Executive Director Jennifer Disano and President Lillian Brooks hosted OLLI's annual meeting May5; Board candidates made brief remarks and took questions from in-personandonline attendees
May 12, 2023
Editor of the Week: Paul Van Hemel
Table of Contents
Alerts & Notices
You should have received an emailed ballot for voting in the election for Board candidates. Be sure your vote is submitted by May 19.
The next issue of OLLI E-News will be published Friday, May 19; the regular deadline for submission of items is Tuesday, May 16, at 6:00.
From the Desk of the Executive Director Jack Wood Award for Town-Gown Relations
By Jennifer Disano, Executive Director
So pleased to be awarded the Jack Wood Town and Gown Award for Community Relations for my work as chair of the Fall for the Book Festival, along with fellow awardee Delegate Kenneth R. “Ken” Plum, member of the Virginia House of Delegates. OLLI nominated Ken for the Jack Wood Town and Gown Legacy Award for his long-term leadership. Also pictured is OLLI’s President Lillian Brooks. You can read about the 2023 award recipients at this link.
Swing into America’s favorite season with an all-American lunch of hot dog, cole slaw, potato salad, and soda drink, followed by an ice cream dessert from noon to 3:00 on Friday, May 19, at Tallwood. Weather permitting, we’ll sit outside at the picnic tables. In addition to the fun eats, we’ll be showing the iconic baseball film Field of Dreams afterward.
If you haven’t already signed up and paid for the event and want to join in the fun, it’s $12 and includes lunch and creamy vanilla ice cream custard with your choice of toppings. Register through the portal for event number 1104–Spring Lunch and Ice Cream Social, or call the registrar (have a credit card handy) at 703-503-3384. Registration ends on Monday, May 15. You must pay in advance and be registered to attend this event. Registering through the OLLI portal, check out from your cart. Your registration is complete after you submit your credit card information and receive a “Congratulations” notice. Otherwise, your registration will not be entered.
Hope to see you at Tallwood to enjoy some all-American eats and fun conversation!
The Computer Club (OLLI Personal Computer User Group, or OPCUG) will meet with its partner, the Potomac Area Technology and Computer Society (PATACS), on Saturday, May 20, in person and via Zoom. The Zoom session usually opens at 12:45.
Using Zoom in the Apple Ecosystem – Presented by Mike Emery
iPhone, Mac, iPad? Mike will show us the ins and outs of using Zoom with Apple devices.
Mike Emery is OLLI's Tallwood Site Assistant and has been wrestling with Zoom and a variety of computing devices since COVID changed the OLLI world beginning in March of 2020. He has many years of professional experience in IT/computer support roles in government enterprises. He is a member of the PATACS Board of Directors.
Learn in 30: Large File Transfer Techniques – Presented by John Krout
So, you want to send a file, or a group of files, via email to family, friends, coworkers, or other specific folks. Every email service imposes a ceiling on attachment size. Photo sizes grow whenever you upgrade a camera or a phone. You can shoot a dozen cute pix of the grandchild and exceed the attachment size ceiling. You can shoot 4K resolution video with a smart phone that is 5+ years old and create a 100-megabyte MP4 file in a few minutes.
While you can post to social media, and have your photo or video resolution reduced severely, some files are necessarily intended for a very specific audience, not the entire galaxy of social media friends and followers. In this presentation, you will learn about two very different free web-based solutions, their limits, and their advantages.
John Krout is a frequent presenter at our meetings on a wide range of computer, technology and photography topics, and author of many articles for the PATACS POSTS newsletter.
To attend via Zoom’s cloud meeting service, beginning at 12:45, please click this link to join the meeting and use passcode 569804 (Note: enter passcode with NO spaces) or enter meeting ID 823 4185 2232 in the Zoom app and use the above passcode (preferred method) or dial in – 301-715-8592.
Trip to National Museum of African American History and Culture
By Marguerite Johnson, Former Board Member and Secretary
The National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) is dedicated to educating people of all races and nationalities about African American life from 1400 to the present day. It is a dense museum with numerous artifacts, documents, photos, videos, statues, flags, and more. Most of the items came from family archives that were preserved over generations.
On Friday April 21, twenty-seven OLLI members put on their good walking shoes to take a VIP tour of the NMAAHC. For 90 minutes our docent led us through the winding lower-level history galleries. She seamlessly connected the three galleries depicting periods in the progression of African American history from Slavery and Freedom 1400-1877 to Defending Freedom, Defining Freedom: the Era of Segregation 1876-1968, ending at A Changing America: 1968 and Beyond.
Photos Courtesy of Marguerite Johnson, April 21
Feeling physically and mentally exhausted we took a break at the Contemplative Court and lunched at the Sweet Home cafe. We were then free to visit the remaining two above-ground galleries, Community and Culture, on our own.
Community broadly covers many aspects of everyday life such as education, military service, professions, political activities, and sports. Culture features provocative artwork, television, movies, plays, dance, and music. We could easily have spent at least an additional 90 minutes at each at each of these galleries. Many attendees plan a second visit.
Our visit to the NMAAHC was sometimes painful, definitely thought-provoking, and even relatable as we compared our experiences living in the 1960s.
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 May 17 at 4:00. Our chosen topic this week is “Travel – And Packing."
As we approach the summer vacation season, thoughts turn to travel. The best part of travel is packing – NOT!! Dreading the packing? – decisions on the weather, the clothing for all anticipated events, the need to carry every single item everywhere. Team Bloch has diametrically opposite approaches to the packing quandary – one of us is a minimalist, one is everything-but-the kitchen-sink packer. What do you do? What items do you NEVER leave out? What items do you pack that you never use and plan to leave behind for the next trip? Do you intentionally leave room for the "inevitable" purchase of "souvenirs?"
Check your Daily Schedule and please join us to share your thoughts on Zoom in the OLLI Chat Room on May 17 at 4:00.
I miss my mama, gone twenty years.
A mountain woman with a huge heart
who lost her own mother when she was seven,
and mourned the rest of her life.
She never healed, but she learned to live
with it, as folks tell us to do.
She raised six children, worked from
sun-up to sundown, never took a vacation, never ate out,
never had a day off.
She cooked three meals a day,
each with dozens of homemade biscuits,
specialized in every kind of bean and potato
to “put meat on our bones.”
She lived in the kitchen, or on the back porch on wash days,
the only time she cursed was when the wringer jammed.
She doted on her children,
although she seldom had time
to sit down and play with them,
so busy she was with her chores. Pity the person
who disrespected her poverty, mistreated one of her kids.
Hear the roar of mama bear.
A support to friends and family, a caring ear to listen,
a servant to her husband, a champion for her offspring,
sacrificing her needs for family.
We had the best mama,
even when she reached for the willow switch.
If only I could wrap my arms around her,
tell her I love her one more time.
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.
ARTFactory’s Pied Piper Theatre: School of Rock
Fri, May 12 and 19, 7:00
Sat, May 13 and 20, 7:00
Sun, May 14 and 21, 2:00
Hylton Performing Arts Center, Gregory Family Theater
Admission: $20 Adult, $16 senior.
CAMMO Voices
Sat, May 13, 8:00
Hylton Performing Arts Center, Merchant Hall
A pre-performance discussion begins one hour prior to the performance.
Admission: $48, $41, $29, free for veterans.
Old Bridge Chamber Orchestra: How to Opera: Overtures, Arias, and Recitatives
Sun, May 14, 3:00
Hylton Performing Arts Center, Merchant Hall
Admission: $20 Adult, $17 senior.
Manassas Ballet Theatre: Swan Lake
Fri, May 19, 7:30
Sat, May 20, 3:00 and 7:30
Sun, May 21, 3:00
Hylton Performing Arts Center, Merchant Hall
Admission: $65, $55, $45, $35, $25.
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., 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 May 13
10:30 am
Tai Chi Club
Mon May 15
9:30 am
What’s in the Daily News?
Tue May 16
9:30 am
4:00 pm
4:30 pm
Health Advisory Workgroup Meeting
Spanish Club
Tai Chi Club
Wed May 17
1:45 pm
1:45 pm
2:00 pm
Bridge Club
Mah Jongg Club
Memoir and More Writing Group
Thu May 18
4:30 pm
Tai Chi Club
Fri May 19
9:30 am
11:00 am
11:00 am
Craft and Conversation
Classic Literature Club
Homer, etc.
Sat May 20
10:30 am
1:00 pm
Tai Chi Club
Personal Computer User Group
Mon May 22
9:30 am
11:00 am
11:00 am
What’s in the Daily News?
Poetry Reading Club
Theater Lovers’ Group
Tue May 23
9:30 am
4:30 am
Annex Art
Tai Chi Club
Wed May 24
10:00 am
10:00 am
10:30 am
1:45 pm
4:00 pm
Bridge Club
Walk & Talk Club
Investment Forum
Spanish Club
Mah Jongg Club
Thu May 25
10:00 am
11:50 am
4:00 pm
4:30 am
Loudon and Reston Program Planning Group Meeting
All the News
Reston Book Club
Tai Chi Club
Fri May 26
9:30 am
11:00 am
12:00 noon
Craft and Conversation
Homer, etc.
Photography Club
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. 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.
