ENews14-14

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Special Event 971, Apr 25, 2014, on Motor Adaptation Studies by Dr. Wilsaan Joiner of the Mason Bioengineering Department.

May 2, 2014

Editor of the Week: Leslie Vandivere

Table of Contents

Alerts & Notices
Polls are Open: Board Election 2014
Carol Henderson Steps Down
Debbie's Kitchen
Help Make the Magic
Fashion Show and Luncheon
Winning Poetry
Help Wanted: Apple Ecosystem Coordinator
History Club
Poet's Corner
Arts & Music at George Mason
Meetings & Clubs
About OLLI E-News

Alerts & Notices

A fashion show featuring OLLI members as models will be held Tuesday, May 20. For details, including location and time, click here.

The Humanities and Social Sciences Planning Group will hold an important meeting on Friday, May 9, at 10 at the Hunters Woods Community Center to finalize fall 2014 courses and plan for winter 2015. Please try to attend. To see what attending the meeting is like, click here for a description of the last meeting.

An open house at the OLLI Loudoun site will be held on Friday, May 11, to inform members about the upcoming move to a temporary location this summer and transition to a new permanent home this fall.For details, see the April 25 OLLI E-News, available here.

Polls are Open: Board Election 2014

By Jennifer Disano, Executive Director

There are nine candidates for the six vacant positions on our Board of Directors. Their photos and bios are easily accessible on the Candidates page of our OLLI website.

You can quickly get to the ballots by clicking on the following link— www.olliatgmu.org/polls—which will prompt you to log on with your username and password. You will be voting on the Board Election 2014 ballot.

If you don't have a user account, you should go to the OLLI website, click on the Member Portal link, and then click on "Get a User Account." If you are not able to vote using your computer, you may see an OLLI staff member for assistance at any location. You also may request a paper ballot, which can be either mailed to the OLLI office or placed in an OLLI election ballot box at any of our three sites. Ballots will be accepted through noon on Friday, May 16. You may vote at any time during this period by logging onto the Member Portal, going to the "Membership" top-level menu, then selecting "Vote."

Do not lose your ballot: No member having lost, damaged, or destroyed his/her mailed ballot may receive a second ballot. Making more than six choices will invalidate your ballot. Similarly, more than one ballot per envelope, any ballot not in the furnished BALLOT ENCLOSED envelope, or not received by May 16 will be invalid. If you have questions about the election process, contact any Nominating Committee Member: Doris Bloch, Carol Henderson, Ray Beery, Glenn Kamber, Pat Carroll, John Woods, or Manny Pablo.

Carol Henderson Steps Down

By Nancy S. Scheeler, Board of Directors

Carol Henderson counts the successful move of OLLI classes to new facilities in Reston as the highlight of her three-year term as OLLI’s Reston Coordinator. Seeing increasing numbers of OLLI members enjoying classes at the United Christian Parish (UCP) Church has convinced her that the wrenching move from Lake Anne Plaza has, in fact, led to a healthy, thriving Reston program that she expects to continue to grow.

“It was hard to leave Lake Anne Plaza,” she said, but classes at the Reston Community Center (RCC) and the Reston Used Book Store one day a week still allow OLLI members to linger in the Plaza and lunch at their favorite restaurants. “We get the best of both worlds.”

Carol is stepping down from being Reston Coordinator as she and her husband Eric prepare to move from their home in Reston to Vinson Hall in McLean sometime in the fall. Not to worry; they plan to remain members of OLLI.

As Coordinator, Carol has supported the OLLI program on a number of fronts. In effecting the move, she worked to achieve a diplomatic departure from the Washington Plaza Baptist Church and then helped to work out minor glitches in the new facility.

In addition, Carol has promoted OLLI to attendees at the popular Meet the Artists series at the Reston Community Center in Hunters Woods. These concerts, organized by Rosemary McDonald during spring and fall terms, are open both to OLLI members and the public, usually about half the audience. Carol enlists OLLI volunteers to greet attendees and answer their questions about OLLI. These efforts have not only strengthened the partnership between OLLI and the RCC but also attracted new members to OLLI.

Carol has planned several large social events to gather Reston-based OLLI members. Before the move in January 2013, Carol arranged for a “Chili Cook-Off” at the UCP Church to allow members to see it for themselves. Since then, she has organized two successful “Super Salad Socials” in the Rose Gallery at the RCC. Her goal has been to offer two large-scale social events each year in Reston.

Carol recently organized OLLI involvement in the dual celebrations of the 50^th anniversary of Reston as a “new town” and of Reston founder Bob Simon’s 100^th birthday. Simon himself has been an OLLI member and supporter. Press coverage of these anniversaries included multiple references to OLLI as a Reston community resource, including a reference in a front-page article in the online Washington Post. Carol has promoted OLLI in other media such as Restonpatch.com and Reston Magazine, the publication of the Reston Association.

Carol’s service to OLLI in Reston has helped to launch a vigorous and expanded program that has brought pleasure to many OLLI members.

Debbie's Kitchen

By Martha Scanlon, President

On Friday May 9, at 3, there will be an informal gathering at the Cottage at Tallwood to install a plaque naming it "Debbie's Kitchen" in honor of Debbie Halverson. The kitchen and the herb garden outside the Cottage are representative of many things that OLLI owes to Debbie's creative thinking and enthusiasm. All are invited to attend and remember Debbie.

Help Make the Magic

by Russell Stone, Program Co-Chair

You may be amazed, perhaps even mystified, as I am, by the wonderful publication that arrives at each OLLI member’s home four times a year. I am referring, of course, to the catalog of courses and special events around which so many of us plan our lives. I am always in awe of the array of careful thought, planning, and creativity displayed in each catalog. We can choose to revisit familiar ideas or explore new topics. The choice in spring 2014 amounted to close to 100 courses and 50 special events, as well as more than 20 clubs and ongoing activities.

What brings forth all this creativity and opportunity for learning, enjoyment, and intellectual growth? Well, it isn’t magic. It is the enthusiastic dedication to lifelong learning by more than 25 of our members who chair our ten Program Planning Groups. They, in turn, reach out to many more of our members, now approaching 1,200, for contributions to the program. But more are needed—more people, more ideas for courses and activities, and more suggestions. It isn’t magic; it is created by us, for us.

So, this is an appeal on behalf of all our programmers for each member to think about

an idea for a course or activity others might find interesting,
a course you might teach for others to enjoy,
a course or event you might coordinate by inviting others you know to come teach and learn with us,
a one-time event you might organize.

The key is not just suggesting, but doing. Our success depends on a constant flow of new ideas and on repeating successful programs so that more might enjoy them. Please don’t leave the formulation of successful programs to others. If you contribute even one activity to OLLI programming, we will all benefit—all share in the creation of apparent magic. And we will all be the richer for it.

Please join in the enterprise of creating our own special kind of magic. Personally, I have volunteered to join Kathryn Russell as co-chair of the Program Committee to help coordinate our increasingly complex program. What can you do? Join in a Program Planning Group of your choice. Groups are listed in the front of each catalog (page iv). All OLLI members are welcome to contribute and come to the meetings or communicate your ideas to the chairs listed.

Watch for committee meetings as they are announced in the E-news. Each committee meets about three times per year. But don’t think just of ideas that others might do. Think of what you can do to make the magic happen: teach, coordinate, and invite. We welcome your participation. Our program can’t survive without your active involvement. With your participation, all our lives are enhanced.

Fashion Show and Luncheon

by Norma Jean Reck

The following five fabulous grand prizes will be raffled at the Fashion Show on Tuesday, May 20, at the Country Club of Fairfax:

1st Prize: Historic Ashby Inn in nearby Paris, Va., has donated one overnight stay with a country breakfast for two.
2nd Prize: Holly Hickman at Shear Strands, Fairfax, Va., has donated a professional haircut and style, plus a basketful of hair goodies.
3rd Prize: Hylton Performing Arts Center in Manassas, Va., has donated two tickets to any Hylton Presents performance during its 2014 season.
4th Prize: Bistro L’Hermitage Restaurant in Woodbridge, Va., has donated a $100 gift certificate. It's fine food at its best.
5th Prize: Studio BE Pilates in Fairfax, Va., has donated a $100 gift certificate for any of its services, including Pilates, classes, massage, etc.

Tickets are now on sale at all three campuses. Donations are $5 for one ticket, $10 for three tickets, and $20 for seven tickets. Ask about the sellers at your OLLI office. You need not be present to win.

Winning Poetry

by Mike McNamara

The Poetry Society of Virginia (PSV) announced the winners in its prestigious annual poetry contest for 2014 in an awards program on April 19. From over 1,500 entries in 30 categories, two OLLI members walked off with six awards.

Mike Mc Namara took a first, a third place and two honorable mentions, and Conrad Geller received a third place and an honorable mention. Both poets had been awarded prizes in previous PSV contests. Both are engaged as instructors in ongoing OLLI programs.

Mike is teaching Shakespeare's Henry IV, part 1, and, with Jan Bohall, is a co-moderator in The Poetry Workshop, both at Tallwood. Connie continues his instruction at Reston with his English Ain't What You Think, an examination of language and its ongoing change. Poetry, it seems, is alive and well represented at OLLI.

Help Wanted: Apple Ecosystem Coordinator

by Paul Howard, AV Support Committee Chair

Are you an enthusiastic user of Apple laptops, iPads, and iPhones, and willing to help OLLI learn how to help instructors wishing to use this technology for OLLI presentations?

We need your help with the following tasks:

Keeping up with changes in the Apple world that affect presentations at OLLI—cable connection types as new equipment is released—advising OLLI Staff and AV Support Committee on what needs to be bought to support presentations from both Mac laptops and iDevices.
Learning how these devices are used and interrelate—iPhones used as remotes for presentation on other equipment in the Apple Ecosystem, etc.
Preparing training and reference materials, primarily checklists, for OLLI staff, Tom Swift Squad, and instructors to deal with commonly encountered problems

.
Contact AV Support Committee Chair Paul Howard at phoward@gmu.edu.

History Club

By Beth Lambert, History Club Coordinator

The last meeting of the History Club for this session will be held on Wednesday, May 7, at 2:15 in TA-1. Our speaker will be Barbara Farner, who will be talking on the subject of Indentured Servants in Colonial America. Barbara is a fellow docent at Gunston Hall with OLLI's Sandy Gallettas.

While we have all heard about indentured servants in early America, we may not be aware of the diverse reasons they came here or the varied nature of the lives they led here. Barbara has done much research on the subject, and we are delighted she is willing to share her knowledge with us.

A few reminders:

Tom Hady is still in the market for book reviews.
We do not meet during the summer.
Our next meeting will be the first Wednesday in October.
All are welcome to the meetings of the History Club. Come and bring a guest.

Poet's Corner
Courtesy of the Poetry Workshop

An Ode to Liriope
(With apologies to Joyce Kilmer)

I think that I shall never see,
   An end of this liriope. As a novice gardener I had come to know,
   No matter what, it seems to grow.
So I planted some amid rock and stone,
   It took right over and kept on goin’,
It filled the front yard, then the back,
   It filled the space in the sidewalk crack.
I’m afraid to look down,
   ‘Cause heavens knows,
It might be growing between my toes.
   Round Up is used by fools like me,
But only God can stop liriope.

                   Jim Kelly
Liriope spicata plants spread via rhizomes, and are vigorous growers, to the point of being considered invasive plants.
Round Up is a broad spectrum herbicide. It’s supposed to kill every plant it touches

Arts & Music at George Mason

Performances, May 2 to May 12
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

Fairfax Symphony Orchestra Presents Orff's Carmina Burana
Sat, May 10, 8:00
FSO collaborates with the Fairfax Choral Society. Violinist Guillermo Figueroa will open the program with Piazolla's Brazilian twist on Vivaldi's The Four Seasons.
Admission: $60, $45, $25
Center for the Arts Concert Hall

American Youth Philharmonic Orchestra Concert
Sun, May 11, 3:00
Admission: Adults, $20; seniors, $10
Center for the Arts Concert Hall

Mason Student & Faculty Performances

Mason Dance Company: Spring: New Dances
Fri, May 2 and Sat, May 3, 8:00 each evening
Admission: Adults, $15; seniors and students, $10
Harris Theatre

A Capella Ensembles Concert
Fri, May 2, 8:00
Admission: Adults, $15; seniors and students, $10
de Laski - Room 3001

Spring Chamber Ensemble Concert
Sat, May 3, 3:00
Admission: Free
de Laski - Room 3001

M3E Concert (Mason Modern Music Ensemble)
Sat, May 3, 5:00
Admission: Free
Choral Room

Guitar Ensemble Concert
Sat, May 3, 8:00
Admission: Free
de Laski - Room 3001

School of Music Young Masters Concert
Sun, May 4, 7:00
Meet the Artists Reception in Grand Tier III following performance is included in ticket price.
Admission: Adults, $20; Seniors, $15
Center for the Arts Concert Hall

Brass Ensembles Concert
Fri, May 9, 1:30
Admission: Free
deLaski 3001

School of Music Honors Recital
Sun, May 11, 3:00
Admission: Free
Harris Theatre

There are also numerous free individual student recitals around campus. Visit http://music.gmu.edu/node/275 for details.

At the Hylton Center

Prince William Arts Council: 2014 Arts Alive!
Sat, May 3, 10:00 - 8:30
Performances and exhibits by local artists, performers and others. A full listing of events is available here:
http://hyltoncenter.org/events/artsalive.html
Various venues at the Hylton Center

Asaph Dance Ensemble: Spring Ballet Series
Sun, May 4, 4:00
Admission: Adults, $30; seniors and students, $20
Merchant Hall

Manassas Symphony Orchestra: Romantic Masterworks
Sat, May 10, 7:30
Tchaikovsky's Concerto in D major, Sibelius' Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 43.
Admission: Adults, $20, seniors and educators, $14; Mason students and children 18 and under, free
Merchant Hall

Degrees of Insanity--Jimmy Meritt Live
Sat, May 10, 8:30
Comedy show starring Jimmy Meritt with Jamel Johnston and David Blechamn.
Admission: $25
Gregory Family Theater

Intersections of Art and Life by William Woodward and Becky Parrish
Tue, Apr 15 through Sat, May 24
Admission: Free
Buchanan Partners Art Gallery

For further details on any of the above events, please see the CFA event calendar and the Hylton Center event calendar

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 May 3	10:30am	Tai Chi Club–TA-3
Tue May 6	10:00am	Knitting and Needlework Club–Panera, Herndon
Wed May 7	1:30pm 1:45pm 1:45pm 2:15pm	Mah Jongg Club–TA-2 Bridge Club–TA-3 Special Events Committee–Annex History Club–TA-1
Fri May 9	9:00am 10:00am 10:00am 10:00am 10:30am 11:00am 11:00am	Recorder Consort–TA-3 Craft and Conversation Club–Cottage iPad User Group–Reston UCP 113/114 Humanities/Social Sciences Program Planning Group–RCC Hunter Woods Loudoun Program Planning Group-Rm236 Homer, etc–Annex Ulysses Book Club–TA-2
Sat May 10	10:30am	Tai Chi Club–TA-3
Tue May 13	10:00am	Knitting and Needlework Club–Panera, Herndon
Wed May 14	1:30pm 1:45pm 2:00pm	Book Club–TA-2 Bridge Club–TA-3 Program Planning Committee–Cottage
Fri May 16	9:00am 9:00am 10:00am 11:00am 11:00am	Recorder Consort–TA-3 Art & Music Program Planning Group–Annex Craft and Conversation Club–Cottage Homer, etc–Annex Ulysses Book Club-TA-2

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.