Enews15-15

May 8, 2015

• Alerts & Notices
• Annual Business Meeting Report
• Fairfax County Urban Search and Rescue (Virginia Task Force 1) Visits OLLI
• Come One, Come All to OLLI's Creative Aging Festival Events!
• Inside OLLI-Mason
• The Fifth Annual Joseph Miller Abstract Photography Exhibit
• Lost & Found & Phones & Eyeglasses
• Requesting Program Ideas
• Computer Club
• The OLLI Book Club
• Poet's Corner
• Obituaries
• Arts & Music at George Mason
• Mason Highlights
• Meetings & Clubs
• About OLLI E-News

Alerts & Notices

Office of Elections Representatives to be at Tallwood on May 29
Representatives of the Office of Elections will be available to answer questions on how you can become an election officer in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Representatives will be at Tallwood at 10:00 on May 29.
 

The office is recruiting voters to serve as election officers a few days a year, including the upcoming general election on Tuesday, Nov. 3. Election officers are needed at each of the 240 precincts in Fairfax County to run the polls and assist the voters.

In order to be an election officer, you must:

·        Be fluent in English

·        Be a registered voter in the Commonwealth of Virginia

·        Be able to fulfill the federal I-9 employment eligibility requirements

·        Attend a 3-hour training class

·        Arrive at the polling place at 5:00 am and remain until all work has been completed after the polls close at 7:00 pm

·        Have basic computer skills

Election officers are offered a stipend of $175 for serving a full day. Bilingual citizens are encouraged to serve as language assistance is needed in many precincts. Residency in Fairfax County is not required. It is a wonderful opportunity for those interested in the election process or public service. Civic-minded individuals can help make Election Day a success! To apply, call the elections office at 703-324-4735. You can also email [email protected] for more information. 
 

E-News Vacation
After the OLLI E-News publication on Friday, May 15, the next publication will be May 29. Weekly publication will resume on June 12.

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Annual Business Meeting Report
 

By Irene Osterman, Board Secretary

At the conclusion of the meeting, Martha Scanlon, chair of the Nominating Committee, moderated a time when each candidate for election to the Board of Directors gave a brief statement summarizing his or her qualifications and goals for the position. The statements were followed by a period in which the candidates answered questions from OLLI members present at the meeting.

Fairfax County Urban Search and Rescue (Virginia Task Force 1) Visits OLLI

Did you know that Fairfax County is home to an internationally renowned search and rescue team? Virginia Task Force 1 is comprised of 210 highly trained and equipped firefighters, paramedics, physicians, structural engineers, and other specialized experts, plus a crew of six sniffer dogs. Last week, 57 members of this elite force flew to Nepal on short notice, where they immediately went to work in hopes of rescuing survivors of the recent earthquake there.
 
Five days after the quake, the team hit pay dirt. Working with Los Angeles County rescue workers and Nepali police, they helped extricate a young man named Pemba Tanang from the rubble where he had been buried alive. He was thirsty but otherwise unharmed, and wearing a New York Yankees t-shirt. He was the first live rescue that the Fairfax County team made in Nepal.
 
Meanwhile, here on the home front, Deputy Chief Charles Ryan of the Task Force addressed a full house at OLLI in Fairfax, on Wednesday, April 29. His presentation included photos just released from Nepal, as well as a thorough explanation of how his amazing team functions. After his talk, he was peppered with challenging questions from OLLI audience members, and he earned a resounding round of applause.
 
It’s not every day that we get to meet our local heroes, and the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute is honored to have had that opportunity. Kudos to Stephanie Trachtenberg, the OLLI member who arranged this special event.
 
Please be sure to support our Fairfax Country Urban Search and Rescue as they continue to work in Nepal.

Come One, Come All to OLLI's Creative Aging Festival Events!

  
Alice Slayton Clark, OLLI Communications Associate/Registrar


If you haven’t signed up for the OLLI Creative Aging Festival events, now is the time! There is still space available in our three fantastic events:
 
OLLI Players Performance
“The Changing Seasons of Life”
Festival participants will enjoy listening to a story reflecting the lives and memories of the OLLI Players, accompanied by violin and guitar.  Friday, May 15, from 1:00-2:30
(Special Event 975). 
 
Tai Chi Class
Festival participants will experience meditation in motion as part of a Tai Chi martial arts class led by Dr. Jerry Cheng.  Thursday, May 21, from 2:15-3:15 
(Special Event 991). 
 
Arts Open House Extravaganza
Festival participants will be treated to a smorgasbord of OLLI creative arts, including performances by the OLLI Poetry Workshop, Tallwood Trio, Recorder Consort, Singing for Fun, and lovely images from the Photography Club, Sketching and Drawing, Crafts and Conversation and more. Enjoy free coffee and home-made baked treats sold by the Development Committee to raise money for the Friends of OLLI. Buy them for yourself, friends or a dinner party that weekend!  Friday, May 29, from 10:00-Noon.
(Special Event 992) 
 
These three events are a wonderful way for members to dabble in OLLI’s creative side. And they are a great way to showcase OLLI’s offerings to the public. If you have a friend, neighbor or social group that you think might be interested in sampling OLLI, bring them along!   
 
Registration couldn’t be easier. If you are an OLLI member, sign-up through the member portal or an add/drop form in the Tallwood office.  https://olligmu.augusoft.net (Click on the creative aging festival button). If you are bringing a friend, simply call the Tallwood office at 703-503-3384 with their name and address.
 

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The Fifth Annual Joseph Miller Abstract Photography Exhibit

By Susan Van Hemel, staff writer

Did you know that the greater DC area has its own regional abstract photography exhibit? It is the creation of Joseph Miller, a well-known photography teacher/mentor, lecturer, writer and judge in Northern Virginia, in collaboration with the Northern VA Association of Camera Clubs. Miller’s Center for the Photographic Arts in Gainesville hosts the annual abstract exhibit.

According to Miller, “. . . abstracts are non-representational and do not rely upon recognizable subject matter, but rather consist of colors, tones, shapes and textures. If the image has an obvious subject, it is not an abstract.” But all entries must originate as photographs of something! This challenge brings out the creativity and artistic talents of photographers to produce a marvelous collection of striking images. You can see images from previous years’ exhibits at http://nvacc.org/home/gallery/. This year’s images will be posted soon on that site.

Each year, invitations go out to local camera clubs, including the OLLI Photography Club, soliciting entries for the juried exhibit. This year, 469 images were submitted by 115 photographers, of which 120 images in total were selected for the exhibit. Seven OLLI Photo Club members (Dan Feighery, Jean Feighery, Ed Parker, Tom Simpson, Caroline Stevens, Paul Van Hemel, and Susan Van Hemel) had images exhibited this year, and Dan Feighery received a special merit award for his image “RGB Arches.”

The annual exhibit is a wonderful presentation of beautiful and creative work by local photographic artists, and is well worth the trip to Gainesville to see it. This year’s exhibit is free and open to the public from noon to 6:00 on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays in May, closing on Memorial Day. The gallery is at 4811 Catharpin Rd, Gainesville, VA, just a few miles from Rte 29.

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Lost & Found & Phones & Eyeglasses

By Wendy Campbell, OLLI Member

Did you lose something? The unclaimed contents of Tallwood’s Lost & Found box are donated at the end of each term, so now is the time to claim anything you might have lost in recent weeks. The box is located under the desk by the refrigerator in the Social Room.
 
Bring us your tired, your poor...especially your old cell phones!
If you have glasses or a cell phone you no longer need and you’d like to see them go to a good cause, please bring them to the Social Room and deposit them in the boxes under the desk marked “Eyeglasses” or “Cell Phones.”  We’ll see that they are donated appropriately.

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Requesting Program Ideas

By Kathryn Russell and Russell Stone,
Program Committee Co-Chairs


Our electronic version of Program Idea Week opens now and will be available for a week (at least). Here’s your opportunity to suggest future OLLI courses and/or special events. Is there a course you would like to teach or organize? A great teacher you want to hear (or hear again)? A course you would like to see offered? An event you think would interest your fellow OLLI members? Please tell us or contact any of the Program Planning Group chairs listed on page iv of each course catalog. To submit your ideas online, simply click or go to:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/V2LHTBD

We look forward to receiving your ideas.
            Kathryn Russell  e-mail:  [email protected]
            Russell Stone     e-mail:  [email protected]
                    Program Co-Chairs

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Computer Club

 

By Paul Howard, Computer Club Coordinator   
 

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 16 at Tallwood. Join us at 12:30 for soft drinks and socializing in the social room. The program will begin at 1:00.
 
The first presentation will be by Dr. Patrick Gillevet from George Mason University who will speak on "The Selfish Microbiome." Most people are aware that their gut plays host to various communities of microbes that aid in digestion and other vital functions in a symbiotic relationship that benefits both people and bacteria. These microbial communities are beneficial and even necessary to their human hosts, but sometimes get out of balance resulting in illness in the host.
 
The human microbiome is an integral component of the entire human ecosystem and has far-reaching involvement in social behavior, reproduction, growth, cognition, and many diseases. Like the ‘selfish gene’, which uses individuals to propagate itself, the microbiome uses us to propagate itself, fortunately for the benefit of both organisms. Computers play an essential role in the computational analysis of non-linear systems in ecological modeling relevant to our subject.
 
Dr. Gillevet has been the lead scientist at the Environmental Biocomplexity and Ecology Group at George Mason University since 1996.
 
In the second presentation, Gabe Goldberg will talk about "Learn 30: Amazon Firestick." Gabe will look at a relatively new technology arrival, Amazon's Fire TV Stick. This is a simple and inexpensive device which plugs into a TV set and receives streaming content over WiFi from one's own Internet connection. It can play many "channels" (each of which includes broad/deep material) such as Netflix and Amazon Prime. Gabe is a technology writer, editor, and consultant who focuses on audiences from consumers to computer professionals.
 
See full details on the May 16 meeting by clicking here. For information on the Computer Club, see the OPCUG website. OPCUG dues of $5 for 2015 will be collected at this meeting.
 
Can't make the meeting in person? Dues-paid club members may attend via Zoom's cloud meeting service, beginning at 12:45. Send a message to [email protected] if you plan to attend in this way. Join from PC, Mac, iOS or Android: https://zoom.us/j/388102704

For information on the Computer Club, see the OPCUG website.

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The OLLI Book Club

Ceda McGrew, Book Club coordinator


The OLLI Book Club will meet at 1:30 on Wednesday, May 13, at Tallwood. All OLLI members are welcome.

The book for discussion is Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline. It is the story of two women whose paths cross in Spruce Harbor, Maine in 2011. Vivian Daly is an elderly widow who in 1929 traveled from New York City to rural Minnesota on an orphan train after her Irish immigrant family died in a tenement fire. Seventeen-year-old Molly Ayer who has spent most of her life in foster care has been assigned a community service project to help Vivian clean out her attic. 

The book for discussion in June is The Book Thief by Markus Zusak.
 

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Meetings & Clubs

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