Fun Facts for OLLI’s 30-Year Anniversary By Ray Beery, OLLI Member and Former PresidentFebruary 5 A Japanese TV company taped at Learning in Retirement Institute (LRI), OLLI’s precursor, in late 1994 for a documentary to be shown in Japan on activities for seniors. Later they sent a copy of the tape to LRI.
Mason Cabaret’s Sing Happy! With Kander & Ebb Is Coming to your Home Soon
By Norma Jean Reck, Coordinator, Theater Lovers’ Group
Do you love musicals? Are you ready to dance and sing your favorite show tunes in the privacy of your own home—New York, New York, anyone? Then mark your calendar for Sunday, February 14, 2021, at 4:00. Be there when the Mason Cabaret, Mason’s musical ambassadors, perform memorable show tunes from Kander & Ebbs’ Broadway hits such as Cabaret, Kiss of the Spider Woman, Curtains, and more.
Friends of Theater at Mason (FOTM) invite all OLLI members and their guests to join them in sharing this lovely musical valentine. They are also providing two additional treats: First, a 3:30 pre-performance discussion – Kander & Ebb Up Close – with the creators of the show, James and Erin Gardner, and the musical director, Joe Walsh. You will get an insight into the creative process and how music is made separately together, a technical miracle. Second, at 4:45, you will be treated to a brief post-performance program – Meet the Artists – when you will meet the talented cast and band members of Sing Happy!
To RSVP for this free virtual digital performance of Sing Happy!, email Alice at [email protected] or phone her at 703-993-1593 by Wednesday, February 10, 2021. She will email you the Zoom link with your registration confirmation.
Editor’s Note: This article appeared in the January 29E‑News but did not appear in the Table of Contents because of an error. The author requested that it be published again with the error corrected to increase visibility.
By John Olsen and Edward Marion,
Photography Club Coordinators
Derry Cox Presentation to the OLLI Photo Club
The special presentation for the February 12 OLLI Photo Club will be by fine art photographer Derry Cox. Derry is now retired and living in Centerville, Ohio. He shows great imagination and creativity in producing fascinating images, while sticking close to home. His subjects are in his house, in his yard, or within walking distance of his house, providing a challenging inspiration for photographers with our pandemic constraints.
Derry uses a wide range of photographic techniques, in and outside the camera, to produce his images. He has had several gallery shows and was featured in a nationally-aired PBS interview.
Derry has a wide range of interests and experiences. He plays guitar and piano, has an extra class ham radio license favoring morse code, was a sonarman on the USS Nautilus, SSN-571, and has flown a small aircraft solo as well as driven a submarine. His images reflect his strong interest in mathematics and physics, as well as his greatest joy of learning and understanding new concepts.
Winter Term 2021 Registration Roundup or How to Bore Everyone with Statistics (Unless You Are a Statistician) By Doris Bloch, OLLI Program Committee Co-chairAs winter term has now begun, the committee wants to share some registration statistics with our members. Note that these figures are somewhat of a shifting target, as members dynamically add or delete classes. But you can get the general drift.Winter term 2021 offerings total 103 courses and special events, plus 4 more offerings that are social events. There are 45 special events, also known as one-time classes, and 58 multi-session courses.There are approximately 9,100 total signups for all the winter offerings. The average registration for these catalog offerings, including the social events, is 85 attendees per offering, and the “average” member has signed up for 8+ winter courses or events. The class with the largest signup has 270 members enrolled. There are 6 courses with enrollments at or over 200; there are 28 courses with enrollments between 100 and 200.There are 4 winter-term wait lists. Three of these are quite small, with only 2 or 3 persons, and they are for courses where each session is in seminar format, primarily based on small-group discussion, and the instructor has set a maximum class enrollment. These wait lists can fluctuate, depending on the discretion of the instructor.
At present, the Committee has no statistics on the actual attendance figures for any specific course. We particularly have no statistics on how many members attend in their pajamas. <grin>. Nor do we intend to find out!
Join your OLLI friends at the Grab ‘n’ Gab coffee klatch for a bit of on-line socializing on Friday, February 12, from 10:00 to 11:30, and hear from some of the OLLI instructors who will be teaching classes this spring. Registration starts on February 24, so this is a perfect time to get a preview of some of the classes planned for the spring term. Register for Event #1102 via the member portal or contact the registrar at [email protected].
Because I awoke in a funk,
my wife made chocolate chunk
cookies.
Not because I asked her to –
not me –
or even let on what my true
frame of mind might be.
No, I gave her my usual hail-
fellow-well-met routine.
But she knew.
She knew.
For one thing it was late.
And so, beside the coffee she usually lets me brew,
I found, still warm from the oven,
an elegant white plate
(ok, white and blue)
of heaven,
thinly disguised
as cookies worth rising for,
and beside them,
written in her neat hand,
a longer than usual list of chores.
Virtual Performances
Although Mason’s campus is shut down, online entertainment continues for us to access and enjoy. Dr. Linda Apple Monson produces a periodic “Notes from the Director.” This email is full of interesting online performances by the students and faculty of the School of Music. If you would like to receive these bulletins, just send an email to Brianna Schoen at[email protected]. Also, the Center for the Arts has a websiteMason Arts at Home, which has a calendar of online events and access to many past performances. Information can also be found atCFA ticket purchase pageor theHylton ticket purchase page.
Mason Student and Faculty Performances
(see music.gmu.edu for additional student recitals)Mason Cabaret: Sing Happy! The Music of Kander & Ebb
Sun, Feb 14, 4:00
Center for the Arts YouTube channel.
Please note: Physical meetings for clubs and activities are canceled until further notice in accordance with Mason’s guidelines. OLLI is conducting its classes and activities online. Refer to the university's coronavirus website for official university updates and check the OLLI calendar for revised information.
The following list covering the next two weeks is extracted for your convenience from the master online calendar maintained by the office. The list is accurate as of mid-week but for the most up-to-date information, please view the latest forecast of coming 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, kick-off coffees, etc. (bolded below). The OLLI office has sent (or will send) emails with links and meeting passwords to club members; you may also log in at the member portal and click on ZOOM CLASS LINKS.
Sat Feb 6
10:30 am
Tai Chi Club
Tue Feb 9
4:30 pm
Tai Chi Club
Wed Feb 10
4:00 pm
6:00 pm
Spanish Club
Ethnic Eats Club
Thu Feb 11
4:30 pm
Tai Chi Club
Fri Feb 12
9:30 am
9:30 am
10:00 am
11:00 am
11:00 am
2:30 pm
Photography Club
Craft & Conversation Grab ‘n’ Gab Coffee Klatch
Classic Literature Club
Homer, etc.
Tallwood Book Club
Sat Feb 13
10:30 am
Tai Chi Club
Tue Feb 16
4:30 pm
Tai Chi Club
Wed Feb 17
2:00 pm
4:00 pm
Memoir and More Writing Group
Mah Jongg Club
Thu Feb 18
4:30 pm
Tai Chi Club
Fri Feb 19
9:30 am
10:00 am
11:00 am
11:00 am
2:00 pm
Craft & Conversation Board of Directors Meeting
Classic Literature Club
Homer, etc.
Cooking Club
Sat Feb 20
10:30 am
1:00 pm
Tai Chi Club
Personal Computer User Group
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: Paul Van Hemel
Associate Editor: David Gundry
Weekly Editor Team: David Gundry, John Nash, Sheri Siesseger, Leslie Vandivere,
Paul Van Hemel Proofreaders: Rebecca Jann, Susan Van Hemel, Linda Randall, Tom Appich, Roz Stark
Marian Drohan, Jane Hassell
Backup Chief Editor: Alice Slayton Clark
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: Tuesday, 6:00, for that week's issue (Monday, 6:00, for letters to the editor); early submissions are greatly appreciated. Please limit articles to about 250 words. Search E-News: You can view past issues of OLLI E-News at ENews Archives. To search the content within issues, use Search or enter your search term(s) in Google followed by “site:olli.gmu.edu/” without the quotes.
By Ray Beery, OLLI Member and Former PresidentFebruary 5
Do you love musicals? Are you ready to dance and sing your favorite show tunes in the privacy of your own home—New York, New York, anyone? Then mark your calendar for Sunday, February 14, 2021, at 4:00. Be there when the Mason Cabaret, Mason’s musical ambassadors, perform memorable show tunes from Kander & Ebbs’ Broadway hits such as Cabaret, Kiss of the Spider Woman, Curtains, and more.
The special presentation for the February 12 OLLI Photo Club will be by fine art photographer Derry Cox. Derry is now retired and living in Centerville, Ohio. He shows great imagination and creativity in producing fascinating images, while sticking close to home. His subjects are in his house, in his yard, or within walking distance of his house, providing a challenging inspiration for photographers with our pandemic constraints.
Derry uses a wide range of photographic techniques, in and outside the camera, to produce his images. He has had several gallery shows and was featured in a nationally-aired PBS interview.
sonarman on the USS Nautilus, SSN-571, and has flown a small aircraft solo as well as driven a submarine. His images reflect his strong interest in mathematics and physics, as well as his greatest joy of learning and understanding new concepts.
