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Website   What's New   Catalog   DocStore   Facebook   Officials   Member Portal   Contact Us (Editor's Note: In this issue, in response to a request at the recent new members coffee, we have made a change to the OLLI website links at the top of the E-News. There is now an Officials link. It goes to the page that lists board members, committee chairs and staff, where some names are highlighted and can be clicked to send email to them.) Collage of Photos by Paul Van Hemel Spring Term New Members Coffee, Mar 28, 2014

April 4, 2014 Editor of the Week: Paul Van Hemel Table of Contents Alerts & Notices Welcome to Spring How to Refresh Your Wardrobe and Not Break the Bank Murder at the Bellagio Mneme Therapy Special Event Obituary Obituaries GMU Social Work Student Project on Older Adults and Hunger Summer Offering by Mason Center for Global Education Poet's Corner Arts & Music at George Mason Mason Highlights Meetings & Clubs About OLLI E-News Alerts & Notices The Hearts, Shamrocks, and Daffodils party will be held at the Church of the Good Shepherd on Sat, Apr 12; reserve your space by noon Fri, Apr 4 by calling the OLLI office at 703-503-3384, registering in person, or by emailing olli@gmu.edu. The George Mason University Office of Sustainability is hosting a number of events for Earth Day, Apr 22, and for Earth Month throughout April. OLLI members are welcome to participate. For more information, see their website, or contact Danielle Wyman. A fashion show featuring OLLI members as models will be held Tues, May 20. For details, including location and time, click here. OLLI-Reston Notes … is a news email of particular interest to Reston members. It is written by OLLI member Carol Henderson. Her most recent version of Reston Notes is dated March 2014. To read the bios for the candidates for the Board of Directors, click here. Voting will take place May 2-15. Back to Top of Page Welcome to Spring By Jennifer Disano, Executive Director In spite of the cold and snow over the weekend, OLLI members gathered together on Saturday to enjoy each other’s company with musical stylings of OLLI’s very own Tallwood Trio, with Nancy Riley. The program was very entertaining with transitions from instrumentals only, to vocals, to solo and group pieces; the group was in top form. I was especially moved by a rendition of “Danny Boy,” as my son Daniel attended the concert with me. It was a great way to spend the final cold day of the season and the audience was greatly warmed by the event.   With the snow and cold behind us and blossoms coming forth I can safely say, “Welcome to Spring.” Even before the weather broke, members of the Dirty Knees Club got a jump on the season, tending to the Tallwood gardens and cleaning up after the storms. I noticed one member out with the weed-whacker trimming some foolish plant that came out in the cold. All three campuses are beginning to show some color with early buds on the trees peeking out and daffodils popping up everywhere. After such a weary winter each bloom gives much relief, promise and comfort.   Our wonderful OLLI program planners have put together a splendor of classes, special events and trips for this spring term, with over 100 choices so you should be busy as bees enjoying all OLLI has to offer!   Welcome back! Back to Top of Page How to Refresh Your Wardrobe and Not Break the Bank By Norma Jean Reck Bloomingdale's Personal Shopper Effie Elkorek will give OLLI's members and their guests‒both men and women‒timely tips on how to update their wardrobes at OLLI's Fashion Show and Luncheon on Tuesday, May 20 at the Country Club of Fairfax. OLLI's own members will model the new spring fashions. The event goes from 10:30 to 2:30. Register now at any of the three OLLI offices for this not-to-be-missed fabulous fundraiser. The all-inclusive ticket of $55 per person is your pass to a really classy social event. It includes a social hour with Alan Wenberg on the piano, the very entertaining Capitol Reunion Quartet, a marvelous fashion show, a delicious lunch, a ticket to wonderful door prizes and a chance to purchase a ticket to win a grand prize. You can still volunteer to model, help with the models backstage, create centerpieces, meet 'n greet, and more. Join the fun. Make a new friend. Help finance scholarships for deserving GMU students and help OLLI enhance its programs. E-mail njreck@cs.com for more information or to volunteer. See you there! Back to Top of Page Murder at the Bellagio By Kathie West, Co-chair of the Literature, Language and Theater Resource Group Come one, come all. There is still time to join us for the Murder Mystery at COGS on June 4. Sign up on the OLLI web page on the registration site for Special Event # 991. The cost is $25 per person to benefit OLLI membership. Be part of the TRIBUTE TO THE GOLDEN VOICES OF THE 50's at the Bellagio Hotel in Vegas. You are special invitees! Enjoy a catered brunch with lots of mayhem and surprises. You will be included in the mystery. How can you refuse? Enjoy the posters in all three sites. See if you can name all those singers of the 50's! Back to Top of Page Mneme Therapy Special Event By Lillian Brodeur, OLLI Member Catherine Fetterman, shown at right here, of the Northern Virginia Art Without Boundaries Association led OLLI members in a Mneme Therapy participatory event (Special Event 953) at the Loudoun campus on March 25. The members learned what it might be like to create a work of art when challenged by limited motor skills (e.g., as a result of Parkinson's Disease, stroke, dementia, Alzheimer's Disease, autism, or other conditions).   Catherine is one of only 46 artists nationwide certified as a mneme therapist. This therapy provides outlets to stimulate brain and body functions to help counteract the degeneration in those functions that can result from aging. It brings the power of touch and human interaction inherent in art and music to motivate and encourage creativity. The attending members were inspired by the opportunity to participate. Back to Top of Page OLLI Book Club Meeting By Ceda McGrew, Club Coordinator The OLLI Book Club will meet at 1:30 on Wed, Apr 9, at Tallwood. The book for discussion is The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom. It is the story of Lavinia, an orphaned Irish indentured servant, who works in the kitchen house of a Tidewater, Virginia, tobacco plantation in the years before the Civil War.   All OLLI members are welcome.   The selection for May is History of a Pleasure Seeker by Richard Mason. Back to Top of Page Obituary Helen Elizabeth Lapitsky March 13, 1919 - March 23, 2014 Helen Lapitsky was one of our first members, having joined LRI as we were then known in the fall of 1992. Her death notice appeared recently in the Washington Post and can be accessed here.   She was co-chair of the Program Committee for two years in the early 90’s and served on the Board of Directors from 1996 to 1999. In 2000, she organized the Bridge Club but soon fell ill and dropped her membership in LRI in spring 2001. She rejoined from fall 2002 through the fall of 2004.    Several old-timers have commented that Helen was wonderful to work with -- highly intelligent, calm and creative. She read greatly until her eyes would not permit and was very well up-to-date on current events, here and abroad. She loved to play bridge and as a Michigan grad she followed their sports teams closely. Some current OLLI members remember driving her to Tallwood so she could play with the Bridge Club or going to her assisted-living apartment in Arlington to play bridge. One of the hidden treasures of OLLI membership has long been the emergence of informal “support groups” when things start to go wrong.   A memorial service was held for her in Rockville, MD, last Saturday morning. While the death notice didn’t mention it, we are sure she would have appreciated donations in her honor to the Friends of OLLI fund, especially from her remaining colleagues from that era. Back to Top of Page Obituaries GERALD G. ABEL "Jerry"   OLIVE B. ABEL "Bunny"  Jerry and Bunny, married for 58 years and always together, passed peacefully at their home in Loudoun, Virginia. Jerry, 80, passed on Friday, August 30, 2013, and Bunny, 80, passed on Wednesday, September 11, 2013.   They loved Fairfax City and walking through the local parks and trails. They were passionate about classes through OLLI-Mason, especially ones offered by the National Park Service Rangers. They are survived by their son, Robert Abel; their daughter and son-in-law, Sue and Hugh McArthur; a granddaughter, other loving relatives and friends. Their careers and interests took them from Wisconsin, where they were born, to many places including Hawaii, California, and Fairfax. Jerry earned a Master of Science in Technology of Management and retired as a Major from the U.S. Marine Corps. Bunny earned a Master of Education and taught primary grades at Fairfax Villa, Marshall Road, and Dogwood Elementary Schools in Fairfax, Virginia. Their funerals, with military honors, are scheduled together for Thu, Apr 10, 2:00, at Arlington National Cemetery. Anyone attending should arrive at the cemetery approximately one half hour prior. Supporting their lifelong love of learning, the family requests that memorial donations may be made to OLLI-Mason -www.olli.gmu.edu Arrangements by Cremation Society of Virginia. - See more at their Washington Post obituary. Back to Top of Page GMU Social Work Student Project on Older Adults and Hunger Did you know that 5.6 million older adults faced hunger in 2011? For our capstone social work class, we have partnered with DC Central Kitchen and the Campus Kitchen Project (CKP) to explore the growing issue of food insecurity among older adults. CKP is a national nonprofit organization with a mission to empower the next generation of leaders to implement innovative models for combating hunger, developing food systems, and helping communities help themselves.   CKP recently surveyed older adults served by AARP-funded Campus Kitchens, but the survey was not well received by the older adults. For our project, we have been tasked to research and determine how to better obtain the information. We would appreciate any help you can provide.  Even if you have not experienced issues related to food insecurity, we would value your feedback on the revised survey and your thoughts about how to best ask older adults these questions. Please take a few minutes to complete the survey available at this link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/ZPK3C3X . Your feedback not only will help us complete our project, but will benefit older adults who are currently experiencing food insecurity. Thank you!!       -- GMU Social Work (SOCW 417) Students Back to Top of Page Summer Offering by Mason Center for Global Education The Mason Center for Global Education announces a program that may be of interest to OLLI members. It is a four-week program in creative writing in Ireland. Participants take part in a writing workshop offered by Irene Graham, learning techniques to stir the creative juices and turn memoir into fiction. These creative exercises take place in a variety of Irish settings: the town of Galway, considered the Irish arts capital; Inis Mor Island, where participants will spend time around ancient sites; and Markree Castle, a 14th Century Castle set in the heart of W.B. Yeats country, just outside Sligo. The Listowel Writers Festival is on the itinerary, too. You can find program details including the itinerary, dates and costs here  Back to Top of Page Poet's Corner Courtesy of the Poetry Workshop Movie Night at Red Rocks Amphitheater Looking down at the stage one might expect Antigone, Oedipus exiled from Thebes extracting predestined grief from us all, Sophocles watching from a row one seat. Beyond the stage, Greek mountains distant from where I sit high on the side of this steep mountain                              I see Denver towers, far plains. Eponymous red rocks surround. And on the screen far below, it's E.T. whom this family crowd has come to see in clean cool Colorado evening air. Spielberg's not here; this is not the premiere. Oedipus can't return. E.T. calls home while beside me four-year-old Hope sobs, sobs, tragedy engulfing her as E.T. leaves the friends he loves for the home he loves. Betty Smith Back to Top of Page Arts & Music at George Mason Performances, Apr 4 to 14 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 Moscow Festival Ballet:      Romeo and Juliet & Chopiniana. Sat, Apr 5, 8:00. A pre-      performance discussion by Alexander Daev, Ballet Master, begins at      7:15. **************************************           Ballet Favorites. Sun, Apr 6, 4:00. A pre-performance discussion by      Alexander Daev, Ballet Master, begins at 3:15. Admission for each performance: $56, $48, $28 Center for the Arts Concert Hall Virginia Opera: Carmen Fri, Apr 11, 8:00 Sun, Apr 13, 2:00 Don't miss this Virginia Opera production of Bizet's opera sung in French with English supertitles A pre-performance discussion by a member of the company begins 45 minutes before each performance. Admission: Fri - $86, $72, $44                  Sun - $98, $80, $48 Center for the Arts Concert Hall Back to Top of Page Mason Student & Faculty Performances Mason Players: The Rover Fri, Apr 4, 8:00 Sat, Apr 5, 2:00 and 8:00 Sun, Apr 6, 2:00 Admission: Adults, $20; seniors, $15 TheaterSpace International Week Dance Competition Mon, Apr 7, 7:00 Mason's international student organizations present dances from around the world. Winners will perform at the International Week closing ceremony, Fri, Apr 11. Admission: $5 Center for the Arts Concert Hall   International Week Dinner Dance Fri, Apr 11, 7:00 Admission: $15 Johnson Center's Dewberry Hall Mason Opera: The Marriage of Figaro Sat, Apr 12, 8:00 Sun, Apr 13 4:00 Admission: Adults, $20; seniors, $15 Harris Theatre Faculty Artist Series: Amy Baumgarten, Cello; Jennifer Kim, Violin; Kathy Mulcahy, Clarinet Sun, Apr 13, 2:00 Admission: Free deLaski Room 300   Back to Top of Page At the Hylton Center Moscow Festival Ballet: Swan Lake Fri, Apr 4, 8:00 A pre-performance discussion by a member of the company begins at 7:15. Admission: $56, $48, $40 Merchant Hall Behind the Mask - 30th Anniversary ACTS SAVAS Thurs, Apr 10, 5:30 ACTS SAVAS empowers survivors of sexual assault to heal and move forward with their lives. Students from an advanced studio workshop class in mask making and performance in theater and a documentary photography class in art have partnered to create work on the themes of identity and social violence as they collaborate on projects stressing the discovery and invention involved in "accidental travel." This event examines their work and presents original student performances. Admission: Adults, $50; students, $25 Merchant Hall TAO: Phoenix Rising Sat, Apr 12, 8:00 Sun, Apr 13, 4:00 This Taiko drumming ensemble, composed of both males and females, draws upon diverse backgrounds as rock musicians, gymnasts, and composers. A pre-performance discussion by a member of the company begins 45 minutes before the performance. Admission: $46, $38, $30 Merchant Hall Ebb & Flow by Hannele Lahti Continues through Sat, Apr 12 This is an exhibit of landscape photography featuring water.  Admission: Free Buchanan Partners Art Gallery   Back to Top of Page For further details on any of the above events, please see the CFA event calendar and the Hylton Center event calendar Back to Top of Page Mason Highlights Other Mason events, next two weeks By Helen Ackerman, OLLI E-News Staff Writer Film. The Hobbit--The Desolation of Smaug. A prequel to The Lord of the Rings, this is the story of how  Bilbo Baggins gains the magical ring and overcomes the dragon Smaug. Fri, Apr 4, 6:00 and 9:00; Sat, Apr 5, 6:00. Johnson Center, Cinema. Admission $3. Reception. Master of Fine Arts Exhibition and Open Studios. The 2nd Annual MFA Exhibition and Open Studios features the work of current graduate students and is curated by guest curator Jamie McLellan, Director of Civilian Art Projects. Sun, April 6, 1:00 to 4:00. Art and Design Building, Fine Arts Gallery. Free. Vision Series. Mason professor Alessandra Luchini talks about “Nanotechnology in Biomedicine: Better Diagnosis, Better Treatment in the Era of Personalized Medicine.” Early diagnosis of cancer and infectious disease is one of the most exciting but challenging areas of biomedical research. Dr Luchini’s team is developing novel nanotechnologies that can reveal previously invisible cancer (and other disease) biomarkers in patients. The research is now being tested in patient clinical trials. Mon, April 7, 7:30. Prince William Campus, Hylton Performing Arts Center, Merchant Hall. Free. Teleconference. An Evening with Director Mark Rydell. The School of Theater hosts a special guest via teleconference. Director Mark Rydell (On Golden Pond, James Dean, The Cowboys) shares insights about his long career in entertainment, studying at the Actors Studio and directing on Broadway before moving to helm iconic television series and award-winning feature films. Mr. Rydell will beam in from Beverly Hills for an interactive conversation with our students and our community. Mon, April 7, 4:30. Mason Hall, Meese Conference Room. Free. Lecture. George Washington University Associate Professor of History and International Affairs Dina Rizk Khoury discusses "The Meaning of Martyrdom in Iraq." Violence and death have become the norm rather than the exception in Iraq. Yet the meaning of martyrdom has been and continues to be one of the most contested issues in the political culture of the country. Tue, Apr 8, noon. Mason Hall, Room D3AB. Free. Reading and Talk. Ethiopian-American author Dinaw Mengestu will discuss his novel The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears. The novel is this year’s choice for the English Department’s Text and Community program. The novel tells the story of three African immigrants living in Washington D.C, after fleeing the Ethiopian Revolution seventeen years earlier. Mengestu won The Guardian’s First Book Award for the novel, and the novel was named one of the New York Times Notable books of 2007. Tue, April 8, 6:00 to 7:30. Center for the Arts, Concert Hall, Grand Tier. Free. Back to Top of Page 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 Apr 5 10:30am Tai Chi Club–TA-3 Tue Apr 8 10:00am Knitting and Needlework Club–Panera, Herndon Wed Apr 9  1:30pm  1:45pm Book Club–TA-2 Bridge Club–TA-3 Fri Apr 11  9:00am  9;30AM 10:00am 10:30am 11:00am 11:00am Recorder Consort–TA-3 Photography Club–TA-1 Craft and Conversation–Cottage Loudoun Program Planning Group–Rm 236 Homer, etc–Annex Ulysses Book Club–TA-2 Sat Apr 12 10:30am Tai Chi Club–TA-3 Tue Apr 15 10:00am Knitting and Needlework Club–Panera, Herndon Wed Apr 16  1:30pm  1:45pm Mah Jongg Club–TA-2 Bridge Club–TA-3 Fri Apr 18  9:00am 10:00am 10:00am 11:00am 11:00am Recorder Consort–TA-3 Craft and Conversation-Cottage Board of Directors Meeting–Loudoun Homer, etc–Annex Ulysses Book Club–TA-2 Back to Top of Page About OLLI E-News OLLI E-News was created by Rod Zumbro, who served as its editor from 2005 to 2013. Current Editorial Staff Chief Editor/Technical Editor: Irene Osterman Associate Editor: Weekly Editorial Team: 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: ollienewseditor@gmail.com. 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. Back to Top of Page