Getaway to Broadway and the Big Apple This Fall
• Poet's Corner
• Arts & Music at George Mason
• Meetings & Clubs
• About OLLI E-News

Alerts & Notices

• Note: Member parking is available in the Fairfax Swimming Pool parking lot. If you park there, use only the half of the lot closest to Tallwood.
• Throughout the term, please use this online form to add or drop classes, clubs or other events. (Link is also available in the Daily Schedule email.)
• March in Fairfax July 4th parade. To sign up, contact Marilyn Harriman, Diversions Chair at [email protected], 703-725-0965.
• The next issue of OLLI E-News will be published Friday, July 10; the regular deadline for submission of items is Tuesday, July 7, at 6:00.

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After eleven years of dedicated service, Shannon Morrow, Lead Program Associate, will be retiring from OLLI Mason at the end of July 2026. Shannon has been a steady, caring presence behind the scenes of our programs, working closely with instructors, volunteers, and staff to ensure the highest quality classes each term.

Shannon started as a site assistant, then served as registrar before taking on the programming role. She moved to the West Coast in 2024 and has continued joining morning meetings despite the time difference.

Shannon’s thoughtful approach, institutional knowledge, and commitment to lifelong learning have made a lasting impact on OLLI and our community. Her professionalism, kindness, and willingness to go the extra mile will be deeply missed by colleagues and members alike. The Monday Morning Lecture Series, one of our most popular classes, is especially notable, as Shannon identified speakers and planned the series. She worked tirelessly to coordinate each catalog (28 in all!) and built special relationships with many long-time instructors.

Please join us in thanking Shannon for her many contributions and wishing her all the best in a well‑earned retirement. We hope the years ahead are filled with new adventures, continued learning, and time to enjoy her family, pickleball, biking, hiking, and gardening.

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How Can You Support GMU Students in Fall 2026? Act as an "Elder"

  
By Camille Hodges, Humanities and Social Sciences/Current Events (HSS/CE) Planning Group Chair

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OLLI Artists Club

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By Catherine Weir-Parker, Tai Chi Club Member

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Ancient Italy Trip April 2027

 or contact Laura at [email protected].

                 

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Ben Greenberg will be the guest speaker at the OLLI Photo Club’s (OPC) next meeting on Friday, July 10, from 9:30-11:00. The OPC will meet in person in room TA-1 and on Zoom. The Zoom link can be found on the Daily Schedule email sent each weekday morning by 8:00, or on the OLLI member portal. Guests at OPC meetings are always welcome!

Ben Greenberg is an award winning landscape photographer, who enjoys teaching classes and workshops and mentoring individuals in their quest to improve their photography skills and decision-making. 

In March 2014 Ben published his first photography book, Natural Virginia.  A coffee-table-sized book, Natural Virginia features panoramic color landscape and wildlife photographs from throughout the state, celebrating its natural beauty and the need for its preservation. Ben is working on his second Virginia book focusing on the importance of the state’s national, state, regional, and local natural public lands. The book has a working title of Natural Public Lands of Virginia.

Ben’s photographs can be viewed on his two websites: 

• www.bengreenberg.com (900 landscape & wildlife images from Virginia and 20 other states) 
• www.naturalvirginiabook.com (Information and 30 of the 122 images from Natural Virginia).

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Have you ever wanted to see a show on Broadway or the Rockettes line dance, visit MoMa or ice skate in Rockefeller Center? All this (and more) is possible when you join Theater Lovers' Group (TLG) for their 'do-your-own-thing' motor-coach trip to NYC this fall.

Kim, the tour director, will be on hand to help with planning your trip, purchasing show or tour tickets, making dinner reservations, etc. The cost includes round trip motor-coach transportation, lodging, and portage: $548 for a double room; add $178 for a single.

A deposit of $250 is due to Champlain Tours ASAP. Balance is due in August. If interested, please email Norma at [email protected] for more information. 

Remember we welcome guests, so feel free to invite your family and friends; they may want to visit Macy's and start their Christmas shopping early.

TLG members and guests dining at The Hamilton after enjoying marvelous June 28 performance of  Suffs at the National Theater

Editor’s Note: At the author’s request, all words are published unedited, exactly as submitted.

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June 26, 2026

• Alerts & Notices
• Why Teach at OLLI Mason?
• Red, White, and Brainpower: Trivia Party Highlights
• Tallwood Book Club
• Healthcare Advisory Workgroup
• Poet's Corner
• Arts & Music at George Mason
• Meetings & Clubs
• About OLLI E-News

Alerts & Notices

• The next issue of OLLI E-News will be published Friday, July 3; the regular deadline for submission of items is Tuesday, June 30, at 6:00.

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Why Teach at OLLI Mason?

By Camille Hodges, Humanities and Social Sciences/ Current Events (HSS/CE) Program Planning Group Chair

“On sharing knowledge … A candle loses nothing by lighting another candle.” — Father James Keller [1]

Did you know that Route 66 will celebrate its 100th anniversary on November 11th of this year? Did you know that it was not always welcoming? What do you know about the cultural impacts of the Lincoln Highway or the Blue Ridge Parkway? And this, of course, leads us to the larger question: How do major government-sponsored roadways and airports affect local communities? And, yes, we almost had a major airport in Burke! 

These topics come under the heading of “Movement.” Migration is another aspect of movement. People move for various reasons, whether it is refugees fleeing a conflict or a family moving across town. The movement of people has a significant impact on societies and cultures, creating diverse communities in different parts of the world.

If you have expanded knowledge regarding these or other topics of interest, please consider teaching a single or multi-course session in 2027. And yes, we are scheduling for next year already! We at OLLI encourage our members to voluntarily share their knowledge by teaching a course or two in their fields of expertise and/or interest. As part of social sciences and current events, HSS/CE covers many sub-categories. Now is a great time to consider sharing your knowledge with OLLI members in 2027 and beyond. Here is the course proposal form for your convenience https://olli.gmu.edu/olli-course-proposal-form/.

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Red, White, and Brainpower: Trivia Party Highlights

By Marilyn Harriman, Diversions Chair

In a spirited display of teamwork, intelligence, and camaraderie, the George Mason Patriots Trivia Team, composed of Marianne Metz, Paul Van Hemel, David Green, Phyllis Krochmal, and Pat Coshland, emerged victorious over seven competing teams on May 29 at our Happy America Birthday Party. The 1776 Trivia competition, which brought together 42 OLLI members in multiple rounds, showcased the intelligence, dedication, and enthusiasm of our lifelong learners.

After enjoying cake and ice cream and singing happy birthday to America, OLLI participants self-organized into eight teams. The MC, our own Diversions Committee member Tom McDonald, kept the teams engaged with brief anecdotes about growing up in Massachusetts, where much of America’s rise to rebellion occurred. 

The winning Trivia team showed outstanding skill and determination throughout the event. They persevered after tying for first place with five other teams in the first round. Each member contributed insights and expertise, helping the team navigate challenging questions and tasks. Each first-place winning member took home Walter Isaacson’s The Most Important Sentence Ever Written.

Three additional teams competed in two tough lightning tie-breaker rounds, with two of them emerging with a tie for second place: the New England Patriots, with members Tim Harworth, Irene Harworth, Don Budowsky, and Corrine Swanson, and the Colonials, made up of team members Ann Smith, Kate Wanderer, Dean Wanderer, Margie Wildblood, and Joan Lunsford.

For 150 minutes, TA-1 buzzed with impressive knowledge of history, friendly rivalry, and mutual respect. Trivia participants can look forward to future competitions at our Tallwood campus, with the next scheduled contest on Friday, January 22, 2027.

A big thanks goes to Diversions committee members Gay Alper, Elaine Leonard, Mary Mudd, Doris Bloch, Leti Labell, and Tom McDonald for volunteering to make the event a success.

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            I Get to Age     

with each inhale and exhale

        a breath filling my lungs

        a breath leaving my lungs

        twenty thousand times a day

effortlessly with little or no attention

        until out of breath from
        exhaustion or swimming 

air allows for

        laughing, complaining, questioning, sleeping, 
        cursing, telling my story, worrying, arguing, 

age like air happens with little notice

        until it is noticed

        a health scare, near misses, shock of
        a friend dying too early

age happens when things slow down

        morning time with a cup of coffee

        an idle Saturday afternoon,
        evening time putting the kids to bed

age happens in meditation the consciousness 
        on each breath through the gentle inhaling and exhaling 
        relaxing the body and calming the mind until
        the day’s noise is silenced, mind and body are still
                        then
        notice the slow movement of age and

        appreciate flashes of moments past and those to come

                               -Bill Sinclair

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June 12, 2026

• Alerts & Notices
• Join the Celebration! OLLI Members to March in Fairfax’s July 4 Parade
• OLLI Ink Now Available
• Tea, Anyone?
• Opportunity to Participate in Paid Study on Aging in Place
• Grandparents Club Interest Meeting
• Why Teach at OLLI Mason?
• OLLI Volunteer Positions Need Filling
• Computer Club
• Special “What’s in the Daily News?” Announcement
• Healthcare Advisory Workgroup
• Poet's Corner
• Arts & Music at George Mason
• Meetings & Clubs
• About OLLI E-News

Alerts & Notices

• Registration for summer term is under way and continues throughout the term, which begins June 22.
• The next issue of OLLI E-News will be published Friday, June 26; the regular deadline for submission of items is Tuesday, June 23, at 6:00.

Join the Celebration! OLLI Members to March in Fairfax’s July 4 Parade

 

By Marilyn Harriman, Diversions Chairperson


Love a parade? Don’t just watch one—be part of it!

Join Lisa Mariam, OLLI Mason Executive Director, and your fellow OLLI members on Saturday, July 4, as we help represent George Mason University in Fairfax City’s 250th Independence Day celebration.
             
Walk the easy, mostly flat 0.78-mile parade route through downtown Fairfax, greet a lively crowd of families and community members, and share our OLLI spirit with our colorful banner and giveaways.
 
Staging begins at 8:15 on Chain Bridge Road, with the parade stepping off at 10:00 and our part in it wrapping up around 11:00. Afterward, you’re invited to an optional lunch at PJ Skidoo’s. Free parking for parade participants is available near our parade staging area.
                   
Come celebrate, connect, and show your OLLI pride—sign up by contacting Marilyn Harriman, Diversions Chairperson, at [email protected].

OLLI Ink Now Available

By Margie Wildblood and Sophia Elberti, OLLI Ink Editors

Issue No. 16 of OLLI Ink is now available online as a flip-doc at the following link:

https://view.flipdocs.com/?ID=10015627_604399.

OLLI Ink is published annually. Its purpose is to present a literary publication that spotlights the creative side of OLLI members. At the indicated link, you will find prose, poetry, photography, and other creative productions of OLLI contributors. 

Check out the creative efforts of some of our OLLI members and begin preparing for your own submission in next year's issue.
 

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Tea, Anyone?

 

Carolyn Kramer, Excursion Coordinator


On a recent sunny day in mid-May, a group of OLLI members boarded a bus for a ride out to Rosemont Manor in Berryville, Va. for an afternoon tea. 

The visit began in what had once been a carriage house, where we sipped on flutes of Raspberry Tea Fizz during a brief overview of the history of the site.  Then on to the manor house, once the home of Harry F. Byrd, Sr., where everyone enjoyed a three-course tea of delicious savories, scones, and desserts. 

Before heading back to Fairfax, there was time to view the upstairs guestrooms, many named after famous people who had stayed there over the years.

In all, it was a lovely way for OLLI members to spend time together!

Opportunity to Participate in Paid Study on Aging in Place

 

By Lillian Brooks, Former OLLI President


Here is information on a study funded by NIH to identify resources that may be valuable to people aging in place in their communities.

The study involves participating in four sessions (in-person or online) spaced out over multiple months. Each session is up to 1.5 hours and participants will be compensated $45 per session, for a total of $180 for the study. Participants will be asked to share their daily experiences through a multiple-choice questionnaire and will be asked to rank and evaluate community resources that they might find helpful for successful and fulfilling aging in place. Name and other personal identifiable information are not collected.

More information is available at

Grandparents Club Interest Meeting

 

By Deborah Metcalf, Club Coordinator


Are you interested in joining a Grandparents' Club?

The idea is simple: create opportunities for grandparents and grandchildren to connect, play, and socialize together. Activities could include playground visits, picnics, splash pad outings, swimming, indoor play spaces, and other family-friendly events. It can serve as a platform to set up individual playdates with the overall goal of making new friends (grandparent as well as grandchildren). The club could expand to include grandparenting
workshops and seminars if members would like that - I am happy and open to new ideas to expand the scope of the club and meet the needs of fellow grandparents!

Zoom Interest Meeting
Tuesday, June 16
11:00 AM
 
If this sounds like something you would enjoy, please join us on Zoom to learn more, meet other grandparents, and share your ideas!

Meeting URL: https://olligmu-org.zoom.us/j/81822581438?pwd=mRf7ZudmUPkpbrv3foZBaGHe eosPR5.1
Meeting ID: 818 2258 1438
Passcode: 914596

Why Teach at OLLI Mason? 
 

“On sharing knowledge … A candle loses nothing by lighting another candle.” — Father James Keller [1]

Did you know that Route 66 will celebrate its 100th anniversary on November 11th of this year? Did you know that it was not always welcoming? What do you know about the cultural impacts of the Lincoln Highway or the Blue Ridge Parkway? And this, of course, leads us to the larger question: How do major government-sponsored roadways and airports affect local communities? And, yes, we almost had a major airport in Burke!

These topics come under the heading of “Movement.” Migration is another aspect of movement. People move for various reasons, whether it is refugees fleeing a conflict or a family moving across town. The movement of people has a significant impact on societies and cultures, creating diverse communities in different parts of the world.

If you have expanded knowledge regarding these or other topics of interest, please consider teaching a single or multi-course session in 2027. And yes, we are scheduling for next year already!

We at OLLI encourage our members to voluntarily share their knowledge by teaching a course or two in their field/s of expertise and/or interest. As part of social sciences and current events, HSS/CE covers many sub-categories. Now is a great time to consider sharing your knowledge with OLLI members in 2027 and beyond.

Here is the course proposal form for your convenience: https://olli.gmu.edu/olli-course-proposal-form/.

OLLI Volunteer Positions Need Filling

 

By Deborah Engleson, Treasurer and Former President


HELP WANTED: Help OLLI Mason as we work to build our membership. We need several people to fill important vacant positions. Can you help?

Outreach is one of our most important committees. The role of the committee is to develop and disseminate promotional material and attend activities that promote OLLI and encourage membership. The committee meets regularly to strategize, help distribute catalogs, make presentations, and provide volunteers for the OLLI Information table at events. The chairperson works closely with the OLLI Mason.

Communications Associate. We need a new chairperson or co-chairs for this committee (Dean Salpini relocated out of state). If you like meeting the public and/or scheduling time to do so, this position is for you. A volunteer position description is available. Former chair Debby Mossburg will support with coaching.

Please contact Debbie Engleson, [email protected] or 330-573-6636 for more information.

3rd Saturday, June 20
Fireworks Photography
Member Luncheon

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May 29, 2026

• Alerts & Notices
• Welcome Erika Koeniger to OLLI Mason
• Volunteer Spotlight: David Osterman
• Science, Technology, and Health Program Planning Group Meeting
• Tallwood Book Club
• Poet's Corner
• Arts & Music at George Mason
• Meetings & Clubs
• About OLLI E-News

Alerts & Notices

• Registration for summer term is underway and will continue throughout the term, which begins June 22.
• Reminder:  The Literature, Language, Theater, and Writing (LLT) Program Planning Group will meet Monday, June 8 at 1:00 via Zoom―see June 8 Daily Schedule.
• The next issue of OLLI E-News will be published Friday, June 12; the regular deadline for submission of items is Tuesday, June 9, at 6:00.

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Erika brings a strong background in community engagement, communications, and education. She recently earned her Ph.D. in Urban and Regional Science from Texas A&M University, where she also held a variety of professional roles and volunteer leadership positions including Managing Editor of an academic journal. She worked on initiatives that connected communities, supported educational programming, and strengthened organizational communications—experiences that align beautifully with OLLI Mason’s mission.

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Tallwood Book Club

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