Reminder: Computer Club 3rd Saturday meeting, 1:00, March 18 (tomorrow), in person in TA-1 at Tallwood and via Zoom (Zoom session usually begins about 12:45).
Spring term registration continues throughout the term; spring term is March 27 through May 19.
The next issue of OLLI E-News will be published Friday, March 24; the regular deadline for submission of items is Tuesday, March 21, at 6:00.
Reminder: Mason Jazz Camp will be held on the Mason Fairfax campus June 19-23. For registration and camp details, click here.
By Michele Romano, Board Member and Healthcare Advisory Workgroup Chair
COVID-19 and the winter viruses are winding down just in time for OLLI spring term in-person classes and activities. Severe illness and death from COVID in Northern Virginia remains very low for our age group.
The COVID-19 Public Health Emergency will officially end 5/11/2023. After that, the cost of vaccines, tests, and treatments (within certain parameters) will be covered by commercial insurance, Medicare, and Medicaid, rather than by the Federal Government. You may be subject to copays and deductibles depending on your health insurance coverage. Click on the following link for further details: The End of the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency: Details on Health Coverage and Access | KFF.
Warmer weather also brings with it an increase in Lyme Disease. Lyme Disease is caused by deer ticks which are very small, difficult to spot, and may look like a speck of dirt that won’t brush off. They are found in grassy and wooded areas throughout Northern Virginia. Lyme Disease can cause severe illness. So, what should you do? If you are going to be working in the yard or hiking in the woods, wear socks, long pants, and long sleeves. Use a good tick repellent. Throw your clothes in the washer and take a shower as soon as you’re done. Do a thorough skin check. Ticks love to hide in dark, damp places (e.g., groins, axillary areas, toes, ears). Click on the following link for more details: Preventing tick bites | Ticks | CDC. Check out the Mayo Clinic website for a good review of signs and symptoms: Lyme disease - Symptoms and causes - Mayo Clinic.
Marymount University Center for Optimal Aging (MCOA) is conducting a study on balance exercise for older adults. We welcome OLLI members to join our home-based balance exercise research study. By participating in the research, you are helping to advance the field of study, in this case, health and wellness of people living with mild cognitive impairment/dementia.
We are looking for people with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or dementia & their care partners who would like to participate in a weekly small group VIRTUAL exercise class. The researchers will come to your home to enroll you in the study and set you up for success. You will use your computer or tablet to connect with your exercise class. The exercises are focused on improving balance and making your legs stronger.
Assessment sessions before & after the study will be in your home! To learn more about the study & see if it might be right for you, click this link, or, for detailed text description, click here. Contact me for more information (email: jries@marymount.edu; phone: 703-284-5983).
Celebrate Women's History Month and April Fool's Day with the Theater Lovers' Group
By Norma Jean Reck, Theater Lovers’ Group Coordinator
Silent Sky
On Sunday, March 19 at 2:00, join fellow theater lovers for a trip back to 1900 to meet Henrietta Leavit, a real-life astronomer ahead of her time. Harvard University hires her to record the starry finds of the male astronomers, but does not allow her to continue pursuing her own discoveries. You will want to find out how her dedication to the stars and a women's touch leads to impactful discoveries that makes life under the starry sky beautiful and timeless.
The Providence Players will perform Silent Sky at The James Lee Community Center, 2855 Annandale Road in Falls Church (Route 50 and Annandale Road). Senior tickets are $18 and can be purchased online by clicking here ASAP – they sell out fast. Email me at njreck@cs.com to let me know that you have purchased your ticket. As always, guests are welcome to join us. There is plenty of free parking.
We will go to dinner at a nearby restaurant after the show (optional). If you need to carpool, let me know.
Pacific Overtures Calling all Sondheim lovers! On Saturday, April 1, Signature Theater on Campbell Avenue in Arlington is holding ten tickets for us to see the 2:00 matinee of this rarely performed musical. This time, we take a trip back to Japan, mid-1800s, to look at the life-changing impact a naval event had on the Japanese who had been isolated from the rest of the world for about 200 years. Hear how the various segments of Japanese society were impacted by these Westerners who insisted on opening up Japan for trade.
Group rate on tickets is about $71 and tickets are selling fast. Please email (njreck@cs.com) me ASAP if interested, so we can keep our tickets. We carpool and will go to dinner after the show at a nearby restaurant (optional). Guests are always welcome to join us; plenty of free parking.
Happy 85th!
Thanks to Mary Mudd for taking these photos of Theater Lovers' Group celebrating George Dixon's 85th birthday at Sakura Restaurant on Sunday, March 5 after seeing How the Light Gets In at 1st Stage. Our chef was quite entertaining, the food was great, and the company was fantastic, as usual. A good time was had by all.
Come to beautiful Lake Anne in Reston on April 5 at noon. Have lunch on the lake at Café Montmartre, a few steps away from the Reston Museum. The museum will have a special exhibit on the old brewery that was here before Reston was built. Lunch is on your own; the museum is free.
Start Off the Spring Term With Coffee and Great Food!
By Toni Acton, Member Services Committee Chair
The spring term is about to begin and what better way to start it off than by joining your friends at the OLLI Kick Off Coffee on Thursday, March 23 at 10:00 at Tallwood. And for our new members, what a wonderful opportunity to get to know other OLLI members, both continuing and new. Plus, there will be great food provided by our Hospitality Committee.
There will be an opportunity to learn about any changes at OLLI presented by our executive director and Board president, with plenty of time for questions. Trips to California and Iceland—what’s that all about? Do you want more information about the many social events coming up this term? And what’s Walk & Talk—one of our most popular clubs this year? We’ll even have a tour of the Tallwood facilities for our new members, including the infamous “Potty Barn.”
Please join us on Thursday, March 23. Register for event 1203 via the member portalor contact the registrar at ollireg@gmu.edu. Hope to see you on Thursday!
By Marilyn Harriman, OLLI Walk & Talk Club Co-Chair
OLLI Walk & Talk Club members enjoyed three outings this month, including a brisk morning walk at Ellanor C. Lawrence Park in Chantilly on March 7.
Our final trail walk for the month will be on Wednesday, March 29, at Mason District Park trail, starting at 2:00, with club member and guide Michael Nephew. An optional after-walk meet-up will be at Café V in Annandale. The following Friday, April 7, at 10:00, club members will explore the Riverbend Park trail with bluebells in bloom in Great Falls with lead Carol Esteki. Afterward, walkers will gather (optional) at the Old Irish Brogue Pub and Restaurant in Great Falls for lunch. On Thursday, April 20, at 2:00, Lila Goldstein will be the trail guide at Long Branch Stream Valley Trail in Annandale. An after-walk gathering will take place at Fairfax Simply Social Coffee in Fairfax.
If any of these outings sound appealing to you, and you’ve not yet registered with the OLLI Walk & Talk Club, Bob Heyer, co-chair, and I invite you to do so for spring 2023. It’s easy! Just sign into your member portal on the OLLI website. Once there, type “OLLI Walk Talk Spring 2023” in the Advance Search block, upper right-hand corner, and the club should appear. Be sure to click on the club so it goes into your cart and then “check out” so your club registration is completed.
Once registered, you will receive updates about upcoming walks, including directions to the trail location and maps.
By Brenda Bloch-Young and Doris Bloch, Co-Moderators
Continuing our Wednesday conversations series, Team Bloch (Brenda Bloch-Young and Doris Bloch) will moderate a Zoom discussion on March 22 at 4:00. Our chosen topic this week is “Who Is Colleen Hoover?”
Colleen Hoover is the author of four novels on the current best seller List. What do we know about her and her writings? Any one a fan?
Check your daily schedule email for the Zoom link on Wednesdays and plan on some social time with Team Bloch.
By Bernie Oppel, History Program Planning Group Co-Chair
The next History Program Planning Group session will be held via Zoom at 1:00 on March 21. The session will focus on classes for fall term 2023 and winter term 2024, as well as potential offerings for future OLLI terms. Zoom access information will be provided in the OLLI daily schedule email message for March 21.
The recent history planning article in OLLI E-News (February 10) outlined new areas of interest for future OLLI history classes, as well as a request for instructors to prepare and teach the classes. We invite all OLLI members to participate in the March 21 planning session with your ideas, course proposals, and instructor suggestions!
Do You Live in Mantua, Ravensworth, or Little Rocky Run?
By Debby Mossburg, Outreach Committee Chair
. . . or any other neighborhood with a print and/or online community newsletter? We’d love to let your neighbors know about the benefits of being a member of OLLI Mason. Would you be willing to contact your neighborhood association’s newsletter editors to see if they’ll run a short article about OLLI? Doing so can help OLLI to expand membership to keep us financially healthy and make a great program greater. We already have a short piece that tells about the OLLI program that has been approved and run in other neighborhood newsletters at no cost and with good success. All it takes is a phone call or email from a community member to have that same piece run in your neighborhood newsletter.
If you can help, we'll send you a PDF of the article with George Mason and OLLI logos. To follow up or for any questions you may have, please contact Jim Dann at jimandsue70@gmail.com (phone: 703-690-7982), or Debby Mossburg at debby.mossburg@verizon.net (phone: 703-973-8080).
You’ve got the power to make a real difference! Thank you.
Join the Mason Jazz Ensemble (director Jim Carroll), the Jazz Workshop (director, John Kocur), and special guests, Georgetown University Jazz Band (Paul Bratcher) for an evening that celebrates the hot sounds and swinging beats of the Big Band era!
By Linda H. Harber, OLLI Member and Friends of Music at Mason President
Please join us at this special Friends of Music at Mason (FOMM) program with the Mason Healing Arts Ensemble on Wednesday, March 22, at 5:00. You can join the group at the Linda Apple Monson Tier 3 at Mason Center for the Arts or livestreamed via YouTube.
Last fall, Rita Gigliotti, Director of Mason’s Healing Arts Ensemble, did a music and well-being presentation for OLLI. Even if you missed it, now you will have the opportunity to experience the wonderful music of the Healing Arts Ensemble and get in on the Good Vibrations. There will be small percussion instruments for those in attendance to join in the fun. It promises to be an hour of good vibrations that will show you how to harness music to make you feel better!
Please reply to Rachel Ingel at ringel@gmu.edu or 703-993-3927 to hold your place at this special free FOMM program. Looking forward to seeing you on Wednesday, March 22!
The March 2023 Photo of the Month theme was Choosing a Color or Two. We selected George Bradshaw's's photo "Green Heron," which may also be viewed at this page this page (yes, it's a green blue heron). To view other photos by members of the Photography Club, visit the club's photo website. -- By John Olsen, Photography Club Coordinator
The tooth fairy lived far away in a fabulous fern forest,
with her fluffy, frizzy fox, Ferdinand, and her father dearest.
After finishing Tooth Fairy School, she played her flute—
Fanfares, fantasias, fandangos, and folk songs to boot.
Franny had quite a freaky collection of teeth from kids
She fearlessly gathered in a flower purse that she hid.
Later she planted them in mounds, stacks, and heaps:
Molar mountains, incisor hills, and canine peaks.
Devoted OLLI member, 1997-2018, Julie McNamara passed away on February 23. She and her husband Mike resided at Greenspring in Virginia; they both enjoyed classes during their many years at OLLI. Known for her optimism and staunch support for her OLLI friends, Julie was a source of artistic inspiration for the Poetry Workshop; members of the OLLI poetry community were saddened when learning of her passing. She also loved language classes. Friends will remember her warmth and kindness to all.
A memorial service celebrating her accomplished life will be held at a later time. Further information is available at this link.
For tickets for either Center for the Arts Concert Hall (CFA) or Hylton Center, 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 Center ticket purchase page.
Current vaccination policy for the Center for the Arts and Hylton Performing Arts Center is summarized as follows:
Audience members are not currently required to show proof of vaccination, or a negative COVID-19 test result for most events except when required by the event organizer or artist. If proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test result is required for a specific event, it will be indicated on the webpage with event details.
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 sign up at this link to stay in touch. Also, the Center for the Arts has a website,Mason Arts at Home, which has a calendar of online events and access to many past performances. Information can also be found at CFA ticket purchase page, Center for the Arts YouTube Channel, or the Hylton ticket purchase page.
KODO
Sat, Mar 18 at 8:00
Concert Hall
A pre-performance discussion will take place in Monson Grand Tier, on the third level of the Center for the Arts Lobby, 45 minutes prior to curtain.
Admission: $60, $51, $36.
The Adventures of Harold and the Purple Crayon
Sun, Mar 26 at 1:00 and 4:00
Concert Hall
Join us before the performance for family-friendly craft activities in the lobby.
Admission: $15.
Cirque FLIP Fabrique
Fri, Mar 31 at 8:00
Sat, Apr 1 at 2:00
Concert Hall
A pre-performance discussion will take place in Monson Grand Tier, on the third level of the Center for the Arts Lobby, 45 minutes prior to curtain.
Admission: $50, $43, $30.
Daniel Hope and the Zurich Chamber Orchestra: America
Sun, Apr 2 at 2:00
Concert Hall
A pre-performance discussion will take place in Monson Grand Tier, on the third level of the Center for the Arts Lobby, 45 minutes prior to curtain.
Admission: $55, $47, $33.
Mason Student and Faculty Performances (see music.gmu.edu for additional student recitals
Healing Arts Ensemble
Wed, Mar 22 at 5:00
Center for the Arts, Monson Grand Tier III
Admission: Free.
Mason Dance Company Gala Concert
Fri, Mar 24 at 8:00
Sat, Mar 25 at 8:00
Concert Hall
Admission: $28 Adult, $15 senior.
Jazz Big Band Showdown 2023
Mon, Mar 27 at 8:00
Concert Hall
Admission: $12 Adult, $8 senior.
Percussion Ensemble Concert
Wed, Mar 29 at 8:00
deLaski Performing Arts Building, 3001
Admission: Free.
School of Theater: The Hunchback of Seville
Thu, Mar 30 and Fri, Mar 31 at 8:00
Sat, Apr 1 at 2:00 and 8:00
Wed, Apr 5 through Fri, Apr 7 at 8:00
Sat, Apr 8 at 2:00 and 8:00
Harris Theatre
Admission: $30 Adult, $15 senior.
Eric Garner: Multiple Repeat Mistakes
Through Apr 15
Hylton Performing Arts Center, Buchanan Partners Art Gallery
Admission: Free.
Prince William Little Theatre: The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
Fri, Mar 17 at 8:00
Sat, Mar 18 at 2:00 and 8:00
Sun, Mar 19 at 2:00
Gregory Family Theater
Admission: $25 Adult, $20 senior.
Manassas Chorale: With One Voice
Sat, Mar 18 at 7:30
Merchant Hall
Admission: $25, $23.
Dervish
Sun, Mar 19 at 4:00
Merchant Hall
A pre-performance discussion begins one hour prior to the performance.
Admission: $48, $41, $29.
Ordway Ballet: Game On
Sat, Mar 25 at 6:00
Merchant Hall
Admission: $28-$22 Adult, $26-$20 senior.
Faculty Artists Series: Dr. Anna Balakerskaia and Friends
Sun, Apr 2 at 7:00
Hylton Performing Arts Center Recital Hall
Admission: Free.
Please note: Although some physical meetings for clubs and activities are canceled, some may be meeting in person or, in a hybrid mode, both in person and online. OLLI events and activities meeting online bear the identification "Z" in their course or event number (except clubs; you may need to check the OLLI calendar and daily schedule email for location and other event information). Refer to the university's coronavirus website for official university updates.
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. 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 Mar 18
10:30 am
1:00 pm
Tai Chi Club
Personal Computer User Group
Mon Mar 20
9:30 am
10:00 am
11:00 am
What’s in the Daily News?
Mah Jongg Club
Poetry Reading Club
Tue Mar 21
9:30 am
4:00 pm
4:30 pm
Annex Art
Spanish Club
Tai Chi Club
Wed Mar 22
10:00 am
10:30 am
1:00 pm
2:00 pm
4:00 pm
Bridge Club
Investment Forum
Outreach Committee
Memoir and More Writing Group
Mah Jongg Club
Thu Mar 23
11:50 am
4:30 pm
All the News
Tai Chi Club
Fri Mar 24
9:30 am
11:00 am
12:00 noon
Craft and Conversation
Homer, etc.
Photography Club
Sat Mar 25
10:30 am
Tai Chi Club
Mon Mar 27
9:30 am
What’s in the Daily News?
Tue Mar 28
4:30 pm
Tai Chi Club
Wed Mar 29
1:45 pm
Bridge Club
Thu Mar 30
4:00 pm
4:30 pm
Reston Book Club
Tai Chi Club
Fri Mar 31
9:30 am
10:00 am
11:00 am
11:00 am
Craft and Conversation
Walk and Talk Club
Classic Literature Club
Homer, etc.
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, Paul Van Hemel Proofreaders: Rebecca Jann, Susan Van Hemel, Linda Randall, Tom Appich, Jane Hassell
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: ollienewseditor@gmail.com. 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.
Calling all Sondheim lovers! On Saturday, April 1, Signature Theater on Campbell Avenue in Arlington is holding ten tickets for us to see the 2:00 matinee of this rarely performed musical. This time, we take a trip back to Japan, mid-1800s, to look at the life-changing impact a naval event had on the Japanese who had been isolated from the rest of the world for about 200 years. Hear how the various segments of Japanese society were impacted by these Westerners who insisted on opening up Japan for trade.
and her husband Mike resided at Greenspring in Virginia; they both enjoyed classes during their many years at OLLI. Known for her optimism and staunch support for her OLLI friends, Julie was a source of artistic inspiration for the Poetry Workshop; members of the OLLI poetry community were saddened when learning of her passing. She also loved language classes. Friends will remember her warmth and kindness to all.