The Board of Directors met Friday, January 18, 2019, at Tallwood. OLLI President Bill Taylor opened the meeting with New Year wishes for the Board and OLLI members. He stated that we can look forward to a winter term with a rich and diverse offering of courses and activities. He thanked the many members and our fine staff for their support to ensure that everything happens as planned. Bill announced that Evan Douple has been confirmed to chair the 2019 Nominating Committee.
Bill reported that the Strategic Planning Committee met in December and decided the best way to get input from the membership about our strategic goals is to draft a plan that explains the steps OLLI will take to achieve these goals. The draft plan can help the membership understand the potential impact of trying to achieve these goals.
Bill recognized Elaine Leonard and her team for the superb holiday party, and Lesley Bubenhofer and her team for their efforts on behalf of Friends of OLLI.
Executive Director Jennifer Disano reported that as of January 10, 2019, total membership is, 1,143 (annual membership 1,120 and term membership is 23). Jennifer is exploring ways to increase space for OLLI classes. SCG Development Company (an affiliate of Stratford Capital Group) is looking into a potential building project to include space for OLLI. They would like to present the idea in the coming months. No commitments have been made.
Church of the Good Shepherd has made some allowances for OLLI to continue holding large classes at their venue, but we are still limited to the last session of the day. The Sherwood Center and a few other high-capacity venues may be identified for OLLI use.
At year end, OLLI sent out a membership survey to all members inquiring about their experience during fall term 2018. A total of 163 individuals responded to the survey. A copy of the survey has been provided to the program chairs and to the Board.
The January 2019 Photo of the Month theme was hands. We selected George Bradshaw's photo "Hands à la Escher," which may also be viewed at this page. To view other photos by members of the Photography Club, visit the club's photo website.
-- By Angela Talaber, Photography Club Co-Coordinator
By John Nash, Member of the Photo Club and E-News Editorial Team
Members of the OLLI Photo Club have developed some excellent photographic skills and other OLLI members often see the results when photographs are displayed in the social room. This fall, OLLI Photo Club members, through an effort organized by Dan Feighery, volunteered their time to photograph various events for the Northern Virginia Senior Olympics. Some of those photographs were exhibited in the OLLI social room, but the display didn’t end after its time at OLLI. It was transferred to the Oak Marr Recreation Center though the arrangements of the Retired and Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP) representative, Rob Paine, and Dan Feighery.
On December 13, George Bradshaw, John Olsen, Dan Feighery, and John Nash hung the photographs at the Oak Marr center, where they will be exhibited until February 1. If you have time, stop by Oak Marr Recreation Center on Jermantown Road. You’ll enjoy the photographs and can learn about the facility and programs offered by the Oak Marr Recreation Center.
Editor’s Note: Photo credit for the photograph of George Bradshaw and John Olsen goes to Rob Paine, RSVP.
Credit for the photograph of the three OLLI members goes to George Bradshaw.
OLLI's literary journal, OLLI Ink, is accepting submissions, including poems, fiction, personal essays, and memoirs, for its 2019 edition. The deadline for submissions is February 25th–only a month away!!
OLLI Ink is a well-established publication here at OLLI-Mason and a great way to share your work with other writers and all OLLI members.
How to submit: Please send your entries - either as an email attachment or in the body of the email–to Caroline McNeil at [email protected].
Guidelines:
Poems – limit number of lines to 30
Prose – limit number of words to 2,500; please single-space and indent the first sentence of paragraphs.
But it’s much too far away— it can’t belong to Joan!
It kept ringing, perhaps five times or nine,
But nobody answered it; I too, declined.
Thirty minutes later, again the tune chimed.
So I finally discovered in my purse under my chair
My pink phone betraying me for the second time!
Joan Lunsford
Arts & Music at George Mason
Performances, Jan 25 through Feb 4
By Shelly Gersten, OLLI E-News Staff Writer
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 pageor the Hylton Centerticket purchase page.
At the Fairfax Campus Venues
MOMIX: Opus Cactus
Fri, Jan 25, 8:00
Cocktails & Conversations: Join MOMIX company members in the lobby after the performance for a Q&A over cocktails.
Concert Hall
Admission: $50, $43, $30.
Metropolitan Jazz Orchestra: Benny and Beyond
Sat, Jan 26, 8:00
A pre-performance discussion with a member of the company begins 45 minutes prior to the performance. Concert Hall
Admission: $46, $39, $28.
Enchantment Theatre Company: The Phantom Tollbooth
Sun, Jan 27, 2:00
Concert Hall
Admission: Adults, $15; children, $10.
Virginia Dance Coalition: Emerging and Talented Artists
Sun, Jan 27, 2:30
Harris Theatre
Admission: $20.
Fairfax Symphony Orchestra: Mendelssohn & Schumann
Sat, Feb 2, 8:00
A pre-performance discussion with conductor Christopher Zimmerman and special guests begins at 7:00.
Concert Hall
Admission: $69, $53, $50, $39, $25.
Mason Student and Faculty Performances (see music.gmu.edu for additional student recitals)The Mason Cabaret:The Golden Age of Broadway
Fri, Feb 1 and Sat, Feb 2, 8:00
Harris Theatre
Admission: Adults, $30; seniors, $15.
At the Hylton Center (Manassas Campus)
Gallery Exhibit: 8th Annual Prince William County Public Schools Student Exhibition
January 22 – March 9
Gallery reception: Sat, Jan 26, 3:00
Gallery receptions are free and open to the public. Please RSVP to [email protected].
Buchanan Partners Art Gallery
The Buchanan Partners Art Gallery is open to the public Tue-Sat, 10:00-6:00.
Enchantment Theatre Company: The Phantom Tollbooth
Sat, Jan 26, 2:00 and 4:00
Merchant Hall
Admission: Adults, $15; children, $10.
Right Angle Entertainment: The Simon & Garfunkel Story
Fri, Feb 1, 7:30
Merchant Hall
Admission: $55, $49, $39.
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 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.
Sat Jan 26
10:30am
Tai Chi Club–TA-3
Wed Jan 30
1:45pm
Bridge Club–TA-3
Fri Feb 1
9:15am
9:30am
11:00am
11:00am
12:30pm
Recorder Consort–TA-3
Crafts and Conversation–Annex
Classic Literature Club–TA-2
Homer, etc.–Annex
Dr. Who Club–TA-3
Sat Feb 2
10:30am
Tai Chi Club–TA-3
Wed Feb 6
1:30pm
1:45pm
2:15pm
Mah Jongg Club–TA-2
Bridge Club–TA-3
History Club–TA-1
Fri Feb 8
9:15am
9:30am
9:30am
11:00am
11:00am
11:30am
Recorder Consort–TA-3
Photography Club–TA-1
Crafts and Conversation–Annex
Classic Literature Club–TA-2
Homer, etc.–Annex
Cooking Club–TA-3
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, Leslie Vandivere,
Paul Van Hemel Proofreaders: Rebecca Jann, Susan Van Hemel, Linda Randall, Tom Appich, Roz Stark
Jane Hassell
Backup Chief Editor: Alice Slayton Clark
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: [email protected]. 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.
and John Nash hung the photographs at the Oak Marr center, where they will be exhibited until February 1. If you have time, stop by Oak Marr Recreation Center on Jermantown Road. You’ll enjoy the photographs and can learn about the facility and programs offered by the Oak Marr Recreation Center.
