Enews37-16

November 11, 2016

• Alerts & Notices
• OLLI Town Hall Meeting
• Annual Holiday Party - December 2
• Friends of OLLI Bake Sale and More!
• Meet the Artists: Mason's Darden Purcell and Wade Beach
• Computer Club: Voice Command for Handheld Devices; Data Monitoring and Protection
• Poet's Corner
• Arts & Music at George Mason
• Meetings & Clubs
• About OLLI E-News

• Reminder: OLLI’s 2nd annual Veterans’ Day celebration is today in TA‑1 at Tallwood, 1:00-2:30. Register via member portal for event 983.
• The Friends of OLLI fall campaign is under way. Click the "Donate Today" button on the member portal to make a tax-deductible donation online.
• OLLI is closed the week of November 21-25 for Thanksgiving.
• Reminder: Monday, November 28, is the deadline to register for the Annual OLLI Holiday Party, Special Event 1105. See article below.
• OLLI's winter 2017 catalog is now available on line.

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By Ray Beery, President, and Jennifer Disano, Executive Director

The OLLI Town Hall was held on November 4th at Tallwood; a small but enthusiastic group of members attended the meeting. The Town Hall took a traditional format with microphones available for audience members to share ideas. Although originally scheduled for one hour, the event was extended for an extra 30 minutes so that all members who desired an opportunity to air concerns would have a chance to speak.

OLLI President Ray Beery and OLLI Executive Director Jennifer Disano provided some question prompts to encourage open discourse. Many members submitted questions in writing, and many others voiced their concerns in person. Much of the member-driven discussion was oriented around growth plans and expectations, budget dissemination and circulation to membership, consideration of alternate dues structures, improved communication with members, and a need for aggressive strategic planning. Members also submitted input via the member survey, the link to which can be accessed on line at olli.gmu.edu through December 19.

Jennifer Disano presented a summary of activity from 2016, including a report on current membership numbers (1,247) and major accomplishments for 2016, including 25th anniversary events and programming, renovation of the Tallwood parking lot, the staff move to the cottage, and the creation of the 25th anniversary book on the history of OLLI. The event was recorded by OLLI Board Secretary Rita Way, and many board members were in attendance to give responses to questions. Input from the meeting will be summarized along with survey results and reported to the board for their understanding.

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By Elaine Leonard, Hospitality Committee Chair

The OLLI Annual Holiday Party will take place on Friday, December 2, 11:30-3:00, at the International Country Club in Fairfax. The cost is $35 and includes lunch of salad, rolls, chicken or pasta, dessert, coffee, and tea. A cash bar will be provided. There will be entertainment (Readers' Theater group and music by the Recorder Consort and the Tallwood Trio), door prizes, and a display of White House Historical Association ornaments.

The sample ornament pictured here is from the 1989 bicentennial of the presidency 1789-1989. It shows the official Seal of the President, adopted as the Congressional Seal for the U.S. in 1782 and adapted by President Rutherford B. Hayes in 1880.

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By Lesley Bubenhofer, OLLI Development Committee Chair

Come to Tallwood December 13 to purchase delicious homemade goodies and enjoy a great movie. You may want to bring a lunch to supplement your purchases. The bake sale will be held from 11:30 to 12:30, and the movie will begin at 12:30. Single treat packaging as well as larger quantities will be available for ramping up lunch, sharing with family and friends, and holiday gift giving.

Funds raised by Friends of OLLI support our programs at all three campuses and, with board approval, may be used to supplement classroom equipment needs, publication expenses, committee and club expenses, social events, environmental improvements, scholarship awards, and Mason-community partnership endeavors.

Your participation is needed! Come, purchase, enjoy, and become a new Friend of OLLI or strengthen your existing friendships. If you can volunteer to bake, contact Lesley Bubenhofer at [email protected] for details. Your help will be much appreciated.

Register for this thoroughly fun-filled day through the member portal, Special Between-term Event (1004BT).

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Meet the Artists: Mason's Darden Purcell and Wade Beach

Closing out this semester’s Meet the Artists program at Reston’s Center Stage with jazz standards as well as new pieces was Dr. Darden Purcell, Director of Jazz Studies at George Mason University and collaborator with the world’s top jazz artists. Accompanied by GMU faculty member Mr. Wade Beach, who has toured the world with The Airmen of Note and is a “pillar of the Washington jazz scene,” Dr. Purcell’s beautifully personal voice and Mr. Beach’s richly genuine piano connected on an intimate level with Reston neighbors and OLLI members in the audience at Reston on November 3. Many thanks to Rosemary McDonald for producing Meet the Artists. The photo shows, left to right, Dr. Purcell, Rosemary McDonald, and Mr. Beach.

Computer Club: Voice Command for Handheld Devices; Data Monitoring and Protection

By Paul Howard, OPCUG Program Chair

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, November 19th at Tallwood. Join us at 12:30 for soft drinks and socializing in the social room. Program activities begin at 1:00.

Make Your iPad, iPhone, or Android Smartphone Work for You: Voice Commands and Using your Camera/Video and Text features - Cherie Lejeune, High Performance Aging

Cherie Lejeune, owner of High Performance Aging, will teach techniques for using voice commands and other accessibility features on your devices to take notes, read e-mail, add dates and appointments to your calendar, and more. Some familiarity with the basic functions on your device is important for this session (like turning your device on and off!). Please bring your device if you have one. Cherie has been a marketing, content, and applications technology specialist for 25 years.

Learn in 30: Monitor and Protect Your Data – Ray Parker, Epsilogix

Storage devices are unappreciated workhorses. HD Sentinel (http://www.harddisksentinel.com/) is a powerful tool for monitoring their health. Ray Parker, a knowledgeable technician and longtime advocate of software which works for people who are not knowledgeable technicians, will tell us more. While the website is focused on simple hard drives, HD Sentinel also supports other storage devices.

See full details on this meeting by clicking here. For information on the Computer Club, see the OPCUG website. OPCUG dues of $5 for 2017 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/546246297 (Zoom Meeting ID: 546 246 297).

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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).

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OLLI E-News was created by Rod Zumbro, who served as its editor from 2005 to 2013.

Editorial Staff
Chief Editor: Paul Van Hemel
Technical Editor: Irene Osterman
Associate Editor: Sheri Siesseger
Weekly Editorial Team: Jean Boltz, John Nash, Sheri Siesseger, Leslie Vandivere,
Paul Van Hemel
Proofreaders: Rebecca Jann, Lorna Moran, Marilyn O'Brien, Susan Van Hemel
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 – 6:00 Tuesday for that week's issue (6:00 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.

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